Zeres stayed very still and quiet after he roared her name. There was nothing but silence for a few moments.
He let out a shaky, vehement breath and he spoke again, now seemingly calm. "Alicia… stop doing this -"
"You are the one who should stop." She argued firmly.
"Why won't you just listen to me?" another vehement sigh came from him before he continued with a muted, velvety voice, "why are you doing this to me?"
A disbelieving smile tugged at Alicia's lips. "I am the one who should ask you that…" she said, trying to control herself from bursting out. "Why are you doing this?!"
Taking a deep breath, she clutched at his shirt and pulled away just enough to look at his face. She didn't seem to realize how close their faces were. But Zeres did and he immediately faced sideways.
"Stop looking away when I'm talking…" she paused and sighed again. "Alright… if you don't want to look at me, at least speak to me properly."
She saw his throat worked, his jaw clenching. He didn't speak, but his hand moved and Alicia's eyes flew wide. Her hands clasped both sides of his head and forced him to look at her.
"Don't you dare put me to sleep again!" she hissed, glaring hard at him.
He stared back at her. "You're giving me no choice," he said, looking away again as his hands held her wrists.
"Don't you dare, Zeres!" Her voice intensified. "If you do that, I'll… I'll kill you!" she exclaimed in panic. She knew it'd be over for her if he put her to sleep again. Ezekiel's plan… no… she can't fail in this too!
He flashed that smile she didn't like before facing her again. "How I wish you could." He said in a whisper and before Alicia knew it, his hand was over her hand that was holding the dagger. He had already pointed the dagger over his heart. "How about you try?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
Alicia's eyes widened in horror. An inexplicable wave of emotions shook her entire being – anger, frustration, fear, terror, and utter defeat. "H-how could you…" she struggled to speak as her body shook, "how could you ask me that?"
Seeing her reaction, Zeres slowly took his hand off hers. "I'm sorry…" he said weakly. He let himself fell back and sat on the floor in front of her. "You should know by now how desperate I am to die." He said in a miserable voice. His elbows rested on his bended knees as his fingers tugged his hair.
"You are not desperate to die," Alicia said, swallowing to control her emotions. "You are desperate to save me."
He shook his head, keeping his gaze on the floor. "You're wrong." He denied firmly.
"Yes, you are. I am the cause of this. You are doing all this madness because of me. I don't… I don't deserve your sacrifice." Her breathing began to become heavy, and the corner of her eyes was burning. "Why would you do all this… go through all these for my sake?! I am just someone you met not too long ago. Why would you do this for someone… for someone who's not even special in your life?"
For some reason, what she said seemed to broke through him. Then he was suddenly a few steps away from her, looking as though he was desperately stopping himself from destroying something.
When he swung back to her, the look in his eyes changed. He seemed to be staring at her as if she was a stranger.
"Yes. You're right." Came his cold hard voice that sounded nothing like the Zeres she knew. "You are nothing special to me, Alicia. That's why you are wrong if you think I'm doing this because of you. I would do this even if it's not you." He sauntered towards her and then squatted before her. "I told you, I'm desperate to die. I never wanted to live… again… because, for me, life has always been hell. So please don't stop me anymore. This is really what I want. Please understand that not everyone in this world wanted life. There's someone out there who wanted nothing but death."
He pinched her chin and moved closer. "I'm telling you again… I'd do the same even if it's not you, Alicia. So don't feel bad, don't feel guilty, never blame yourself… you never did anything wrong. You just happened to be the unlucky one. And yes… you are nothing to me."
"You are mad, Zeres." she said in a weak voice, her eyes starting to blur.
He smiled, letting go of her chin. "I know. So you better leave now. You know what a mad witch can do."
"You are mad," she repeated, ignoring what just said, "if you think I would believe what you said."
Zeres' smile faded and his temper finally exploded. His eyes turned gold and then his palm slammed against the wall behind her. The wall crumbled because of the powerful impact and when he saw the debris about to land on her, he pulled her in his arms and both of them disappeared before anything could touch her.
When they materialized, they were at the topmost floor of the under-construction building.
Zeres was still holding her and he was breathing hard. She had seen the look in his eyes before he pulled her. No matter how she looked at it, his actions contradicted his words. How could someone do all this for someone who's nothing to them?
"You… stubborn woman!" He g.r.o.a.n.e.d, still angered. "Why? Why do you…"
A wind blew against them and Alicia finally realized they were at the top of the building. She pulled away from him and followed his line of sight. The moon was bright and the city was lively… no, it was in chaos. The streets were filled with cars leaving the city.
Alicia swallowed and looked at him. Her arms around him tightened.
"I see…" he said after a chilling silence. His gaze met hers, and a surge of emotions so strong Alicia almost felt like she could not stand it flashed in his eyes. "You're here to distract me and hide what is going on from me."
A chuckle that sounded painful and bitter echoed. "Ah, Kiel is really incredible… no wonder you like him."
