Serenity jumped a little. It was only her and Bohai in the room, the rest of the household off doing God only knew what in the assortment of rooms in this great building. She hadn’t expected much dialogue if she wasn’t the one providing it; her slightly elder brother was, if it was possible, even more silent than their baby sister, Peizhi. “What do you mean?” she asked nervously.
“You are not speaking,” Bohai returned plainly. “That is abnormal for you.”
“Oh, I….” she trailed off. Serenity was not in the habit of telling lies, so at the possible risk of her own safety--because who knew what these people would or wouldn’t do, really? They ended lives, it seemed, with Bohai pulling the metaphorical trigger--she spoke up. “I came back here the morning after the New Years celebrations. I saw you asleep on the couch, and… bloody.” The ballerina paused briefly. “I have to ask: what happened? Was that your blood, or… or someone else’s?”
Bohai turned his head slowly to face her. His eye contact was rare and intimidating. The brown eye would not have been too bad if not for its icy blue mate, and the scar that ran across it. What had happened to him? And, she dared to wonder, what would have happened to her if she had grown up here? What were these people? The Wu family had so many secrets, seemingly from its own members even, since she had learned nothing about them and since baby Peizhi seemed unaware. She had to be. Why would she favor a weapon?
His eyes lowered slightly, breaking their hold on hers and falling to her lips as he spoke, as if he were directly addressing her often chattery mouth. Maybe it was her imagination, but Serenity felt a chilly draft sweep through the room, and as her skin prickled in goosebumps, she resisted the urge to shiver.
“You really should not ask questions that you would not want the answer to.”
The world was still for a moment, a pause that seemed to last a lifetime. “What are you?” she asked, her voice almost trembling but somehow defiant.
Bohai thought about this for a moment. Then he chuckled sadly. “That is a very good question.”