THE MONSTER INSIDE ME: The Immortal Chronicles: Book One

by Tristin Clark

  I press my two fingers against his lips to shut him up.

  “Don’t. Don’t even finish that sentence,” I tell him. I pull my fingers away as he grins. “You better make sure every human you bed is of age and consenting,” I warn. He shakes his head.

  “Emi, Emi, Emi… all I need to do, is just smile, bat my lashes and they come running. You human women love you some big ole demon dick, but I can’t blame you all. I’ve seen what human males hide and it ain’t much. I’ll tell you that.”

  “Consent,” I sternly repeat. Aza stares me down before he replies,

  “Of course. My daddy didn’t raise no savage. Now let’s go. I’m hungry for some—” I interrupt him.

  “You say something gross and I will slap you,” I warn.

  “I was going to say hungry for apples, candy apples.” I shake my head.

  “Riiiiight.” But I’m not a fool. Maybe a fool for my devil but I’m not a fool for no other. Aza tosses his head back and rolls his eyes.

  “Ughh! We need to get you laid, little Emi.” He drops his head and looks back at me. “You’re so wound up baby girl. Big D needs to loosen you up.”

  “If he even shows up,” I add.

  “He will. Just wait. He’ll find you, and by the end of the night, he’s going to make you his immortal bitch. You just watch,” he ends with a smug smile.

  “You’re ridiculous. I swear.” I pull out of his embrace and walk away from him.

  “Love ya too bestie. Love ya too.”

  CHAPTER 37 - LET’S PLAY

  Aza and I are at the carnival. We’re walking side by side, through the thick crowd of people. He sticks close to me. Never letting me leave his side.

  The flashing of bright, colorful lights, glows brightly within the dark night. Laughter and the screams of a thrilling time flood my ears. The scent of funnel cakes and fried foods fill my nose with nostalgic memories. The memories make me think of my old friends. They make me think of Van and Cole. I wonder where Van is today. Is she still here? Did she move away? Maybe she’s in college. Maybe she’s dead. And Cole… they caught him. They have him imprisoned in Hell. He wanted me dead. He wanted to claim me, take me away from my mate, but he failed and now, he’s gone.

  I stop walking and gaze up at the Ferris wheel, ahead of us. Aza looks up when he notices me staring at it.

  “You want to ride it?” he asks. I nod my head, never staring away from the bright, blinking lights.

  “Sure,” I say. We approach the line and await our turn to ride.

  “Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel before?” I ask him.

  “Have I ever ridden a Ferris wheel. Of course, I have!” he mocks. I turn towards him.

  “Just wondering. Austin was never big on doing human things,” I say, while gazing at a couple of teens making out in line.

  “That’s because Austin is the bloody prince of darkness. You really think royalty is going to settle amongst the peasants?” I give him a blank stare.

  “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologizes. I shake my head and move forward in line. “I’m sorryyyy. You’re a queen!” he shouts behind me. “You were born to be a queen. Don’t be mad at me,” he fake cries, while holding my shoulders and leaning over, smiling at me.

  “I’m not mad Aza. I’m just… irritated,” I tell him. I may be emotionless, but I still feel things. In my own way at least. Especially when it comes to the blue-eyed boy.

  We finally move forward and step into our cart. We take a seat across from one another and sit back. The carnie closes our door and we begin to move. Stopping shortly after, to let the next group fill a cart.

  “Now I’m starting to have my suspicions about where he is. Momma bear hasn’t gotten back to me and I’m not sure what to do at this point, but I know I’m not leaving your side until your mate finds you. You’re still human. Anything can happen to you,” Aza states.

  “And here I thought you just enjoyed my company.”

  “I do.” The Ferris wheel begins rotating. “Ayyy! We’re moving!” Aza cheers.

  I glance out, at the view below. I watch a little girl drop her cotton candy and bawl her eyes out. I see a woman slap a guy and dump her beverage over his face. I see a person dressed in a black, hooded cloak staring up at us… my eyes widen, and I sit up quickly, gazing directly at the one in all black. Aza notices my alertness.

  “What? What is it? Do you see him?” he asks, while staring out. I say nothing. I can’t move. Can’t speak. I lean over the railing to get a closer look. The door opens and I lose my balance.

