Claimed

by K. H. Kate

  "Are you hurt?" I asked as gently as I could without scaring her off. She shook her head and stepped back. I took a step ahead and she matched mine by backing out.

  "Stop!" She yelled out looking at me with those scared little eyes. Why was she so afraid of me? I tried to see what she was feeling but it was as if something was blocking our connection. Was it possible that she remembered me? No, it wasn't possible, Zach was so sure of it. Then why was she backing out from my touch?

  "I'm not going to hurt you." I promised, taking a step closer to her and this time, she let me. Her stare was unnerving but it was better than her escaping my sight again.

  "Your eyes."

  "What about my eyes, little soul?" I asked, smiling. I could still remember how she hated that name. Every memory, every touch was just a haunting melody now. Had it been that long?

  "It's so dark...I saw it before." She frowned as if she was unsure of what to say. "And don't call me little soul. It hurts my head."

  "OK, I won't. Now come with me." But she shook her head again.

  "Demos is somewhere over there. I need to find-I need answers." My blood started to boil again hearing that good for nothing demon's name from my wife's mouth. Clenching my fists, I gave her a tight smile.

  "He was there when a warlock pushed you away. If he really cared about you..." I trailed off, unable to hide my anger any longer. "He wouldn't dare to let you go. He would burn everything down to come for you, little soul. Everything."

  Looked like I hit on her nerves cause that's when her eyes got that fire I had come to see many times. She was defensive. "He's not-you don't know him, you don't know what he has done for me. And, he's my fiancé for God's sake!"

  Another sneer left from my lips. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that and he might become good in a clap."

  "Who are you even? I don't have to explain to you just because you saved my life." Even as she looked at me with hate, she couldn't hide the relief. Fine, little soul, even I could play your game.

  "Fair enough. I'm Alexei. But, you can call me Lex. I'm a...I'm Darkness." The same man she could never trust if only she remembered.

  "Darkness? What kind of creature is that?" She mumbled frowning but I heard it anyway.

  "Don't worry. It was a title bestowed upon me without my choice. If you feel any different, you can say I'm a warlock."

  I lost that term so long ago that it was laughable now. I didn't hold magic in my hands like she did. I even forgot the taste of it. But Zedkiel was still my master and I was living in the Moon clan so she ought to trust that if not a thing.

  Her eyebrows lifted up. "From a clan."

  "Yes, but you don't seem too happy to hear it." I hesitated to say anything further. If she didn't believe me, then she'd never go with me and I couldn't just leave her here, not after finding her in my arms again.

  Hell had to open again to stop me from taking her.

  "We demons have a rivalry with witches." She said it so casually with disgust in her voice that I couldn't hold on to the snicker from escaping. Even if she was a Reaper now, she was born as a witch. A pure one. And for her to deny that...

  "What's so funny?" She hissed.

  "No, nothing at all." I hid the amusement with a cough. It was going to be so much fun once she remembered. I could already feel the way her nose would wrinkle if I taunted her with it.

  "I'm Emeline by the way. A demon." She introduced herself, her hands half-raised as if to shake with mine but at the last moment, they fell on her sides.

  "Nice to meet you." I said nonetheless.

  "I-I need to go then." She stumbled over her words seeing me take her wrist, obvious to what's going inside my mind. Never.

  "Yes, with me. You said you needed answers. I will give you those answers, Emeline because we know much more than your demon King will ever do."

  "Oh?" She challenged me. "And how do I know that you are not one of those warlocks who want to kill me."

  I gave her a sarcastic bow, searching her face for any recognition. "Oh, m'lady. I just saved your life if you didn't notice. A little thank you would be chivalrous.”

  She flipped me off. "Keep dreaming, buddy, keep dreaming."

  Oh, little soul, you were the only one in my dreams. It just felt so...unreal talking to her after four years of torturing myself to madness. “I see you need more confirmation, here it is."

