Chapter 251: You Are The Shadow To My Light
If anything, they were staring at each other, one with a pitiful face and the other with a face that screamed murder. Even then, the knocks outside didn\'t subside, but then the women had more important things to think of, yeah?
"You scream like a girl," Hawi said and Malika threw her blades on the side as she dragged Hawi up, forcing her to stand next to the wall, her giant sheath still in her hands, like she hadn\'t just chopped Malika\'s old hair off.
Oh, but it was a lot of hair and Malika is probably right to be murderous right now. However, instead of worrying, Hawi was smiling toothily like she had achieved something that no one ever had.
Of course, she had.
"Uhh… hello? Do I look like a man?" Malika asked disbelievingly and Hawi gently patted her on the shoulder as if that was used to make it better.
"Well, you don\'t need to be sad. It will make a good addition to the mountain over there, right?" Hawi said as she leaned to the side to see her white hair that had piled up. They had messed up this suite, but then that was a problem for another time.
"I\'ll kill you today," Malika said and Hawi smiled before she ran off, making sure to get another chunk and Malika was done with her.
"You didn\'t have to make it so terrible!"
"It will grow back, you\'re immortal!"
"You did not just play the immortal card with me you—"
"Aren\'t you? Besides, look at how pretty it is," Hawi said as Malika tried to get her hair into her usual thick bun, but there wasn\'t much left, thanks to Hawi\'s rough cuts.
Well, they had quite the bonding session, didn\'t they?
"Anyone there?" Jer\'s voice called out in the distance and once again the women just went on with their bickering over whose hair would grow fast. By the time they were done, Malika was the one with a buzz cut.
She looked different and damn pretty with it, but it was so new that anyone who knew her wouldn\'t know her immediately.
"Go open the door and scare that little shit," Hawi said and Malika rolled her eyes at her.
"Great. Because I\'m the one looking like a tired Hera the goddess, no?\' Malika whined.
"You\'re beautiful. Besides, Elodie will like the buzz cut on you. You look perfect, so very perfect," Hawi insisted as she made an okay sign with her hand.
That was when Malika knew this woman was fucking with her. She had shaved years of hair and now all that was left wasn\'t even fitting into her regular buns.
"Mask on or off?" Malika asked and Hawi stared at her as if to ask where the mask would come from.
When they had left the camp for this place, they hadn\'t carried anything. It was just the two of them and the clothes they wore — which were currently bloodied, given they decided to say hello to Razia again in the past few minutes.
This duo was crazy, another level of unhinged, but nothing could beat what Malika was suggesting.
"I made a beautiful mask, right?" Malika asked as she grabbed a mask from the ground, only for Hawi to see that it was made of both their hair and the broken scissors. She wasn\'t sure they had gotten this unhinged, but was it too late to seek help?
"What?"
"Do you not like it?"
"Are you sure we\'re not supposed to be committed to a psych ward?"
"Don\'t you want to see the look of horror on his face?"
"Well…"
"Exactly, so which color should the hairy mask be?"
"Red, white, and black," Hawi said and Malika found a perfect mess of the colors and cast it on the mask. When she put it on, she looked like a low-budget Harley Quinn with a mix of Anakin Skywalker.
"Great, I\'ll go open the door he wants us to open badly," Malika said and right before she could pull the door open, Hawi stopped her, making her stare curiously. The plan was going on so well, so why were they stopping?
"That\'s too easy for him. I say we make cackling sounds and hunting sounds, then you will send out an illusion of you… the Malika he knows, and scare the hell out of him. He might die of a heart attack, but he will eventually die, so it doesn\'t really matter," Hawi explained gladly.
"Alright, but if he punches me in the face, I\'m telling you to Rukiya. I\'ll tell her how you made me cut your hair, and how we failed. I\'ll also tell her how you haven\'t eaten since we got here, and how you were not exactly a nice person to me," Malika said.
Hawi stared at her protector with disbelieving eyes. She couldn\'t believe this woman had threatened her with Rukiya of all the people. That was easily the cruelest thing Malika could have done to her, given how protective Ruru was over Hawi.
"You wouldn\'t dare," Hawi said and Malika just shrugged at her.
"Oh, yeah? You did cut off my hair. And she\'s the only one who can kick your ass better than all of us. Wanna bet?" Malika stated, as she showed Hawi her tongue like they were ten years old.
"Aren\'t you supposed to be my protector or something? Why would you want Ruru to punish me?\' Hawi fake-cried, as she looked at a stoic Malika who was staring at the door as if to remind Hawi that they had a Jer to scare off.
"Is that supposed to make me change my mind?"
"I thought it would."
"Well, it didn\'t. Now get off, I have a job to do."
"I\'ll go," Hawi said, making Malika stop.
Malika removed the mask off her face, before she looked at Hawi, all hints of mischief gone from her face.
"What," Hawi asked when she saw Malika\'s face change.
"Hawi… You\'re not ready for that. You\'re still hurting and we still haven\'t gotten answers from Razia. If I let you meet him, nothing will be the same and we need to come at him with all the answers.
"He won\'t die, I already cast a life-force spell on him, unless the person killing him is you. But Hawi, you can\'t go out there," Malika explained softly as she looked at Hawi who was staring at the huge door stand between Jeremiah and her.
She knew Malika was right and as much as she wanted to say that this wouldn\'t affect her, even she knew that she would be gravely affected. The man had killed her mother and she wasn\'t even ready to process that truth yet.
Razia\'s explanations had fucked her up one too harshly. That much was obvious if they had spent the past few hours playing dress-up and games of haircuts. She wasn\'t ready.
"Fine… you\'re no fun," Hawi said and Malika just pulled her into a hug. This time, however, Malika didn\'t absorb Hawi\'s pain, she knew Hawi needed that pain and anger to fuel her, besides, Hawi had Malika to keep her sane just in case.
"You wish. So, are we ready to do this?"
"More than ready!" Malika said and Hawi ran to hide while she opened the door.
"Boo hoo!!"