forever young

prologue;

"My darling daughter, my rose amongst the thorns, my beautiful little flower," A tall, beautiful woman crooned as she rocked a swaddle of white blankets in her arms. Locks of soft gold poured down the woman's slim shoulders, contrasting with her fierce, night-black eyes. She stroked the forehead of a delicate, beautiful baby girl, with silky black hair resting against her small forehead, matching black eyes lightly closed as she rested onwards.

Although the young child, milky skinned and pink-lipped looked merely as if she were peacefully sleeping, the situation was much more dire. Indeed, the young girl was, in, perhaps, a way, sleeping, but not in the way most would think. Eternal sleep. In more simple terms, death.

A few nights before, Death had snatched up the small child up into their frigid, greedy arms, stealing her away in the midst of the night. The frail porcelain child had been no more after that.

"My daughter," The woman croaked, "Is not simple enough to be defeated by a mere existence like Death. My daughter is special... very special. My darling girl, you will defy the laws of nature and escape from Death's embrace... forever! You will never be touched by that filthy being again... because... you are my... daughter!"

Rage burned in her black eyes as she set down the baby, rocking back an forth on her heels as she murmured nonsense under her breath. 

She set down a dusty, red leather covered book of rotting pages, eyes skimming the words written in blood on the surface.

The woman grinned, resting a small knife on her palm, letting the sharp blade slowly sink into her flesh, drawing a river of blood. She let the crimson pool into a small clay pot, then once it was a quarter full, she withdrew her hand and brought it to her face, her tongue licking up and down the deep cut, drinking her own blood as she began to chant with an insane smile.

"Daemonium eiceret de te accerso infernum vocat voluntatem regis super daemonia meorum. Et sanguis meus excitare prescence fiat victima robora inferno anima mea ligaveris principi concedere velim. Sed vade, et Rex!"

A dark figure rose from the pool of shadows writhing on the ground, forming into the shape of a man, prominent horns rising majestically from his crown.

"Is it you, who has summoned me, mortal," he spoke in a voice that made the ground shake. The woman remained unfazed, stepping forward.

"Yes, oh exalted Demon King," she hissed. "I am Faiyea Alekto, and I offer my blood to you as an offering of trust."

The demon glided forward, bending his head elegantly over the pot. When he lifted his head, the pot was sparkling clean, and his mouth dripped with her blood.

"You have delectable blood," he purred, seductively nearing her. "What is it that you wish?"

"In exchange for my soul and my eternal service to you," Faiyea spoke with an equally alluring smile, "I wish that you would raise my daughter from the dead and grant her everlasting youth and immortality."

The demon king slinked towards her, his thin fingers running down her body as he pulled his face closer, revealing a handsome face, with flawless pale skin, full lips, and startlingly red eyes, his long black hair fading into the shadows surrounding him. He pulled her face closer, capturing her lips onto his. Both lips, stained with the same blood, briefly touched.

He pulled back, smiling. "And the deal is done. Your soul in exchange for your desires, sealed with the mark of a devil upon your lips. But remember, if she falls in love and a man falls in love with her, even after finding out her secret, this deal will be broken because I will no longer have her soul as mine, but as his."

With that, he faded away, leaving behind a black rose as reminder.

"You hear that, my baby? You will be more powerful than Death!" Faiyea cackled, eyes wide and bloodshot. Blood began to pour form her mouth and darkness crept up her skin, and bloody tears began to stream down from her eyes. She cackled with insanity as she clawed at the ground, her body convulsing.

"My daughter," Faiyea choked out, retching out dark blood. "My brightest sun, my lovely little girl, my Clareta Alekto, don't you dare fall in love, so that you will live forever!"

And at Faiyea's death, Clareta's life begun once more, a single cry echoing into the silent night.