by Diane Nortje
“Natalie, there you are, you just disappeared after we arrived. Faith is also looking for you.” My mother says to me while pulling me back in the direction on the dance floor.
“Sorry, I got distracted.” Shit the gem. “Where is Faith?” I ask my mother, I have to get us out of here. Something is not right.
“On the dancefloor, where you are supposed to be.”
“Oh no, I rather not, you know I have two left feet and dance like a chicken.”
“What, no you don’t, where were you going to in such a rush anyway?” My mother asks me. Always has to know.
“Nowhere important.” My reply to her is shorter than I meant it to be.
I watch as she turns around to see the direction I was going in. She finally realizes that I was making my way to the door. She turns back to me.
“Oh no you don’t, you said you would try, and I haven’t seen any trying coming from your side. Now get onto that dancefloor.” She whispers to me in her most stern motherly voice she has got.
I might be old enough to be a legal adult, but when your mother says you do something, you damn well do it no matter your age. I nod my head in response to her instruction. I keep my head bowed and make my way to the dancefloor. Thankfully Faith has kept a spot for me next to her.
“Where the hell have you been?” Faith says to me like she has been worrying about where I’ve been.
“Just walking around, just not to staying in one place for too long. There are a bunch of horny strangers here. I’m not interested.” I whisper back to her.
“Don’t be like that Natalie, be more open to new things.”
“Whatever.” Was my best response I could come back to her, before a bunch of men came up to all the ladies that were standing in the line.
The man that comes to stop in front of me, makes my skin crawl. I do not want to dance with a stranger. But I could feel my mother watching, so I better play nice, it was just one dance anyways. So, when the strange man smiles at me, I smile back.
I can see groups of people I don’t know, surround the dancefloor, all with big smiles on their faces. Am I the only one that doesn’t want to be here? In the corner of my eye, I see the crowd part to allow someone through. They don’t just part, they give this person a wide berth. I close my eyes, because I know deep down what, no who, is coming through the crowd.
When I open them again, he is standing next to the man that wanted to dance with me. He doesn’t say anything to the man, only looks at him. Obviously, I’m not the only one that can see the danger that are in those eyes of his. The man all but trips away from his spot facing me and the man in the blue suit takes his spot in front of me and turns to face me. And for the first time in years, I try to stay rooted to my spot, I’m not afraid, I sing in my head like a little nursery rhyme. I won’t let him win. I can’t! Am I going to be haunted by him for the rest of my life or is he just going to make quick work of it and end it now?
I wait for something to happen, for him to say something, anything. He remains silent. I take it he is not going to speak to me yet. So, I take him in. He is the exact copy of Jacin, only he seems broader, same height, which towers over my small frame, so judging by that he is about 6’2, 6’3 but his presence alone has the men next to him taking a step away from him. They know a dangerous man when they see one.
I on the other hand stare straight into his eyes, I won’t let him win this game he is playing with me. I watch as he takes me in, he starts slowly at my feet and I watch as he drags his eyes up over my small waist, he pauses briefly at my breasts and then continues towards my face.
We stand there watching each other. Assessing the small movements our body makes. I know he can see the way my body is gravitating towards his, the small smile that goes over his face is the only indication I get that he notices. I can’t help it. Is he attractive? Yes. Would I have jumped his bones if it were under different circumstances? Yes. Is he dangerous? Fuck yes. And my body doesn’t give a shit.
I watch his movements, the small signs that he gives away. I watch how his body is facing directly at me, unmoving, which is odd for a normal person, his hands clasped in front of himself, so sure of himself. He is confident, too confident, it annoys me. Behind him I see how the women have crowded around him, hoping they will get the chance to dance with him next. I think not. A small knowing smile grows again on his face, like he knows what I am thinking.
Possessiveness is not a feeling I’m familiar with, but I know, I will break every finger in these women’s hands if they so much as lay a finger on this confident asshole. I don’t know where these thoughts came from. It should frighten me, I should want to run far away, because that is what a sane person would do, run very, very far away. I don’t. My normal survival instinct has gone, and I’m left with the overwhelming urge to be closer to this man, this monster. I should know better, I clearly don’t. Will I ever learn my lesson?
Chapter Eight
“He told me to follow. So, I did, into his darkness, never to return.” - Natalie
~Jacin~
I stand there, watching Natalie talk to my brother, who interrupted her from playing with one of the display cases. He has a fucking mouth on him, which stuns Natalie into a momentary silence. He never said anything over the years about her, I thought he never noticed. He did. He knew I wanted her before I even did. Weyland was right, I need to get my shit under control. This little dance I have going with her needs to end, she needs to be told.
I appear in the one corner of the dancefloor, next to Weyland who is hiding in plain sight. I wanted to get an update on that group he was following, until that stupid woman got her drink all over me. I felt her eyes on me, I could sense her increased heartbeat, I feel it like it’s my own. My hand dripping with the red wine the woman threw all over me, I wipe the wine away, my magic making it disappear. I look towards Natalie, and for the first time I see her fear of me, I can smell it. I don’t like its smell.
