บท 17: Making The Voices Happy

Dimitri stared down at his gun for a second before looking at the dead bodies all around him. As with any individual who uses a gun on a daily basis, he made a habit of counting the bullets, preparing for when he had to change the magazine.

The problem was that he had been separated from his team on a mission, and he didn't have any extra magazines or bullets to change out. He had already used them all up before chaos hit, and there was no way for him to get more.

With every pull of the trigger, he was waiting for the click of an empty chamber, knowing without a doubt that both he and the girl in his arms were looking at their own death. But with every bullet spent, there seemed to be an unlimited one waiting for him.

"Told you," said the girl, the innocent look on her face as she smiled down at him, awoken something he had long thought dead. "I'm more dangerous than I look."

"That you are," he replied. She had a better shot than he did, and that was saying something. In fact, she might even cause Ronan to have a run for his money, and he was the sniper in their group. "But the sun is setting fast. We need to find shelter before there are more zombies."

The girl, whose name he still didn't know, cocked her head to the side as if she was listening to voices only she could hear before pointing down the road a bit more. "There should be a big mall just a bit further. We can sleep there."

Dimitri gently rapped the little Kitten's nose, causing her to scrunch up her face in what had to be the most adorable way he had ever seen.

With a simple nod, he started walking, the girl still held high in his arms, keeping her away from the dirt around them.

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"Are you going to explain yourself, mon ange? Or have you decided to throw us to the side in exchange for this meat sack?" demanded Pride. His hissing voice sent shivers down my back, but not for the reason he was probably thinking. If I didn't know better, I would think that he was jealous.

Cocking my head to the side, Greed interrupted my reply. "There is a mall up ahead," he said, his peppermint breath causing the stress in my body to just melt away. I didn't even know how tight I was holding myself until his voice calmed me down.

Relaying what he had said to Dimitri, I turned my attention back to Greed.

'Where were you?' I asked, my bottom lip coming out in a pout even though I was talking to them in my head. I didn't want Dimitri to think I was crazy, talking to voices only I could hear. It was much too early in our relationship for him to know that about me.

"I'm sorry, Little Bit," purred Greed as Pride let out a scoffing sound. "We're trying to find a missing brother, and we thought we had a lead, but it panned out to be nothing."

My heart broke a bit more at his words. They had left me to find a clue about their brother… I was in danger, and they were nowhere to be found.

Wait, that's a stupid thought and an even stupider feeling. Of course, they would choose a brother over me. What was I expecting? My own mother couldn't get rid of me fast enough; why would my voices want to stay around?

They needed me to act as a middleman between them and the people of this world. As soon as they got enough power, they would leave me…

What else did I expect? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I needed to be smarter if I was going to get through this bullshit of an apocalypse.

"Why did you stop him from making a wish? You need to collect all the wishes you can if you want us to be powerful enough to be by your side. Or was I right about us being replaced?" hissed Pride, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.

"He's mine; you can't have him; I won't give him up," I hissed back, completely forgetting to reply in my head.

The arm holding me to Dimitri's body jerked for a second before he came to a sudden stop.

"What did you say, Kitten?" he asked, turning his attention to me. His eyes seemed to see straight through me, and I took the moment to study him. His black hair was cut short along the sides of his head, while the top strands seemed to be spiked up a bit.

He was covered in tattoos, starting at his neck and working their way down before being hidden under the black uniform shirt. I watched, detached, as he raised a tattooed hand up to my cheek to stroke my skin as if he was just as mesmerized as I was.

The man was nothing short of a work of art.

"Kitten?" he pressed, and I had to shake my head to get the cobwebs out.

"I was talking to the voices," I rushed to say, not thinking about what I was actually saying. I just wanted to make him happy and not lie to him. "They weren't happy about you not making a wish. He thinks that I am choosing you over him."

"Oh?" replied Dimitri as my face turned pale.

Fuck, I screwed up again. This was why I was better off away from people. I had no filter and ended up embarrassing myself with what came out of my mouth.

Now, I was going to spend the next five years, if not longer, mulling over this conversation, reliving it at least ten times a day.

Slowly, I nodded my head, looking down at his boots.

"Should I make a wish then? Would that make the voice happy?" He asked the question as if it was completely normal to hear voices in your head. He didn't drop me or call me crazy. In fact, he didn't do anything at all other than start to walk forward again.