WARNING: Adult content; discretion is advised.
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Melanie could not hear anymore from her mother and Coco – she walked away, eventually using transmutation to head toward the compound in which she knew Elijah was. Upon entering, she gasped and saw him standing there. His eyes pierced her with shock and happiness, and a slight smile appeared in his lips. His dark hair was neatly combed, and he was dressed in a plain black t-shirt with jeans. Her eyes, still stained clear with tears, sparked his worry and he approached her, cupping her face in his hands.
"My Princess," he said remorsefully. "I'm so sorry if you feel like I left you. What's the matter?"
Melanie sighed: "it's... sort of long. Were you heading somewhere?"
"Just to find you," he said with a warm smile.
He took his hands off her face and held her hand, kissing it before leading her into the compound. They made their way into the suite he now lived by his lonesome in. Upon entering, he closed the door and took he in his arms, kissing her lips fervently as his arms snaked around her slender waist. Melanie's heartbeat raced, and she moaned as her fingertips grazed his cheeks. He broke the kiss, his piercing blue-gray eyes smoldering as his lids drooped halfway. Melanie felt her body heating with desire, gazing back at him.
"I've been so selfish," he said, kissing her cheek. "Please, let me make it up to you."
"You were mourning your mother," Melanie responded. "You cope by isolating yourself. Not the healthiest thing, but..."
"You're a balm for my soul," he said, his voice dancing with emotion.
"Before we... do anything," Melanie said in between breaths, "I need to tell you I'm..."
"With child." They said it exactly the same time. Stunned, Melanie's eyes widened, her eyebrows raised as she saw Elijah's perfect smile overtake his visage.
"If you don't want to..." he said, considerate and respectful of her condition; but she stopped him.
"I want to," Melanie said. "But let me ask you one thing."
"Anything, my Princess," he agreed.
"Well," she began, "are you sure you want to still be with me? Even though we are technically half-siblings? Even though I'm older than you?"
His eyes grew wide, and his pupils only got bigger as he pulled her close to him. His grip on her was tight and secure, providing a clear answer before he could speak: "I do not consider you my sister. We were not raised under the same roof. If you were, I would not consider it okay to be with you. Your age does not matter to me... I am still your eternal slave when you physically start to age more than I am at a given time. That will never change."
"What if I asked you to be the King at my side, Elijah," Melanie brought up. "Would you consider that?"
"I'd do anything for you... but I do not think I'd make a good King," he said earnestly, caressing her soft blonde curls that framed her diamond-shaped face. "I would try... but I wouldn't know how to rule." He smiled a closed grin. "I'd much rather be the devotee at your feet... a King is devoted to his people, whereas a devotee is only devoted to the one he worships and adores above anyone else. To me, that is a more profound and fulfilling position."
Melanie smiled slightly: "you can do that same thing as King."
He got on his knees submissively and held her hand to his cheek, kissing her wrist and palm: "it is so much better this way... this view I have of you from down on my knees is the best of all."
So, the Princess got to her knees, making his eyes widen in surprise. She leaned in and caressed his face with the same hand he was holding, staring deeply into his piercing blue eyes: "and the view I have right now of you on the same level as me? Priceless."
Her fingertips grazed his chiseled jawline and his lips, which became flushed as he leaned in to kiss Melanie, fire on his lips as he collapsed into her, right there on the floor. His arms snaked tightly around her, feeling her heart beating under her chest as his breathing accelerated. He moaned softly, caressing her curls as they made out. Elijah smiled lovingly, breaking the kiss and standing up, helping Melanie to her feet and leading her to his bed. It was just large enough to fit two people. Knowing full well he liked for the woman to be in charge, she had him sit down, and he promptly removed his shirt. Melanie got on her knees and looked up at him. His skin crawled with excitement as her fingertips gently caressed his chest and abdomen, leading down to the sizable tent in the crotch of his pants. Melanie still could not believe how big he was down there, and she teased him by massaging her palm over the length beneath the fabric.
"Ugh..." he growled under his breath, gripping the top sheet as she tormented him sweetly. Melanie giggled up at him before undoing his pants, taking them off along with his boxers. His member stood at full attention, hot and throbbing with a few drops of precum coming out of the tip. His desire for her was realer than real, and she stroked him to evoke more of a reaction from him. Yet she wanted so much more; so, she ran her tongue over the tip, tasting that he was surprisingly sweet.
"Yes!" he exclaimed.
