Silence

The night settled in so quickly, Shalei mused as she looked out of the window which now showed nothing of the scenery outside except utter blackness.

It was the intense, blind kind of darkness that almost made Shalei suspicious whether someone played a prank on her and taped her window with black cloth.

However, her doubt was promptly relinquished when she opened the window and found it unlocked. Shalei hesitatingly stretched her hand outside and she let out a quiet gasp as the darkness swallowed around her hand, like hungry carnivores that chomped on the first meat they saw. Shocked, she yanked her hand back and hastily shut the window down, going to sit on the bed instead.

Weird. It was quite—no, very weird. It was quiet around her, not even any signs of activity detected. There wasn't any sound of rustled trees, the wind's whistle, or at least the hum of the car engine afar. It was eerily quiet, to the point where all Shalei could hear was her own breathing.

The room was only illuminated by tens of candlelights, their gleams on the wall overlapped with each other, swaying and flickering like a group of spirits. She stared at them and they stared back at her. Gradually, Shalei felt her heartbeat quicken and sweat covered her palms.

Silence had never been kind to Shalei.

She hated the crowd, hated to be the center of attention knowing that all those people did was to talk about her. Talk about her bizarre hair color, talk about how she was a perfect little doll that her mother moulded, talk about her father's absence. None of them was interesting, yet somehow they made do because what was more exhilarating than gossip about a powerful yet dysfunctional family that looked perfect only on the outside?

Yet there was something more she hated; silence. Silence when everything finally ended and she was left in the comfort of her own room, to let their conversation replay in her mind and gnaw her from inside little by little.

There were too many voices in her head, too many things she preferred to forget, that she wished she could not care but in silence, it never allowed Shalei to do so.

Those thoughts kept her awake for nights and it made Shalei ask herself. Why? Why did she care so much about what those people said? Why couldn't she be nonchalant like how she showed on the outside? The answer came to her, quick and unbidden, so strong that it seemed to have burst out of the deepest recess of her soul.

Because she was afraid that they were true.

That she, Shalei, was a mistake; that her presence made everything worse. Made her father lose a home, made her mother lose a husband and a loving family, made her family break apart.

Look at her now, kidnapped and stranded in an unfamiliar land, with a group of people — although she had only met two — that seemed to treat her with too much respect and politeness which she didn't deserve. How long would they welcome her presence? How long would it take for Shalei to keep herself out of mess until one day, they finally snapped and dropped their facade?

What was her mother doing now? Was she on her way to fulfill the ransom notes? Had she barged into her school in fury and demanded the teachers to take responsibility for taking their eyes off her? Had her secret place been discovered? Did her father even know that his daughter had been kidnapped? Had the rumors of her disappearance made it to the upper echelon? Were those people gossiping about her again?

Shalei hit her head with not so little force. "Stop. Stop thinking, Shalei."

But she couldn't. She couldn't help herself. The questions swirled in her mind, it was so loud and demanding. Shalei felt like she was going to go crazy soon if she let herself brood in this room for a second more.

Thus, spurred by the heat of the moment, she left the bed to tear the door open and almost tripped on her feet in the utter darkness.

Holy… why was it so dark?! She couldn't even see her own hands in front of her! The candles inside the room could barely illuminate half of the space in front of the door. The rest of it was… darkness.

With an annoyed huff, Shalei returned to grab one candlestick before she made her way out, relying solely on her memory and instinct to guide her to where she wanted to go.

She walked slowly, one arm holding onto the wall for support.

There was a — her ears perked up — rustle in front of her. A sound similar to footsteps but not quite. Brisk, lighter and uniformed. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Shalei had heard this before. She frowned, trying to dig her memory on the sound that was coming closer and closer.

She held the candle as far away as she could in front of her and demanded. "Who's there?" No answer. She took a guess, because who else would be wandering around except for the other occupant of this floor? "Seth, is that you…?"

The light taps abruptly morphed into a series of footsteps, now she was sure of it. So what was the sound before it? Her brows knitted but before she could ponder it further, a pair of naked feet stepped into the circle of light, followed by long legs covered by loose sweatpants that hung low on the person's hips, firm abdominal muscles and broad chest. Shalei's head snapped up to meet the person's iridescent blue irises and her breath was promptly stolen away. "Seth…?" She looked at the man in front of her in disbelief.

"Your Excellency," Sebastian replied, his voice lower and deeper than usual. And was it only her imagination that Sebastian's pupils looked like slits for a split second? "My apologies for appearing in such an unsightly state. This humble one heard your call, what can this humble one do for you?"

He was walking around the hallway shirtless, the fact slowly registering into Shalei's mind. She should have been awed because Sebastian's body was just as sexy as she imagined, filled with pack muscles that encompassed his strength and lines of scars that told millions stories.

The way the flame shadowed the hard ridges and embraced the uneven lines on his body was purely aesthetic and should be framed as a work of art. Honestly, Shalei was going to dwell in regret for not taking this opportunity to enjoy the exquisite sight longer but— she couldn't take her eyes off the man's arms.

Both arms, which didn't look humane at all. Down from his forearms to the tip of his fingers, the human flesh was merged with the metallic material that was impeccably designed to fit Sebastian's missing limbs. Horror dawned on her as she realized why she had always seen Sebastian in long sleeved wear despite the humid weather and why he hadn't taken his gloves off before.

Shalei could feel her mouth hanging open as she painstakingly dragged her eyes to Sebastian's face. The questions died down in her throat when she took in his furrowed brows and the way he intently focused his gaze past Shalei's shoulder, seemingly waiting for any kind of inquiry she might throw. Everyone had wounds they couldn't disclose so… what was Shalei's right to ask him about it?

She swallowed and offered him a thin smile. "I was just looking for you because I can't sleep. Why don't you accompany me for a while?"