Demons Dont Sleep on Sofa's

[123Sylvie321]

So, my dabbling with the crazy in my brain reminded me of something id been working on since i was 16. Recently went back to take a look on it and started fixing it up a little. I feel much better working on this than that…boredom concuction. And working on this again means i can go back doing character art

Some chapters will be pretty long Apologies for the…text walls…tried to make it as easy to read as possible…

Prologue - Luneth’s POV
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I sat casually on the wing of the plane, idly playing with the chain of my pocket watch. I barely even noticed the icy gale force winds that crashed into me as I stretched out my leathery black wings. My mind was elsewhere. In truth, I should have been thinking about the job I was about to pull off, but I got these sort of jobs so often they were like second nature to me, instead, my mind was drifting to the pool of hatred that was my blackened soul. No matter how many jobs I did, no matter how many planes I crashed, I couldn’t seem to shake the anger and spite I held within me. The hatred I felt for my own kind, the hatred I felt for my own mother for bringing me into this dark existence. I hated that most of the time I was no better than the living dead, but hated even more that I had no choice but to resign myself to the fate of being used and thrown away.

There were many realms in this world that humans, for the most part, were unaware of. The main three, who controlled the balance of all things, were Heaven; which was ruled by God and his army of Seraphim. They kept life flowing and had the final say on all things. Then there was The Underworld; always involved in some power struggle with the realm of Heaven and forever stuck doing God’s dirty work. Finally there was the unseen realm of the ‘Shinigami’, or ‘The Reapers’, who were the neutral mediators of the two and whose mission in life were to collect the souls of the dead, and deliver them to either side. I was a demon from The Underworld, my mother was the soul ruler of that cursed land, meaning she was the strongest of them all, however, that didn’t mean I was a prince, or next in line for the throne. Blood wasn’t what decided the hierarchy, it was strength. Down there the strong picked on the weak and all fights were duels to the death. All demons were born with three hearts, which was the source of our magic, the more hearts we gain from those we defeat, the stronger we become. To lose hearts is to lose strength, and the only way to kill a demon is to remove all of them, or behead him.

I sighed, and ran my hand through my silver hair as I checked the time, beginning to sense the arrival of the Shinigami. Fifteen minutes to go. I slowly got to my feet and teleported myself inside the plane, my invisibility preventing the humans from noticing me. This was merely routine, examining the faces of my victims and etching them into my soul, a punishment I inflict on myself for ending their miserable lives. It was beginning to lose its meaning however, since I no longer felt guilt from killing them. During my five hundred short years of existing, I learnt that humans were all the same. They would act all loving and caring towards each other but in their last moments humans were no better than demons: their ugly emotions spilled forth and they prioritised their saving their own lives at the expense of others. With this thought in mind, I slowly strolled through the narrow aisle, watching as the passengers patiently waited for time to pass, completely oblivious to the fact that these moments would be their last. No one was to survive, Fate’s List had been clear on that, it was a documentation of every human life ever brought into existence, and its word was, in a sense, law. As I continued down the aisle, I noticed that almost everyone was in their twenties or older, which made me sigh in relief. Children were still entirely innocent; such a fate for them would be too cruel. Then I stopped dead at row ‘J’, feeling my blood go cold. All were in their twenties or older, all except one. She couldn’t have been more than a few months old. She sat wrapped in a pale blue blanket in the arms of a young woman with flaming red hair, who was pointing out of the window excitedly and laughing at the baby’s murmurs, every now and then trying to involve the well-dressed looking man next to her, who smiled softly as he watched over them. The three were the perfect picture of a happy family. The thought that I was going to crush their futures together almost saddened me, but I shook it off, ‘ the girl will be the last one they save, they’ll be just like everyone else in the end,’ I told myself, as I started to force myself to move on. Just at that moment the child turned its tiny head around and fixed her gaze on me, forcing me to freeze. She had large beautiful brown eyes that shone with intelligence beyond her years, and a small star shaped birthmark sat next to her left eye, which I found very unusual. The few strands of red hair that stuck up on her head suggested that she was going to take after her mother. She couldn’t have been looking at me, could she? I glanced around, no one else had seemed to notice me, and the old couple behind me were fast asleep. There was nothing that could have captured this child’s attention in such a way.

“Rowan? What’s wrong?” Her mother asked, noticing the baby’s silent stare into nothing and automatically checking for a fever. As a test, I shuffled side to side, her eyes followed me without hesitation and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise up. This kid could see me. We watched each other in silence for a few minutes longer, before finally, as if judging me to be worthy, she slowly reached out her tiny hands to me, beginning to clutch at the air as she broke into the biggest, warmest, most innocent smile I had ever seen. Something in my heart stirred and I was overcome with emotions that a demon should never possess, feelings I never knew I had. I wanted to steal her away and protect that smile of hers.

I forced myself to look away, a horrible knot forming in my stomach, ‘don’t look at me like that, like you genuinely want me, like you would forgive anything I did… not when I’m the one who’s going to…’ I didn’t want to finish my bitter thoughts. I checked the time again. Five more minutes. I turned my back on her and teleported, trying to crush how sick I was starting to feel. Flying alongside the plane, while I used some simple magic to watch and hear everything that went on inside, was easy. My ‘punishment’ this time was going to haunt me forever. With great reluctance, I raised my right hand and clicked my fingers, still fighting with myself over the sorrow that was growing heavy in my chest. The plane started to experience slight turbulence, which didn’t seem to worry the passengers at first. I clicked again, the turbulence got stronger, causing a few worried murmurs as the captain’s voice spoke over the intercom, “We are experiencing a slight bit of turbulence I’m afraid. Nothing to worry about, but for your own safety we ask that you take your seats and put on your seatbelts” This made me smirk a little, he sounded so calm, but a look inside the cockpit told me they were beginning to panic as much as anyone else.

