The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga)

by Hudson, Stephanie

  “Glad I could help,” she said before leaving. I was still processing what she had said and wanted to know how the hell she knew about my ripped clothes! I let out a sigh and walked over to the bed while Draven stood watching me like I had just done the crazy chicken dance. I was just about to step up to the bed when I felt Draven’s arms around me preventing me from going any further.

  “Is there something wrong, what did Sophia show you?” Man, can anyone say paranoia?!

  “You’re getting paranoid, she just showed me her dress and then asked me if I would go shopping with her tomorrow.” The idea made me wince. I didn’t love shopping and knowing that Sophia would make a big fuss over the whole expedition didn’t help.

  “And now?” He asked running his hand down my back, making it respond with pleasure. If it hadn’t been bad timing then I would have turned round and jumped on him. So it pained me to say,

  “I’m just tired that’s all.” As soon as I said this he had me in his arms and placed me in bed like the last few steps would have been too much. What he didn’t realise is this just made me want him more.

  “Then rest so I can wear you out again.” His lips curved into a sexy grin and he kissed me lightly before making the curtains around the bed move, encasing the frame in thick material. Of course he didn’t have to touch them to do this.

  “Are you not joining me?” I said not helping the disappointment in my voice. This made him happy. He loved it when I was needy.

  “Not yet but soon, now sleep.” He ordered before pulling the last curtain across. Well at least I had got away without him knowing why I was so tired. Maybe my acting skills were getting more convincing. I lay there and let sleep take over the throbbing hurt in my belly knowing it wouldn’t be long before Draven would want to know why I didn’t want to make love to him and it pained me to know this was the first day we hadn’t had sex. I guess I was subconsciously worried that he wouldn’t feel the same about me. It wasn’t like he was used to human women problems and this was a gross one. I was embarrassed beyond belief and this was one part about being human that I didn’t want to share with my Demon Angel boyfriend!

  Only a week…..

  Chapter 11

  No More Excuses.

  I knew I was dreaming but it still carried on. Normally with my dreams, I wake as soon as I realise what it is but with this one it was strange and different. Almost like something I needed to see.

  I was outside the Library in town that was close to the campus. It was a sunny day and I could feel the heat on my skin and when I looked up at the sun, my vision went blotchy. I could hear and sense I was there for a reason so I went inside. A soon as I thought it, I didn’t even need to open any doors, I was right there by the information desk.

  There I saw a man walk towards me and I knew it to be George, Frank’s uncle. I don’t know how I knew this as I had never seen a picture of him but there he was, bounding his long legs this way. He was a man in his late sixties but it was obvious that he kept himself in good shape as he hadn’t lost his fireman’s fitness. He had a full head of silver hair that caught the light in a shimmer as he walked past the tall windows of the library. As he got closer I could see almond shaped eyes of grey and he had laughter lines around strong features. This was clearly a man that had found lots of happiness in his life.

  I lifted my hand up and waved but even though he was staring in my direction he didn’t react. It was like I wasn’t even here and when I looked down at myself and saw nothing, I knew why. I wasn’t there to be seen…. I was there to see!

  I turned to face the woman behind the desk and knew it was Yvonne Dubeck, just as I had known it was George. It was a bit like being at a play and knowing who all the characters were without ever meeting the cast.

  Yvonne Dubeck was a small framed, thin woman with half moon glasses resting on her long beak like nose and she wore her hair pulled back into a tight bun. She was pale and her mousey coloured hair did nothing for her grey strands coming through. She wore a tight pencil skirt that looked hard to walk in and a plum coloured shirt with a thin bow attached around the neck in the same material. She wasn’t much to look at but something happened as soon as she caught sight of George.

  Her eyes widened and started to glow around the edges for a split second. She looked excited and when he came to stand right in front of her, she took off her glasses and her face softened, changing her appearance to one more striking. George couldn’t find the words at first as her powers over him took effect. I could almost make out the negative energy she was extracting from him. She was stalling for more time with him as he asked where the World War Two books were. Of course she offered to show him and off they walked.