  “Ahh!” I scream, but Aza wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back in before I fall.

  “What the fuck Emi! You could have fell!” he shouts. I slide to the end of my seat and gaze back out. The dark hooded person still stands where they are, gazing up at me. I can’t see their face, for its hidden behind complete darkness, but I know. Its him.

  “I have to get out of here. We need to stop. STOP THE RIDE! STOP THE RIDE!” I shout.

  “Emi! Emi! Calm down!” Aza orders.

  “STOP THE RIDE! STOP THE RIDE!” I scream again and again until our cart reaches the bottom. The carnie stops the ride but before he has time to open the door, I jump over and take off running.

  “EMI!” I hear Aza call after me, but I don’t stop. I keep running.

  I see him up ahead. He doesn’t move. He is waiting for me. I’m almost to him.

  “Emi!” Aza yells after me. I glance back at Aza just as he catches up to me.

  “He’s here! Right there!” I turn around and point. “He’s gone… no! Damnit blue eyes! Don’t do this again! Come out! Show yourself!” I scream. I don’t care if everyone at the carnival is staring. I don’t care if they all think I’m crazy.

  “Austin, I swear. You better show yourself. I am not playing your stupid games! COME OUT!” I scream within.

  “Let’s play,” I hear him whisper and it’s the second time I’ve heard his voice in so long. I freeze on the spot.

  “Where did he go?” Aza asks.

  I look around and spot the hooded boy up ahead. I can’t see his face, but his side is turned to me. He is waiting for me to follow him. I begin running as he begins walking. My eyes remain pinned on him. I will not look away. He will not escape me. He’s way ahead of me, but I’m catching up. I follow him towards a glass fun house. He stops right at the entrance and turns to me. I stop and stare up at him.

  “Austin. Stop walking away from me. I don’t know what your problem is but if you—” he turns his back to me and enters the glass fun house. “Damnit Austin! Ughhh!” I run inside, pushing a few kids out of the way.

  Aza catches up, entering behind me.

  “Nice! I love glass houses,” he mentions.

  “Aza, leave!” I order him.

  “Nah huh. I’ve been tasked to deliver you to his darkness and until he has you in his arms, I ain’t leaving your side.” I turn away, squeeze my head and pull my hair in stress.

  “Ughhhh! I’m so sick of all this! AUSTIN! COME OUT!” I yell and throw my arms down in a fit.

  Aza and I make our way through the glass house. I’ve lost sight of the cloaked boy, but I’m alert and I’m looking.

  “You know? Like nine out of ten times in horror movies, the victim always gets murdered in one of these. So, cliché but funny,” Aza mentions.

  “Aza! Shut. Up!”

  Aza stops to check himself out in one of the many mirrors.

  “Fine biotch. Would have been nice to know you before you lost your soul or were you still a bitch then too?”

  “UGHHH! I’m not in the fucking mood Aza!”

  “When are you ever?” he mocks.

  I take off without him. I move quickly through the maze of mirrors, growing even more frustrated when I’d get lost and have to turn back to take a different route. Aza somehow catches up to me and is silently following and watching me in amusement. I hit another dead end and turn around, that’s when I see
the dark, hooded figure. I rush past Aza, towards the boy. I lunge for him and smack into the glass.

  “Ughh!” I grunt, from the impact.

  “There’s a mirror there,” Aza points out.

  “Shut up,” I tell him, walking past him. The dark, hooded figure now reflects off every mirror around us.

  “Oh Austin!” I sing. “Come out, come out wherever you are?”

  “Says the victim before she gets stabbed in the back,” Aza jokes. I ignore him.

  “Austin? If you come out now, I’ll let you do whatever you want to my body?” I bribe.

  “Dayyyyum! Lucky fucker,” Aza replies. Suddenly, all the mirrors around us begin to rattle violently. I spot him in one mirror, standing behind me. I turn and he is now everywhere.

  “I think you might have pissed him off with that comment,” I tell Aza, while glancing around at the mirrors. Aza looks around towards the many Austin’s and his eyes widen.

