13—Familiar

I woke up to the sound of a doorknob being twisted.

Hushed voices were coming from behind the carved wooden door.

I looked around, surprised to see myself lying in a four-poster bed in the middle of a big room. Little slivers of sunlight passed through the brick-red tapestries draping the tall windows. The dark wooden walls were empty except for a painting of a meadow with red flowers, a hazy red sky and red petals flitting everywhere. It looked strikingly similar to the paradise I had seen on the other side of the door of light that night I drowned.

Vincent sat in a bronze-framed cushioned chair at my bedside. He was fast asleep, his features gentle, innocent, almost angelic as he breathed regularly through his slightly open mouth.

Surprisingly, I found his hand holding mine. When I tried to discreetly pry his fingers one by one off my wrist, he just grunted and tightened his grip.

"Vincent," I whispered, gently poking a finger on his cheek like I would with a rat to check if it's dead.

"Hmm..." he sighed, then went right back to sleep.

Impulsively, I touched his closed eyes, pulled up one of his lids and leaned closer to him so I could see it closer. "Hey, are you there?"

He stirred abruptly, his metallic eyes widening in surprise before scrambling away from me. As he did, his chair tilted backwards and toppled down. Accidentally, he pulled me with him as he fell on his back, his head landing onto the carpeted floor with a soft thud.

I tumbled over him. My face bumped onto his neck. My shoulder ached a little as it slammed hard on his chest, but it wasn't as painful as it was last night.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he grumbled, wincing as his free hand shot up to the spot where his head hit the floor. "And get your hefty butt off me, will you?"

Few locks of my hair fell on his face as I lifted my head over him. His eyes narrowed when our gazes locked.

"The hand please," I said, reminding him that he was still holding my wrist.

Carefully, he let go of me one finger after the other. With the gap of his brows furrowing infinitesimally, he stared at his hand with a look on his face that said "Now why did I just do that?"

"Well, well..." a gruff male voice came from the door. I immediately recognized him as the middle-eastern man I saw with silver-eyed boy in front of Mrs. Thomas' house. "Don't you think it's too early for that?" he snickered, folding a pair of big arms across his wide chest.

"What?" I blurted out curiously, not having a clue what he was talking about.

The man was around six feet and well-built, with brown skin and shortly-cropped dark hair. He wore a black suit now just like when I first saw him.

"Is she awake?" another voice asked, this time from a girl.

The door opened again, then a girl with long raven hair and feline eyes enter the room. As she saw me and Vincent on the floor, she clasped a hand over her lips, gasping in surprise. I remembered Carter telling me that her name was Zhu Xi Mei—Vladimir's girlfriend.

"Oh my," she murmured with a gentle voice.

"I know, right?" the Arab said, nudging the girl lightly. His grin widened, his big brown eyes shifting meaningfully to my face then to Vincent who was lying on the floor under me.

That didn't look right.

Realizing how awkward our position was, I scrambled off Vincent, crawling on all fours in a frantic attempt to untangle myself from his limbs without much success. I felt my cheeks burn, but I tried my best to not show any sign of it.

"It's not what it looks like. I wasn't harassing him or anything," I muttered defensively, watching as Vincent got up from the floor.

A loud hearty chuckle filled the room. Again, it was the Arab.

"Shut up, Amyr," Vincent growled through his teeth, a dark look taking over his pale eyes. Angrily, he ran a hand over his dark wavy hair.

Ugh. Vincent's back to his old grouchy self again. I like him better when he's sleeping.

Amyr, put his index finger up and doubled over, unable to compose himself. "One minute—I just," he managed to blurt out in between the chortles. "I was thinking it was the other way around."

Now that was embarrassing.

After receiving dangerous looks from Vincent and Xi Mei, Amyr held back his laughter, pressing his lips together into a thin line.

All of a sudden, Vincent stormed out of the room without so much as glancing back. He looked really angry as if the only thing that could make him feel better was to tear Amyr into tiny bite size pieces. I snorted at the thought.

"Don't mind Amyr," said Mei Li as she treaded lightly to my side and anchored her petite arm around mine. "He wouldn't be himself if he doesn't get in your nerves every once in a while. I'm Mei, by the way. Zhu Mei Li. We've met before."

