My heart pounded and my body reverberated with a suppressed anxiety mixed with a smidge of excitement. I stare up at the dark ceiling, my eyes darting back and forth across the details the moonlight pouring in from my window casts. What time was it? I leaned over and swiped my phone from the nightstand, the bright screen nearly blinding me as I turned it on.
11:50
Two minutes later than the last time I had checked and the time before that and the time before that. Nearly there. Why did time crawl by so slowly when you wanted it to go faster yet so fast when you wanted to savor the moment? It was like it enjoyed playing cruel tricks on us.
Amber had returned home just over an hour ago. I knew that she would be exhausted from her long day and probably collapse on her bed, falling asleep in a matter of minutes, but I had to be sure. I sat up on the bed, unable to stand waiting any longer. She had to be asleep by now, right?
I tucked the phone into my pocket and carefully stepped across my room, peaking through the door and into the dark hallway. Amber's bedroom door was closed and I could hear her soft snores. Passing through the living room I warily unlocked the apartment door and pushed it open just far enough for me to slip through before closing it with a quiet click.
From there I was off. I flew down the metal stairs and out the front door. My boots hitting the cold snow of winter as I swiftly strode towards a black motorcycle that shone against the street lights. Illius leaned against it, his expression stern as he observed me, his hands tucked into the pockets of his trench coat, one of his long legs crossed over the other.
"Did you get what we need?" I inquired in a low voice, suddenly feeling like one of those sketchy people who are trying to rob a bank in the movies.
He glowered at me, pulling a shining, white crystal of a rock that glowed in the darkness of the street with a brilliance of luminosity out of his pocket, holding it up in front of my face, "Do you know what I had to go through in order to get this and on such short notice? No, you don't want to know, because it was very ugly."
I gave him a precarious look before snatching the teleport from his hand, "Let's go before the better part of myself changes her mind." I said as I stepped forward - envisioning the place I wanted to go to in my mind - tossing the crystal through the air like I was skipping a rock. There was a bright flash and then the floating portal shimmered before us. A view of the mansion I had left behind just over a month ago rippled like something straight out of a dream through the looking glass. It's spired rooftops and dark bricked walls, ominously foreboding. Snow drifted from the sky and planted itself on the still green grass. The windows of the mansion looked almost like they were sad.; as though the secrets that lay inside of them were trying to burst through the glass. I glanced back at Illius who continued to lean against his bike, "Are you coming?" I asked. A gust of wind blew, tossing my hair back.
He shook his head, a devious smirk curling over his lips, "This time we do it my way." He gripped the handlebars of his bike, swinging a leg over the seat before plopping down on it, "Hop on Love." He coolly grinned.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "First, don't call me that." I folded my arms across my chest, "Second, I am not riding a motorcycle through a portal. Are you insane?"
He shrugged, "Most likely. Now, Love, if you'd kindly get on."
I pointed a finger angrily at him as I unwillingly walked towards the bike, "Don't call me that." I warned him before I slipped on behind him. My body tensed as my legs brushed against his and my mind fled back to the kiss we had shared underneath that stone gazebo back in Ireland. A blush of heat arose on my cheeks and I tried to force the butterflies back down, shove the memory into the back of my mind, but I couldn't stop it. I was already feeling tingles run through my fingertips as they brushed against his back.
"You might want to hold on," He chuckled. The bike revved to life, purring beneath us.
My arms wrapped tightly around his waist as the motorcycle lurched forward, my hair whipping through the air as it picked up speed, "We're not going to make it!" I screamed, the portal was beginning to fade, the time that it was left open running out. He gunned the gas and we zoomed towards it. I closed my eyes, burying my face into his coat. A cold substance surrounded us, the bike's engine puttering, ready to give out as it warped through the portal, but then it roared back to life as we flew out to the other side. My eyes shot open, we were speeding right towards a brick wall, "Illius watch out!" I shouted, my entire body tensed up.
Illius yanked the bars to the side, applying on the breaks and we drifted across the gravel. The smell of burnt rubber filled my nose as the tires created friction between the ground and bike. We skidded to a stop, inches away from the brick wall. My heart pounded in my ears and we both were breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" He craned his neck back to look at me, his blue eyes bright with alertness.
I nodded, my hands shaking as I lifted them up in front of my eyes. I tucked them into the pockets of my coat and hopped off his motorcycle, "Remind me to never go through portals on a motorcycle with you again."
He pushed the kick stand down with the toe of his boot and slid off, a smirk drawing over his face, "Admit it, it was pretty fun." He snickered as he strutted towards me, "Way more fun than talking to a sulking West."
I frowned, my mixed feelings beginning to surface once more, but I tried to shove them down. I had enough on my plate, how could I be so selfish as to focus on the building physical emotions I was forming towards two men, two brothers. Geez I was horrible. My gut filled with a sinking feeling, "I'm the one who accidently brought Elizabeth into a somewhat physical form long enough for him to crush himself about what happened to her all over again. It's my fault, the least I can do is apologize." I turned on my heel and made a b-line for the front door of the mansion.