  “Uh oh. Didn’t mean it!” he confesses. “I mean, I did mean it. You are lucky. Very lucky. Emilia is hot—” I stop him.

  “Aza. Shut up. Right now. You are not helping yourself.”

  “Shutting up,” he says, then pretends to zip his lips.

  “Austin? Please don’t shatter the glass. I know you like breaking shit, but I really don’t feel like getting impaled with giant shards of glass, so please, don’t, break, shit,” I tell him.

  “Uh. Emi?” I hear Aza call from behind me. I turn and gasp when I see clouds of dark mist rise from the ground and flood the room around us. I swallow hard. I’ve never seen this amount of dark mist before. I’ve only seen a little of it, when him and his kind teleport, but not like this.

  “Austin? What are you doing?” I ask.

  The dark mist has grown so thick, I can no longer see Aza in front of me.

  “Huhhh!” I hear my friend gasp.

  “Aza!” I scream, lunging for him. I don’t make it to him. A force tosses me back through the black mist and I land on my ass.

  “Ughh,” I grunt, landing hard. I can hear Aza struggling against something. Struggling against someone and I know just who that someone is.

  “Austin! Let him go!” I shout. The metal ground beneath my rear starts shaking. I plant my palms to steady myself, but the rumble is too strong. I fall on my back and am bouncing like a kernel in a bag of popcorn.

  “Austin! STOP!” I scream. The dark mist around me suddenly disappears, clearing the way to see the dark, hooded boy. His back faces me and I see him holding Aza up by his throat, while his legs kick frantically.

  I try to sit up but fall back when the room around me begins to spin. The quake beneath me ceases but the room continues to go round and round. I see both guys rotate, passing me in numerous cycles. I can’t keep up with them. I’m growing dizzy. Too dizzy. I close my eyes. My head falls forward and then I fall on my side.

  “Aus…” I try to call out him. I try to get him to stop. My head is spinning. My equilibrium is off. I feel sick to my stomach. I’m going to puke.

  “It’s all in your head. It’s just an illusion,” I hear him whisper within.

  “Make it stop. Please,” I beg.

  Suddenly, the illusion drops. The room is no longer spinning out of control. I open my eyes. My mind is still spinning, and so are the guys.

  “Aus…” I try to say. I can barely see the two before me.

  I hear a loud thump. Austin dropped Aza. I can barely make out a puff of black mist behind the dark hooded boy, but I gather that Aza just vanished and I don’t blame him for leaving. His task is now completed. I have been delivered.

  I see Austin moving towards me. I see him bending in front of me. Hovering. His hand moves to pull his hood back and I lose what air remains in me.

  “Austin…” My eyes are wide. Mouth gaped open. It’s him. I never doubted it but its him. It’s really him.

  “My sweetness,” he greets, smirking menacingly.

  My head is no longer spinning. I can’t stare away from his eyes. The very bright blue ones I had fallen in love with so long ago. I blink and take him in. I take in his appearance. He looks different. The same but different.

  “You weren’t the only one who aged. Do you not like the man I have become or would you rather I still remain the boy you knew?” he asks.

  “No. You’re perfect just the way you are,” I tell him, and he is. He’s so gosh damn beautiful, it makes me want to cry. My blue-eyed beauty is no longer the boy I knew. He’s a man and he’s beyond breathtaking. Even more so than before. How that is possible? I have no fucking idea.

  His hand reaches out and rests against my cheek. My eyes close and I moan at his touch.

  “Mmmh. I’ve missed those tingles. I’ve missed you,” I tell him. His hand instantly backs away. The sudden departure leaves me confused and devastated.

  He takes a few steps back, as I struggle to stand. He stands before me, a few feet apart and the distance is infuriating. I need him close. We’ve spent too long separated. Enough is enough. This little game of his is driving me mad.

  “What is your problem?” I yell at him. He says nothing, but smirks widely. I take a step towards him as he takes one back. “Ughhh! Austin! Stop! Enough is enough! What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?” He just continues to grin and says nothing.

  That’s when I realize… he wants me to get angry. He wants me to chase after him. So, what do I do? I stop.