"I'm Aram—" I began to introduce myself but she finished it for me.

"Aramis Rayne---I know. You have been quite popular in school," she added nonchalantly.

I sighed, feeling uncomfortable. "Popular? You mean notorious."

"Notorious, famous, popular; all those words mean the same to me." The sincerity on her face was genuine. "I remember an old saying from my mother. It goes like this: I see, I forget. I hear, I remember. I do, understand."

I wasn't sure I was getting what she really wanted to tell me, so I turned to Amyr. All he could give me was a slapdash shrug.

"What? I won't die just because I got no clue what the hell that means. So, whatever," he sniffed.

The uncertainty must have shown on my face because Mei looked me in the eyes and patiently explained. "It only means that only you know who you are. It does not matter what other people talk about because eventually, rumors are just rumors. They are bound to be forgotten."

"Oh... okay," I smiled back, feeling so naïve. "I hope so."

"Now let's get you ready." A radiant smile played on her lips. Then, she threw Amyr fierce glare. "You! Out!" she barked, tilting her dark head to the door.

"Okay, okay! Geez, I'm not Byron Flynn, you know," Amyr muttered, raising both hands up. He was grinning as he slipped out of the door, winking at me as he did.

I could only nod politely in return.

"Who's Byron Flynn?" I asked Mei.

She opened the tall cherry wood wardrobe in the rear of the spacious room—four times the size of my room—and rummaged in it for a while. The next minute was spent with several dresses being flipped and tossed onto the bed. Then Mei hurried back to my side, carrying a pink sundress.

"Byron Flynn is my master's third-rank familiar," she answered, forcibly placing the dress in my arms.

"Master? Is he one of you cult people too?" I stared at the dress for a while, wondering if I would get the hives just by touching it. "Err... pink isn't really my color—"

Her coffee-brown eyes lit up, a smile curving the corner of her lips, snapping . "Oh, I think I have just the thing."

She disappeared into the huge wardrobe again and this time, emerged with a midnight blue baby doll dress with lots of ribbons.

"Okay..." I managed to say with a wry twitch of my lips that was supposed to be a smile. I wasn't really a dress-person but I didn't want to offend her. That seemed like a bad idea at the time considering that I had no idea what on earth she could possibly do to me. And I was alone too.

Before I knew it, I was already being pushed to the door at the leftmost part of the room. To my surprise, the door led to a dressing room with tall mirrors propped on all four walls. Mei drew the crimson curtains hanging from the ceiling and flicked on the light switch. Incandescence spread all around the room.

"Alright, try it out. I will be waiting here," she chirped excitedly.

"Uh... Why am I doing this again?" I protruded my head through the curtain.

Mei's eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her small waist. "Aramis, you will need to look presentable when my master comes home. We do not want to displease the master of the house, do we? Now change. We still have to do something about your hair," she smiled and headed for the vanity, almost skipping.

Mei sure is sweet but somehow threatening at the same time.

I started to undress, noticing that I was wearing a clean night gown when I clearly remembered running off to Vincent's house in a pair of jogging pants and loose sweater. I cleared my throat out loud so Mei would hear me.

"Yes?" Mei asked in anticipation.

"Uhm... who changed my clothes?" I asked uneasily.

"Me, of course. Master Vincent wouldn't do it. I told him that he would have to get used to doing these things by himself since you are his familiar but he still refused vehemently. He is such a child, really. Too shy if you should ask me. My master would not hesitate if it was me in your place," she replied in a matter-of-fact-tone.

I stared at myself in the mirror. It was hard to keep up with what she was saying. And honestly, it didn't make any sense to me.

"Familiar?" I mumbled, tracing the wound on my shoulder with my fingers.

The wound looked as if it was days old. It was a cut less than a couple of inches long just under my right shoulder blade. It was still a bit sore but besides that, I think I would live. I smirked bitterly at the irony—because I was already dead—while I traced my hand on the somewhat invisible marks from my minor injuries. For some reason, they seemed to have healed overnight.

"Yes," Mei answered dutifully. "Did not Master Vincent explain it to you? You, me, Amyr, Byron Flynn, Archie and Rio—we are all familiars."