  I wanted to slap her away from him and somehow change the past but it was useless, I was only there to observe. I tried to follow but couldn’t move, so I shouted out in protest but that’s when the scenery changed and now I was back at more familiar ground.... I was back at Libby and Frank’s house, my new home.

  I had to remember that I wasn’t asleep in my bed and this was just me sleepwalking. I was in my room and it was dark. I could just make out my long mirror but when I looked for my refection to be staring back at me, there was nothing. I was stood by my desk which now was a set of old pine drawers. I noticed that my bed was missing and there was an old rocking chair in its place which was now in the den.

  In the chair sat George with the lights off and he was looking into a telescope. I walked over to see what he was looking at and he didn’t even stir as I approached. I looked up into a clear night sky covered in a blanket of stars. But this wasn’t why I was there. I heard a noise that George couldn’t. It was a chanting I couldn’t understand but I knew who it came from. I walked over to the window still taking care that George couldn’t feel me as I was now stood next to him. I looked down into the yard and directly below the window was Yvonne Dubeck, stood there no longer looking plain.

  She was naked all but for a long black cloak around her shoulders and the hood was raised. Her hair was down and wild blowing around in the windy night breeze. Her eyes glowed like the full moon above, white and pearly. Her nails grew impossibly long until they curled round back into her own hands. They pierced the skin like razor tipped arrows and she howled in pain or pleasure, I couldn’t tell. Blood spurted into the air from the contact and looked like a black fountain glistening under an evil moon. I felt like I would soon lose my stomach contents but when I thought it couldn’t get any worse I felt the bile rise at the next stage of Yvonne’s demon phase.

  Her chanting was getting louder and each time I listened, I would see something in her change. She moved the looped nails together and they interlocked, the blood sealing the bond, before creating a power source in the middle of them all. It got brighter and stronger, growing with every foreign word that passed her spit covered lips. She was now losing liquid out of every orifice and I wrinkled my nose as if I could smell rancid cheese mixed with bleach. Her skin looked like plastic that was being stretched to the point before breaking, the blood behind, bubbling just beyond the surface, giving her body a deadly glow.

  Then something happened. The ball of energy had reached its sizable limit causing it to explode, making the room fill with a blinding light, as though the house had created its own blue sun. George fell backwards off his chair and pulled his body backwards into the corner like a frightened child. As before, I couldn’t move and wanted desperately to run to him to comfort the shaking man. Then a clicking noise like a giant cricket was outside, started getting louder before showing itself. It was Yvonne, who had floated up to the window and with her hands raised up, it made her head look bigger. Then the image kept changing from the truth to what George was seeing. Where I could see Yvonne in her Demon form, he was watching himself be abducted by an Alien figure through the window.

  He was screaming and when the clicking noise turned into a deafening high pitched scream, he placed his frightened hands over his ears. I had tears stream
ing down my face. Then the light disappeared and the feeding began. By this time George was in a state that was so beyond fear. He was no longer aware of anything around him, so Yvonne walked over to him and I got first hand a Demon feeding from a human.

  It was like nothing I had ever seen before and my breath caught as a wave of fine blue mist flowed out of his body. It clearly didn’t hurt as he wasn’t even aware that he wasn’t alone. She placed a hand on him gently and it looked like she had just had an orgasm. She let out a long moan and then touched her naked body with her hands that were now back to normal. All of her had returned to how she first looked. And when she was finished, she kissed him on the head before turning to find me in her way at the window. I don’t know how I had moved but I knew it symbolised my need to stop her. This time she saw me as my body was whole again.

  “Mmm... Electus, I bet you taste good.” (Means “Chosen” in Latin) Her voice was like ice and I couldn’t do anything but feel my skin prickle, feeling the aftermath from her feed. My skin wasn’t the only thing in the room to grow cold. The moon came out filling the room with a natural blue light and I looked up, to see the walls cracking as they had now turned to ice. The floor was also being affected by this Demon and the freezing cold travelled up my legs after leaving the floor.