In most of the dreams she has had of me, she has seen me doing somethings that would make most grown men scream. But those fuckers asked for it when they thought to challenge me. I never knew if she saw what was happening all those times, that’s even if she would remember what happened. She clearly kept some of her memory, the irony of the red wine and me wiping it away wasn’t lost on me, after all that’s what she was watching me do.
I saw the fear come over her, she wanted to run again, especially after she saw me, actually took me in. It’s clear she never remembered my face, as she spoke to Daxtin a few times tonight and never showed fear of him. She was attracted to him. And that fucker enjoyed it, anything to piss me off. But when she saw me, she knew. I would like to know how. No one tells the difference between us. We even have the same haircuts to throw people off.
I watch as she tries to understand the confusion that there are two of us, she looks back to Daxtin, who is finding this all too amusing. I was gone when she looked back, if I stayed, I don’t know what she would have done. And tonight, she wasn’t getting away from me.
I waited until I could get close to her without wanting to make her run, and when she lined up on the dancefloor for one of those fuckers to touch her, to dance with her, I took my chance. She wouldn’t dare run with her mother watching. I walk up to the man that has a stupid smile on his face, I know what he is thinking, I would rip his head off later for those kinds of thoughts. She is mine. She just doesn’t know it.
I take his place and turn to look at her again. She is fucking beautiful. Even with the mask that covers her face, I can see all of her. The beast in me wants out, wants to go to her. Wants to take her. Not now! I watch as she takes me in, the decision not to be afraid of me was made clear, her newly found confidence has my dick getting hard for her. She wants to come out to play with me. The beast likes this.
I take her in while I wait for the music to start, she is so small compared to me, even in heels her tiny little frame will just make my shoulder. How the gods send me this tin
y woman and expect her to survive me I have no clue. I move my eyes over her body, her tiny waist is covered in little beads on her dress that make the eye travel towards her breasts. My hands itch to grab them, feel their weight in my hands, fuck, the things I will do to her, they will make her scream.
I’m conflicted, I know before me is the weakness I’m supposed to deal with, but I find myself wanting to deal with her in a completely different way. I would have felt nothing to remove her heart. It would have been simple, easy. I had the chance to do it. But I never, and here she stands, completely unaware of what I am, of what my plans were. Yes, were. I am conflicted.
The beast within me is fucking driving me crazy. Why can’t he just say what it is he wants with her. All he wants to do is play. He doesn’t play nice, so why won’t he let me play then, I also don’t play nicely.
The music starts, and I can see her hesitate for a moment, she knows once she comes to me it will be over for her. She can no longer run from me anymore. Not that I would let her, I have her now more than I ever did. The moment she takes her first step I make mine, I take hold of her hand and put my other one around her waist. She is so fucking small, I have to look down at her. We start to move slowly, the beat is slow, it gives me time to think what I need to say to her. But her smell has me doing other things, she smells like rain, and strawberries. I can still smell her fear, it lingers, I just want to take her to the floor, to show her she has no need to fear me. I am conflicted.
“You smell good enough to eat, Natalie.” I whisper to her, which makes her trip over my one foot. Which makes me hold onto her tighter to correct her fall. Why? I have her right here, in my arms, it could be over. Yet I protect her fall.
“How do you know my name?” She says to me in a whisper as I spin her around the dancefloor, knocking the thoughts of death from me, her steps faulting every so often. Holding her this close, is driving me mad, driving him mad.
“I’ve known you for many years, little one.” I whisper back into her ear. I can’t help but breathe in her delicious scent. Its making the beast wild inside.
I know the little name I call her is what has sent shivers down her body. I know she remembers the last dream walk she did now. This puzzle keeps getting more and more interesting, she shouldn’t have remembered.
“What’s your name? Do I at least get to know the name of the man that has been haunting me all these years?” She again whispers to me, while tripping over my foot again. “I’m sorry, I’m not good at dancing, I have two left feet when it comes to this.”
I stop dancing with her, I don’t know what is causing me to be tender with her, but then again, who wouldn’t be. “Stand on my shoes.” I say back to her.
The way she looks up at me, complete mind fuck. I have no clue what I’m doing. I’m not tender with females, I fuck, and I am sin, she has no fucking clue what I am. She wouldn’t be looking at me that way if she did. She would have followed her first instincts and fled.
She goes to stand on my feet, and I grab hold of her hands again. I hold her tighter than needed, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “Jacin.” I say to her, while I start to move in time with the music.
“What about him?” She asks me back, all while looking down at our feet.
“My name, its Jacin.”
“Next you going to tell me, your twin was just filling in for you.” She says to me dryly.
“He was, people can’t tell the difference, except for you little one. What gave it away?”
The way she looks up at me, she is unsure if she should answer me. I watch as her mind is made up. I’m going to get some truth but not all of it. One day I will have to teach her not to be so transparent about her thoughts, even though it was fun reading her thoughts about the other woman that were surrounding me earlier.
“Your eyes gave you away, I remember them from my dreams, your brothers are not the same, it’s odd, I can’t describe it.” She says to me.