I tried to match faces with the last three names she had mentioned with no success.

"Rio?" I said as I pushed away the curtains.

Mei stepped behind me to tie the ribbons at the back of my waist.

"Oh, I believe you know her as Rosario Cruz, your Spanish teacher," she said, reeling me to face the mirrors. Pushing the locks of wavy brown hair covering my pale face, she smiled with satisfaction. "There. Perfect."

"And what exactly do familiars do? Like recruit new cult members?"

In the mirror, I saw Mei's forehead crumple, her lips pursed.

"Do you mean you do not really know?" She took my left hand and enclosed it in hers before showing me the markings on the left side of her porcelain neck.

∞XII∞

It was just like the one Miss Cruz had. Just like the one I had. Only, mine was a thirteen instead of a twelve.

There was a tentative smile on Mei's face when she seated me in front of a mirror and started to braid my hair.

"It is not really in my place to explain these things to you, Aramis. I am afraid that would be Master Vincent's concern. Do not worry. I am sure he will enlighten you. I mean, traditionally a Reaper should explain every detail of the bargain to a willing candidate before a contract is signed, but I am very sure the young master has his reasons."

My head was pounding as I opened my quivering lips. "A... Reaper? You mean... like guys in black hooded cloaks who fetch dead people?"

Mei looked even more confused than me. She looked at me like I was talking nonsense.

"You might put it that way, but not quite. Did not Master Vincent tell you anything? Anything at all?" she asked worriedly.

When I shook my head, she smoothed out the crease on her forehead by brushing a dainty hand over it.

"This is not good. Not good at all," she muttered under her breath.

"Am I in trouble or something?" I bit my drying upper lip.

Mei sighed, avoiding my eyes. Silently, she pulled out a pair of black ballet shoes from a drawer. "Size?" she asked, eyeing on my feet.

I barely murmured "Seven and a half," shifting uneasily on my seat.

Her heart-shaped face had a grim look about it like I just committed a heinous crime.

"Thought so. Luckily, Rio's feet are the same size as yours," said Mei. Thoughtfully, she kneeled in front of me to fit the shoes. Once she was done, she got up, her eyes appraising me from head to toe. "Reapers... Let us start with the basics then. There are thirteen of them; Master Vincent being the youngest. Hence, the number thirteen mark on your neck signifying that you are his," she started explaining, meeting my questioning gaze.

"The thirteen siblings are scattered all around the world to carry on their father's work. Each has his own territory over which he can exercise jurisdiction with matters related to Souls and the system by which they travel to the Otherworld. And yes, we do fetch souls every once in a while. There are quite a few that are powerful enough to resist crossing over. But that is not our main concern. You must have heard of our masters' father. Some people call him Grim. Most know him as Death." She said the last word in an undertone, her cat-like eyes flinching a bit. "But you do not want to use that name in front him, or else he will get very... angry. And you do not want him to be angry."

"Grim? As in the Grim Reaper?" My voice shook as I let out the words. I thought my lungs would collapse any minute.

"Yes." She blinked. "Master Pilgrim Titus Reaper, to be exact; the oldest immortal on earth."

"They are... immortal?" I stuttered, my eyes twitching involuntarily as I let her words sink in. It just occurred to me that I kept repeating her words like an idiot so I pursed my lips and let her do the talking.

Seemingly satisfied with her work, Mei sat beside me and stared at her delicate hands, wistfulness evident on her face. "We, Aramis," she corrected me. "We are immortals."

I was literally gasping for air. "If... If we are immortals, then why did Miss Cruz warn me of dying... again?"

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

All the things Mei Li told me about were so surreal. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that these things existed and I didn't know if I could grasp it all in my current state. Before I knew it, I was already hyperventilating, anticipating for the asthmatic attack that never came.

Mei just giggled, appearing more amused than worried that I was starting to lose my mind. "Oh, we could die, alright. And we could be killed, but it would take more than a few stabs and scratches to do that. Besides, we heal quickly."

She picked up two hairpins from the nearby dresser.