  I wanted to cry out but nothing came. The Demon Yvonne got closer and the ice melted under her steps but refroze when she left each space. Her nails grew once more but unlike last time, they forged into one long, flat blade and before I knew what was happening she rushed at me. I tried in vain to move but my legs were frozen to the floor boards below. Then, happening in the blink of an eye, she plunged the blade into my gut, making me bend over it and spit out blood over her naked body. I looked up to see her face change into Layla and I screamed out in both pain and cruel fear!

  Then I shot upwards, gripping the pain in my lower stomach. It took me a while to realise I was in bed with Draven and he now had his arms around me but I couldn’t hear what he was saying, because there was a ringing in my ear from the noise Yvonne had been making. I pushed it out of my head until my senses came back into focus. I was panting and Draven rubbed my back like Sophia had done earlier.

  “That was a bad one,” Draven said bringing me back even more to the room I was in. I nodded but then let out a moan as my period pains had come back with a vengeance. Draven noticed me grip at my stomach, so he whipped back the covers before I could stop him. The curtains flew back and light filled the room.

  “No, don’t!” I said through the pain but he wasn’t listening to me. He put his hand to the wet patch below me and lifted it to the light. My blood was on his hands…literally. I wanted to cry! I saw his face go pale before worry replaced it.

  “Keira, what’s wrong... did I do this to?” He was trying not to shout but you could see it was difficult. He was angry with himself at the thought of hurting me.

  “Oh no... no, no, no!” I said before burying my face in my hands. I could feel the tears wet my skin and then another almighty cramp brought me round.

  “Keira tell me, what have I done?” He voice was pleading.

  “It’s not you, it’s me. I’m so sorry you had to see this.” I was so ashamed, it was worse than any pain my uterus was causing me.

  “Then if it wasn’t me, then?....…Ah I see.” He said as the bloody penny dropped, no pun intended! He relaxed instantly now he knew I was in no danger. He had already produced a cloth to wipe his hand clean before pulling me into him.

  “Keira do not be sorry, I just wished you would have told me. I knew something was wrong but I never expected…”

  “What? ... It to be so gross!” I said bitterly

  “No!... It to be so….so human.” He said softly, before kissing me on my forehead.

  “Do not be embarrassed Keira, it is only natural. Are you in a lot of pain?” He was soothing back my hair off my wet face and when I jerked from the pain, he froze.

  “I guess that is a yes.” He got up from the bed and even in this situation I still gasped at the sight of his amazing naked body on full view. He came back with some tablets and water. I took them and he knelt down to wipe the tears from my cheeks. I was about to apologise again but he put his finger to my lips.

  “Ssshh don’t do that,” he said before kissing me.

  “Right well let’s get you sorted.” He said and was about to pick me up but I protested.

  “Please, I am so ashamed already, I can do it.” I said getting up and making sure to hide my behind! He didn’t like me getting up on my own, but come on, it was only a stupid period! I was about to look back at the mess I’d made of the sheets but before I could, Draven stopped me. Then a few seconds later he let me look. The sheets were clear and like brand new.

  “You’re too good to me, thank you,” I said thinking that I had the most caring boyfriend ever. He really was so sweet with me that it kind of made me want to cry but thankfully I didn’t. At least now I knew why I had been so sensitive lately.

  “I am not good enough, if I were, then I would have noticed this sooner. Why didn’t you tell me?” He looked hurt that I hadn’t mentioned this to him and I really didn’t want to tell him why but I couldn’t see a way around it.

  “Don’t get mad, ok?” This made him raise his eyebrows with curiosity.

  “I thought you wouldn’t like me as much, you know because we can’t have sex.” As soon as I said it I felt a guilty lump form in my throat. Now he looked really hurt.

  “Is that what you think of me, that sex is the only thing that I am attracted too? Oh Keira, how could you?” He moved away from me and I couldn’t blame him, if it had been the other way around I would have been very angry.

