"You're here…" Aimee breathed heavily, staring at him cautiously
"Hmm." Rayden hummed in response.
"I didn't do anything," Aimee said quickly.
Looking past him, Aimee searched for a way out, but Rayden merely tilted his head, his gaze roaming over her small figure as though examining her. He was so tall it felt impossible to escape him, his broad frame completely blocking the stairway behind him.
"Should I ask your friend instead?" he remarked darkly. "It would be nice if she accompanied you in a casket."
"I didn't tell her anything," Aimee answered at once.
"If she's dear to you, you would have turned what you saw into a story to tell her," he said coldly, as though threatening her eased his boredom.
Aimee's eyes narrowed. Didn't he want no one to know what they had both seen and where they had dragged the body?
Even now, Aimee still couldn't believe she had helped drag a dead body. Worse, this man had casually threatened to bury her beside the boy if she ever spoke of it. Since that night, the memory had haunted her in her dreams, leaving her with the feeling that a ghost was following her wherever she went.
As much as she wanted to tell her friend the truth, she wouldn't risk her life for it. It was enough that this person was only threatening her.
"I did not. Why would you want to kill me if I went around telling stories about what I saw? The authorities could have helped," Aimee argued.
"Go on," Rayden replied coldly. "They'd only have the pleasure of silencing you themselves."
"What? They protect innocent people," Aimee defended.
"They make the sheep look black," Rayden retorted coldly. How naive, he thought.
"There are some who are kind… not all of them are scum or m-menaces, you know…" she murmured, biting her lip after speaking back more than she should have.
Rayden, who had looked completely aloof until now, slowly squinted his eyes at her as though measuring how a rabbit dared to talk back.
Earlier, he had been in conference with the ministers. Such symposiums within the university were always initiated by them, under the pretense of ensuring that the institution upheld its values. But Rayden knew better. None of it was ever about preserving principles. It was merely another excuse for them to sink their noses and claws into matters they could not easily access otherwise watching closely for anything, or anyone, that might threaten the fragile peace maintained for centuries.
A peace built upon humanity's ignorance of other creatures, and enforced through the quiet suppression of anything that could ignite another catastrophe.
He sat there idly, letting the time pass, for he had no need to listen to their remarks filled with conceited opinions. If not for his grandfather's childish insistence, he would not have spared even a second sitting among those Machiavellians.
His ears perked up at the ongoing conversation until his gaze landed on the rabbit who had escaped weeks ago. Her eyes wandered around the room in fascination, mesmerized by her surroundings while unknowingly stepping straight into a den of serpents.
The moment her gaze finally locked with his, she froze like a helpless little sheep suddenly realizing it had been seen by a predator ready to devour it whole. Panic flashed across her face before she hurried out of the hall.
Her reaction irked him, yet, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
Afterward, he followed her trail, chasing after the rabbit, until he finally caught her here far beneath the library, just as she was about to enter into another room of trouble.
"Tell them what exactly then?" Rayden challenged coldly.
"T-That we found a dead boy…" Aimee whispered softly. What else was she supposed to say?
"And?" Rayden pressed.
"That… he was bleeding," she answered hesitantly, remembering the horrifying scene. Her mind was still haunted by the sight of the blood pooling around him.
"And?"
"That someone must've harmed him?" she murmured uncertainly, craning her neck to look up at him. Her wide doe eyes searched his face cautiously, as though seeking reassurance that the words she was about to say were right.
"Hmm… then where is the body?" he asked cunningly, his voice patiently cold, waiting for an answer that would give him a reason to dig further beside the boy's grave.
"He's… in the forest…" Aimee whispered, slowly realizing that with those very words, she had trapped herself.
The corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly, almost too subtle to notice. "I see… and how exactly, Ms. Berries?"
One thing Rayden excelled at was twisting people to his advantage whether through words or by breaking their bones.
"Y-You… I carried him there…" Aimee averted her gaze, uncertain whether mentioning him had been a good idea at all. The words left her lips quietly, as though she no longer knew what else she should say.
When no response came, she cautiously lifted her eyes back to him.
He noted the way the girl gulped down her nervousness.
"Let me guess," Rayden drawled coldly. "You'll tell them how you dragged his body into the forest and buried him there. And of course, you can't mention that I was with you…"
A faint smirk tugged at his lips as he leaned closer.
All the blood drained from her face. Gathering herself, she spoke softly in surrender, as though finally realizing how terrible the idea of telling anyone was, "Okay… but I didn't tell anyone. I promise."
Even if she did tell someone, erasing the traces of a dead body was nothing new to vampires—especially to him. It had been practiced for centuries within their world that carefully concealed from fragile humans who could never comprehend its existence.
He could have easily killed the girl. Yet the sight of her nearly fainting at the mere presence of blood had amused him instead. The way her breathing had weakened, the worry written all over her face as she lifted the boy's feet despite clearly not wanting to be involved in something so terrible, it filled him with a quiet, unsettling mirth.
Like an obedient little rabbit dragged into committing a crime she absolutely did not sign up for, she had somehow managed to amuse him.
Though if she ever decided to reveal what she knew, someone as fragile as her would disappear easily. Perhaps not by his hands… but certainly by someone else's.
Their eyes remained locked on each other. His gaze coldly amused, while she stared back with soft, uncertain eyes.
Then, suddenly, the door creaked open. The faint sound snapped Aimee's attention toward the thin slit of darkness beyond it.
Before she could say anything, the door slammed shut again, making her flinch.
Her eyes widened in confusion, wondering if someone had been inside disturbed enough to shut it so abruptly. She turned to Rayden, her expression silently asking if he had seen what she had just witnessed.
"Berries." Rayden's stern voice cut through her thoughts.
"Is ghost real?" she asked innocently.
Ignoring her question entirely, he replied, "Dinner hall. Now."
Aimee didn't need to be told twice. She bolted out of there immediately.
Once Rayden made sure she had left the library, his gaze lingered on the dark oak door. His jaw tightened at the thought that someone had dared to unlock it.
It couldn't be the girl. He had seen the book thrown in her direction, her quick dodge, and her hesitation before she had even managed to push the door open further. Besides, the door was sealed with a spell, impossible for any human to undo.
Lifting his hand, he made a subtle two-finger gesture. At once, the door clicked shut and locked from the inside.