The time had come. Taking a deep breath, I mustered up a vicious storm cloud right in front of the plane. My target started to rock violently like paper in the shifting winds, and its passengers and crew started gripping their seats tightly to prevent themselves being thrown around, eyes wide at the sound of thunder. A flash of lightning narrowly missed hitting the right wing, but it was enough to cause two of the engines to burst into flames. That was when the screaming really started. The plane started spiralling out of control as it succumbed to gravity, causing passengers to be pelted by their own luggage. I watched almost emotionlessly as they screamed, each completely caught up in finding a method to save themselves. Slowly, my eyes drifted to the family that had caused me so much pain just moments ago, and instantly regretted it. Time seemed to slow down as I watched, wide eyed, as the parents abandoned all personal safety to protect that girl, to protect Rowan. They worked together to place her inside a life jacket, hoping to provide a little extra protection to her frail body, before the mother wrapped her own body around her. She was screaming, her voice hoarse, and I struggled to hear her plea,

“Oh god!” she begged, over and over, “I don’t care what happens to me, but please spare Rowan! Please!” The father was protecting the two of them with his own body, his eyes closed in a solemn silent prayer. I felt like someone had just pulled out one of my hearts. God wasn’t going to save them; Fate’s List was his creation. God had wanted this.

All too soon, the plane hurtled into the earth at a terrifying speed, shattering like glass upon impact, instantly silencing the voices. I just stared at the wreckage, feeling a warm liquid trail down my cheeks. Gingerly, I reached up to touch it. Tears. For the first time in my life I had cried, not for myself, but for a family who sacrificed themselves for their loved one, wept for the girl who had something I didn’t. The world was already a much darker place without that warm innocent smile in it. I couldn’t leave it like this. I couldn’t let it end this way. The guilt from crushing what little good existed in world was overwhelming. I had to do something; I couldn’t just sit back and let myself be used anymore. A familiar red hot anger began coursing through my body. If God wasn’t going to save her, then I would. I would grant that woman’s last request. Even if it meant the whole world would become my enemy, even if it meant going against fate. I would save Rowan.

I had little time to act, already the Shinigami were moving in to collect the souls. If they removed Rowan’s I would have no hope of saving her. I folded my wings into my body and rocketed down towards the earth like a bullet, my face full of grim determination, barely giving myself enough time to land as I desperately began to claw through piles of scrap metal like a madman. Perhaps I truly was mad, bewitched even, but I didn’t care. I needed to find her, needed to save her, not just for her parents, but for my own sake. I wanted to protect that smile of hers, wanted to cling onto a reason to exist. She would give my life a purpose. Nothing else mattered anymore.

• post incomplete -

[123Sylvie321]

[size=10pt] Faster. I needed to move faster. The Shinigami were growing suspicious of my lingering presence, it wouldn’t take them long to realize what I was doing, if they hadn’t already. With a grunt, I heaved another sheet of heavy metal aside, my breath catching in my throat when I finally saw them. The parents were almost unrecognizable, but thanks to their protection, the baby was in one piece. I reached towards them, intending to remove Rowan from their embrace when my instincts alerted me to danger and a crimson scythe appeared at my throat. I raised my head, glancing around at my enemy darkly; I wasn’t going to let them stop me. The one with his scythe at my neck stood behind me, his two dozen companions surrounding me in a circle, roughly two meters between us. Each and every one of them glared down at me, their eyes filled with prejudice, until finally one of the Shinigami stepped forward. I instantly recognized him to be the squad leader. He was a large well-built man who wore metal shoulder pads on top of his traditional black robe, his dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was armed with a very large double ended scythe.

“Your job is complete demon. State your business here.” He growls with a tone of authority. His booming voice echoing off of the hills surrounding us. I smirk up at him,

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I ask, getting to my feet and grabbing the scythe at my neck. I apply as much strength as I can muster and shatter it, much to the disbelief of its wielder. I quickly glanced down at Rowan’s body; I had to draw the fight away from it. If something happened to her my efforts would be in vain.

“I’ve decided to take this child.” I continue, taking threatening steps towards the Shinigami who had been stupid enough to put his weapon to my neck. The leader continues to glare at me, folding his arms as he tries to understand my motives.

“Why? What possible use could scum like you have for it? Or are demons into necrophilia these days?” He narrows his eyes, as a few of his squad member’s chuckle at his comment. I grab the neck of the Shinigami whose weapon I had broken and calmly crushed the life from him. My expression growing dark as I continued my conversation with the leader.

“Are you an idiot?” I ask dryly, a smirk slipping onto my face, “I’m going to give that girl a heart. I’m going to fight against that stupid ‘fate’ which you all value so highly. Far too long have I lived in the darkness as nothing more than a lapdog! I’m tired of it all, I’m going to grab my salvation with these two hands and never let go.” The Shinigami shatters in my hands as the last drops of his life left him, the only proof of his existence was the dried up flower that was left behind in his place

I have never felt more alive than I did at this moment. Before the Shinigami had a chance to attack, I threw several fireballs and shot up into the air above them. I didn’t expect that to cause any damage of course, I just needed the chance to lure them away from that spot. They charged after me, this was probably going to be a long tough fight, but I had more than enough experience from my time in The Underworld, and it wasn’t like these guys were going to fight fair anyway. They would use every advantage they had against me. The biggest advantage being their numbers. But I had someone to protect now, someone to live for. I was going to take that advantage of theirs and kick its ass. Before the first wave could reach me I placed my hands on my chest and pulled out twin sabres, formed out of the darkness in my heart. Today they seemed different however, stronger. They shimmered with a soft light. Perhaps it was from the hope I had begun to feel.