  Before she could scream, I dug my nail into my own skin until blood came from it. I smeared it into her skin, my stare on her so fierce that she had to swallow hard.

  "I promise on my blood that I will never hurt you. And if I do, you can take my life as you wish."

  She didn't know what to say to that. And when she saw that gorgeous smile on my face she had no choice either.

  She was going with me.

  "Darkness, you can't be serious. You can't just keep lying to her." Allegra had just finished learning anything that was for her to know about her new companions and her attention was now on Zed and me. Well, more especially on me.

  "Stay out of it, Allegra." I whisper-yelled, trying not to wake Emie up. As soon as she reached the manor, she was out cold. I didn't blame her, anyone in her position would lose it after just what happened.

  "There's no way I would let you two do it. Either you are going to tell her the whole truth or I do." Her eyes were blazing with anger, she jumped from the sofa and rounded on Zed, who looked more interested in the books around him than to listen to the Volkios.

  "Give some common sense to your friend, Zedkiel, before he ends up losing her for the second time."

  Zed raised his hands in surrender. "You have lost me on common sense. It's Lex, he doesn't have one."

  I flipped him off. "Haha, very funny."

  "What?" He chuckled, ignoring the way Allegra was still fuming in anger. "She's your wife. Have you had any say to this?"

  "I can't just flat out tell her that I married her when she was out killing off an entire town. Not only that, I lied to her about the prophecy. All that time I knew how we were going to end but I hid and hid until she was on the brink of death. Now to let her know that...you think she'd want anything to do with me?" I spat out, forcing a pained groan from him.

  "You sure you don't know why she doesn't remember us?" Zed asked the same question I had been wondering since I knew that she landed on earth. Instead of answering, Allegra threw a book on demons in front of us which showed the same markings that Emie had on her skin.

  "What the-"

  "I had to call Eros and tell him about the emergency. He's shocked to hear about his brother's return to earth but he was generous enough to lend us some information. It's an aftershock of having too much demon blood." Demon blood? I recoiled in shock. How did she survive, having that much poison for this long? "That demon king must've been giving it to her for a long time to make her think that she's a demon. Not only that, if you mix demon blood as pure as the King has with nightshade, you can remove her memories to replace them with new ones. My guess? She was hit with both."

  "Shit." Zed cursed.

  "Shit indeed. We've to make sure she doesn't have any more of that and I'll find something so I can wash it out of her body." I nodded absentmindedly.

  "Hey, where's my sister?" Someone asked suddenly. I looked at the door to see Lana and Mikhail both hand in hand waiting for my answer.

  "She's sleeping." On a second note... "And it will be best if you don't see her now."

  "Why the heck not? She's my sister, if anyone, I deserve to see her first. Not her lying piece of a shadow, husband." She stomped her way to stand in front of me. Even if I had bad interactions with fate, I could thank it a hundred times to give me the sane twin.

  "5132...I think he's right. She doesn't remember anything now and seeing you will be overwhelming." Mikhail spoke slowly, his silver eyes gleaming in the rather dark place.

  "Oh shit! I had a literal bucket list ready for her. There’s so much things we missed." She cursed before looking up at me. "I'l
l stay away but not for long. Now tell me, how is she?"

  "All I know that Demos, the demon King did this to her. He poisoned her to the point that she doesn't remember any of us." She couldn't have looked any more shocked.

  "He did what!?" She screamed and Mikhail put a hand on her mouth so the sound didn't reach Emie. She screwed her eyes shut tight and then opened them to look at me again.

  "Tell me you have pulled out his spine as a souvenir."

  I smiled, the sight of it more terrifying than comforting. "I have not...yet." From my voice, anyone could detect that it was only a matter of time before I would kill that demon for what he did.

  A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit me before I could voice out my thoughts. I grabbed the corner of the closest table to steady myself. I didn't understand the reason for this sudden exhaustion until I realized that I was getting what she was feeling. It had been so long that I almost forgot I could do that.

