The night was still, but his mind was anything but. Aonmi stood alone in the clearing, staring after Amanda's retreating figure, his body rigid with tension. His breath came in short, uneven bursts. His hands still tingled from where he had grabbed her. From where she had shoved him away.
She doesn't understand.
She never has.
His fingers curled into fists at his sides. He had to find Addison. She needed him. No one else would protect her, not like he could. Not like he should.
A gust of wind rushed through the trees, rustling the leaves above him, and for a brief moment, the night wasn't so empty.
For a moment, he wasn't here.
For a moment, he was back there.
Years ago.
She was younger then. So was he.
They sat beneath a tree, the golden light of sunset washing over them. Addison leaned against the trunk, her green eyes distant as she watched the leaves sway. Aonmi sat beside her, silent, just as he always was when it was just the two of them.
"Do you ever wonder what it'd be like?" she murmured, her voice soft.
He tilted his head. "What?"
She pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin against them. "To just... disappear. To leave everything behind and go somewhere else. Somewhere no one knows you. Somewhere safe."
Aonmi didn't answer right away. He just watched her, his violet eyes searching her face.
"...Would you take me with you?" he asked quietly.
Addison turned to look at him, blinking in surprise. Then, a small smile tugged at her lips.
"Of course I would," she said.
His heart clenched.
She meant it. He knew she did.
Back then, Addison had been his safe place.
Back then, she hadn't looked at him with hesitation. With fear.
Another time.
The rain poured in heavy sheets, drenching the ground beneath their feet.
Addison stood at the edge of the old wooden bridge, her hoodie soaked through, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth. Aonmi stood a few feet away, watching.
"You shouldn't be here," she had said, her voice barely audible over the rain. "Amanda will be mad."
He had stepped closer anyway. "I don't care what Amanda thinks."
Addison exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "You should. She's my sister."
Something in him twisted at that.
"But I'm yours, too," he had whispered.
She froze.
He took another step closer. "You know that, don't you?"
She swallowed, her fingers tightening around her sleeves. "Aonmi..."
He had reached out then, brushing his fingers over her wrist, feeling the warmth of her pulse beneath his touch.
"I'd do anything for you," he had said, his voice steady, unwavering. "I'd give you everything."
Addison had looked at him then, really looked at him, and for a fleeting second, he saw something in her eyes. Something uncertain.
But before he could hold onto it, she had stepped back.
"...Let's go home," she had murmured.
Now.
Aonmi exhaled sharply, snapping back to the present. His chest ached. His mind burned.
Addison had always been his.
Hadn't she?
He clenched his jaw, his violet eyes darkening.
She was his.
And he was going to find her.
_____________
The night stretched around him, suffocating in its silence. Aonmi closed his eyes, his breath shaking as his mind pulled him further back. Beyond the fights. Beyond Amanda's glares. Beyond even Addison's hesitations.
To the very beginning.
The first time he saw her.
She was small. Smaller than she should've been, curled up under a battered old shawl, shivering in the cold. Her long brown hair was tangled, half covering her pale face. Her lips were slightly parted, her breath shallow.
Aonmi had been just a boy then, no more than eight, standing on the edge of the darkened street, watching.
She looked lost.
Not just physically-something deeper. Like she didn't know where she belonged.
For the first time in his young life, he understood something.
She was like him.
Carefully, quietly, he had stepped closer.
She had flinched.
He froze. Held out a hand. Didn't say anything-just waited.
It took a long time, but finally, she reached out too.
Her fingers were ice-cold when they touched his.
From that moment on, she was his.
The first time she cried in front of him.
They were older now, maybe twelve, sitting behind an abandoned building, hidden from the world. The air smelled like damp earth and rust. Addison hugged her knees to her chest, her forehead resting against them.
Aonmi sat beside her, silent.
She had been quiet all day. Too quiet.
"...Amanda got hurt," she finally whispered.
Aonmi stiffened.
"She protected me." Her voice cracked. "I couldn't do anything. I just- I just stood there."
Aonmi's hands curled into fists. He felt anger, sharp and suffocating, but not at her. Never at her.
She was his. His to protect. His to keep safe.
Carefully, he reached out, fingers brushing against her sleeve. She didn't pull away.