Several minutes of wandering later, I found West positioned on a bench in the greenhouse. He leaned over, his arms hanging off his knees, his head bowed, eyes cast to the ground beneath his shoes. I gazed at him from behind the glass door, my heart pinching inside of my chest. My hands planted firmly against the door's smooth surface as I pushed it open, silently stepping inside. Or at least, I had thought it was pretty silent until West's head shot up, his eyes landing directly on mine, filled with painful guilt. He wore a green, plain t-shirt and a regular pair of blue jeans. This had to be the most casual I had ever seen him.
I took a few tentative steps towards him, "Ava?" His voice croaked, hoarse and dry. Had he been crying? His eyes were red and puffy, his skin pale. It was clear he wasn't receiving the nutrition he should be. It was strange to me, for some reason, to imagine a demon with tears of sorrow spilling down their face. But why shouldn't they cry? They had emotions too - heightened emotions - that's what I had learned from a book on demons that I had borrowed from their library. Emotions that were ten times stronger than a human's and I had seen many mortal people break down and drown in a tsunami of emotions. I couldn't imagine feeling that times ten. It was unthinkable, yet they did. "Why are you here?" He spoke just above a whisper.
I hesitantly stepped around the short fountain placed in the middle of the cobbled grove. My heart seeming to pound louder and louder as I drew closer to him. Heaving a large sigh, I slowly sat down on the other end of the bench. For some reason I was afraid to get too close, like just my presence would burn him. After a moment, I spoke, "Do you miss her?" My voice was scarcely a whisper. I knew what the answer would be and I knew I didn't want to hear it, but I asked regardless. I had to hear it, I needed to.
In three words, he broke my heart, "All the time." He looked to me, his dark brown hair unkempt and tousled across his forehead, "You remind me of her. Your bravery, stubbornness, temperament, love of books, all qualities she had. When I saw her that night in Ireland, I was reminded of all the pains I had worked so hard to hide, to bury. Feelings that would gnaw at me in the middle of the night and plague my dreams, turning them into nightmares." His eyes fell to the ground, "When I saw you, that first day when you came into my office, your big eyes wandering around with curiosity. The way you just seemed to glow with such a bright and vivid light. The moment I touched your hand, I knew. I knew you were going to cost me everything."
I shook my head, a twinge of sadness tightening my heart, "I-I'm so sorry." I breathed, clutching the bottom of the bench hard enough that my fingers had begun to ache. I couldn't look at him, not anymore. I cast my gaze to my brown boots, the toes wet from the snow. The only thing that illuminated us was the light from the moon shining in through the windowed walls and ceiling of the greenhouse. I swallowed hard, "I shouldn't have come, I'm sorry." I pushed off the bench and moved to step away.
A strong hand wrapped around my wrist and I was spun around to face him. He was standing now, his eyes planted firmly on me, "Elizabeth is gone now," He reached out cupping my chin and lifting my head up so that I could look nowhere but into those dark brown eyes, "And nothing I do can change that, but you. You make me feel alive, like I have something worth fighting for once more. I'll never let anything happen to you Ava, do you hear me?" He shifted his jaw, his eyes filled with earnest. His hand was still tightly wrapped around my wrist and his grip relaxed as I slowly nodded, "You can't escape me now Ava." His fingers trailed up my arm, forming goosebumps wherever they touched.
My chest tightened, "You don't mean that." I spoke, my voice cracking with emotion.
His eyes challenged me and my heart lurched as he leaned down, his hands gripping my arms. His breath tickled against my neck, "You want to bet?" His voice was low and husky as his lips brushed against my ear. I involuntarily shivered, a chill running down my spine.
"I can see you're already making yourself pretty comfortable, Ava." I pulled back from West, my stomach twisting with writhing nasea as my eyes fell on Illius. His dark, cold, blue eyes trained tightly on me, his hands balled into fists by his sides. He clenched his jaw as he looked from West to me, "Oh don't let me stop you, I'm just the fool who walked in at just the right moment." He swiftly turned, plowing through the glass door.
"Illius!" I called after him. I turned back to West, "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, before pulling from his grasp and dashing across the cobbled ground and through the door. Panic rushed through me as my eyes darted down either side of the hallway, but he wasn't here, "Illius?!" I shouted, plowing down the hallway at a quick walking pace, swinging the doors of each room I passed by wide open and peering inside.
I rounded a corner and sped up a set of stairs, taking two at a time. I was now in an unfamiliar part of the mansion and my eyes scanned across the surprising difference of this hall from the others. The floor was made of a cool grey marble, the walls painted pure white. I was surprised to find that unlike the rest of the home, these walls were not covered in pictures or lamps at the very least. They were barren and for some reason it made me feel sad and empty inside, as though these uncovered walls held something deep inside of them. Something dark, something that happened a long time ago that seeped into their wooden insides, locked away forever.