The first to reach me were the most reckless and inexperienced, I quickly dispatched of them with a few skilful swings of my swords and some fancy aerial dodging. It was clear they had never been in a real fight before. After only a few minutes I had taken out the most inexperienced Shinigami. The real fight was just beginning, those who hung back to observe my abilities were clearly veterans, and I had a feeling that the leader was going to be no push over either. I didn’t have any time to waste with a standoff, if a soul isn’t collected within twenty four hours it’s lost forever. Neither of use wanted that. I lunged at them, faster than a bullet, sending electricity through my blades for a much needed extra impact, managing to catch one by surprise and taking him out with ease, narrowly dodging the scythe of another and twisting around in the air to block a third, countering with a harsh kick to the gut. I could feel myself smiling as I fought. I couldn’t remember the last time a fight had been this much fun, couldn’t remember the last time the cost of losing actually meant something to me. Yelling at the top of my lungs I repelled the next waves of attacks. I hardly noticed the injuries I was receiving or my tar black blood oozing out of my wounds onto the parched earth below. I was trying to stay one step ahead. I hacked and slashed at a few more of my enemies before putting some distance between us. I took a deep breath before slamming the hilts of my swords together, shattering them and unleashing a torrent of purple lightning at my foes. Three were taken by surprise and their lives were extinguished, several were severely burned. The rest just shrugged it off as the leader put a quick end to my attack with a harsh swing of his ridiculously large scythe. A low growl erupted from my throat, I needed to hurry up and finish them, Rowan was waiting for me. My hands grew into sharp claws resembling that of a beast and I lunged at the leader. He kept up with my speed and countered me with a powerful blow, causing me to stagger. This guy was good. Taking advantage of his counter to the fullest, the leader lunges at me in an instant, putting me on the defensive with no choice but to block and dodge everything he threw at me. I couldn’t afford to shift my attention for even a second with this guy, which is why I cursed loudly when I noticed his friends moving in to attack me from behind. In desperation to defend myself I kicked him hard, he blocked with his scythe but I sent my purple lightning through my body, channelling it into his scythe and forcing him to break contact with me. I was too late however, to block the incoming attacks from behind. I was hit with such force that I was sent hurtling down to the ground. Somehow I had managed to avoid damaging my vitals but my wounds still had me coughing up blood and the force of the impact left me winded and slightly dazed.

I pulled myself to my feet, wincing. The wounds I had received in that last attack felt like they were burning,
it was excruciatingly painful, but I wasn’t given a chance to recover. Re-materialising my twin sabres was all I could do to block the leader’s next ferocious attack. It was so powerful that my legs nearly buckled with the effort of resisting and the ground cracked beneath my feet. The minute the leader jumped away the remains of his squad leapt down to bombard me. Scowling I shoved my swords into the ground and mustered up every magical fibre in my body and sent a huge last minute fireball at them. They didn’t have much time to dodge, and those that did were picked off by the ice spears I threw through the smoke after the ball of flames extinguished itself. Panting heavily from using up so much magic in such a short time, I pulled my swords back out from the ground and took up another fighting stance. The only opponents I had left were the leader and two of his squad members. All four of us were heavily injured and none of use moved as we sized each other up. It was like the calm before the storm.

We threw ourselves at each other at the same time, the sound of metal clanging on metal ringing out over the hills. The scent of my own blood clogged my senses. In the distance I could see dust clouds growing as humans made their way to the crash site. Time was almost up, this had to end now. I purposely switched to a defensive fighting style to show I had no more intentions of fighting.

“Let’s stop this, hear me out” I panted, blocking the leader’s scythe by making and ‘X’ with my swords. He just glared at me with those brilliant purple eyes of his, clearly not in a mood for discussion; he pulled his scythe back for another blow

“There’s nothing to talk about to someone like you” He spits as he swings down with all his might and this time I parry, moving myself behind him and at the same time kicking away one of his two remaining squad members as they were coming in for an attack.

“There are more important things that we should be focusing on right now” I say, ignoring his retort as I jerk my head in the direction of the dust cloud, “you need to collect these souls before it’s too late right? Then hear me out! Strike a deal with me!” The leader pulls back, holding his hand up to halt his squad’s attack. He examines the situation. It had already been several hours since the crash and there was a lot of work to be done, the arrival of the humans would only complicate matters. His scythe vanishes into thin air and he stands up tall with his arms folded against his chest, narrowing his eyes at me.

“What is it you desire?” he asks cautiously. I suppress a smile, I knew that bringing attention to the amount of work he had to do, and his lack of men needed to do it within the time limit would bring him over to my side. The look of disbelief on his comrade’s faces only made the situation more amusing.

“Give me the child and erase her name from the list” I said calmly, maintaining eye contact to prove how serious about this I was, “I need her to be alive before the humans arrive. You can tell your authorities that I failed, if she’s not on the list they’ll never know. I’ll take all responsibility.” The leader raises his eyebrow quizzically

“What’s in it for you?” He asks, silencing his companions before they can protest.

