Chapter 22
THE PAINTING
ZARYA’S POV
“Make it fast, Zarya!”
It was hard for me to walk in the middle of the rock. The waves of the ocean were filling my sense of hearing. The touch of the warm air was touching my skin. The heat coming from the sun was making my skin tan.
I was like a dog following King Water. He was going to the Light House, but first, he would meet his friends. When we reached the entrance of the Light House, I was amazed at the design and carves of the woods. The tower was the pattern of red and white. I was so excited because we were going to spend the whole day here. Me, Kastrid, Hali and his friends. He said, those were humans, so do not talk about werewolves in front of them. He said Hali had plenty of friends in the Human World. Luckily, ur life did not meet when I was still living in the Human World. Or if we were, we might be friends at the moment.
“Hali, Buddy!” The happy guy was running towards us. He had two mystery guys behind him and two beautiful women.
“Froy!” Hali was chuckling when he tapped his back and fist bump. What a friend.
“Kastrid…” Froy greeted her and when he looked at me, I just gave him a small smile. “Who’s this beautiful lady? Did you bring her for me?” He leaned his arm on my shoulder.
Hali gazed at me as if he was telling me what should I do if a stranger put a hand on me. I gathered all my strength together and then in one second, Froy was lying on the ground. I overthrew him with all the force. Although, I was still weak. It was enough to knock out a stranger.
“Woah! A great skill!” I thought Froy would be mad for what I did, but he chuckled. Hali offered his hand to me.
“Don’t mess with Zarya. She’s under my training.” Hali pulled him up. The amusement was visible in the eyes of Froy. He gazed at me with a full-pack smile with his white teeth. “I think I’m in love.”
“Bastard!” Hali hit his nape, causing him to laugh so loud.
“Hi.” A woman in a red bodycon dress greeted me. She gave me a friendly peck on the cheek. “I’m Rozella. Hali’s ex-girlfriend.”
“In your dreams.” Hali immediately responded. I thought he was just kidding her.
“Everyone’s Hali’s girlfriend.” The other woman acted as a decent lady. She was wearing white long sleeves and white square pants. Her well-formed sexy tummy was exposed. Her hair was wavy long blonde. She was so nice looking. Surely, everyone would fall in love with her. “I’m Alisha.”
“Nice to meet you, Girls. I’m Zarya.” I gave them my hand and shook it. The two other men came closer to me and told me their names: Tan Tan and Khal. I thought my panties would go down when Khal gazed at me. He never smile or even had an approachable expression, but he looked so freaking madness hot with his think eyebrow with a little slant scar on the eyebrow.
“Your eyes,” Hali whispered to me as we were walking inside.
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“Don’t look at Khal or I’ll remove it?”
I rolled my eyes and passed him by. He was not a king here. It was a Human World and I felt so free! I could now go climb and enjoyed my life even once. Tomorrow would be another day for training again; it means more pleasure sessions when in fact it was not a pleasure to me. More slapping on my poor cheek, push-ups, climbing trees, kicking and all.
I recognized that Kastrid did not know Hali’s name. Most of the time, she was calling him ‘King Water’ or ‘Your Majesty’. She just knew his name because of me. She was not also included to go with us in the Light House, but she acted as if she was the poorest woman ever. Hali had no choice, but to join her in our leaving.
“Hey.”
I almost jump in shock when Khal called me. He walked towards me. Is he a model or a TV show actor? He looked like one.
“Hi.” I formed a grin ear by ear.
“You’re staring at me.”
“Ahm… it’s just一”
“No, it’s okay.” He gestured to everyone in the room. They were all glazing at him with a smile on my lips. “I bet you know me.”
“Huh?” I moved my head up, as well as my eyebrows. How would I know him? This was my first time seeing him.
“In a TV show? I’m an actor and a model.”
“Ahh.” I moved my head in an up and down direction. “That’s why. Your pretty man.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” We walked inside. Our friends were moving in another direction. Kastrid was there, encircling her arms to Hali as if he was going to leave her like a puppy.
“So… when did you meet Hali?”
I was in his side, joining him to walk while we were gazing at the paintings. On the ground, there was an exhibit of arts. Then, at the rooftop, the light, brightening the night was there.
“Ahm… I met him in the saddest part of my life.” I moved my head to the left, looking at the window. In there, the ocean view was fully seen.
“I bet your life is like a cinema.”
I chuckled, bringing him the reaction when someone was joking. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Where do you live in the city?”
“At the Bottom of the Forest, not in the exact city, but now… I have no… home.”
The silence filled the air. I had no idea why I was talking to someone who I did not know yet. Sometimes, I just wanted to say what the content of my heart was. It was so heavy to carry especially when I had no one to tell. Hali was a fully annoying asshole. He did not take things seriously.
“Where is your family?”
“They died… burning.” I managed to put a smile on my lips. I gestured to him to move forwards, so we could look at different arts.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Things can’t bring back when it’s in the past.”
I gazed at the werewolf painting. The background was fire, it was burning with a great blaze. The artist was somewhat good at making a picture, but it looked not emotional. It was just a painting. That was my first impression. I stopped when I recognized the house at his back. There were people, shouting inside there. I thought it was a family. He burned the family.
I blinked and blinked to ease the dizziness on my head. The memories of the night when my family was massacred came, popping up, breaking me until the tears were crawling to my cheek. I could not hold it back. I looked at my side, finding where was Hali. When my eyes caught him. I called him.
“Hali!” I ran towards him. I was about to reach him when I dropped. That painting reminded me of my family. I could not stand staring at it, causing me to collapse.NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
“Zarya!”