Instead, she turned toward him, burying her face in his shoulder.
And she cried.
Aonmi didn't say anything. He just held her.
And in that moment, something changed inside him.
He never wanted to see her cry again.
And if he had to tear the world apart to keep that promise, he would.
The first time he realized what she meant to him.
They were sixteen.
The world had already started to change around them.
Amanda didn't trust him. She never had.
But Addison did.
Didn't she?
Aonmi had convinced himself of that. Of course, she did.
But then there was that day.
That one, damn day.
They had been walking together, as they always did, when Addison suddenly hesitated.
She had turned to him, something unreadable in her green eyes.
"Aonmi," she had murmured, her voice almost too soft to hear. "Do you ever think... maybe we're not supposed to be like this?"
He had frowned. "Like what?"
She shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. So... close."
Something inside him had snapped.
"...What are you saying?"
She bit her lip, looking away. "It's just-"
"No." His voice was sharp, cutting. "Say it."
She hesitated. Then, slowly, she looked at him again.
"...Sometimes, I think maybe I need space."
Aonmi's breath caught in his throat.
Space?
She wanted space?
No.
That wasn't right.
They had always been together. He had always been there.
How could she-
His pulse roared in his ears.
"...You don't mean that," he said, forcing his voice to stay calm.
Addison swallowed hard. "Aonmi-"
"You don't mean that."
Something flickered in her expression. Something like fear.
His stomach twisted.
He hated that look.
He hated it more than anything.
He wanted to fix it. To erase it.
But he didn't know how.
So he did the only thing he could.
He smiled.
It wasn't real, but she didn't seem to notice.
He would make her understand.
He would remind her.
She was his.
She always had been.
And nothing-not Amanda, not the world, not even Addison herself-was going to change that.
_______________
Aonmi's breath came in slow, measured inhales. His mind reeled from the weight of his own memories, each one binding him tighter, suffocating him in a web of need, of longing, of possession.
He was losing her.
No-he had already lost her.
She was gone. Vanished into the night like a fading dream, slipping through his fingers before he could grasp hold.
And Amanda-Amanda-had dared to stand in his way.
His fingers twitched, the ghost of their fight still buzzing beneath his skin. She had fought with everything she had, but she wasn't strong enough. Not against him.
But she had still tried.
Because she thought she could protect Addison from him.
She didn't understand.
She never had.
She thought he was dangerous.
She was right.
But not in the way she feared.
Aonmi wasn't going to hurt Addison.
He was going to save her.
From the world. From Amanda. From herself.
Because she belonged to him.
He stood at the edge of the woods, the wind howling around him, carrying the scent of rain and earth.
She had come this way.
Alone.
The thought sent a bolt of fury through him. What had she been thinking? Leaving him behind? Running off into the night without a word?
No.
She wasn't thinking.
She was confused. Lost. She needed him to guide her back.
Aonmi's gaze darkened, his violet eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight.
He would find her.
And when he did...
She would never leave him again.
_____________
Aonmi stood frozen in place, his breath shallow as memories clawed their way back to the surface. They weren't just echoes-they were alive, raw, unraveling before him as if time itself had begun to fracture.
A girl with wild brown hair, eyes bright with wonder.
She had been small then, smaller than him, always trailing just a step behind. She was fearless in the way only a child could be, trusting, always trusting.
"You'll protect me, right?" she had asked once, voice laced with innocence.
And he had promised.
But the years changed everything.
He saw her older, stronger, a fire in her spirit that hadn't been there before. She no longer trailed behind-she walked beside him, sometimes ahead. She still smiled at him, still trusted him, but there was distance now. A quiet shift he had never been able to understand.
Then came the night when everything shattered.
Blood.
Not hers. Someone else's. He had done it for her.
She hadn't looked at him the same way after that.
"Aonmi... what did you do?"
She had stepped back. Not toward him. Away.
And that was when he knew.
She didn't see him as her protector anymore.
She saw him as something else. Something dangerous.
Even now, standing in the present, Aonmi's fingers twitched at the memory. His breath hitched, his grip tightening at his sides.
"You left me," he whispered into the emptiness. His voice was hoarse, his pulse roaring in his ears.
Addison was out there now. Alone.
And he would find her.
No matter what.