"Let's say for example that this is Master Vincent," she showed me the bigger one of the two hairpins. "This is you." She held up the smaller one and handed it to me. Then she made the tips of the two hairpins touch each other while eyeing at the wound in my shoulder. "We heal faster, especially when we are near our masters. When we get assigned in faraway missions wherein we have to be separated from them, we might not be able to use our abilities in their highest potential and healing injuries would take longer. We also tend to get a little weaker by the second."

Absently, I traced the healed gash on my arm. I did feel a lot better whenever Vincent was around me; like I was stronger, like I was invincible... or something.

"And by weaker, I mean in both mind and body. This is the principle, Aramis: the nearer, the better. Last night, it took a lot of persuasion before I could convince Master Vincent to sleep with you so you could heal faster. You have lost a lot of blood. He is just so very stubborn. In the end, we just settled on having him hold your hand," she said pulling the pins apart.

My cheeks started to get warmer. "You m-mean... I have to sleep with him, like—"

Her feline eyes widened, a blush coloring her porcelain cheeks.

"Oh, no. You mean... Oh, heavens no. I mean it like just sleep—sleep. Nothing more..." she sighed. "Imagine yourself as a battery and your master as the charger. If you are to get more life force during certain circumstances—in your case, being gravely wounded—you would need to stay as close as possible to him for your body to heal quickly."

A bashful smile trailed on her lips as she beckoned me to listen closer. Hesitantly, I huddled close to her.

"Although there is nothing wrong if your master asks you to sleep with him, you know," she whispered.

I shuddered, flinching at the thought of actually sleeping with Vincent, whatever that meant.

No freaking way! Over my dead body! Oh, I forgot. I'm already dead.

"You'd actually do that?" I asked frantically, my voice raising an octave higher.

"Of course, it would be an honor. If it is an order then you must do it with all your heart. Or else you will be punished by your Bind..." She pointed a finger to her temple. "The Bind is like a voice in your head that tells you what to do and what not to do. Like a built-in manual."

I nodded, remembering the strange voice that taught me how to use my... claw. "So that's why I keep hearing voices in my head. I thought I was going crazy."

Mei looked me in the eyes. "I do not just say this to scare you, Aramis. Defiance would bring upon excruciating pain. Sometimes, when the offense is so great, you would see illusions too. All your most horrible nightmares will flash before your eyes... you will wish you were dead." Her eyes were glassy as if she was trying to recall a distant, painful memory. "But let's not wait for that to happen, shall we? Be a good familiar and follow your master's orders and everything will be okay... I hope."

I began recalling pain inflicted upon me by an invisible force when I acted all cocky in front of Vincent last time he visited me in the hospital.

"So much for human rights protection," I muttered bitterly. Letting out a deep sigh, I slouched on my seat. Now that I finally discovered the truth, I didn't know if I should be relieved or terrified.

"This Bind... and the contract... There's no getting out of them, is there?" I knew the answer but I just had to ask.

With a look of sympathy, she shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Once a dead person is brought back to life, a contract must be sealed to keep that person alive. After that, there is no turning back. We share the life-force of our masters, because technically, we are already dead. The masters are the ones keeping us alive. If for example—but God forbid—my master dies, Rio, Archie, Amyr, Byron Flynn and I will die too."

"How about me?" I asked wincing.

Mei tilted her head thoughtfully. Then she let out a soft chuckle as though I just said the silliest thing.

"Of course not," she answered. "You are Master Vincent's familiar. He created you. We—Amyr, Rio, Archie, Byron Flynn and I—were created by his older brother. The same principle applies to you and Master Vincent." All of a sudden, a grave look took over her eyes as she turned to face me. "That is why you must in all ways possible protect your Master Vincent. His life is far more important than yours. He dies, you die. Always remember that."

"I suppose I should be learning some kind of martial arts now, right?" I blurted out incredulously.

How could I possibly protect Vincent when I couldn't even open a catsup bottle on my own?

Mei was about to say something when suddenly, her shoulders tensed. She tilted her head to the door. Clearly, she heard something I didn't. Without a word, she stood up and straightened her frilly black dress before offering a hand to me.

"He finally arrives. Come, Aramis," she beckoned me with an expectant smile. "Let us introduce you to my master."