They talked for hours, and for once, it wasn't about blood, death, or survival. It was casual, surprisingly wholesome, and informative.
Nadya, however, didn't last long. Somewhere between Kai's questions and Isaac's long-winded responses, she got bored and dozed off, curled up against the balcony railing with an empty bottle loosely gripped in her hand.
Meanwhile, Kai absorbed everything like a sponge. Most of what Isaac spoke about was new to him, gaps in his knowledge that he hadn't even realised existed. He felt clueless about the world outside the facility, and every piece of information helped piece together the fragments of what little he could recall.
Eventually, Isaac let out a long yawn and stretched. "Alright, I'm done for tonight. We can pick this up another time."
Kai nodded, still wide awake despite the late hour.
Isaac gestured toward Nadya, still dead asleep. "Do me a favour - take her to her room. It's cold out here, and leaving her on the balcony would be a bit cruel, don't you think?"
Kai was about to refute, but before he could, Isaac lifted his left sleeve slightly, where his arm should have been. "Can't do it myself, can I?"
He exhaled through his nose, running a hand through his hair before crouching down and hoisting Nadya into his arms. "She's… um, not light," Kai muttered with a wry smile.
If she had been awake to hear that, she'd probably kill him.
With careful steps, he carried her inside, navigating through the dimly lit hallway to her room. The moment he kicked the door open, an overwhelming stench hit him - a pungent mix of alcohol and perfume, in an attempt to mask the smell.
Her room was a mess. Clothes were tossed haphazardly across the floor, empty bottles cluttered the bedside table, and there was a distinct burn mark on the wall that he didn't even want to ask about. The place was chaotic, unorganised - just like her.
Kai stepped over a pair of discarded boots and set her down on the bed. After slipping off her shoes, he pulled the covers over her.
But just as he turned to leave, a hand latched onto his shirt.
"Hey… why don't you spend the night?" Nadya's voice was soft, drowsy, but unmistakably teasing.
Kai froze.
She was barely awake, her words slurred, but there was just enough clarity to make him question whether she was joking or not.
Tempting? Sure.
But he remained unfazed.
"I'm good," he replied flatly, stepping back until she let go. Without another word, he slipped out of the room and shut the door behind him.
As soon as he left, Nadya chuckled to herself, rolling onto her side with a lazy grin.
"He's kinda cute… maybe he's not so bad after all…"
Then, within seconds, she had already dozed off.
Kai, on the other hand, couldn't sleep nearly as easily.
After the nightmare he'd had last time, he wasn't eager to close his eyes again. It felt like it was lurking in the back of his mind like a trap, waiting to drag him back into the darkness.
Not to mention - Nadya snored.
Loudly.
Through the thin walls of their adjacent rooms, the noise made it impossible to even attempt to rest.
So, instead, he sat on the edge of his bed, scrolling through the phone Isaac had set up for him. Searching, reading, absorbing as much as he could about the world that he had no recollection of...
-
Darkness.
A pool of blood - warm, thick, endless.
Kai trudged through it, his breath heavy as he fought against the rising crimson tide. It lapped at his knees, then his waist, then his chest. The deeper it became, the harder it became to wade through.
The void stretched infinitely in every direction, suffocating and absolute.
Then the whispers began.
Figures emerged from the blackness, shifting and flickering - phantoms with blurred faces, yet somehow familiar. They surrounded him, drifting closer with each breath. Their hands, pale and lifeless, reached out, clawing at his skin.
The blood kept rising.
The whispers turned to murmurs. Then to screams.
A sharp, manic laughter cut through the chaos, echoing endlessly.
Nyx.
Kai's breath quickened. The phantoms clung to him, pulling him down, dragging him deeper into the thick, suffocating pool. The more he struggled, the heavier he became.
His limbs wouldn't move. His lungs burned.
He was drowning.
-
Kai shot upright with a gasp, sucking in air like he had just surfaced from the depths of an ocean. His heart pounded against his ribs, sweat clinging to his skin as his breath came in ragged bursts.
The room was dark, the silence pressing against his ears. But his body still felt it. The weight. The whispers. The cold hands pulling him down.
"Tch." Kai ran a hand through his damp hair, exhaling sharply. "Same damn dream…"
The nightmare had changed, though. The phantoms were clearer this time. Their outlines sharper. The details almost within reach.
But still not enough.
With a frustrated sigh, Kai pushed himself out of bed, his body tense with lingering adrenaline. He needed to wake himself up.
The bathroom tiles were ice-cold beneath his feet as he stepped into the shower, twisting the knob all the way to cold. The freezing water crashed down over him, shocking him back to reality.
As the chills spread through his body, the weight in his chest finally began to ease.
After drying off and getting dressed, Kai left his room, stretching out his stiff muscles as he wandered through the quiet halls. The living quarters were silent, with no one around.
He knocked on Isaac and Nadya's bedroom doors, to no response.
His stomach twisted, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the day prior, and most of what he had eaten was vomited out. He made his way to the dining area, spotting a large bowl of fruit sitting on the table. Grabbing an apple, he took a bite, chewing slowly as he made his way outside.
He needed fresh air. And, more importantly, he needed time to think...