Cloud - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

"You're hot," Cedric told Cloud when his eyes fell on him.
"Well, thank you," Cloud told him back in surprise. The replica smirked and then licked his lips as his eyes traveled up and down Cloud's body. I looked at them in disbelief.
"Are you single?" Cedric asked him with a predator look in the eyes and, was he seriously flirting with him? That idea did not really please me so I decided to intervene. I walked to Cloud and grabbed his face before slamming my lips against his. He was taken by surprise by my sudden action but quickly responded to the kiss. Seconds later, I pulled away from his lips and looked at Cedric who was rolling his eyes at me.
"Well," Cloud said, letting out a laugh in the end, completely lost, "Can I know what's going on here? Why is the replica chained in the basement?"
"He searched for it," I replied before Cedric could say anything, "He attacked Nicolas and I so really, he deserved to be locked here."
At first, when I saw Cedric, I thought that I found myself an ally but he pushed me to the dark side. Following my orders, Calum made sure to chain him with special chains that block his powers, thus preventing him from going anywhere and attacking us again unexpectedly. Thankfully, Nicolas was alright, he just received a really big hit and me, I was slowly healing from the blows that I received.
If I could, I would gladly make Cedric suffer for every punch and kick that he gave me but I needed to keep my calm and try not to kill him myself. He was my lost hope after all. He was the last thing preventing the Vins from coming to get me. If he was to die, his powers would come to me and the Vins would come for me and I really wanted to avoid that.
I did not really know what I needed to do now that we got Cedric but we needed to make a plan for our next move. I also couldn't forget the fact that somewhere was hidden some part of the original's power. Was that power really necessary though? Did Vance know about them? In any case, I needed to make sure that the original never finds them or even worst that he gets released.
"I can't believe it. I left the house for a few hours and this is what happened. The replica became crazy and attacked you," Cloud said, looking at my still bruised face. "You are supposed to be the stronger one, Luffy."
"Hey! I tried to attack him back but his powers overcame mine," I defended myself and he rolled his eyes.
"How is that even possible? You have the powers of two replicas reunited and Estella said that they caught that replica without any problem," he informed me and it was not really my fault that things turned out the way they did. Cedric played the card of the weak little being with me. He acted so scared and then suddenly jumped on us like some mad animal.
"Hey, sexy, don't call me replica, my name's Cedric," Cedric told Cloud, completely ignoring me and I couldn't believe my own ears, "I'm not the double of anyone. I'm me and I will do everything in my power to be the only one left."
"Oh, don't tell me that you planned on killing me?" I asked him, incredulous and he hummed, a not so warming smile coming on his face.
"Don't worry, when I will finally escape from here, I will make you pay," he affirmed me and I stepped away from his cell.
"Cloud, let's go before I decide to kill him first," I said, giving Cedric the murder look and he laughed.
"Oh, don't leave, sexy," he pouted and angrily, I grabbed Cloud's arm and then dragged him away from here before he could reply anything to Cedric.
When we were finally back in the hallways, I let go of Cloud, an angry expression on my face.
"I can't believe that damn shit!" I exclaimed and he only shrugged in response. I looked at him, speechless. "Why did you let him talk to me like that?"
"I thought that you could defend yourself on your own," he said. "I'm letting you spread your wings and fly like the big boy that you are."
"I know that I told you that I could defend myself but if someone threatens to kill me, I expect you to have some sort of reaction," I told him and I hit him on the chest, "That's your job. You are supposed to care about my well-being and you are also supposed to not flirt with people who tried to kill me hours ago."
"Hey, he was the one flirting, not me," he protested and he seemed suddenly amused, "But don't tell me that you're jealous, Luffy?"
I huffed and rolled my eyes, "I'm not jealous! I just don't like the fact that he is flirting with my boyfriend so openly."
My eyes widened when I realized what I just said and Cloud smirked. He came closer to me and I lowered my eyes in embarrassment. Dear god, I couldn't believe that I just called him my boyfriend. I never admitted such thing in front of him before. He never even said that he considered me this way. What an idiot I was!
"Luffy, I don't recall agreeing to be your boyfriend," he told me, that amused expression still on his face and I gulped.
"Well, that talk that we had in the bedroom says it all," I told him and he chuckled.
