There is no such thing as destiny. I was sixteen when my grandmother told me that. A cigarette between her lips as we read cards to find my path.

I didn't want to do it. I wanted destiny to decide but she said: There is no destiny. Life is a cosmic game of chance where chaos always finds excuses for the fact it never plays fair. Because of this, she encouraged me to find my path and follow my bliss.

My path was medicine. I didn't have them often but a vision told me I was going to be a heart surgeon on the same day I met the love of my life, Marius.

From the moment we met we were obsessed with one another. A single touch and I was lifted to this indescribable euphoric state while he whispered in my ear: I worship you and I knew in my bones it was true.

Despite this, he wasn't a part of my path. He was an architect and not good enough in my grandmother's eyes. She told me to leave him. I didn't want to. I loved Marius but I couldn't say no to her. It felt like the thought alone would shred my soul to pieces.

Marius seemed puzzled when I broke the news. Not that we were breaking up. More like, he wasn't expecting to care. "Huh..." He said devoid of emotion.

I was shocked. I loved him. I had been agonizing over our breakup for weeks and he just seemed intrigued. "Huh? Is that all you have to say, huh?" I questioned feeling my heart breaking.

Marius gazed at me for a moment. His beautiful obsidian eyes taking me in as he asked, "Why are you angry, Amaryllis?"

"Because I love you!" I burst into tears as I leapt from my best friend's couch. "And you obviously didn't love me. Huh? We've been together for almost a year and all you can say is huh?"

Marius stared blankly. His thick brows furrowed as he muttered, "I wish I could read your mind." As he rose to his feet and took me by the arms. "You love me?" He questioned.

"Yes!" I sobbed.

"You want to be with me?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," He sighed, relief visibly washing over him as he kissed me and all confusion melted away.

Marius and I were in the middle of making love when my grandmother called to see if the deed was done. "Yes," I whimpered, as he kissed the back of my neck.

"Oh, Amaryllis," She sympathized. "Don't cry. There will be other men."

Marius was the only man for me. I moved in with him two years into our relationship and told my grandmother I was still rooming with my best friend Julia who wasn't his biggest fan.

Four years into our relationship, Julia told my grandmother the truth. My heart plummeted when I found her standing at our front door, taking a deep pull from her cigarette as she let herself inside. "Mama, what are you doing here?" I asked as a cloud of gray smoke filled the foyer while she looked around the home Marius built.

"I'm unsure what's more impressive," She replied with a cool distance in her tone. "That you're shacked up with a Hindley or that you were able to hide it for this long."

I opened my mouth to explain but my tongue was lodged in my throat. My grandmother contining to smoke as she turned to me and said, "You've had your fun. Now let's go, Amaryllis."

I didn't want to leave Marius or our home. I loved him. My fists balled as I stood planted in place, a curious smile appearing on my grandmother's lips as she asked, "Are you fighting me?"

I shook my head. I would never fight against her. I just needed her to understand. Tears flowing from my eyes as words failed me.

"He must be so handsome," She smiled as she took another puff. "Maybe I should meet him. Maybe we should have a few words. Me and this... Marius...? Would that make you happy Amaryllis?"

In my mind, I saw Marius in pain. I saw my grandmother standing over him and his eyes glowing white as he looked up confused and afraid. I rushed to the door and my words found me as I crossed the threshold.

"Alright!" I sobbed. "I'll go but I have to leave him a note. He'll come looking for me if I don't."

"So?" She flicked ashes from her cigarette.

"Please?" I begged. "I promise I'll never see him again."

"Well," She took another drag. "As long as you promise."

I left Marius a note that told him that I loved him but I had to leave. I asked him not to look for me and moved back home with my grandmother.

It felt like my body was going through withdrawal. Marius was my peace. The only choice in life that felt like my own and without him it was like my soul was being pulled apart, piece by piece every moment we were separated.

I began to hate my grandmother for keeping me from him. I hated Julia for telling her. They insisted Marius wasn't for me and every time they did, I secretly wished they would die.

Eventually, my grandmother encouraged me to meet another man. In her lifetime she had many lovers, eight husbands, and three children, all of which she outlived but swore it was fun while it lasted.

She compelled me to go on a date with her friend's grand-nephew who abandoned me halfway through the party when I began to feel woozy. This strange feeling like something was incredibly wrong overtaking me but I couldn't leave the building. Anytime I did I would get dizzy like I had drunk too much and I didn't drink.

I knew it was my grandmother. I just didn't know what I had done wrong. I left him. I obeyed. I didn't know why I was being punished as I vomited this milky white sludge that terrified me so much I cried.

Then it stopped. The pain, the dizziness, it was gone. My phone rang and it was Marius and at that moment, I didn't care if it upset my grandmother, I had to see him.

I washed my face and rinsed my mouth in the bathroom sink before I fluffed my curls and took off into the night. We met across town and I jumped into his arms and held him tight knowing I would die before I let go.

"I found you," He smiled with so much love and admiration in his eyes as he held me in his arms and caressed my cheek.

"Run away with me?" I pleaded.

"Of course," He said without question.

We drove out of town with no direction. I just knew that we had to get away. Marius got us a hotel. A nice establishment that seemed to be planted in the middle of nowhere and yet the lobby was filled with people who had this air about them as though they were above everything.

I remember feeling as if they were watching us as we held hands and made our way to the elevator to take us up to our room. But Marius didn't seem to notice so I said nothing, not wanting to sound weird.

We made love in the shower before sitting on the bed and plucking from the fruit basket that was left by the staff. My eyes glued to the pomegranate as I remembered something I had read in my grandmother's book.

I grabbed the fruit and the knife chatting casually as I began to carve it in half before nicking my finger. Without a thought, Marius brought my thumb to his mouth to stop the blood. Something  in his eyes as he pulled away and examined my finger.

I kissed him before he could say another word. The two of us got lost in each other as I asked him to tell me he loved me. Tell me he worshiped me. Tell me that his soul is mine for all of eternity.

"I love you," He moaned as he thrust inside me. "I worship you. My soul belongs to you, Amaryllis Lovelie." He growled as I sunk my teeth into his skin. His blood strangely tart and sweet against my tongue.

I bound our souls, a trembling orgasm scattering my words as Marius gazed deep into my eyes while I was met with a vision of my grandmother burning in a fire across town. I could feel the flames on my skin. I could see her dead eyes looking back at me with a gaunt expression as she croaked, "Khaos." Right before my horrified scream filled the room.