She was shocked at how sensitive he was, so she did it again, this time running her tongue all over the tip of his length before wrapping her glossy lips around it. He wanted to scream; Elijah had never done this with a woman before, and he was loving every minute to the fullest. He gripped the sheets and whimpered, looking down at her as she had his length in her mouth. She made eye contact a few times, which made his heart melt. As she took him deeper, he growled like a tomcat in heat as he felt a climax-like feeling welling up in his balls.
"I can't... oh god... I'm going..."
That was when she stopped, leaving just a flat lick to the tip. He sighed and whimpered, caressing her face and looking down into her eyes.
"Why'd you stop? I love that," he moaned.
"I don't want you to cum yet," she replied.
He shook his head and moaned, letting her go on top of him as he laid back. She removed her blouse and skirt, leaning down to kiss him as his hands trailed all over her body. On her back was the hook for the bra she was wearing, which he swiftly removed, attacking her breasts with fervent kisses and nibbles. Melanie squealed at the sudden movement, and Elijah made eye contact up at her as she moaned at his suckling. He slid his hands under the band of her panties, just above her butt and grabbed both cheeks. She gasped, and he snuck a kiss, darting his tongue in her mouth and moaning.
She reached down and moved the center of her panties aside, lowering down to rub her wet, slick folds against his shaft. He groaned and gripped the sheets, feeling her heat even though he was not inside her yet. Melanie giggled sweetly as she teased him, driving him insane with anticipation. He held her hips, pleading for her with only body language to lower herself on top of him.
"Please... please..."
"Please what?"
"I need you..." Elijah yearned, his throbbing member getting hotter by the second.
Granting his wish, she slid down on him slowly, making him yelp as he held her hips. He arched his back and tossed his head back on the bed, his dark hair becoming a mess as his forehead was lightly beaded in sweat. Melanie looked down at him and put his hands on her hips and he happily obliged.
"You earned it," she whispered, "enjoy me to your heart's content."
You're not a piece of meat, he thought as she read every word, you're a person... my person. This made her blush as she felt him thrusting up into her slowly at first, but building up momentum, making her toes curl and back arch as she moaned in ecstasy. Her breathing was music to his ears as he continued to thrust, more powerfully by the minute, stretching her out even more than she had been by him. He had been thrusting so much that she climaxed once before he started to slow down. She was actually quite impressed that for someone not sexually experienced, he had this much endurance. He just kept thrusting up into her, giving her orgasm after orgasm, until he felt like he was on the verge of his own.
"Oh please, Princess... may I?"
"You're asking permission to cum?"
"Yes..." His breathing was labored, and he kept thrusting. "Please... I can't take it anymore..."
She nodded, looking down at him and watching him groan loudly as he shot his load inside her. His heart rate decreased as he grew limp, and she got off him and laid beside him. He was still trying to gather his bearings when she began to caress his face and move any strands of brown hair away from it. Once he regained himself, they got under the sheets and snuggled closely.
"I love you so much..." he uttered.
"Ditto," she answered.
"I would die for you, but I would much rather kill for you," he revealed. "So that the world knows not to harm you in any way."
"That there," Melanie said, "tells me you are fit to be a King... aside from your abilities."
"Does His Infernal Majesty the King ever do that for the Queen?" he inquired.
This reminded her of earlier, spying on Misty and Coco as they indulged in a picnic by the body of water the waterfall in the sanctuary emptied into. Hearing the truth about how her mother felt being Queen and Michael's wife shocked her to the bone, yet she did suspect that they had fizzled out when he decided to have offspring with other women. She did not think it was to the extent that it was; to actually hating him. She shook her head in response.
"No..."
"Really?" Elijah asked. "Doesn't he love her?"
"In his own way, yes. Their dynamic is strange, to be honest," Melanie said. "My father clearly holds more absolute power than my mother. My mother seems more like the kindly peasant woman who will give you a share of her crops if you were in need. Yet she plays such an integral role in this kingdom. Without her, we would all starve or at best, only rely on Cooperative rations." She paused. "It seems all my father does is bask in the glory of his people whenever there is a celebration, or when an execution takes place, or when he has Cooperative meetings... it isn't like there are many people in this world, compared to before, in the old world. It also isn't like my father was given an instruction manual."
"How many people were there in the old world?" Elijah asked.
"Oh... maybe..." She thought for a minute. "Seven billion? I could be wrong."
"Wow..." His voice was full of amazement, smiling down at her curiously. "What do you remember about the old world, Princess? You've peaked my curiosity."