"Really?" he asked me as he leaned forward and I nodded timidly.
"Yeah, we're boyfriends," I agreed and I added quietly, "Unless you don't want it maybe?"
"I'm not really boyfriend material," he said and then he smiled at me, "But I wouldn't mind being yours."
That was one way of surprising me and before I could reply anything to that, Estella suddenly made an appearance, interrupting our moment.
"Cloud, I'm going out," she stated out loud, placing her hands on her hips. She did not seem to notice that she came at the wrong time. "I'm hungry and I need to find something to eat."
Cloud let out a sigh, rolling his eyes, "I don't see why you need to tell me that. Just don't forget to get rid of the body after and don't let anyone see you."
"Don't worry, there will be nothing left after I finish eating the soul," she said, licking her lips and I frowned.
"Wait, where are you going to find a soul to eat?" I asked her in confusion and she looked at me like if it was obvious.
"Well, there are a lot of human souls roaming around. I'm sure that I will find what I need," she affirmed me.
"You can't kill people!" I told her and she was the one to frown. "No, no way! Why don't you eat the souls of the dead?"
"I can't see dead souls," she reminded me, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that they would suck if I could eat them. I prefer light and innocent souls so excuse me but I'm going to find someone who fits those requirements."
She turned around and walked away without another word but I was not going to let that happen.
"Wait, I'm coming with you," I told her but Cloud stopped me.
"No, Luffy, let her go," he said and I pushed him away.
"I'm not going to let her kill someone who doesn't deserve it," I told him, "We'll talk later, I promise."
I kissed him on the cheek and ran after Estella. That girl was pretty fast but I succeeded to catch up with her at the front door. She was getting on her bike. She rolled her eyes at the sight of me and continued to put on her helmet.
"Go away, Luffy, there is no way for you to stop me from feeding," she said, "When you're the one hungry, I don't prevent you from eating whatever you want."
"Take me with you then," I told her, "Just let me see how you hunt for your food."
She looked at me with a thoughtful expression. I thought that she would just start the bike and drive away but she simply nodded before removing her helmet and handing it to me. I stared at her for a few seconds before finally doing something. I grabbed the helmet and put it on and then got on the bike behind her.
"You can hold on to me if you need to," she informed me and she turned on the engine. It roared loudly and she hummed in satisfaction. Then without any warning, she drove away and I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist in fear. She did not try to be cautious and just speed up without any care in the world.
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Half an hour later, and thanks to the lord above, Estella parked her bike in front of what looked like a bar. I immediately got off the bike, my legs trembling from the long ride. That girl definitely drove too fast. I thought that she would kill both of us at some point. Many accidents nearly happened because of her during that ride.
"Are we at a bar?" I asked Estella as I removed the helmet off my head. She nodded, getting off the bike.
"Yep, my favorite place of town," she informed me, taking the helmet from my hands. "That's the perfect place to find food."
With that said, she walked towards the bar without even waiting for me. I did not want to be left behind so I quickly followed her and we got inside. The place was, well, populated. There were men mostly and some of them immediately looked in our direction when we entered, their eyes traveling over Estella's body like if she was a prey.
Funny thing, they were the ones going to be her prey.
She advanced towards the bar and sat on a long stool, crossing her legs. I went to sit beside her and the bartender soon came to ask us what we were going to drink. I said no to alcohol while Estella took something really strong to pass her thirsty.
"So, who is going to die tonight?" Estella asked herself, looking at the group of people around.
"Those people don't look like nice and innocent souls," I told her and she chuckled.
"Oh, don't worry, who I'm searching for will soon come. They always do," she assured me as she drank from her glass.
"Do you kill often?" I asked her and she hummed longingly.
"About thrice a month," she replied. "I can control myself for quite a long time actually. Though, my hunger sometimes gets too strong and it's better for me to eat than to lose my mind."
"Have you ever tried to eat the soul of someone who is near death?" I asked her then and she grimaced.
"It's like eating rotten food," she said, "Don't get me wrong, I sometimes pity the people that I ate but I don't really have any other choice."
"We always have the choice," I told her and she looked at me weirdly. She raised her hand, mentioning the bartender to serve her another drink.
"You are really strange, Luffy. You talk like if you are someone nice and defenseless when in fact you are dangerous for everyone around you. Do I need to remind you that you killed before?"
