Kimi's POV
The soft brush of her fingers, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear, sent a shiver down my spine. My heart hammered against my ribs, an erratic drumbeat. I couldn't explain the longing that blossomed in my chest, this intense desire for her touch. "Shall we?" she asked, her voice pulling me back from the edge of a dream. "Yeah," I managed, a breathy reply, and we started towards the park. Her hand slipped into mine, a spark leaping between our skin, and my heart took flight. The warmth of her grip was intoxicating, a comforting weight that anchored me to the moment.
"We're here," I said, glancing at her, a nervous flutter in my stomach. We settled onto a bench, and the conversation flowed easily. But then, a question bubbled to the surface, a desperate need to know. "Were you at my ceremony?" I asked, my gaze fixed on her face, searching for a clue. "Yeah, I was. Your parents and sister were at mine, too. But I guess you didn't realize you were a vampire until the ceremony." The casual revelation that my family had witnessed her transformation stunned me. It added another layer to her mysterious allure.
"Why do you have a serpent tattoo?" I asked, the question a whisper.
"Once you become a vampire, you gain one, except for your family." Her tone was matter-of-fact, but I couldn't help but wonder at the significance of it all.
"When did you first realize you were a vampire?" I mirrored her previous question, a need for understanding pushing me forward.
"'From the age of five, I realized I was different from other children. Initially, I struggled with that feeling, but now I embrace it.'" Her words were carefully chosen, yet the sadness that lingered in her voice, the subtle ache in her eyes, betrayed a deeper truth. It felt like she was yearning, beneath a veneer of indifference, for something—acceptance, perhaps, or love.
"How would you define love?" I asked, trying to shift the weight of the conversation, the undercurrent of melancholy making me uneasy.
"Love is a sign of weakness," she declared, her eyes sharp and unyielding. "It can feel like a trap, and emotions are fleeting. One moment I may feel affection for someone, but the next I find their presence overwhelming. To me, love doesn't exist; all I understand are desire, passion, and the pursuit of power."
Her words were like a punch to the gut, shattering whatever fragile hope had begun to bloom within me. Why did her cynicism wound me so deeply? It felt as if she were speaking directly to me, rejecting something I hadn't yet named. Tears stung my eyes. It was absurd; I'd only known her for three days, yet this felt like a betrayal of the deepest kind. Wait. Love? Could this be love?
"How would you define love?" she countered, her question pulling me back into the present, her eyes fixed on mine.
"Love... I could define it as care, affection, and kindness," I began, my voice barely a whisper. "But ultimately, love is the willingness to endure suffering for someone else's sake. It's about ensuring that the person you cherish never sheds a tear because of you. Love has the power to heal all wounds. It means sharing someone else's burdens as if they were your own. Love encompasses joy, sorrow, affection, desire, passion, and kindness. It embodies the readiness to do anything to ease the pain of the one you love. That's my understanding of love." I looked at her then, at Charlotte, and the tears brimming in her eyes mirrored the storm raging inside me. Her gaze, a turbulent mix of sorrow, anguish, and anger, revealed a hidden pain, a secret she was desperately guarding. A wave of unease, sharp and cold as a knife, sliced through me. I desperately longed to reach out, to take away whatever darkness clung to her, to bear her burdens for her.
Did I… could I possibly be falling for her? This realization was as startling as it was terrifying, a sudden leap into the unknown.