The partygoers finally trickled out altogether, leaving just Lafreya, Mideora, Rademos, Lora, and Andis as the only ones left in the living room. Lora was sitting on the floor with her arms carefully positioned in her lap while she turned them to look at her wrists all over again.
Mideora looked at Lafreya expectantly, and Lafreya realized that she was yet to answer her daughter's question about Lycans.
"Well, the truth is that I had a friend of mine do it. I only just had to say the words."
"A friend of yours?" Mideora asked again, glancing around to do a quick headcount to see if there was anybody she had initially missed.
"Ah, kind of like an invisible friend. My friend is as quick as a flash of lightning." Lafreya shared a conspiratorial wink with Mideora.
Lora manages to pull herself from the shock long enough to thank Lafreya.
"Thank you, ma'am. Thank your friend too. I am indebted to both of you."
"It's nothing, child. I know that life would not always be rosy, but remember you're one tough cookie who will always survive the bad times."
"I–thank you. Thank you so much", Lora finished before lapsing into silence again. The color was starting to return to her cheeks.
Andis cleared her throat. "We are glad for the timely intervention and your life, Lora. We are glad that you're okay."
Everyone else except for Lora nodded in agreement with Andis' words. Lafreya turned her head and met Rademos eyes with hers, grey pupils latching onto honey-colored ones. Rademos knew she was about to say something to him, something he may not look forward to doing. But he stilled his spirit and waited for her to speak first.
"Rademos," she called his name.
There. He knew it. "Yeah?"
"Could you see Lora off? Walk her to the bus stop where she can catch the bus home. It's gotten quite a bit late to let her leave on her own. Plus, she could still be in some shock."
She smiled apologetically in Lora's direction as she added the last sentence.
"Yeah, sure. Alright."
Rademos walked over to where Lora sat, and he offered her his right arm so she could hold on to it for support while she got up. She searched his face, found his eyes, and held them for a brief moment before she dropped her gaze again.
She offered him a weak smile, "Thank you."
"It's okay," replied Rademos.
"Good night, Miz Lafreya," Lora said softly as she passed Lafreya on her way out through the door, with Rademos matching closely behind.
"Good night, Lora child."
Andis immediately caught on to Lora, staring at her uncertainly, and said, "It's fine, Lora; I'll just stay back and help Midora clean up."
"Alright, see you in school," Lora replied, and Rademos held the door open for her.
The cold night air hit them as soon as they came outside. Lora hugged her elbows in a bid to keep her warm, and Rademos noticed that her floral print dress was made of light material. Without any word to her, he shrugged off his jacket and handed it over to Lora, who received it equally wordlessly and put it on.
To anyone who had seen the exchange, most would have thought of them as having been a pair of young lovers out on a night stroll or maybe on their way to get dinner for themselves. But Lora knew otherwise, and she was sure that the attractive and aloof young man walking beside her knew the same too. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the burning of hot tears behind her eyelids when Rademos had firmly turned her down.
After a while of having walked in silence, the bus stop was quite a distance from Rademos' house, and they started to talk at once.
"I–"
"Are–"
They paused and looked at each other, at another time, they could have laughed at the fact that they had started to talk at once after having been quiet for a while. But the memory of the day's event was still fresh in their minds, and there was no room for even platonic laughter.
"You can go ahead," Lora told Rademos.
But Rademos countered. "No, you go first."
"I just wanted to ask if you're mad at me that I tried to kill myself at your birthday party."
Rademos, who had been looking straight ahead when Lora started to speak, turned his head to look at her when she was done talking.
"I am not mad at you, Lora. From wherever did you get such a notion? I admit that I could have handled the situation better than I had. But I did what I did, and you did what you did. And that's that."
Lora did not say anything in response, and so Rademos continued.
"It was a lousy party to me anyway, so I felt it was for the best when the partygoers had to be sent home on time."
Rademos glanced at her again but in time to see the little smile playing on her lips. Lora would be alright. He knew it the moment he had seen the smile, and he consoled himself with the thought. It would be a terrible burden to bear knowing that someone committed suicide because they couldn't get your affection.
"Alas, here is the bus stop."
"And here comes a bus."
They exchanged an awkward, stiff hug, with Rademo's hands only going halfway across her shoulders. Lora stepped back and turned to get up on the bus.
"Goodbye, Rademos. I'll return your jacket to you whenever I run into you at school."
"That's alright. Take care, Lora."
Immediately Rademos turned back towards the direction that would take him home; he felt an evil dark force try to break free from within him. The force gripped him so hard that he stood still in the middle of the road while battling it. His honey-colored pupils had gone as dark as night.
"Hey man, get out of the way!"
Rademos felt possessed as he shot out an arm and hit the stranger who just spoke with so much force that he flew across the road and smashed into a glass window.