Round 2 - Picture Prompt #1
clarino910

The craving to find him was agonizing. It burned. It physically burned deep into every fiber of my body. It was a fire that invaded each cellule and occupied what was left of my soul. I had to find him at any price.

I'd been trudging through the grove for what seemed like an eternity, barefoot, parched, starved, defiled. My tarnished dress was once of royal elegance. My sullied hair was once adorned with flawless russet curls. Now I merely appeared like a ghost of my former self.

Lost in the thick sunless woods for days, all I could think of was him. Tristan. The most significant man in my life. The man for whom I would relinquish the world.

The only memory instilled in my mind was the trail to his cottage. His beloved home at the fringe of the woods, guarding the forest in which I was left to suffer. Tristan was my only hope and yet, my greatest failure.

Most of my memories vanished after what had happened in the woods. Ambiguous glimpses of my attacker lingered and sent stings of furious pain in my chest. The lump in my throat ached and I clutched my neck with my hands, as if to throttle myself. The physical and emotional pain were excruciating. I loathed myself for feeling this way, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of betrayal.

He promised, I thought. Tristan promised to meet me in the woods but he never came. He could’ve rescued me. He could've saved me from being violated. We could've been together for good. I loved him and I thought it was requited. How could he abandon me?

The visceral fire intensified and urged me to continue my fervent trek. In the swirl of painful thoughts and befuddled emotions, I found myself in front of his gate. An entrance to my salvation.

The oxidized, intricately crafted wrought-iron was shiny black in the moonlight. Dragon sculptures guarded the entrance on each side above the stone walls. I pushed the gate lightly but it was locked. Strange.

The entrance of his house used to be wide open whenever I'd come here. It used to welcome me like home. Now it repelled me. It didn't feel as safe as before. I tried to push my way in, the gate rasped but something was blocking it. There was neither a lock nor a chain but the gate was tightly fastened.

“Emelia?”

A familiar voice echoed in distance and then I saw Tristan stagger into my view on the other side of the entrance. His comely face was in shock, unshaven, exhausted cerulean eyes wider than the sea. He panted and reeled as if he was about to fall unconscious. His golden hair glinted and fell on his forehead, grey waistcoat unbuttoned, sleeves folded up carelessly. He looked miserable, but he stood still, gaping at me, legs spread in a defensive stance.

I felt a surge of deep need flooding through my veins. I missed him. I needed him. I wanted for his comfort and love. His presence was so pungent that I wanted to break the walls and run to him. But he didn't move one step towards me.

“Tristan. Help me,” I cried.

“Emelia! How could you be here?” Tristan frowned, pressing his temples with his fingertips.

“I followed the trail. Please, let me in. I'm hungry and cold.”

“I'm so sorry, darling. I cannot let you in.” His voice was smothered. He gnawed his lips in evident anguish.

Tears refused to spill on my face. I couldn't believe my ears. “You abandoned me? You no longer want me, Tristan?”

Tristan sighed heavily, shut his eyes and said in a hushed tone. “God knows how much I've wanted you, Emelia.”

I winced.

“You didn't keep your promise,” I said, winding my arms around my torso. The aching fire in my bones wouldn't stop. I wanted it to stop even though I couldn't help it.

Tristan stepped forward in a wavering manner. His precious eyes glimmered in the silver light and the simmering fire deepened in my core. “I swear I've come for you, darling, but...”

My eyes bulged in disbelief. “But you had second thoughts? I was harmed by your cowardice and now you're ashamed of me?”  My fingers gripped the iron rods of the gate until my knuckles whitened. The metal almost gave way in my grasp. “Have you any idea what I've endured? ”

Tristan groaned and sank on his knees. He shook his head rapidly. “Oh, Emelia. I wish I haven't.”

“You have?” I shrieked. “ and you watched me being…” I couldn't utter no more. The memory was blurred, yet daunting.

“It was horrid!” Tristan sobbed, his forehead lowered to graze the ground. “There was nothing I could've done. I could've been killed if I made a sound.”

A salty stench reached my nostrils. I'd never seen Tristan weep. He wasn't the man I'd known and loved. He was broken and weak, yet I craved his weakness. His vulnerability was compelling. I wanted to be near the warm thumping of his heart, although I wanted to punish him for failing me. The fire in my core strengthened and fortified the rage I held against the unfair odds.

A metallic groaning noise grated against my hand. My eyes darted to the iron rod of the gate, which I'd been holding on to. The metal was bending. Twisting in my hand like soft dough.

“Tristan!” I exclaimed. “What is wrong with this gate?”

“Nothing, darling. It's you. You're changing.” Tristan lifted a tearful face to stare at me. “You don't remember?”

“Remember what?” I shouted, pushing the rusty gate with the palm of my hand. The gate rasped and creaked, coming unhinged. It fell with a loud boom on the ground near Tristan's knees.

Tristan flinched and covered his ears.

“Your attacker. I saw that… that creature.” Tristan dropped his head in his hands. “The mythical leeches, lurking in the woods at night. I saw it suck the life out of you and now you're one of them.”

This is nonsense, I thought.

But then I glanced at my little pale hand, then the pile of broken metal on the ground and the memories flowed back in. The dark creature's assault. The piercing pain in my neck. The scorching heat in my throat. The fire in my bones. The craving to find Tristan. This incessant urge wasn't love. It was hunger. Thirst. I hadn't fed since then.

I raised my nose to inhale the cool breeze. Tristan's scent, saturating the dead of night, was so piquant that it consumed my mind. I plunged forward to reach him when I collided with an invisible barrier, instead of the empty space of the entrance gate.

I growled in fury. “ I cannot enter!”

Tristan eyed me with a tormented look. “ No. You cannot. I haven't invited you in.”

“Let me in. I'm not one of them. I'm your lover, Tristan. I need you,” I screamed, my voice resounding in the predawn gloom.

Tristan screamed back, jugulars protruding from his neck. “All you need is my blood. It is not you speaking. It is the demon you've become.”

Frantically, I paced back and forth in the entryway. I was unnaturally infuriated. How dare he? How could he reject me and shut me out?

“Tristan, you're wrong.” I stopped pacing and faced him again, holding my hands in a pleading gesture. “Come closer. Look at my face. It is me, my love.” My voice softened into a sweat purr.

A flicker of hope stirred Tristan's melancholic features. He wiped his tears, crawled on all fours and kneeled two feet away from me. He gulped, staring up into my eyes. He used to love my eyes. 'Greener than the verdant forest in a sunny day,' he'd described them.

Getting down on my knees, I smiled at him, fixing my gaze on his. His eyes froze on mine. “I love you, Tristan. Do you still love me?”

He nodded slowly, “I love you, Emelia. I've always loved you.”

“Tell me I can enter your house.” My smile widened, my eyes piercing into his.

“You can,” Tristan said in an entranced tone “enter my house.”

“Thank you,” I breathed and inched forward, crossing the empty entrance, which now did not hinder me.

Petrified and hypnotized, Tristan did not resist when my arms encircled him, slithering around his pulsing neck. The fire was intolerable. Intense flames erupted from the tips of my canines to the pit of my growling stomach, instigating me to devour.

My mouth was inches from his luscious veins before I felt the inferno scalding my skin.

A tortured wail escaped my chest. Tristan's eyes restored their consciousness. He leapt backwards in horror as I fell on my back to recognize the bitter truth that appeared in the horizon.

It was sunrise…

******

I hope you enjoy this story. It's kind of a new style I suppose. Please share your thoughts on the story and vote and comment if you liked it. It definitely makes my day . Thank you ❤🌹🌹