“My actions here won’t have gone unnoticed, I’ll return to my realm to face my punishment. I’ll tell them I failed, that you retrieved her soul before I had a chance. Its only then that we can be truly free…” my expression softens, “I just, desire change. I can’t live like this anymore. Let me have this chance”

“You can’t seriously be considering this, can you Red?” one of his companions says angrily, moving forward and grabbing his arm. The leader, who I now knew to be called ‘Red’, glared down at him

“What choice do we have? We owe it to these souls to collect them and return them to the life stream” He replies, shaking his arm free in one swift motion, “if you can’t understand that, I have no use for you” I took that as a signal, clicking my fingers and impaling the last two members of Red’s squad with ice spears. Red seemed to show no emotion as they vanished, but I decided not to dwell on it too much.

“Very well, I will make the call, go do what you have to do” He says eventually, a large scroll appearing in his hand. Fate’s List.

I didn’t wait around, and dragged my exhausted body back over to Rowan. I winced as I stabbed my hand into my own chest and grabbed the first heart I touched. It was a strange but painful feeling, clutching your own beating heart. Pulling it out hurt more than I ever imagined, but I clamped my mouth shut and continued, Rowan needed this more than I did. The moment it left my chest I felt my powers wane, and my invisibility wore off. My black blood slowly turned dark purple in colour. I placed the still beating heart to the baby’s chest and watched with relief as it shrunk to fit before sinking through her skin into her body. After a few minutes of suspense, the wounds on her body began to heal and those intelligent brown eyes fluttered open. At the same time, she began to cry loudly. I stroked her cheek, as gently as I could afraid that I might break her, hoping to calm her down. Then I placed my hand over her chest and mustering the last of my magic, placing a protective ward on her, guaranteeing her safety until the time I would be able to return to her side and protect her myself.

“You better hurry and go, I’ll watch over her until she gets picked up” Red said, coming up behind me. I watched Rowan’s face a little longer before nodding.

In all honesty, since demons only cared about themselves, I was half expecting a slap on the wrist and a free pass. Of course I should have known better than that. The moment I emerged from the portal I was subdued by the Queen’s personal guard. My body hadn’t had time to recover from its existing wounds, so I offered no resistance as they dragged me to the palace where they would carry out my ‘trial’. I was surprised at how full the large hall was as I was thrown towards the floor in the centre of the room, a spotlight focused on me as soon as I hit the cold cement. It was so bright that I could only hear the angered voices of my kin. I struggled to my feet and cautiously examined my surroundings. I felt like I had been tossed into the bottom of a well, the room had been modified to look more like a stadium than a court, the seats housing my kin were at least five feet off of the ground. Another spotlight lit up on a space not too far in front of me, revealing Queen Lilith, my mother, glaring down at me from high upon her throne as if I were some filth on the bottom of her shoe. Her long purple hair was a tangled wavy mess as usual and she wore a revealing garb made of black dragon scales, which scarcely managed to conceal her chest. I stood my ground, glaring back at her fiercely, refusing to break eye contact.

“Luneth” She says slowly, her tone icy. The room fell dead silent as she spoke, “You have been charged with breaking the law of fate and threatening our realm by trying to revive a human, how do you plead?” I smirked up at her, some ‘trial’ this was. It was merely for show, my guilt had already been determined and all that was left was to decide on my punishment. I lowered my head and closed my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. Rowan’s innocent warm smile flashed into my mind, reminding me that whatever happened, it would be worth it. Despite my situation I could feel myself beginning to smile softly.

“Guilty” I reply confidently, fixing my gaze back onto my mother and holding my head up high, still smiling. My unexpected confession drew more than a few gasps from the room, they were remembering a story from the past, comparing it to my situation, and fearing the end result would be the same.
“You admit that you broke taboo?” she asks, leaning forward, struggling to see the reasons behind my actions. When she couldn’t work it out she eventually added “What could have possibly compelled you?” I smiled up at her, my mother was a demon to her very core, there was no way she would understand what I had felt at that moment inside the plane. There was only one conclusion I could draw, and the thought of admitting it in front of my peers excited me to no end. It would antagonise them, tear them up inside and torture them. It would be one of the few things that could scare them. The irony that the demonic desires of my race only applied when I thought about my own kin made me laugh out loud, causing the room to look at me as if I was mad. Again I considered the possibility that I was.
“Who can say for sure, perhaps… perhaps I fell in love with her” I smirked, feeling nothing but pleasure from hearing their shocked gasps as I imagined the looks on their faces. A few demons started to jeer at me, yelling for my punishment to be death, but Lilith raised her hand for silence.
“Are you all afraid of that old tale?” She asks in a mocking tone, she was referring to a story that had been passed down over several thousands of years.

A very long time ago, the demons had been far more lax with their rules, and rarely enforced them. That was, until a demon fell in love with a human girl while out on a job. He gave up everything for her, he shared with her his heart so that they could be together for eternity, and he swore never to return to the demon realm. Eventually he began to forget he was a demon altogether. Fearing for their kin, the demons devised a plan and lured the two into a trap, where they slaughtered her before his very eyes. Intending to remind their kin what he was, to remind him that he had a job to fulfil. However their plan backfired. So overcome with rage and despair for the loss of his love, he transformed into a hideous beast and wreaked havoc upon the demon realm for over a week, nearly wiping them all out before he died from his wounds. Ever since then, his shadow had lingered over the realm and demons have feared any involvement with the humans that deviated from what was absolutely necessary.