  “Fine! You want to play? Then play your own damn game, blue eyes, because I’m done! I’m not playing chase with you! You want to act like a kid? Then act like one! I’m done! You hear me! I said I’m—” I gasp.

  “Huhhhh!”

  He comes up behind me and yanks me against him. His arm weaves around my waist. His hand slides up my stomach, over my breast and squeezes my neck gently. His lips skim down my neck, before trailing delicately back up and then he blows a warm breath into my ear. I shiver in ecstasy.

  “You’re not done until I say you’re done. You’re mine Emilia or did you forget that?” he growls into my ear.

  His touch sends millions of tingles down my body. My core is radiating with the need to be touched by him. I feel myself leak with arousal and I know he can scent it. Just as I know that I am not the only one who is turned on. The hard log of muscle pressing into the crease of my ass, proves that to me.

  I turn around in his arms, to face him, but he’s gone, and in his place, is the cloud of black mist he’s left behind.

  I swallow hard and gaze at the empty spot he once stood in. That did it. I was angry before but now I am enraged.

  I can feel the blood boil within me. I let it boil. I let it spread. I let it fill me, rising to the surface, waiting to explode. I turn around and am face to face with my grinning mate and I let go.

  I release Hell.

  “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” I roar. I charge after him full on, stopping right before him, and bang my fists against his hard chest. WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” His grin falls. He gazes down on me with a shit eating grin, grips my wrist and holds them against his chest. “I thought you’d be happy to see me,” I mention, now crying. “Where have you

  been?” I desperately wonder. My voice is broken. My bottom lip quivers as tears pour down my cheeks.

  I can feel a series of emotions from within my mate. Anger, fear, guilt, jealousy. He is the only thing that is capable at stirring my emotions and he is stirring them alright. He’s resurrecting the darkest part of me. He’s resurrecting our soul.

  “I’ve been here all along. Didn’t you feel me or were you too distracted by your new lover to feel me?” he asks. I stop crying immediately. My brows squint and I shake my head in confusion.

  “Wait. What?” I ask. I’m stunned. Is that why I felt jealously within him? Does he think Aza and I are together?

  “Did you fuck him?” he asks.

  All air within, escapes me. I can’t breathe as my mouth hangs open in shock. He thinks I betrayed hi
m. How could he ever think that? I swallow back a lump and take a deep breath before I speak,

  “You know damn well that I didn’t fuck him. You would have felt it. You would had known, had you not blocked me out,” I tell him.

  “Oh, I felt your happiness. I heard your laughter. While I mourned for you, you made a friend,” he states angrily, behind closed teeth. He wants me to feel sorry for him but all I feel is rage.

  “You know, not all of us can be immortal beings that are better equipped at handling our feelings. In case you forgot, I’m still human,” I seethe. My words only infuriate the giant beast before me. He moves in. The tip of his nose touching mine and he is radiating with fury.

  “I slaughtered a whole fucking town because of you. Don’t tell me your feelings were worse than mine.” The tip of his nose trails up the side of my face, stopping at my temple. I hear him breathe me in before he speaks again. “While you made a friend and played, I lived each and every day in misery.

  So much that I had to block you out because the mere sound of your laughter and banter with that demon, made me close to setting the world ablaze.”

  I’m starting to forget why I should be angry with him. My eyes close and I bite back a moan when his warm lips trace down my neck. He releases my wrists and wraps his arms around me, trailing his hand up my back, under my shirt, and it’s igniting tingles all over.

  “And you would have set me ablaze in it?” I whisper, too weak to resist his charm. Too weak to resist the bond.

  “I would have had you removed,” he calmly tells me, while kissing my neck. The bond is overshadowing our emotions. It’s not only affecting me but affecting him too. My arms go around him and I pull him closer.

  “You’re a jealous jerk,” I admit.

  “You’re an inconsiderate human,” he insults.

  “Burn. You got me. Poor me. Now excuse me while I go cry in a corner,” I sass, while breathing him in as I skim my nose up his chest.

  “You’ve changed, my soul,” he points out and I can feel him lightly smile against the skin of my neck.

  “What? No longer as sweet as you wish me to be? Pain will do that to a woman, honey. Pain makes you bitter. Makes you angry, hateful,” I speak against him.