Chapter 214Skin of Anger

Hitori opened the door, surprised to see me. I guess it was surprising for me as well, to return here so soon. The serious look on my face stopped him from hugging me and he just waited, patiently waited for me to speak. In a way I just wanted to hide and lay in his arms. But there simply wasn't the time. There were tougher things to be done.

"I'll explain upstairs."

Hitori just nodded and led the way upstairs. Silently we walked up the stairs and opened the door to his apartment. There was a different sort of laughter inside. Instead of the childish laughter of Nuru and Rain, this was the more grown up giggling of girls having fun at someone else's expense. I wasn't sure if I should have smiled or not.

It didn't matter. As soon as they saw me, they fell silent and just looked at me. Was I wearing a cloak of gloom around me?

At least I had a serious look in my eyes. Something bad was going to happen, but not to us.

I hadn't been paying attention to how they looked much, but now that their faces had the same serious look as mine, I noticed some interesting things. Anka had been packing some of her stuff in a big suitcase, just one, and a small backpack. Khuna and Valerie were sitting next to each other on the sofa, well, Khuna wasn't sitting normally, but turned around to look over the back of the sofa to Anka. I could only imagine what kind of things they talked about.

Something about Anka made me think she was trying to hide something, but I shrugged it off. I was probably being hyper-paranoid because of everything happening so quickly. Time to talk.

With Anka and Hitori? Hmm...

No, I wouldn't drag them into this. The less they knew of this now the better. I would tell Hitori later, tell him everything. But now his worry should be with his sister.

"Eh, I want to tell Khuna and Valerie something, so I'll take them with me in a minute. But Anka, you're leaving tomorrow afternoon?"

Anka smiled a little. "Yes, well, morning actually. So I guess we should say goodbye now?"

I nodded, then smiled. "You're right. Khuna and Valerie too, I guess. Even though you haven't known them for long." I winked to the both of them, having heard Anka's story quite a while ago, but they probably didn't know that. At least, it would be fun if they didn't.

I wanted to give Anka a hug, but it was more like her giving me a firm hug. She kissed me on my lips, swift and soft, slightly surprising me and smiling victoriously. "See you around, Amy."

Before I could respond she was already hugging Khuna and Valerie, who'd stood up for her, together. With one group hug she kissed both of them on their cheeks. It made me wonder why she'd kissed me on my lips...

"Don't forget about me, you two."

Khuna giggled. "Of course not."

Valerie pouted. "What do you think we are? Human?"

Despite myself I laughed. It was the first time I'd heard one of them make a vampire joke like that. It just sounded so wrong in all of the circumstances that it made it funny. Anka smiled as well and went back to her packing. I got the impression she tried to push something out of sight when she opened her large suitcase, but I wasn't sure. It probably wasn't important.

I turned to Hitori. "I don't know when I'll be back. But I will be back and I will tell you everything that's going on. There's reasons why I can't tell you now. But please trust me. I trust you enough to tell you this all before I go."

Hitori just smiled calmly. "You never have to tell me anything, as long as you stay honest to me. Tell things when you want to tell them, at your own pace."

I gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." Then one on his lips that lingered a little longer.

Khuna gave Hitori a quick hug while I waited at the door, then joined me when Valerie did the same. I waved goodbye a final time to Hitori and went downstairs. Outside both Khuna and Valerie were very curious. So of course they started asking...

"Amy, did something bad happen?"

I nodded. "Did Hitori tell you about Rain?"

They both nodded. Valerie added. "A little"

I sighed. "I saved her sister from one of Kryss' group. I remembered him being part of it. He was horribly violent and ripped open her throat before I could truly save her. In the end I wanted to say my farewell and apologies but found her sister there. Rain."

I took a deep breath. "I brought her home and they killed her parents! All to get to me probably."

Valerie frowned. "Why not to just finish the job?"

I hesitated... Should I tell them? "Someone, not entirely aware of herself, told me. Of course I'm not sure if she was talking nonsense or truth, but it was too important to ignore. She told me they weren't hunting for Rain, but waiting for me. They probably guessed that I'd come to her rescue. I guess they were right, of sorts."

Khuna kept very silent, Valerie just nodded. "Alright, so what do you want to do?"

A pause.

"We have to kill them."