Lilith smirked, continuing to mock her subjects, “I fear no such thing the past is the past. It was a freak accident. Why should I grant him the peace and respite of death when we can make him suffer so much more in life?” I grinned inwardly, Lilith was the type of person to see death as a blessing, there was no way she would just order me to die without having her fun watching me struggle first. She rose from her seat, her pale skin reflecting the light.

“No, death is too good for you. You are sentenced to exile and will wander the human world as an enemy to all realms. I look forward to seeing your pitiful struggles for survival. Rip his wings” The last part was an order to escort group, who surrounded me in an instant and pinned me to the ground. They set to work on ripping and destroying my wings beyond repair without any hesitation. It was a sign of the exiled. There had only been two before me. I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to give them the pleasure of knowing how much pain they were causing me. I just kept Rowan in my mind, blocking out all else. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that my actions today had set in motion something big.

[fatso12321]

Tooot tooooooot!, such a long wait for this story, I remember back in school when you were writing this mythical beast, wouldn’t let me read it. Shame on you >.<.

Its brilliant and I love it and I want more pl0x

[123Sylvie321]

Hahahah! Fatso how can i resist? very well old budy i shal devote the next 4 of my days off to fnish up the next…6-7 chapters for ye…if i can :3

rest will be in Rowans POV with a bit moe humour, trying to get both action and humour in the rest of my chapters…will be a fun challenge and feedback will happily be taken under advisement

Chapter 1 - Rowans POV

[size=10pt] For some reason, I had always found myself alone. It was as if people were afraid of me, although I guess from their perspective it was a natural reaction. I was different to them somehow, even I knew that. No matter what happened, I never seemed to get injured, and if by some rare chance I did, the wound would heal instantly before my very eyes. To me this was perfectly normal, I’d been like this since I was a baby, but even back then I had an inkling people had feared me – the miracle baby of the century, the sole survivor of a freak plane crash. I didn’t really mind though, I never really felt lonely – but that might have been because I didn’t know any different.

I leaned back into my grey sofa, sinking into its ancient frame as I studied the unnaturally attractive young man sitting opposite me. He had shoulder length silver hair that seemed to shine with a light of its own and blood red eyes that held an untold amount of confidence. From corner of each of his eyes ran a black line that stopped halfway down his cheek and I wondered if it were similar to my own birthmark – a small star next to my left eye.

He was grinning at me as if the tale he had just told me was the best news someone could ever possibly receive in their lifetime. I sat there in silence for a little longer, just taking it in.

“So…let me get this straight” I said slowly, “You are…a demon? And as a result of a lot of crazy events, you ended up saving my life in that crash by giving me your heart?”

“That’s right!” he says in a happy tone, still grinning, I tilted my head slightly, my hand rising to clutch at my chest. If what he had told me was true, it would answer a lot of questions I had about myself. But then, why was he here now? Did he need it back? If that was the case I would have no choice but to give it to him, it originally belonged to him after all. He seemed to notice my perplexed expression and his grin turned into genuine concern as he leaned over the table to take a closer look at me.

“Is everything all right? It’s not too hard to take in is it? You won’t explode or anything?” He asked softly. I shook my head in response, ‘explode? That could happen?’ I thought with a hint of worry.

“I’m fine… did you come to take it back?” I said finally, looking him dead in the eye. He blinked in surprise, and then burst out laughing.

“Oh that’s funny! Why would I do that after working so hard to give it to you? Besides, I still have two more!” He leant back in the chair, clutching his stomach, still laughing. I raised my eyebrow at him. He was… a little strange, and whatever he’d told me clearly wasn’t the whole story but I decided not to press the matter.

“So, uh…” I paused, realising he hadn’t told me his name.

“You don’t remember?” He asked, then seeing my confused expression he smiled softly to himself, muttering under his breath barely loud enough for me to hear, “that’s good, it’s for the best…” When I continued to stare at him, he got to his feet and puffed out his chest, grinning down at me,

“You are in the presence of the all mighty, all powerful demon prince, Luneth!” He held up his hands as if he were expecting to be mobbed by screaming fan girls, “Please, please, no need to shower me with your praise, my awesomeness is just a gift” I just nodded slowly, according to him, he’s the one who had taken care of me from the shadows until now; paid for my rent, my tuition fees, kept me fed and clothed…but it was getting harder to believe the longer I stayed in his presence. He seemed arrogant and self-centred. He reminded me of a child.

“So, Luneth” I said again, trying to recapture his attention, “if you haven’t come for your heart…what are you here for?” His behaviour and the knowledge he hadn’t come to end my life made it hard to keep my guard up around him, and I soon found my body beginning to relax.

“Happy eighteenth birthday!” He said suddenly, taking a party popper out of nowhere and firing it, a big grin slapped on his face. I stared up at him, but before I had a chance to reply he continued to speak.

“I know I usually get you something practical every year but, this year, since your body has fully matured, I thought I’d give you myself. Great huh? I’m going to live together with you from now on!” I held up my hands to stop him, feeling a faint blush on my cheeks,

“Wait, you’re going too fast! Live together with me? And what was that comment about my body?” I said quickly, realising that lowering my guard might have been a bad idea. Luneth smiled at me softly, moving towards me with an outstretched hand. I flinched, expecting him to be rough with me, but was surprised when he ruffled my hair with a gentleness that suggested I was made of glass.