  And that's when a blood-curdling scream came from her room, sending me to run toward her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  "You were going to embrace my friend also known as death. But given the consequences, you woke me up-you, you are my bride." His bride?

  I looked around to be sure but nothing on my part understood why the man who saved me thought I was his bride. It was a joke, wasn't it? But how could it be when he looked so smug about it?

  "Oh! For devil's sake! The first time I've got to marry a lady who turned out to be deaf!"

  I opened my mouth to say something, to counter his words but nothing came from my lips just as the girl in front of me stayed silent. Both of us were stunned, how could we not when the man, Alexei, as he called himself looked nothing like the man I noticed earlier. While that man was polite to me, this one was just mocking me.

  "Who exactly are you?" I heard the girl whisper. Alexei, I called out but the girl kept her gaze on the man as if I never said anything. Maybe I never did. It was a nightmare after all.

  "Oh. Look at that! You can speak. And here I thought I was talking to a deaf and mute." Alexei clapped his hands, forcing me to take a step back. I had to get away from here. I couldn't be stuck into one of these vicious cycles again. Not when there was not a cure to begin with.

  You are not even a demon, something in me chastised. Demos lied, didn't you realize?

  "You didn't answer my question, you asshole. Who are you?"

  This time I didn't bother to answer. I was quickly realizing that anything I said was not heard by any one of them. It's like I was practically invisible to them. So, I just stared, waiting for them to finish talking.

  "Such dirty mouth for a young lady! No, that won't do. Once this matrimony is done, we need to have a serious talk about that kind of behavior. I think I even have the-" Alexei started to look for something on his cloak only to come out empty. There was a frown on his face as he let out his next words. "Oh well...I thought the ring would appear with the ceremony on its own. My mistake, now where were we?"

  "I don't know what you are talking about. There isn't any matrimony going on." Even as the girl said those words, she looked confused.

  "You forgot it already? Oh, the melodious chants, the screams of those witches, and the scary sound of your vows. Ouch! That hurts Emeline. That really hurts!" That fake gasp was followed by the girl's whisper asking if he was real or not. If she was dead or not.

  Every emotion vanished from his face as he looked down at her. "Who do you think I am, Emeline?"

  "Your everything." A voice deep within me taunted, forcing me to let out a scream.

  And to my surprise, the same scream woke me up from the nightmare. The only difference? Unlike every other time, I had two nightmares I clearly remembered which led me to squeeze the silk between my fingertips in alarm. Wait, silk?

  My gaze went to my fingers and then the fine silk that was draped around me. Not only it was there to make sure that I had every comfort that could be given but also I had a room with lavish decoration. It had rich red curtains and a black marble floor. One King-sized bed where I was currently sitting on, a walk-in closet, a door to probably to the bathroom, and a small balcony. And to my left was a big door to get out of the room.

  I jerked away from the bed to see that I was wearing my previous clothes minus my jacket. Thank God, at least nobody changed me. Maybe they used a spell for me to get dry then? Dammit. One by one all memories came to my mind again and I froze. The man who saved me was the one haunting my dreams. All those times I never could put a face on those black abysses and now he was there.

  Real.

  Everything was started to look more real than it did in centuries.

  He wanted something from me back then. What if...what if he still wanted that something from me? I had to get out of here too. Hide from both Demos and Alexei.

  Stumbling, suddenly I faced a wave of exhaustion. I looked around, trying to find a mirror but this room had no mirrors. Cursing under my breath, I tried to lift myself so I could dematerialize but my body felt too weak to even take a few steps.

  Shit, my head was still spinning.

  Before I could think of opening the door of the balcony to jump, the door behind me opened itself and came running the man who saved me earlier. But this time he had another spiky-haired man and a woman following him.

  "Emeline! You alright?" He interjected. To everyone, he sounded calm but the way his vein raced told me that he was only faking the emotion. My own wasn't slowing down either. The more he walked toward me, the more my breath caught on my throat. And when he raised his hand to touch my chin, I didn't even realize when I backed out with a choked whisper.

