Deathless [ON HOLD]

Chapter 2

"How dare you feed in my presence!" The same voice says, bone-chilling yet oddly familiar.

Ignoring the ringing in my ears, I wobble to my feet, reminding me of a newborn calf taking its first steps. I find myself laughing hysterically at the sudden thought. You're losing it, Amira.

Without thinking of the consequences, I head towards the voice from earlier. Adrenaline fills me after my sudden brush with death. I've never felt this way before.

It's...exhilarating.

A series of booms continue, leading me to a huge hole that goes directly through the bathroom wall. I step through it, my heart beating a mile a minute.

What I'm doing is crazy. I'm crazy.

I look in every direction but I can't tell where the owner of the voice went. It's especially hard with all the death energy blocking my vision. An ear-splitting screech confirms the way.

Then I see it.

A huge creature, black in nature with several eyes jutting out from its body is heading in my direction. Its eyes are on me, like I'm some chunk of tender, juicy meat. Not really a meal but just enough to qualify as a snack.

It speaks, like nails on a chalkboard, "Human schoolgirls always taste the best." Its voice transmits straight into my mind, sending shivers of repulsion throughout my body.

My knees lock in place, preventing me from breaking out into a dash. Instead I fall flat on my face like a girl in a cliché horror movie.

Fear envelops my face and I close my eyes, curling into fetal position. For a second I think I'm back in the safety of my bed, under the familiar butterfly-print covers.

I vaguely recall the face of my mom. My image of her has only become fuzzy over the years, as my dad never bothered keeping any pictures of her around. But I still remember those warm brown eyes and how the corner of her eyes would crinkle when she smiled. I also remember her lonely figure as she walked out the door for the last time.

One, two, three. Three whole seconds and I'm not dead yet. My entire body's trembling violently but I'm not harmed in any way.

"Danger really does follow you wherever you go."

When I've gathered enough courage to open my eyes, I'm confronted with another pair of cold, unfeeling eyes. He observes me with an unreadable expression, hands resting on the hilt of his sword. The tip of the sword drips with a strange black liquid.

"Mr. Nobley?" My voice comes out strangled in disbelief.

His clothes are foreign – a black fabric robe lined with gold that cut off at the sleeves, exposing one toned arm and the other draped with silver armor. The robe drops down to his knees, black pants visible underneath through the cuts at the sides of the robe. His dark hair falls against his emotionless face – a vast difference compared to his previous neatly combed hairstyle.

The corner of his mouth quirks up. "No need to call me that. It was for appearances only. Ronan, that's my name," he says with an air of arrogance. "At first I thought this mission would be extremely boring, but you've certainly kept me entertained. You even led me straight to the source." He gestures to my attacker, now a corpse on the floor. I jump back, crawling away from it until my back hits the wall.

"You saved me?" I choke, still recovering from shock. Even if I do get a bad feeling from him, he really did save my life. Ronan crouches down in front of me, a peculiar glint in his eye.

He speaks lightly, taking my face in his hands. "Of course. You're my precious reward for defeating that creature."

I jerk away from his grasp, partly because I'm afraid I might lose myself under his cold stare. The eyes are the doorway to the soul, but I can't read his eyes at all – a skill that I pride myself in. I suck in a breath, "Reward?"

"What else are you to me?"

I turn my head away. I'm doing my best to pull myself together after experiencing one crazy thing after another, but now he's acting like I'm some sort of reward. Why did my knight in shining armor have to be an arrogant prick? "What exactly are you getting at?" I ask. The fear which gripped me is fading away into annoyance.

Ronan chuckles lightheartedly. "I want you."

"Huh?" My face flushes a scarlet red. Does he mean..? "There's no way I could do... that kind of thing."

His smirk fades away and he stares at me stupidly. "Are you an idiot?" He raises his chin up haughtily. "There's no way I would sink so low as to require the services of a human girl."  

For some reason, my pride is hurt and I wipe away any thoughts of thanking him. I jump to my feet with a 'humph' and begin to walk away when he hisses, "Where do you think you're going?" The sudden coldness in his voice makes me stop in my tracks. "I'm not done with you yet."

I gulp and swivel around. He stays silent, instead flicking his sword so that the black liquid splatters on the hallway wall. I don't dare to move an inch in fear of provoking him.

Ronan eyes a suspicious black spot on the backside of his boot and scowls. "Disgusting. That filthy shadow actually dirtied me." He snaps his fingers and the stain disappears without a trace.

My eyes widen the size of dinner plates. After the events that unfolded before my eyes, I'm absolutely certain that Ronan isn't what he appears to be. For a second I thought he could possibly be like me – that he could see demons – but there's no way a normal human could defeat that creature. There's no way a human could do whatever he did to those officers.

An endless stream of questions overflow my mind. Before I had been too paralyzed by shock to think.

Who or what is he? What does he know? Part of me wants to leave and forget all this happened, but another part of me is thirsting for answers – for why I have this ability...this curse.

My gaze drifts back to the corpse on the floor. Its body is flickering, as if it'll disappear at any moment. "Is that what it's called? A shadow?" It's hard to hide the curiosity in my voice.

He inspects me with steady eyes. "That's what we call them. They're the advanced version of the 'the nothings' which feed off of death energy." He gestures to the little demons around us. They had already been keeping their distance since Ronan's arrival, but now that he looked directly at them, they immediately scattered. "Think of them as annoying parasites."

"How do you know so much? Who exactly are you?" I get bolder and step closer to him. Since I already decided not to stay in the dark, I might as well ask away.

"What? You haven't figured it out yet?" A smug grin rests on his lips. "I'm a demon – a race of ancient, powerful beings that the likes of you, humans, can't fathom." He runs a hand through his dark hair, a lock falling limply against his forehead.

I nod my head. So, he's a demon. Oh. He's a...wait what?

My throat goes dry and my eyes threaten to bulge out of my head.

Ronan's a demon – a demon with dangerously charming features and a huge ego.

A/N- Chapter 2 is shorter but I will now be posting a chapter every Friday and Monday! Let me know if you would prefer a different day than Monday.