“You have the heart of a demon, now that you’ve reached full maturity you won’t physically age again for a thousand years or two.” His voice was gentle, as he placed his hands on my shoulders and I could see something in his eyes, sorrow maybe? Fear? I couldn’t be sure, “if possible, I would of liked to give you a normal life for a little longer but, the protection I placed on you as a baby is wearing off, if I don’t keep an eye on you I don’t know what will happen” I didn’t fully understand what he had just said, so I just nodded slowly, still blushing at how close his face was to mine. He steps away from me, his familiar childish grin returning to his face, placing his hands on his hips.

“That said. We can’t stay in this place, it’s too small…and after a few years I think people will get suspicious. So I sold it! We move out first thing tomorrow!” he smiled at me as if he had done me a favour. My jaw dropped and I got to my feet.

“You sold my house!?” I asked in disbelief, he nodded and scratched his chin.

“Oh and you don’t go to school here anymore, I pulled you out. Not that I suppose it matters, I mean you were going to leave at the end of the year anyway”

“You can’t just appear out of nowhere and throw my life upside down that way!” I protested. He seemed to ignore my comment, instead looking around my small one bedroom apartment.

“Well, it’ll be a little cramped tonight, but at least we can cuddle up and be cosy”

“Excuse me?” I asked. Trying to keep up with him was already growing tiring. He sat himself down on the arm of my old sofa, pointing in the general direction of my bed.

“I’m talking about your bed of course, since were leaving so early tomorrow I might as well stay over. Don’t worry; I won’t touch you in any indecent manner if I can help it.” He winks at me as he says it and I sigh, trying to hide my embarrassment at the idea of sharing my single bed with him. I take a second to compose myself before offering him a smile, which instantly caused his features to soften. Odd.

“Look, I believe your story, and since you’ve sold my house I have no choice but to go with you tomorrow, but I’m sorry. If you have no other place to stay then I shall gladly give you shelter, however it would indecent of me to share my bed with you, a man I barely know” He smiled at me warmly as I spoke, and leaned forward inquisitively

“Then… where will you sleep?” He asked. I felt myself growing irritated at his question.

“In my bed of course” I replied bluntly, his face lit up

“Changed your mind already? Geez you’re so fickle!” he grins, but I shook my head,

”Alone. If you insist on staying then all I can offer you is the sofa” I said firmly. He frowned, starting to pout.

“Have you already forgotten who I am? Forgotten that you owe me? Demon’s don’t sleep on sofas!” He folds his arms. Alarm bells started ringing in my head, ‘he’s going to have a tantrum if I’m not careful,’ I thought, rubbing my temples and sighing.

“Fine…you can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the sofa”

[Petroliam]

Honestly, I cba reading this right now due to my awful attention span and tiredness… I shall at some point though!

[Metazealot]

I think this is pretty cool. Write on!

[Jape_27]

This is cool.

A TL;DR Version would be a nice feature. I want to read this but I dont.

[123Sylvie321]

A TL;DR Version would be a nice feature. I want to read this but I dont.

forgive me for sounding like a noob but TL;DR? im afraid i have no clue what that is

[Petroliam]

Too Long; Didn’t Read. I have trouble forcing myself to read long texts too. Damn it brain. -.-

[123Sylvie321]

Well im happy you guys seem to like it so far, deciding im going to try and integrate more Luneth POV’s in the future too. love me a challenge.

Any who, i seem to be on a role, here s chapter 2 : with a warning tag for a little bit of sillyness (its to break up potentially dark or more serious chapters with our mighty prince…i swear :L

Onwards to continue writing C3…

Chapter 2 - Rowans POV

[size=10pt]The monotonous groan of the engine rang in my ears, as the bus rocked from side to side on the deserted dirt track road leading to nowhere. Apart from Luneth and I, who sat at the very back, the passengers consisted of little old ladies. Old people had always made me uncomfortable to be around and it wasn’t because of their prune-like features. No. Whenever I had been around old people in the past, it was almost as if I could feel something else watching me. Today however, perhaps because of Luneth’s presence, the only eyes I could feel on me were the eyes of the passengers.

Luneth sat with his foot on the seat, resting his head against the back window as he watched the endless dust clouds form behind us. I looked straight ahead; not wanting to dwell on the fact the area was pretty lifeless. ‘I’ve probably been tricked. I’m probably going to be taken to his lair where he’ll conduct experiments on me and kill me when he gets bored,’ I pushed the thought away, knowing it to be silly. In the corner of my mind I saw my demonic partner smirk, as if he could tell what I was thinking, but I chose to ignore it. One of the old ladies close to me tapped my leg, glancing in Luneth’s direction as she did so. I realised she was trying to be discreet, so I humoured her and lent her my ear. My companion was still intently staring out of the window, but I could tell he was listening.

“You need to get away from him as soon as you can” She whispered with a sense of urgency, “there’s something not right about him, not right at all. There’s a mountain up ahead that’s been known to be home to all sorts of nasty creatures, you mustn’t let him take you in there” I sighed and leaned back in my seat, crossing my arms and legs.

“It’s already too late for me, I’m stuck with him” I jerk my head at Luneth, then glared at the rest of the passengers, each looking as worried as the first as i continued speaking, “Ok so maybe I, for some reason, am not getting the same vibes off of this guy as you all are, and maybe I’m weird for that but…you should all be ashamed of yourselves. You should all be old enough, and wise enough to know not to judge other people before you get to know them” I knew they were only worried for me but I couldn’t help myself. That sort of thing always hit a nerve with me. Luneth suddenly pulled me towards him into a hug, smiling warmly,
“Oh listen to you” he says his tone light and cheerful as he completely blanks out the elderly in the bus with us,
“I’m a better parent than I thought.”

