30 Pointless

Under his piercing gaze, Ophelia held her breath to prevent her chest from heaving. Gods! What was going on? His eyes remained unblinking throughout, but she was blinking nonstop.

Of course! She felt it!

She wanted to ram her lips into his and indulge in his flavor for a very long time. She was quite tempted to charge at him. She was growing enraged and confused at this point. She was confused by the fact that she was drawn to him even though they were not meant to be together forever and enraged that she was losing herself.

"You have every right to feel confused." Nikolai said in a mellow voice. He leaned in closer while she pushed her back further into the wall.

Ophelia bit her lip and made an attempt to move her hands, but his hold just became firmer.

Nikolai stared at her like she'd disappear if he blinked. He was beginning to make her feel uneasy. When she turned her head away, allowing their noses to touch, he stiffened.

Ophelia closed her eyes as their contact caused her face to become incredibly red.

"Pl..please stay away," As she began to stutter, her stomach started to churn violently, and her eyes sprang open in shock.

"Alright," Nikolai smirked, his eyes shimmering dimly.

Rhaziel approached them at that very moment, and upon witnessing their stance, he gave a slow nod and shook his head in utter surprise.

"Will you two continue acting in such a manner, or will we carry out our intended mission?"

"I'm carrying out my intended mission here." Nikolai said.

"I'm not, obviously." Ophelia mumbled and turned to face Nikolai, who was staring at her intently with his head inclined to the side.

"I'm beginning to feel uneasy around you." She added.

"My specialty." Nikolai proclaimed.

In order to feed her, he wanted to finish this quickly. When her stomach growled in that manner, he genuinely restrained himself from laughing. Without taking his eyes off of her, he let go of her hands and moved away from her.

Ophelia stroked her wrists while glaring at him. She ignored the fact that her hands were still bloody and went on to pick up her dagger.

"You bled?" Rhaziel's eyebrows shot up when he saw the blood on Ophelia's hands and the spots that ran down Nikolai's neck and onto his cloak.

He received a blank look from Ophelia, who was clearly not pleased.

"He desired death."

Nikolai snorted. "Funny."

Ophelia tucked the blade down in her coat and glared at Nikolai. "I wasn't attempting to be humorous,"

"Do you really believe I'm afraid of dying, Fire Storm?" She took a step away from Nikolai unconsciously as he asked, his eyes twisting with an odd intensity.

Nikolai, who was staring at Ophelia as if she were the reason for his misfortunes, caught Rhaziel's attention the most of the two. He approached them, standing in the center of them, and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"This is a waste of time." Nikolai glanced away from Ophelia and blinked in response to Rhaziel's grimace.

"Set the example." Ophelia murmured and strode off into the tower's corridor.

Nikolai let out a heavy sigh and moved the hair that had gotten in his face to the back of his head. Nevertheless, they retreated as usual.

"You don't know how to control your emotions from mixing, do you?" Rhaziel chastised.

"What did I do?" Nikolai inquired nonchalantly.

"You looked at her as if she is the reason for your problems." Rhaziel mumbled and folded his arms across his chest.

"She is, though, isn't she?" Nikolai asked with a small smile.

Rhaziel nodded slowly, and the two of them quickly caught up to Ophelia who was standing in front of a long, dark hallway.

In front of them was a hallway with nothing but darkness, but the hallway behind them had fire torches to illuminate the way.

He grinned as he noticed how reluctant she appeared to be to move further. Did she have a fear of the dark? If so, she ought to fear him. He occasionally noticed fear in her eyes. Fear for him. But most of the time, all he saw was her haughtiness and her need for the affection and love she rarely received.

He grasped her hood in his hands. "Are you aware of where you're going?" He questioned her as he drew her close to him and put an arm around her midsection. As her back rubbed against his chest, he chuckled at her rapid heartbeat.

"N..no." Ophelia managed to speak, and she quickly grabbed hold of his fingers in an effort to free herself from his arm's grip.

"She is headed in the right direction." Rhaziel spoke while keeping his gaze set on the shadows, and then, without saying anything else, he entered and vanished from view.

Ophelia gulped. Hard. Not because of what she had just witnessed, but rather because she was back in Nikolai's arms and he was stroking her hair.

"Are you afraid?"

"No."

"Don't tell lies."

Ophelia snorted. "Are you attempting to annoy me?"

"Is it working?"

She growled, "Nikolai," and trampled on his feet. Hard.

Despite his acute discomfort, he pulled her in close and buried his face in her hair instead of letting her go. He cradled her as though she were a therapeutic doll. As though cradling her would lessen the suffering she had brought on.

What was he doing?

"How did it feel to have my blood on your hands?" Nikolai mumbled.

Ophelia stiffened up. His question was so sudden. So unexpected. Why?

"Nikolai, there is no time for pointless questions like this." She managed to speak while squeezing his fingers more firmly.

Nikolai's face darkened. He had received many other kind of insults, but this one from her just cut worse than any other. From so many people, he had always been seen as pointless, but from her...

"Pointless..." Following a brief lull, Nikolai released her from his grasp.

Ophelia gave herself a hug before directing her attention to him. He remained still. He was standing there, expressionless, just staring at her. She gasped when an unusual, spine-chilling smile appeared on his sharp features, and she gradually realized how cruel it appeared.

"You are a switch." Ophelia mumbled.

She was conscious of her actions. However, she didn't believe it was feasible. She had wounded the powerful Nikolai Novikov with one simple word. But was it really simply a word?

"Am I?"

Unconsciously, Ophelia moved away from him. Nikolai approached her yelling danger and she was about to scream bloody murder when a woman's scream caused her to turn her attention to the blackness in front of her.

"What was..."

"Prefect timing." Before she could object, Nikolai grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the shadows with him.