"I only remember so much. I was a baby. Most of what I do know about the old world is from what I've read, and what people have told me," Melanie said. "People in the old world were more separated, by more things than just distance, as all seven billion lived across the world, not in just three sanctuaries. They were separated by such things as race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, level of wealth, nationality; yet, they were all human, still. The powers that be used those labels, and reinforced their people to use them, just to separate them. A lot of people were too comfortable in just being inside these boxes, and others who challenged them also challenged the status quo – in some places you would be killed for doing that. Other places were more tolerant of free speech and thought. Oftentimes, the road to hell was paved with good intentions, because those who fought the system only ended up separating themselves more, and thus perpetrating these same problems."
"That sounds really complicated," he said, looking at her and touching her curls. "It makes me glad to live in a simpler world."
"It was a very harsh, unequal world back then," she added. "Makes me glad, as well."
"Well, you are a Princess," Elijah chuckled.
"I am, but... that isn't all I am defined by," she coaxed. "I may be in line for the only throne in the world, but I am so much more than my title."
Elijah tilted Melanie's diamond-shaped chin up to meet his gaze, and his serenity made her feel at ease. He sighed and began speaking to her.
"You are a beautiful, strong, intelligent, and capable creature," he said reverently. "Also, you are my Princess." He planted a kiss on her forehead and smiled, holding her close to him. "That will never change... and if anyone dares lay a hand on you, you won't need your father, His Infernal Majesty, to take care of them for you, because it will be me that does away with them."
"Thank you," she sighed, sitting up under the sheets off the side of the bed. Elijah caressed along the length of her spine and kissed her shoulder.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
She looked back at him and nodded slightly: "I should go."
Elijah bit his lower lip and sighed through his nostrils, watching the Princess get dressed. "I didn't offend you, did I?
"No, no," she said, looking back at him. "You did nothing wrong." She put on her blouse, skirt, and panties before putting her shoes on. "I promise."
"Your father, the King, must be wondering where you are," Elijah pondered, laying back on the bed as he watched Melanie make her way over to him. She sat beside him, and he looked up at her in awe. He felt her kiss him on the forehead, and he smiled contently as she held his hand, entwining her fingers with his.
"I'll see you soon," the Princess told him.
"I love you," he uttered, kissing her hand softly.
"I love you, too."
As she left the room and his suite, he could smell her scent still lingering in the air, like that of honeysuckles and honey. The aroma even lingered in the sheets that now covered him; he sat up and took the sheets to his nose and inhaled deeply. In his own way, this was a devotional act of reverence for his Princess, one day his Queen. The euphoria was enough to send him to sleep instantaneously.
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When Melanie stepped into her family's suite, the first person she saw was Miriam, standing up straight and staring right at her. Her bright blue eyes were full of confusion, approaching her android grandma slowly. Miriam's dark eyes just stared off into space at closer examination, and it provoked her curiosity.
"Grandma? Are you alright?"
"Oh yes. I am making sure you arrived home safely," she answered. Melanie nodded, but was caught off guard by what she said next. "What is that blood on your leg, though? Did someone hurt you?"
"No," Melanie said. "What do you mean?"
"You have blood running down your leg, Melanie," Miriam pointed out. "Look."
Lifting her skirt for a better view, she was alarmed to see red fluid slowly dripping down the inside of her leg. She was not very sure how long it was dripping, but by the fact it was past her knee, it probably wasn't that long since it started. She started to panic silently, running to the bathroom and seeing where it was from. Miriam stood outside the door, looking in. The young woman got something to wipe it up with, but it just kept oozing out from what she discovered was the area between her legs. The doctor's word on what could happen with incest babies resonated through her mind: "spontaneous abortion". It could not have been that they had just had sex, was it?
"I... lost it," she said sadly.
"Lost what?" Miriam asked.
"My child."
Being an android, thus a mere shell of what she once was, she was unable to sympathize with her plight at that moment. Melanie was not quite upset, but disappointed; the child growing in her womb, destined to be King or Queen one day after she, was gone. She sighed and got out of her clothing, cleaning herself up as best as she could. She looked to Miriam, who paid attention to her.
"Could I please have some new undergarments and my pajamas?" she inquired.
"Yes. Do you need help with a bath?" Miriam suggested.
"I can take care of that," Melanie said, telekinetically turning on the bath tub so that lukewarm water was dispensed from the faucet. She pinned her hair up and away from her face before stepping into the bath. She noticed that she kept bleeding, turning the water redder by the minute. She took one of the bars of soap from the soap tray and rubbed her body with it until suds formed. She tried to kneel in the bathtub to help wash her nether regions a little better, but she just kept on bleeding. She sighed, shaking her head and worrying. I hope this doesn't happen if Elijah and I get pregnant again, she thought.
