Chapter 25: Hard To Love
When Kael turned seven, every single moment became a hunt.
He walked alone, a heavy shroud of sadness clinging to him. He couldn't understand why nobody would get close to him—why there was no one to laugh with him, no one to love him, and no one to offer a hand of support. He was a ghost in his own life.
As he walked, the sound of footsteps approached from behind. Kael turned, his gaze meeting the stranger with all four of his eyes.
That pressure alone was enough to freeze the man in his tracks; being stared down by those four eyes felt like a weight the world couldn't carry. Sensing the fear, Kael simply turned and walked away.
Further down the path, he saw a girl from his clan buying dango. Seeking a spark of connection, he approached her softly.
"I'm Kael Draven," he said, his voice hopeful. "What's your name, miss?"
The girl looked at him, her eyes beginning to soften for a fleeting second. But then, someone leaned in and whispered a jagged word into her ear. Her expression went cold. Without a single word of answer, she turned and walked away.
Kael's heart shattered. His hands began to tremble, vibrating with a pain he couldn't name. He retreated to a dark, isolated room, collapsing into the shadows. He cried as much as he wanted to—a hollow, aching sound that lasted all through the night.
"Why does nobody love me?" he sobbed into the dark. "Am I so hard to love? I wanna die... someone please, just kill me. Why does nobody take care of me like they do the others? Am I impossible to love? Am I so different?"