As I watched the bus continue on its lonely journey without us, I noticed that hardly any of the old prunes glanced back at us. It made me wonder how genuine their concern for me had been.
“Out of sight, out of mind, I guess” I muttered almost bitterly, adjusting my small backpack and shoving my hands into my skirt pockets. Luneth had rushed me out of the house in a hurry. The only clothes I owned right now were the very clothes on my back – my school uniform. I barely had the time to pack a lunch for the trip and whatever else I could get my hands on. Thinking back on it, most of the stuff I had picked up was pretty useless. It couldn’t be helped though, Luneth had been playing drill instructor and I had panicked.

“Well, we’re here” My companion said, and I turned around to see a miniature, dark and ominous looking mountain looming up in front of us. I couldn’t help but wonder how I hadn’t noticed it earlier. ‘I knew it; he’s brought me to his lair. I’m doomed.’ He puts his arm around my shoulder, practically dragging me along as he started heading closer to the thick forestry that lined the mountain.

“This small mountain is said to be a natural gathering spot for demons and other dark folk. It became such a problem at one point that the entire mountain was sealed. Now the only place where anything can use their powers is at the manor house at the very top” He explains. I glanced up at him cautiously,

“You seem to know a lot about it, been here before?” It looked like it would take several days to climb this thing.

“Nope, just repeating what the landlord told me” He admits with a cheeky grin

“The landlord?” I repeated.

“Yeah, the guy who owns the manor at the top. Said it was some sort of boarding house for dysfunctional species or something. Can’t remember the exact details I’m afraid, other than that I know he called the place ‘Death’s mountain’” I gulped, the name didn’t sound too friendly.

“And how are we getting to the top?” I dreaded hearing the answer. He grinned down at me, puffing out his chest with a bit of pride as he spoke.

“Well, we were offered a ride in a helicopter but…it sounded like he thought we couldn’t handle it, so we’re walking!” I could have died.

“I think you’re underestimating mountain climbing” I said meekly, only just beginning to realize the depth of his stupidity, “…I get the feeling that this is all going to go horribly wrong”. Luneth smiled softly at me as he gently ruffled my hair,

“You forget death lost its claim to you long ago. Your life now belongs to me. The only way anything could ever happen to you is if your heart were removed or I were killed, don’t worry, I’m too awesome to die” He laughed a little, but his voice was still soft, “and I have no intention of letting anything happen to you”

He suddenly grabbed my wrist, the tenderness of the moment lost in one sweeping motion as he started dragging me towards the base of the mountain, ignoring a very large sign that read ‘keep out on pain of death,’ and decorated with a skull and crossbones. I struggled against his grip and dug my feet into the earth, but the dry, loose soil, combined with his immense strength made my efforts futile. Despite what he had just said the mountain still intimidated me, and the thought of being stuck climbing it with this kid only made my sense of dread worse.

“Can’t you read? It says to keep out!” I protested, Luneth just shrugged,

“That’s fine; it doesn’t apply to us anyway. The signs we need to look out for are the other ones the landlord put up for us along the path” I sighed and gave up my struggles. ‘Well since we’ve already come this far…might as well go along with him, not like I have a home to return to now anyway’ I barely even had the time to finish my thoughts before Luneth lifted me up and carried me over his shoulder, grinning to himself.

“You know, you have some rather interesting thoughts. I’m happy that what you think and what you do is pretty much the same” I stared at him over my shoulder

“You can read my mind now?” I asked with a hint of horror.

“Well, we do share a heart; I can read you through that” He replies. I rested my head on my hand, using his back to support my elbow.

“Oh really? Does that work both ways?” now I was genuinely curious. Knowing what went on in his head would make life easier.

“No idea, maybe it would if you fell madly in love with me~” He teases, grin still plastered to his face. A gust of wind breezed past us as that moment and I quickly tried to hold my skirt down, which meant I got whipped in the face by his fancy cape instead. He had refused to take it off, even when I begged, and I was pretty sure he even wore it to bed last night.
“Honestly, at this moment in time; the only falling I’ll be doing is to the ground”

I sighed and plucked at the fabric on Luneth’s cape, my stomach starting to ache from being slung over his shoulder for so long. It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed since we had begun our ridiculous quest to scale a mountain, but the growing chill in the air suggested it was late afternoon. I could tell Luneth was getting tired, for starters he had stopped talking a while back; and I seriously doubted it was because he had run out of things to boast about. Despite that, he still insisted on carrying me as he struggled along the thin muddy dirt trail that was our ‘path’.

“Would you please put me down? I do know how to walk” I said, breaking the heavy silence that had hung in the air. Unfortunately my voice did nothing to dispel the intimidating aura that our lush green surroundings emitted.

“No!” He said stubbornly, tightening his grip on me, “I told you that demons have limitless energy, humans on the other hand don’t” I sighed again, narrowing my eyes.

“Don’t lie to me; even demons get hungry don’t they? How can you have limitless energy on an empty stomach? Let me down.” I commanded firmly, but he seemed to ignore me, causing me to frown. Maybe I should try another approach. I wondered if the lunch I had packed was still in one piece.

