Haunted Beasts

CHAPTER 57

"Mistress!" Her voice is frantic as she shakes me. "Wake up!"

My eyes snap open only to see that I'm in my room, safe and sound. Zaralina is hovering over me and if I'm not mistaken, she actually looks worried.

I sit up, momentarily touching my back to see if my wings are still intact. The whole thing just felt so real that I need confirmation that I'm alright and that nothing actually happened.

"Do not worry, they are still there." Zaralina says, clearly reading my mind.

Feeling embarrassed by the fact that she's caught me weirdly touching my back, I immediately stop. "I just wanted to check." I tell her awkwardly, I'm still not a friendly basis.

"I understand." She says as she sits besides me on my bed. "You had the vision, didn't you?"

I nod. "Yes, he killed me."

"Soliaire can be vicious when his power is threatened and right now, you are the biggest threat to his power."

"I know. I feel so honoured." I add sardonically.

She places her hand on top of mine. "Do not worry Mistress, I will fight by your side." She says, looking straight into my eyes.

"You know you don't have to call me mistress, right?" I don't think I will ever get used to that. "You can just call me Heaven."

"That would be dishonourable and I have already dishonoured you enough." She sounds so apologetic and sincere that I have to ask how she got to this point, why  she had to sell her soul if she's such a great believer of saviours.

"Why did you become a demon?"

"I didn't have choice, Soliaire was there when I had no one."

"What do you mean?" Didn't she have her other angel brothers and sisters.

"When Mistress Rosemont died, Soliaire took over Xnandria and all the angels were vulnerable. While some succumbed to his dictatorial ways, others ran away, exposing themselves to the world. I didn't fight or run away. Mistress had always told us that humans detested so I was afraid of going into the land of the humans."

"You stayed behind."

"Yes. Soliaire asked for my soul in exchange he would give me a master, a protector and a master. I was so afraid, I didn't know what to do so I gave in and became one of him favourite children."

While I can't ever excuse her trying to kill me and attacking my father and sister, I'm starting to understand her a little. I even feel sorry for her, she's just one of Soliaire's many victims.

"I worshiped him for the longest time. In my eyes he could do no wrong and when he told us you were wrong and needed to be destroyed, I was only too happy to comply."

"But then you changed your mind." Shocked doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when she showed up here and knelt before me, all of a sudden calling me her 'Mistress'.

"Yes. I was determined to kill and not only because you looked like Aurora, but also because I was led to believe that your existence was a crime against all creatures. But then I saw all the light inside of you and realized you couldn't be an abomination, but rather a savior sent to restore the balance between humans and nonhumans."

I don't think I will ever truly accept that I'm a savior of any kind. I don't want to get into that now, it will probably make my head explode but I am interested in her hate for Aurora. I sensed some tension when she said her name and she did admit that part of why she was so enthusiastic to kill me was my resemblance to Aurora.

"And Aurora, why do you hate her so much?"

"She went against the Mistress and ultimately changed the course of our whole life. If she hadn't fallen for James....."

"Then Mistress Rosemont would still be alive." Everything just adds up in my head, Aurora changed everything by choosing to love a demon. Her love for James changed fate for everyone, including me. I briefly wonder where I would be right now if Mistress Rosemont hadn't cursed Aurora.

"Yes. My last act of kindness for her was killing that demon of hers and after what he did to our Mistress, he deserved it." Her voice is filled with anger and resentment.

I can understand her anger, Aurora and James's forbidden relationship somehow ruined everyone's lives. But of course we can't exactly blame every single tragedy on Aurora and James, after all their relationship came to be way after Soliaire had betrayed all of them.

I'm about to ask her more questions, ready to know more the surprisingly sensitive angel turned demon who sees me as some sort of a savior, when suddenly I hear sounds coming from downstairs.

Zaralina heard it too as she immediately gets off the bed unfurling her wings, ready for a fight.

"Get behind me." She orders and under any normal circumstances I would argue but I'm too fearful at the moment.

After my vision the mere thought of Soliaire is giving me goosebumps. So with Zaralina willingly making herself my human shield and asking me to stand behind her, I'm only too happy to oblige.

My heart is beating so fast I can hear it and Zaralina is ready to attack as the door starts to open but all my fear vanishes and is instantly replaced by relief and excitement when I see it's only Sky.

Sky on the other hand looks terrified when he opens my door. No doubt it's from seeing me with the demon who was attacking me just a day ago.

I move past Zaralina and practically run towards Sky, throwing myself into his arms. Fortunately for me, despite his obvious fear and confusion, he manages to catch me.

"I'm so happy you are here." I whisper into his neck. Right at this moment he's my only way of escaping the circus that is my life. He's one of the few normal things that I have in my life and right now I could really use a dose of normalcy.

After a few seconds of practically squeezing the life out of him, Sky slowly starts to remove my hands off him so we can look at each other.

"Heaven?" He briefly looks at Zaralina then back at me again. "What's going on?"

"I will explain later." I say but he gives me an 'are you serious' face and I decide explaining now is probably in the best interest of my relationship right now. "Fine, I will tell you. She's now on our side."

"I don't understand, do the.... others know?" He nearly stammers when he says others who I'm assuming are the Rosemont sisters.

I nod. "Yes, they know. They were the first people I told."

I can see the irritation on his face. He hates that I didn't tell him and I suppose he has a right to be upset. After all if anything fatal does happen to me he's going to be the most affected.

I turn my attention to Zaralina who's quietly listening to our conversation. She's probably thinking she's protecting me, the irony, not so long ago she was one of the people I needed protection from.

"Zaralina, I need to talk to him alone." I tell her and for a moment I think she won't actually leave me alone with Sky. "He's my boyfriend, he won't do anything to me." I add.

Zaralina's eyes quickly move to eyes. Her gaze is piercing, looking through him to confirm that he's not actually a threat.

Sky looks at me frowning, confused by her actions. I just shake my head at him, hoping he will get over this kind of weirdness.

Zaralina finally looks back at me, seemingly done with her thorough inspection of Sky. "Of course Mistress, I will be right outside." She says before leaving me alone with my boyfriend.

"Mistress?" Sky's voice is filled with disbelief and who can blame him, at this point I'm confused too.

I sigh heavily. "I have a lot to tell you."