Eyes, the doorway to a person’s soul. Complete mind fuck. Don’t tell me she can read my soul. I would be able to find hers anywhere, heaven or hell, I would find it. I didn’t think she would be able to do the same. I try to cover my surprise, she clearly doesn’t know what she just admitted to.
“My eyes, is that all that gave it away?” I ask her, trying to cover the importance of what she just said.
“Amongst some other things, but mostly just the eyes.”
“Ah, the shadows, they have been talking again. I forgot about your little secret. Talking with the shadows, controlling them.” I whisper into her ear again, I don’t want anyone to overhear her little secret.
She pulls back from me, but my grip on her tightens. She thought she would hide that little truth, she can’t, I would have found out in the end anyways. “Don’t try deny it little one. What do they say to you, I’m curious to know?”
“If you are so concerned why don’t you just ask them yourself?” She says back to me. She has a backbone.
“How do you know I can even talk to them, little one?” I say to her while leaning into her. Her smell. Its driving me wild. I need more.
“You are their master, are you not?” She asks me.
I look down to her. Her perfect grey eyes bore into mine, waiting for an answer to her question. What I have learned over my very long life, is not to let anyone know what you are capable of. I got some information out of her, yes, but she hasn’t learned that lesson, yet. Hopefully she never does.
The music comes to an end, along with all the couples dancing. I don’t want to move away from her, but I know I must. I don’t know how I stayed away from her all this time, even in her dreams, I could have found a way to bring her to me. I don’t know how I ever thought I would be able to end this, end her. I was fucking delusional. The beast inside me, he is watching her, he laughs at me. He knew he would never have killed her. I should have known better. That fucker!
I watch as she steps away from me, it takes everything to hold back the beast. But I must. I can never let him out, the world will crumble at his feet if I did. He doesn’t belong here, his existence here is the end game, when no other possible solutions are available. There will always be him.
“Thank you.” Natalie says to me without looking at me. Her head is bowed.
“Natalie.” I say to her, but she walks away from me before I can say anything more to her.
~Natalie~
I watch him as I wait for my answer. He watches me back, deciding if I can be trusted. I don’t think I have made the cut just yet, so I know I won’t be getting my answer from him, but I know he is their master, or he wouldn’t have known I even talk to them.
The music comes to an end, and I know I must take a step back from him now. I never thought that the man that haunts my dreams would now be haunting my dreams for another reason. I felt the pull towards him the moment I heard the glass crash earlier. I was drawn to him. Now I must take a step back. And I do.
I can’t look at him, I might never leave, then what? He is going to think I am fucking crazy, even though he has haunted me all this time, there has always been something that drew me to him. To here, this house, even all those years ago.
“Thank you.” I say to him, keeping my eyes to the floor. I need to get out of here, I feel like the air is getting hotter, I’m battling to take my next breath.
I hear him say my name, but I don’t stop, once my feet start to walk, they don’t stop until they reach the doors to the exit. I rush forward through the doors and barely stop myself from falling over the edge. He is too much, like I always thought he would be. But this is more than I thought I could handle.
I came here for one damn thing, one small little gem, and I still haven’t got it. I pull my phone from my little bag, I text Faith, I once again have completely forgotten about her. But once I have got the gem, I don’t want to hang about. I tell her if she wants a lift home, to meet me by the car in twenty minutes. That should give me enough time to get my head on straight, get the
gem and make it to the car. Should be.
I look out to the garden that runs so far down that the darkness swallows it up. I can barely make out there is a maze before the darkness starts. I turn and walk the length of the railing, I would have run out into the garden, but these heels aren’t made to be walked on grass, so I ditch that idea. I didn’t realize that the porch ran around most of the house. I hold onto the railing; the darkness is hiding what’s out there, where the light from the inside cannot penetrate. I come to the point where there is no more light, the darkness has swallowed up what is left on the railing and porch.
I need a moment to myself and I highly doubt anyone is going to walk this far into the darkness. I take a big breath in, I need to focus, I need to go back in there and get the gem before anyone notices the small hole I have cut into the glass. I breathe out slowly, and take another breath in.
God, that smell. Smoke, spice and sin, fuck its addictive. And I know who that smell belongs too. Before I even get a chance to turn to face him, he pulls me against him, that my whole body is against his. His one hand is around my throat, and the other is holding my waist against him.
Is this how he intends to end my life? Strangle me too death in the darkness. I will not go down with a fight, I start to struggle against his hold, his hand tightens around my throat, cutting off my voice. My hands fly to his hand that is around my throat, intending to try pull it away from my throat. His other arm has tightened against my waist, and I didn’t know it was possible to be closer to him, but he clearly has other plans.
“No.” Jacin whispers into my ear.
“Fuck you.” Is all I manage to get out before his hand starts to tighten even more, cutting off more air my body desperately needs.
“Natalie stop, I’m not going to hurt you.” He says back to me. I don’t believe it, or he wouldn’t have me in a choke hold. I don’t reply, I can’t. I keep trying to break free of his hold.