DARKNESS

I leaned back against the leather couch cushions, my coat draped next to me and a glass of wine in my hands, looking relaxed for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. If I wasn't sure that any more smugness would kick me out of the room, perhaps I'd even whistle. 

I was that happy.

And the reason for that was the hellfire near me.

Little soul.

Thanks, devil, she took her compulsion off. I didn't know what made her finally do it after an entire week of suffering, but all in all, I was happy that she was letting me see her at least. And I had the full intent to take that as an advantage. 

"What are you looking at?" She snapped when she noticed that I was staring at her for longer than ten minutes. Well, she did make me wait for seven days. Ten minutes wasn't going to hurt her anymore less. 

I gave her a careless shrug in answer.

"No seriously, what's your problem?" She stood up from the bed, only to stomp toward the balcony. I pulled a face as she dragged another chair along, the sound loud enough to feel like nails scraping across a chalkboard. "Now, tell me why on earth are you staring at me like that. Don't you have any shame?"

"Sorry to be a disappointment but I have none. Not when it comes to you." My answer brought another wave of scowl to her face but I wasn't intimidated. I was just amused.

"You are not who you say you are." She suddenly said leaning back on the chair, her face taking on a thoughtful expression. "When we first met, you told me that you were a warlock but I'm starting to think that there's more to it. Either you are lying or I'm missing something."

"Oh, look at you, little soul. Already excited to know more about me." I poured myself another glass of wine with a sarcastic smile.

She watched me in silence for a few moments. "Curious, yes. Excited, of course not. Besides, that's not why I asked."

I nodded in acknowledgment. "Then what made you curious about me?"

"I would like to know why you wanted my soul."

With a violent cough, the drink dribbled down my chin before I could stop myself. Shit. Whatever reaction she wanted from me, she might've got it exactly. 

"I knew somewhat what I saw was right." What the hell?

"What are you talking about, Emie?" Outside I looked poised as I threw the question at her but inside? Deep inside, I was cursing myself in every language I could ever remember learning. 

"I had nightmares. There you were asking for my soul. That's why I asked you. I thought I was going crazy but now I know it's true."

Bloody hell. She was remembering our first meetings. Deciding it was best to just tell her the truth now rather than being accused of lying again, I took a deep breath before looking at her. 

"Look...things were different when we first met. I was not in a good place." Literally. "And you were just learning how to cope with the betrayal of your people. You remember them, yes?" 

A hasty nod was the only thing I got but that was better than nothing. "Good, good. So you know what happened that night, don't you?"

"Partly, it all felt like a dream...a nightmare but I know what I saw-"

Almost immediately someone screamed, cutting her off. She was the one who got up first, not missing the sound along with those screams. There was chanting coming from downstairs. We both looked at each other confused as to what was happening but I didn't have to wonder any longer as I felt another presence around us. 

"Son of a-" A voice rang out in the dark and I could hear someone coming closer. That someone flashed across the room before us and if I didn't focus much on the aura around the person, I wouldn't even realize that it was Zedkiel. 

His eyes were hard to read when he whispered. "There's a demon in the house...and he wants to see you."

***

A demon. A fucking demon was all this about.

After leaving a confused Emie on the balcony and walking through too many turns, I finally entered the healing room. Why the heck a demon chose a healing room to wait was beyond my imagination. But if it was there, then it must be something of importance. 

At first in the darkroom, I didn't notice the state of the demon. But once it started coming toward me and the light hit from the window, I had to hold back a snicker.

If that Demos thought that he could send a lower ranked demon to kill me, he had another thing coming. I prepared myself for a battle but to my surprise, the demon kneeled on the ground before I told it to rise. 

"My lord, I'm sent here by my master Jonathan Vale Franklinnnn. I'm afraid he's worried about his daughters' safety so he told me to accompany you, in all demons' matter in the futureee." The demon spoke in a raspy voice.

Jonathan? The last I saw him was the day I lost Emie but after that, I had no interest to see the old King of Shadows ever again. Despite that, I couldn't imagine why would Emie's father bestow a demon at my service instead of sending it to one of his daughters. 

"What is the name of your Keeper, demon? Tell me again."

It didn't even flinch under my hard gaze. "It was Jonathannn, but now I'm bound to Darkness, the King of shadowsss." 

"But you're a demon yourself. Why would you betray your own kind?" I asked, all the while twirling my shadows with my fingers. If the demon even sounded like a traitor, it was its death wish.

"I'm loyal to my masterrr. If it's my master's wish, then I can kill myselffff." It said again with that raspy voice. 

My lips formed a smirk in a second. "Fine. But how do I know that you won't betray...me?"

The demon showed its hands, revealing a small knife. "I'm doing a blood oath for my new masterrrr. It'll bind us by trust and loyaltyyyy." It made a cut in it's wrist, letting the drops fall in the pentagram. 

Mimicking his actions, I gripped the knife's edge until my blood mixed with the demon's. As soon as the blood touched, it turned into a bluish hue before I could feel the wound heal itself. Now if the demon betrayed me, it would die with me. 