She took a relatively long soak in the bath, even after the profuse bleeding from her miscarriage had ceased. When she got out, she dried off with a towel, wrapping it around her as she undid her hair. Her golden curls were loose around her shoulders as she walked to her bedroom, where Miriam was sitting down. A pair of white pajamas were out for her along with new underwear, in which she swiftly changed into. She looked at Miriam, who had stood up and pulled down her bed for her to get into. Okay, this is weird, she hasn't done this for me since I was a kid, she thought.
"Sleep well," she said to Melanie with a kiss to her forehead. She promptly went to sleep, trying to get the overall strange feeling out of her system as she drifted off.
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Misty had been sitting on the sofa just after Melanie was ushered to bed by Miriam, who was now standing at the doorway that led directly to the master bedroom. She looked into the fireplace and sighed, thinking about her raw confession to Coco, her former sister witch from before the apocalypse. She did not regret spilling her guts of what she had been hiding for so long from her own husband, and even daughter. She hated Michael for what he had done to the world she once loved. She hated him for taking away her true family, yet he had only done half the job when he abducted her, brought her to the underworld, married her, and bound her to him by making her consume seeds and wine tainted with his blood. She did love him once, but now, this was madness beyond her imagination. She dreaded the thought of her daughter being raised in such a chaotic new world, and she remembered the shock and horror she felt when she witnessed Michael and Melanie feasting on the hearts of Timothy and Emily Campbell at their execution. Misty was also still not over the fact that he went and had an orgy with several women, producing children for the sanctuary, with one of them being Melanie's lover. The only reason she remained at her duties as Queen was for her daughter, and one of her favorite things was gardening and planting in the makeshift nature reserve. That aside, this new world was not for her.
"Are you coming to bed?" She heard Michael ask this as he came into the open concept to the living area, moving past Miriam. Misty looked over at him and sighed, shaking her head.
"No."
He approached his wife slowly, walking to be right behind her. Misty gave off a guarded air, and he could sense it; he was determined to get her to loosen up, anyway he could. He gently took the lengths of her blonde curls and pulled them back gently as if to form a ponytail. He could smell her signature earthy patchouli scent as he lowered his head to speak.
"Are you alright, my love?" he questioned in a seductive whisper.
There was no answer, but she shrugged his grasp off her – Michael was beginning to grow frustrated.
"What is wrong?" he asked, transmuting to the front of the sofa and sitting beside her, forcefully tilting her head over to her side to face him. She felt her heart racing like never before, a mixture of trepidation and repressed anger. He could clearly sense this on her, so he spoke as he softened his touch: "you are afraid... after all this time? Still? Please... if there is anything I can do for you or get for you... I will make it happen."
"Nothin' you can't bring back for me," his wife said softly with sadness, taking his hand off her face. "You've taken everythin' I held dear away from me..."
"I have given you everything, Misty," Michael said, feeling rather hurt with anger growing within at what she was telling him. "Riches, luxuries only a Queen would deserve. I cannot believe what I am hearing."
Misty stood up and looked down at him, brave enough to finally spill her guts, raw and unfiltered: "well, BELIEVE IT!" She began to grow tearful, and she could see the shock on Michael's face. "I had everythin' before you took it all from me! I had my swamp, Stevie, Miss Cordelia... the coven... my own true family and you took them from me! I finally found my tribe, but they're all GONE! Can't you see that?" She sobbed a little bit. "I loved you once before... but... I HATE YOU! I hate you for what you've done! The world was a dark and evil place before, and it is now. Nothin's changed!"
Nothing could compare to the feeling of hatred and betrayal he suddenly felt toward the woman he chose as his Queen, appropriately Melanie's mother. He had loved her, albeit in a twisted way, and given her everything to keep her sane in Regnum Infernale, knowing full well she was not one-hundred percent happy or used to the way things became. He was tempted to unveil his true form, an emaciated man with black eyes and gray skin, but he kept eerily calm, looking at her with daggers in his stare.
"You should'a kept me in the underworld, or killed me in the blasts..." Misty cried. "Save me the grief... I-I'm only here for Melanie... otherwise I'd never have let that crown be put on my head." She paused, knowing full well Michael rose to his feet and slowly approached her. "Melanie has it in her to be a Queen... not me... not anymore..."
As his feet moved slowly toward a fearless Misty, he decided how she should be punished for her betrayal to not only him, but the kingdom. Should he burn her and destroy her soul from existence? Should he stab her, cutting her heart out so he could indulge in a snack? Should he telekinetically make her head explode, or close her airways to the point of suffocation? What about taking her to the torture chamber and inflicting excruciating pain on her? Should he order Miriam to take off the outer coating of her arm and reveal the machine gun she hid within, shooting her full of lead? Even further, what if it were to wake Melanie? Let it be an example to her if she tries to go against me, he thought as he put his hand at the base of her neck, his thumb and index finger just barely grazing her skin.
