"Mister, I am under the impression that everyone here in Ghoul's Society celebrates the morbid and the macabre. How would you—?"
"Doesn't it bother you that you're stepping on those who treat death as a ritual? Because of people like you, the mortal men look at death and see a monster at the end of the road!"
Rowan pursed his lips and stared at the man. He was only gauging the man's temperament with his silence. Without a derisive smile on that man's face, Rowan didn't want to act like he could easily push the other person off. After all, the man stood in the middle of civilians.
The emcee felt upset, but she still chuckled at the stand-off. "Sir, we have not opened the floor for questions just yet! Let's go back to that question later! So, Mr. Riding Hood—"
At her blatant silencing, the man grew angry. In a sudden movement, he took out a gun and shot the emcee's face then and there. The people broke out in a hysteria because someone decided to kill then and there. Even if they wanted to check the woman who died after seconds, they were still scared to move around. They just secretly took out their phones to record the 'show.'
"How about now, Red Riding Hood? How would you paint this haunting sight?" The man screamed as he pointed the gun in Rowan's direction.
The president had already dived out of the way, while the rest felt conflicted about calling the police. As for Reeva, he just crossed his arms on his chest and continued to watch as if the gun was not facing the man he was supposed to protect.
Rowan didn't even meet the eyes of the shooter. He only looked at the dead woman whose cheek was pierced by the bullet. Her blood gathered in her mouth and other orifices, the pool spreading quickly as she bled profusely after dying. Instead of terror or uneasiness, Rowan only stared at the woman's image with pity. She was too young to die just like that.
"Hey! Look at me!" The man laughed as he clicked on the hammer again. "How dare you ignore me! Answer my question, you heretic!"
"There is nothing haunting about this. There is no fear, only pity." Rowan faced the man who aimed the gun at him. "I'm not going to paint anything like her death. As for yours… I can already see it."
He slowly got up from the seat and walked to the edge of the stage. The man moved the gun to continue aiming at Rowan's face. However, Rowan's eyes only looked down at him with coldness. "You're scared of your realizations, sir. How could a simple mortal man draw up death like how one draws a flower? Have you never considered that it's because… it's possible to traverse through death multiple times?"
The man's hand shook, and his finger pulled the trigger in reflex. However, that was also the same second that Rowan ducked to drop from the stage. Bang! The gun went off, but Rowan was already out of sight. Before the man saw him again, Rowan had dashed toward him. His hand pulled out a small knife hidden under his belt and sliced up the man's face.
"AHH!" The man dropped the gun and grabbed his face before stumbling down in terror. He fell into the ground and felt how a foot stomped at his belly, his center of gravity.
"If you think simply having a gun can kill me, you're three years too late." Rowan glared down at the man and held out his hand. On his fingers was a thin slice of skin, the very bit he sliced from the man's face just earlier. "You're lucky I'm not obligated to get rid of you."
When everything was happening, no one was letting out a breath. Even Reeva was quietly smiling at the turn of events. He just sighed and massaged his forehead. "Oh, my, my… what have you turned him into, Duke? Your assistant has become dangerous."
…
Less than three years ago…
Krakaboom-boom! The successive thunderclap overhead roared again, and it was followed by a loud crash in the kitchen. Duke was only resting on the couch when it happened, so he quickly got up to see what happened. After all, Rowan was working on his own in that place.
"Rowan? Are you okay?" Duke opened the door to the kitchen and saw how Rowan was squatting down and covering his ears. The reminiscent loud booms made Rowan tremble in fear. He even closed his eyes and made use of his whine to obscure the sound.
Duke walked closer, kneeled down in front of him, and hugged the poor guy. "Shhh, don't be scared. I'm right here. Don't worry, don't worry, no one is going to hurt you now."
Rowan moved his hands and hugged the doctor, grabbing and pulling on his clothes. The doctor cupped Rowan's ears again as the darkness past the skylight lit up again. Krakaboom-boom! Another thunderclap echoed with a few siblings once again. It was so loud that Rowan screamed directly at Duke's chest, but at least he didn't tremble anymore because of Duke's strong arms around him.
"Did you hurt yourself?" Duke only continued holding the poor guy. He saw how the cutting board and the knife were on the floor. There was also roasted chicken on the movable island as if Rowan was supposed to cut it into pieces for their dinner.
"I… I think so…" Rowan pulled back and saw how a big cut was on his left pointer and middle finger. "Ah, I'm getting blood on your clothes. Wait… I have to clean that im—!"
Duke suddenly leaned down to press their lips together. A hitch came to Rowan's breath, and he failed to react to the loud noise when the thunderclap roared again. It was just that his brain was busier in processing the kiss.
The doctor then pulled back and caressed his head. He then smiled. "Sorry. Did I scare you? I figured you'd scream again because of the noise."
"…t-thanks…" Rowan only lowered his face and smothered his nose and mouth with Duke's chest. He didn't know why he felt so embarrassed when he was not even a virgin anymore. Ah, when was the last time Scott kissed him so innocently? He couldn't even remember.
"Rowan, do you want to borrow my noise-canceling earphones? Just tonight." Duke chuckled as he felt Rowan almost grafting his face against the doctor's chest. "Also, let's do something about that hand of yours. We can't leave that bleeding… Also, our dinner is getting cold."