"My name's Cone, masterrr." The demon showed it's neck in submission.

"Cone. Well then. Now you can go to Hell and tell your fellow King that I won't ever give up on Emeline Deshayes. Even if it means war." I ordered Cone and with a bow, he vanished.

Zed walked inside frantically almost immediately looking for the demon. "What the heck just happened?"

I sighed, staring at where the demon was just standing. "What do I know? I just found myself a pet demon."

"What!?" 

"We made a deal. It's helping me destroy that demon Almighty's ass." Zed shook his head, the worry too clear in his gaze. 

"What if it betrays us?" 

"Well...then it's dear Jonathan's problem. Emie's father bound it to me." He couldn't have looked any more shocked than that. Something told me that the name Jonathan only riled another name we both had no intention of ever remembering. 

That deranged Keisha. 

Zed crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know what you've gotten yourself into?"

The disappointment came first before a shudder went through me. What the heck was I getting myself into? I knew I could withstand a demon like Cone any day but Demos? That guy had many advantages over me, he was millennia's older than me for devil's sake. 

"There's still time to change your mind." Zed offered as if he could read off the emotions on my face easily. That's what made me shut off any emotions I was showing earlier only to bring out my Darkness side. 

"I know what I'm doing, Zedkiel." 

Of course, I had first thought to refuse by telling Cone that Jonathan could stick his offer up his ass if it meant that I would be away from trouble. But her safety was the only reason that I agreed to blindly follow someone I had no plan to see.

And it was good to know I had an inner loyal pet in Hell anyway.

But now wasn't the time for an argument. So I flipped him off instead, walking fast enough to reach her room. I had to assure her that everything's alright. She was too curious for her own good so who to say what kind of trouble she already brought in when we were gone? The thought alone made me run until I was standing in front of her door. Taking a deep breath, I noticed the door was ajar.

"Hey." I whispered not knowing what to say. Damn it, I was right. The room looked like someone fought a battle here. She was in a half trance and when she looked at me, it was full of fear. In a second, I stepped back when I also noticed that her eyes were pitch black, just like mine.

"Little soul-you..." Before I could finish the sentence or give out any warning, she thrust her hand shoving me off my balance. Woah...How could she have that much energy?

"You won't take a step toward me, you monster!" She screamed, grabbing my neck with a smile. I didn't think just how dangerous she had become in these last four years and I didn't want to wonder that now. 

With difficulty, I got my hands free and shoved her. It was not a hard shove that could hurt her but it'd be slowing her down. Then just as it started, it was finished with her eyes turning to her natural color. I inhaled the fresh air, quickly thanking Heaven and Hell for it to end.

"Are you okay?" She asked, coming to my side.

The words that came out were harsh. "Do I look fine!?"

She cringed at my tone, going as far as to keep a safe distance. "Sorry. No one was telling me what was happening so I was trying to dematerialize but I think I accidentally opened another dimension. I don't remember what happened after."

Dematarilize. 

Not a teleporting spell or something else. She could dematerialize on her own account. I didn't know if I should be proud of her or start to be wary of just how far her powers had reached. 

Instead of showing worry on my face, I decided to joke around. "Why did you want to teleport again? Aren't we taking good care of you?" 

"I told you. No one tells me anything. When I have questions they just say that I'm the one who has to figure it out." She let out a sigh. "Why does it always have to me? For once, why won't anyone just give me a straight answer?"

"Look, Emie-" I reached out to hold her hands and she breathed out slowly. That's good. She was not throwing me out of the window yet. "If you have any questions, I'll always tell you the truth. You can count me on that."

Something flashed over her face, too fast for me to catch as she gritted out. "How did I die? And why Hell? Why did I end up there?"

For all my bravery, I froze right there as she asked the most important question of my life. Why did I do it? Why did I believe in the prophecy so much that I led her to it willingly? I was her downfall, I knew it. So why couldn't I just stay away?

"Alexei?" 

The name did something to me. Like stupid enough to tell that truth.

"Me. I was the reason you went to Hell."

"What?" Her tone made me believe that she was denying it to this point. She knew it too, just so little memory she had that I was always bad for her but she didn't just want to believe. But now? Now the hatred in her eyes almost made me take my words back but I couldn't. Not anymore.

"I fulfilled the prophecy around you. I killed you. But goddammit, little soul! If that didn't hurt any less for me-"

"Stop it!" She shouted on the top of her lungs, that fear-filled eyes mirroring my own. "I don't want to hear anymore, you bastard..." 

But I couldn't stop, I didn't want to. Let her hate me, something in me taunted. I deserve it, DESERVE it. "And you know the best part? We were supposed to be soulmates. Fuck it, you are my beloved."

"No, no, you are lying." Her eyes widened to a degree that I was afraid of her health. "That can't be true. That's...you are lying."

"You wanted to know who you are, didn't you? I am telling you who you are." 

"And who am I?" She breathed out.

By the time I answered, I was running out of her room. "Someone I already lost."

***

Do you think he blew his chance or was he right on things? Let me know!