"I was so wrong about you," he said, capturing Misty's attention. "You are far from my balance."
Ka-SHING!
Misty groaned in agony as she felt a nine-inch blade penetrating the area just beneath her rib cage, and Michael was in full view of her to watch the life leave her eyes. She groaned and fell to the floor, Michael taking the blade out of where he stabbed her slowly. He proceeded to lick the blade of her blood slowly as she made her last gasps for air on the floor. It was then that he heard a door opening, light footsteps coming down along with a scream of pure, visceral horror – he turned to see it was Melanie, seeing her mother dead on the floor with the bloody knife in Michael's hand, his tongue cleaning the blade.
"AHHHH!!!!" she screeched. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? ARE YOU INSANE?!"
She tried to run over to where Misty laid dead on the floor but before she could, she was kept in place by her father's mind control. All she could do was move her eyes to look at him as he approached her rancorously.
"Let this be an example to you, in the event you ever decide to go against me," Michael snided. "It would be a shame, consider you are my flesh and blood."
"WHY DID YOU KILL MY MOM, YOU CRETIN?!" Melanie screamed, his concilium having released her. "ARE YOU CRAZY? EVERYONE IS GOING TO STARVE!"
"Let them," he said coldly. "Let them kill each other over food and mates."
"Dad... you're insane!" Melanie said, tears coming from her eyes at her mother being killed by him. She felt such rage in that moment that she wanted to end it all right there and kill him herself, knowing full well she would risk her life in doing so.
"She was insane... I give her everything, and she still hated me..." Michael said angrily.
"She still did way more for this kingdom than you did as King!" she hissed, feeling her true form almost peeling from under her human guise. "Without her, we would starve... we would not prosper... it's all gone now, because of you!" She paused, knowing that he would probably kill her as well with the following statement: "all you do is bask in the glory of your people, sitting back and letting them worship you... Lucifer would be disappointed! YOU'RE A DISGRACE!"
Michael almost lunged forth with the blood-stained knife to stab her out of anger, but she used transmutation to get out of the way, going behind him a fair distance to try and buy herself time to escape. She had extreme fear in her eyes when he used the same means to get to her, and she transmuted to another part of the open concept. Miriam just watched on, absent-mindedly. Melanie noticed that her grandma was not even stepping in to intervene and stop Michael from trying to kill her, so she stopped and faced her in her next position.
"Grandma! Will you stop him?! He's trying to-"
Before she could finish her sentence, she was run through from behind with the blade, right below her heart. Her face was frozen in a shocked, anguished expression for a moment before Michael removed the blade. Melanie collapsed to her knees, still fully conscious as she noticed she was quite close to her mother's dead body on the floor. Using her last draw of breath in that moment, she whispered with intention.
"Elijah... John... Ashley... t-those of my flesh and blood... hear me..."
~~
"Elijah...Elijah..."
He was looking around for the source of the sound, hearing her distress call. In the red fog, he came upon Melanie, whose beautiful diamond-shaped face had blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, laying on the ground near-death. He felt such rage flow through him that he did not feel quite human, nor demon, anymore. He wanted to kill or very-slowly torture anyone who hurt his Princess. His eyesight began to throb as he took her into his arms and held her tightly. In the process he got blood on himself from the mortal wound in her chest cavity.
"Who did this to you, my Princess?" Elijah asked.
"H-He killed my mother... then me..." Melanie replied.
"Who?" He was trying to be patient, but his fury was incensed to the point of nearly exploding.
"The King..." she answered weakly. "Please... y-you may not-"
"I don't care WHO he is!" Elijah growled. "King or not, I'LL KILL HIM!"
"Elijah... I... want you... t-to meet the others... in front of the...c-compound... t-they are our flesh and blood... t-they will h-help you," she stammered, struggling to speak.
"They cannot touch me or the King's level of ability. I can destroy him MYSELF!" he hissed. "Please, my love, don't you worry. I'll make this right..."
Elijah woke up from his lucid dream with his heart racing, furious at what likely happened at the royal compound. Did His Infernal Majesty really kill the Queen and Princess? For what reasons? He got up from his bed and got dressed in the first clothing he could find before rushing out the door, out of the compound, and to where Melanie told him, in his dream, to meet others – did she summon them there through their dreams? He was about to find out.