  “You said you wouldn’t get mad,” I said quietly.

  “Did I?” He asked sarcastically as we both knew he didn’t.

  “Look I’m stupid and way oversensitive, I know this but I am so sorry.” I was close to pleading.

  “Sensitive YES but stupid no…Never!” He was coming back around and I almost wanted to laugh as I realised I had never argued with anyone in the nude. I went up to him and raised his face up to mine as he was sat on the couch looking down.

  “Please forgive me, I get oversensitive when it’s the time of the…well you know and it plays on my insecurities. And when I still find it hard to fully understand what it is you see in me, all those insecurities get the better of me and make me say and think bad things.” This was turning out to be the worst sorry in history but in a crazy way it seemed to be working. Until I added the icing on the cake and started trying to swallow over and over, as I knew what was coming! Oh God, please No!

  I ran from the room and nearly ripped the door off to get to the bathroom fast enough. There, I threw up in the most expensive toilet I had ever used. I was saying a private prayer to God, asking for Draven not to hear me but I was too late, it was worse than hearing me, he was seeing me. His hands came to my face and pulled back my hair like he had read a manual on attending to sick girlfriends. Once he had it all, he held it tight with one hand and with his other he soothed my back.

  “Please don’t watch,” I said before more came up. The pain was nothing compared to my utter shame!

  “Ssshh, don’t talk.” He wouldn’t listen to me and he just stayed with me until I was finished and the contents of my stomach were cleared out. He handed me a tissue and I blew my noise and cleaned myself.

  “Thank you but I think I have it from here,” I said looking down and he knew what I meant, so he gave me some privacy. Once I had finished sorting myself out and washing the trousers and underwear that had been given to me, I wrapped a towel around myself and went back out. Draven passed me some more sweat pants to put on and this time these were my own. He didn’t say a word as he passed me some water and more tablets as the others didn’t have much chance at fulfilling their use.

  “Better?” He asked when I downed all the water to the last drop. I nodded before walking up to him and hugging him
like he was a lifeline. He held me back and I felt him sigh.

  “Did I say I was sorry?” I said again hoping this would work but when I looked up he didn’t look very mad at me.

  “Yes you did and although it is nice, it is also unnecessary.” He went to kiss me and I turned my head. I had brushed my teeth like a woman possessed but I still didn’t want him kissing me just in case.

  “Although when you do that, it doesn’t help the forgiving process,” he said teasing me but he knew why I did it. I held his hand and pulled him to the bed were he lifted me over the steps and into the bed like I was child that needed a boost. We snuggled down into bed and the lights changed into a gentle glow. I knew this meant he want to talk.

  “Are you still in pain?” He was obsessed whether or not I was still hurting, bless him.

  “Not a lot,” I lied.

  “I wish I could take it away but unfortunately, I cannot heal what is not broken.” This made sense as it was nature so he kindly reminded me.

  “But maybe I could still help.” He lifted back the covers and lifted my top exposing my bare stomach.

  “Hot or cold?” He asked showing me his hand.

  “Umm... hot please.” He nodded and placed a very warm hand across my skin and pulled down my trousers exposing more of the area where I hurt. The heat helped more than I could have imagined. I relaxed back and let his warm tingling hand make my pain fade.

  “Is this helping?” He asked after I was silent for a while.

  “Oh yes, better than any painkiller.” I said smiling to prove just how efficient it had been.

  “Good,” he said into my hair.

  “You’re like a hot water bottle without having to wait for the kettle to boil!” He let out deep and rough laugh and this brought a smile to my pale face.

  “What did you dream about?” His question caught me off guard and I stiffened up in his hold. I knew I couldn’t get away with passing it off as nothing but I really didn’t want him worrying anymore about me. Well there was one saving grace….at least I hadn’t dreamt of Lucius. When I didn’t answer he took my reaction for what it was and rested his lips at my ear.