"I did not do it willingly," I raised my voice and she emptied her second glass. "And I promised myself to never do it again."
She let out a laugh, "Impossible. Once you killed someone, you will most likely do it again and again and as time will pass, you will get used to having blood on your hands. Believe me, things are always like this. Your little boyfriend is the perfect example."
"He doesn't kill anymore," I told her and she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please, I know him better than you do and I can assure you that he will kill again," she said and she ordered another drink, "That's just him and no matter what you do, Cloud's dark side will always get back to the surface. Even you won't be able to change him. That's a fact."
"I'm not trying to change him," I made it clear to her, "Not anymore at least. I accepted how he is."
"Really?" she questioned me. "You don't seem like it to me. I'm pretty much sure that you won't be able to take all of him. Not everyone can bear with him for long."
"And how long have you bear with him?" I asked her, not really liking the way she was talking to me.
"Since he killed my whole family," she replied and the words that she added next surprised me even more, "Since I was a little kid, I knew that I wasn't normal. My family knew my true nature and they were scared of me so they pushed me away, they denied my existence and I ended up on the streets. I had to take care of myself. I learnt to make myself survive in this world. I killed and was scared of what I could do. Though, as the years passed, I became stronger and I decided to pay my family a little visit but when I arrived at our village, I found all of them dead. Every last one of them, including the other villagers and it was Cloud's doing. Does that story ring a bell in your head?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her in confusion and she laughed.
"Eden was actually my neighbor," she said with a pleasant smile on her face and my eyes widened. "When I left my village for the first time, he was still a little baby and when I came back to take my revenge, I discovered that he was the reason behind everyone's death. Isn't that great? I searched for the culprit of all those death and I ended up meeting with Cloud who quickly became my best buddy. I like his dark side and he tried to fight it many times without any success. He can't change, I've seen it with my own eyes; he loves the darkness."
She stood up and stretched her body, informing me that she was going to pee. I watched her walk away in the direction of the toilets and I couldn't stop thinking about what she just told me. She did not seem to feel sad over her family's death. She did not seem to care that Cloud killed her entire village.
Did the rejection of her family do that to her?
Judging from the way she was speaking, she seemed to love the fact that Cloud kill people. Maybe she did love it. I did not know her at all. I never got the chance to have a real talk with her until today and really, I was not enjoying the talk that we were having.
Minutes passed and I continued to wait for Estella to return. I was getting impatient and I was feeling uncomfortable being left alone in that place. My eyes looked around and I caught a few eyes on me and that made me get on the defensive mode. After twenty minutes, there was still no sight of Estella so I decided to go search for her.
I hesitantly got off my stool and walked in the direction of the toilets. I quickly found myself in front of the women's toilets and after much hesitation, I knocked on the door, asking if there was someone inside. I got no reply. With slow steps, I walked inside. The floor was wet and kind of dirty and strangely, I was not even surprised.
"Estella?" I called out her name but no one replied to me. I decided to check the cabins but they turned out to be all empty. I was confused.
Where the hell did she go? She told me that she was going to the toilets, right? Then where was she? I continued to think with a frown on my face when I suddenly realized something and I slapped myself on the forehead. God, she freaking tricked me! She must have surely sneak out to eat someone's soul! Damn it!
I quickly got out of here and looked around the bar but of course, I did not find her. Mentally cursing myself, I walked out of the place. Thankfully, I found her bike still outside and I concluded that she must surely be somewhere nearby. Though, where to search? I did not know this area. Letting out a sigh of frustration, I searched for my phone but I quickly realized that it was not with me.
"Damn it!" I exclaimed out loud and my eyes suddenly fell on a group of guys. They were coming in my direction and I got out of their way, thinking that they were going inside of the bar but before I even knew it, I was being surrounded.
I looked around myself, completely lost on what was happening. Just when I decided to ask them what they wanted, they all attacked me. I was unprepared and they took me unexpectedly. I succeeded to push all of them away using my powers but that did not stop them from counterattacking.
One of them succeeded to sneak behind me but before I could even turn around to see who it was, something was being suddenly inserted in my neck. It felt like a syringe and whatever I got injected with paralyzed my body. I felt heavy. My strength left me and my vision got blurry. I felt my body fall forward and I hit the ground, my mind going blank.