I slowly trailed down the hallway, my fingers brushing across the pale, smooth walls. I passed by a wooden door painted black with a golden handle and suddenly pulled to a stop, a hint of cedarwood lingered in the air and I flipped around. Clasping the golden handle tightly in my hand, I cautiously rotated it until I heard a disinct click. The door creaked, seeming to open all on its own. I stepped inside, my eyes wandering around the equally empty room. It was too perfect, clean, almost as if no one occupied the room at all. A single queen sized bed stood against the wall across from me, covered in white satin sheets so smoothed out there wasn't a single wrinkle. Two nightstands of black, polished wood stood on either side of the bed, covered in nothing more than a single lamp. The walls and floors resembled those in the hallway, a single black chandelier hung from the white ceiling in the center of the room. To the far right side of the room stood a dresser and beside that another black door with a golden handle, but what really drew my eyes, the only other objects in the room were several black, wood shelves that spanned the length of the left wall. I crossed towards it, my heart hammering in my chest as I took in the assortments of unique daggers that laid on the shelves, each held on their own stand, each baring their own name.
My eyes landed on one in particular that stood out to me, I read the name labeled on the bottom of the stand, Winterthorn, Runed Blade of The Fallen Ones. A silver blade etched with symbols that swirled and danced across its unbelievably sharp metal, leading up to the hilt. A line of winter blue jewels spanned up to the end where a silver, metal carving of a wolf howling held fast to the top. Again my curiosity peaked and I roamed towards another dagger further down on a higher shelf. Anduril, Call of Eternal Damnation. Well that was a pleasant name, I shivered, not because it was cold but because of the angry feeling assoicaited with the dagger. The blade, with jagged edges had a vein of what resembled blood running up its silver metal. The hilt, with two pieces of black metal entwined together made way for the grinning skull on the end. My hand unconsciously reached out towards it, the ruby eyes of the skull glinting as they watched me, drawing me in, consuming me.
"Don't touch that," A hostile voice jolted me out of my transce-like state. I slowly turned around, my heart lurching as a bare chested Illius stood before me. His smooth muscles lifted and relaxed as he breathed and I attempted to pull my eyes away, but they wouldn't budge, "Some of the daggers are cursed, you're not trained to handle one. I suggest you keep away from my weapons." There was an angry threat underneath his tone of voice. He still wore his black pants, but his feet were bare as they stood on the cool, grey marble. I fought to recompose myself and forced my eyes to land on those icy blue orbs of his, "What do you want?" His lips curled into a disgusted sneer, "Don't tell me you came all the way here to try and make some sob story about how it wasn't what it looked like. Because if that's what this is, you can leave, now." He pointed towards the door.
I felt hurt at his words, but I tried to push it aside as I ran my tongue over my dry lips, "I came to say I'm sorry, but if you don't want my apology, I'll just go." I frowned, my hands tucked tightly into the pockets of my coat of which I realized I was still wearing.
"Don't give me attitude, darling. I have one of my own," He growled, his voice laced with warning, his hands curled into fists as he held them tightly by his side, "I don't want your apology, so you can get out of my room willingly or I force you out."
"What is wrong with you?!" I burst, anger igniting inside of my chest. I was hurt, no, I was more than hurt, I was stressed and angry and sad and I was trying to be nice, but my patience was wearing thin, "Why are you acting like this?"
He shifted his jaw, his cool eyes fixated so tensely on mine that it almost hurt to look back into them, but I wouldn't surrender, not on his terms, "I am not human. I never was. So why are you expecting me to act like one?" He turned so that his back was facing me, rising and falling with annoyed breaths. A small gasp escaped from between my lips as my eyes landed on the long scars spreading out in different directions across his strong back, a large brand in a strange, twisted symbol stood out from his skin on his left shoulder, "I can't have you, so I've decided I don't want you." I could hear the hurt mixed with anger in his voice as he refused to face me, "Am I bitter? Yes. But do I try to move on and let go of past anger?" He let out a low, deep chuckle, "Well, actually no."
"Look," I began, frustration boiling up inside of me, "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, but that-"
"You can't hurt my feelings if I don't have any," He cut me off as he continued to keep his scarred back facing towards me, "Now get out." His head hung, a hand reaching up to shakily rake through his messy black hair, "It's clear you've made your choice, now go to him and leave me alone." I stood still, frozen to my spot with shock, my anger having subsided for the time being. My heart ached for him, I wanted to go to him, soothe away his pain. I slowly crossed the marble floor, my boots tapping with every step. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I came to stand behind him. I guardedly reached a hand out towards the bare skin of his back. My fingers brushed ever so slightly against one of the many scars and he shuddered beneath my touch. I moved to touch the brand prominent on the blade of his shoulder and inhaled sharply as he spun around, gripping my wrist tightly with a shaking hand, "I said get out!" He roared, his blue eyes darker than I had ever seen them before, his fangs having slipped out from between his gums, a low growl eminating from the back of his throat.
My heart pounded in fear as I pulled from his grasp, hurtling towards the door of which I flung open, sprinting down the hallway and nearly slipping down the stairs as my eyes watered, clouding my vision. I had to get away, get away from the darkness.