  "Don't touch me!"

  "Emeline...you screamed and you don't look so good to keep standing. Can you at least tell me what happened?" His voice had an authority that almost had me rambling about the dreams and my pain. But why would I tell him about...

  "You are trying to get inside my head, aren't you?" My accusation was thrown away with a soft chuckle.

  "I'm not in your head. Please calm down, will you?" With that, he touched my cheek. That cold feeling rushing through my skin made me gasp in pain. Pain for what? Loss or wanting to feel that something again?

  This was getting dangerous. I didn't even know what Demos did to me and I was engaged to him. Not only that, I was letting another man touch me, the same man who asked my hand in marriage in another part of my life. Wrong...this was all wrong.

  "Don't come near me." I shook my head, confused at the turn of events. "You're...I don't trust you."

  His eyes narrowed immediately. "And you trust that demon King who may I add did nothing when you were pushed into the water so you can drown and die."

  He wasn't letting me go. Why couldn't he let me go? As if by fate suddenly an idea came to my mind. Why didn't I think about that before? Taking a deep breath, I raised my fingers to touch his jaw. He momentarily froze and then relaxed.

  Big mistake.

  "Don't ever touch me again or get in my room. Now, get out." The moment the words left my mouth, his eyes snapped to meet my own. For a second, I wondered if it didn't work on him but like all the others, he was physically enabled to resist the compulsion. His hands were torn from my cheek, his body following the movement until he was out of the room.

  "Another power, wonderful." His dry laugh brought chills to my bones even from a distance. Perhaps that's why I clenched my fists and stared at the other people in the room, hoping that they would leave me alone.

  "Please go."

  The spiky-haired man nodded, leaving us be but the woman held her position with her gaze only reserved for me. So when she brought a cup out of nowhere, I had no choice but to be careful with the witch.

  "What's in that?"

  "You're in pain. Take this." I looked at the woman sharply.

  "You're a witch. Why should I trust you?" There was a smile forming on her face as if she was planning something cunning and when she opened her mouth, I had no doubt that I was about to
be trapped into another mind game of a witch.

  "I know you have questions, Emeline. I can feel them strangle you as you take every breath." The woman let out a sigh. "Now I can help you with those questions only if you truly seek it. So for starters, you need that void out of your head, don't you? You feel it start to warp around you the moment you take that potion by the demon king, isn't it?"

  "How do you know about that?" I had a hard time grasping everything that was happening around me. Too fast, too much.

  "I'm a Volkios, the representer of witches. I only wish good fortune for them. Even the past ones."

  Past ones?

  The girl in my memory was a witch before she died. What if it was me...

  I didn't want to think anymore. I just wanted to stop my head from spinning. Without thinking, I took the cup and knocked down all the content into my throat. Within seconds, I was coughing as the fire went through my veins. God, how it burned.

  "What did you put in it!?"

  As I felt the last bit of my consciousness leaving my body, I heard the woman saying. "Trust me, you'll be back."

  If only it was that easy...

  The next time I found myself waking up on the same bed, I could only curse my own fate.

  Why? WHY?! Why did I have to do this now? And of all places, here? I really wished that I had good timing...This sucked. I couldn't even escape from a place I voluntarily wanted to come. So what could one person do?

  I turned to Demos's thinking of clever ways to quickly get rid of these creatures.

  I could call for Demos but I didn't exactly trust him right now so he was out. Though I could call out Demos's right-hand man Fallon but he was out somewhere on some mission I had no idea of, so, that plan was also thrown into the back of my mind. I could jump out of the balcony but I wasn't strong enough yet and I didn't want to wonder what they'd do to me if I get caught again.

  Dammit.

  Just as I thought to seek out that good for nothing witch who knocked me out, someone knocked on the door. Shit. I grimaced and walked to the door, opening it to find two men in front of me.