He stopped but did not turn back.
Silence stretched till they heard the sound of vehicles honking at a distance.
"So, you are telling me that what I saw was not a prank and was real?" Xal asked.
His shoulders sagged. "Yeah. But don't worry about it, you won't be seeing it again. Or better, think of it as a prank. The less you believe, the less they will be attracted to you." With that, Kian took a step toward the door.
"Wait," Xal said again, deadly calm. "I need to confirm something about that spirit illness you mentioned."
That's not what he wanted to confirm.
But Kian raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop. "This is for your own good, Xal. You can have a less messy life if you stop right now. Let it go."
White sheets crumbled under his fierce grip at that response.
This time, Kian walked away for good. Realizing he was not going to stop, Xal raised his voice.
"You owe me a fucking proper explanation, you freak!"
That was a lot harsher than he had imagined in his head.
Hearing the last word, Kian snapped back, his expression a mix of disappointment and anger. He opened his mouth, but the words seemed to die as his gaze shifted past Xal, at something behind him.
He turned back to see the blank wall. The chill of the AC prickled his skin, emitting goosebumps. Mustering the last ounce of patience he had, he turned towards Kian to ask for an explanation one last time before he chose the hard way for him.
At that moment, Xal was sure he had not imagined it earlier, because Kian's eyes were flashing white and then, in a blink, returned to pale purple. Suddenly, a force pushed him back, and he slammed his hands to the mattress to steady himself.
Not a second after that, he felt a weight on his shoulders lift. A heaviness he had not known existed eased, and he rolled his shoulders, feeling more relaxed.
Eyes narrowing, "What the hell was that?" he asked, voice rumbling within his chest.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kian's POV
When Kian turned back, he saw a spirit, closer to turning into a rogue one, latching onto Xal, enjoying the dangerous energy of anger that he had started emitting. Planting his feet to the ground, taking a steady breath, he sent a wave of energy towards the spirit.
He couldn't aim well to save his life. The force of it hit Xal before hitting the spirit, pushing him back, but he steadied himself. When it touched the spirit, it writhed, recoiled at the purity of his core energy, and unlatched from him, floated away, phasing out through the wall behind.
Xal did not look pleased when he asked what had just happened.
His core energy was becoming much higher than an average person's, and it was reacting to the negative emotions he was harboring right now.
Every person had a core energy, protecting their soul inside the body. Normal people could not strengthen their core, and those ones remained the same. But Xal's was increasing at an alarming rate.
He can only think that it is because of the white thread. Then again, threads always appeared just for representation; those were powerless. Threads don't affect people or their core.
Could it be due to the rarity of the white ones? Or could it be that it's because I'm from a clan and have abilities, and it is somehow influencing Xal? Kian racked his mind before identifying the bigger problem in the room.
Xal was thinking about something bad, and it was affecting the increasing energy while turning it negative, acting like a magnet for rogues, or worse, Neitoloums. He had to make him stop thinking whatever he was thinking. Because he was not equipped to get swarmed by angry spirits at the moment.
"That was a spirit trying to feed off your energy." Not wanting to agitate or upset him further, he spoke with carefully chosen words, "You are already attracting all the negative spirits out there. Whatever you are thinking about, it's releasing a lot of negative energy. You have to stop. Like right now."
Yeah, that had the complete opposite effect on Xal.
Kian flinched hard when the chair flew across the room, smashing into the door behind, narrowly missing him by a few inches when he kicked it. Xal stormed over to him and grabbed him by the collar.
"You have NO RIGHT… absolutely NO fucking RIGHT to TELL me that!" Xal heaved, veins popping in his neck as he felt his hand gripping his collar shake. His eyes were brimming with unshed tears.
"I don't even know why we lost her!" His voice was trembling now.
Lost her?
"Instead of fucking answering my question, you are here telling ME to STOP thinking about HER!!?"
Kian stared back, eyes wide at the sudden behavior change; he hadn't expected this.
✦ ✦ ✦
Xal's POV
"Fuck." Xal shoved him back and turned his back against Kian, swallowing the lump in his throat as the memory of his baby sister hit him. Glancing at the pale ceiling, he puffed his cheeks in a futile attempt to turn back the tears threatening to spill.
The last thing he remembered about her was the small smile she gave when she wanted to give him the small heart-shaped pendant she loved the most. She held it in her shriveled little hand. He took it from her, placed a soft kiss on her forehead, and told her not to be afraid because she would get well soon.
That was the last thing he said before his parents took her to the hospital for the last time.
He had wasted so much time telling her how she would get better soon, how he would select the prettiest summer dress and make her classmates jealous, how they could go back to the ice rink to see her crush, and all the things they could do when she was better, but he never told her how much she meant to him.
He missed that chance to tell her how much he loved her.
The pendant rested on his chest, too heavy.
Deep ache in his heart returned, fresh as the day he lost her.
His little firecracker was supposed to come back for him, grinning.
A shuddering breath left his lungs.
Breathing hurt.
Thinking hurt.
Remembering hurt.
So much…
He missed her so much.
A soft sob escaped as he rubbed at his chest in a futile effort to lessen the pain.
After a beat, Kian cleared his throat. "So… you lost someone, and she is connected to this 'something' you want to confirm with...me?" He asked in a small voice.
Xal thought he had composed himself not to show how vulnerable he was right now.
"Hm." Still, he couldn't trust his voice to form words.
"And you think my answer will help you to understand what happened to her, at least?" Kian asked.
Is he reading my mind?
"Hm."
He could hear footsteps before the chair legs scratched against the tiles. The continuous humming of the AC was becoming too loud.
"Okay… tell me what you know or what happened. But you must promise me that you will forget, well, technically you can't forget, but at least try your best to avoid thinking about anything related to spirits."
"Hm." He agreed to a promise he couldn't keep. But neither he nor Kian knew that yet.
The clock ticked.
Kian didn't say a single word.
Xal stood there, still staring at the ceiling, still puffing his cheeks to force the tears back, for another good minute or two, calming himself down. He was not going to shed a single tear in front of a total stranger.
Once he gained his composure, Xal sat on the edge of the bed facing Kian.
"Six years ago, my sister, Xehelya… One day, she came home, looking pale and sick. We took her to the doctors, the best ones, and they told us she was just tired. After two days, it just got worse. Her skin started wrinkling like an old woman's, and her veins started turning black. Doctors couldn't find out why."
He hunched, leaning his head to his hands, feeling his heart being stabbed over and over again, leaving him unable to speak about her anymore.