“I’m hungry.” I sighed in exasperation, “You should at least stop to eat. You wouldn’t let me eat alone would you?” This seemed to get through to him, and he almost dropped me, sitting down on the spot like a puppy who wanted a treat the moment my feet touched the ground. I grimaced inwardly, great, he was the gluttonous type. Those types could eat an entire whale and more without getting fat. They were the kind of people who always made us normal people feel bad. I kept my thoughts to myself as I carefully slid my bag off of my back, sitting down opposite the begging puppy as I spread out its contents on the floor. I looked over my possessions carefully, they really did seem useless considering my situation and I had to question my own state of mind when I was packing. My bag had contained: A small red hairbrush, a small ornate mirror, a mini first-aid kit containing a few plasters and bandages, pepper spray, two plastic forks, two small boxes holding our lunch – which thankfully seemed to be in a good condition and one of those tacky looking tape measures you win in Christmas crackers.

I handed Luneth one of the boxes and a fork as I packed the rest of my possessions back into my bag. He accepted the box immediately and tore off the lid, beginning to shovel down the food with his hands without giving much thought to what he was eating. I sighed and began digging into my own lunch at a slower pace. It was a simple cold pasta and sauce dish but it tasted pretty good. I had barely gotten halfway through, however, when Luneth slammed his box down on the ground, wearing a sauce stained grin.

“Seconds!” He demanded. I almost dropped my food on the floor at his request.

“Seconds!?” I repeated, choking on a ribbon of pasta, “You want seconds!?” I stopped myself and took a deep breath before I could enter deep rant mode, ‘I’m happy that he enjoyed it at least, in any other situation I would have made more…’ I held my lunch out to him with one hand, rubbing my temple with the other.

“Here, take mine” I sighed, my stomach growled silently in protest. His expression softened as he looked at my offering. He picked up his previously discarded fork and stabbed a piece of pasta before bringing it up to my lips,

“No, I couldn’t do that. You need it more” He was leaning in close and looking at me expectantly, leaving me with no choice but to take the pasta into my mouth. I felt my face grow hot as blush crept onto my cheeks. He was really starting to confuse me: spoiled and childish one minute and suddenly warm, gentle and mature the next. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of him.

Once we had finished eating; I packed the boxes back up into my bag. From the looks of it, we still had a long way to go before we reached the top. I forced myself to look straight ahead, knowing that if I turned around I would instantly feel discouraged.

“Ok! Let’s get moving! We’ll be there in no time!” Luneth said cheerfully while fist pumping the air, he seemed to have reached a new level of high now that his stomach had been filled.

“What makes you think we won’t get lost?” I asked critically. I already felt we were, and wasn’t entirely comfortable heading in a general ‘up’ direction without really knowing what lurked in the forest.

“We’ll be fine! Trust me!” He brushed me off, charging ahead. If he got any happier he’d be floating…was he really a demon prince?

One of the bushes nearby began to rustle and instinctively I turned to face it, only to find myself come face to face with a large black bear. It took a full second for my mind to register my surprise before I shrieked and threw myself backwards. The equally startled bear rose up to its full height, growling dangerously as it towered above me. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I inched backwards slowly, everything seeming to move in slow motion. Suddenly Luneth was beside me, pulling me to his chest. At the same time he scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at the beasts face, quickly following through by forcefully slamming his palm into it’s chest. The second that followed felt excruciatingly long as a look of confusion settled onto the demons face. I scrambled onto my feet, grabbing his wrist as I fled the now furious bulldozer crashing after us.

“Don’t tell me… you just tried to use your powers…” I almost dreaded the answer, glancing back to see the look of confusion still plastered onto his features

“It didn’t work” He replied, dumbfounded. I groaned loudly, urging him to move faster

“you idiot…you said so yourself that the place had been sealed or something!”

“I didn’t expect it to apply to me too!.” His tone was that of mild annoyance. He stepped up the pace, overtaking me and nearly causing me to trip over my own feet.

“Your unbelievable! You’re not omnipotent” I groaned, trying to think of a way out of the situation. The bear was catching up fast; it wouldn’t be long before it would be on top of us.

“That’s no way to talk to your saviour” He retorted,

“As if now is really the time for this conversation. It’s not like I had much of a say when I was a baby!” I waved my arms around motioning to the situation as I panted, “what exactly is so ‘mighty saviour-like’ about this?”

“Fine, then. Get yourself out of it if you think you can. You obviously don’t need help” He growled, my reprimands seeming to have struck a nerve, “I’ll just observe”

“Fine!” I snapped back. A small voice in my head told me that my quickly souring mood at his behaviour was irrational, but I chose to ignore it. It was his twisted sense of superiority that had gotten us into this mess in the first place…even if he was only trying to help. I cast my mind back to the items inside my bag. This was going to be crazy. Luneth level stupid even. But I prayed silently for it to work, I didn’t care if it cost me my entire lifetime of luck.

Quickly I slipped my bag off of my shoulders, fumbling around clumsily while trying to avoid tripping on the foliage. My fingers clasped around the tape measure and I found myself momentarily doubting the idea. No. There was no time for doubt, if it failed I would have to give the demon what he wanted and beg for his aid. I gave the cheap thing a tug as I spun on the spot, flinging it towards the rampaging fur ball, surprising even myself at how long the tape was. As I let go of my makeshift weapon I turned my attention back to running for my life, not daring to see if my plan had any affect at all. A deep growl from behind forced me to push off the ground even harder, Luneth jogging beside me almost effortlessly with a bemused expression, which soon turned to one of disbelief and surprise. Before I could question it I heard a heavy thud, the minor tremor enough to startle a nesting group of birds above us. I dared to slow my pace and examine my handiwork. The magnificently terrifying creature lay in a comical heap, its paws entangled with the tape measure. Who knew the stuff you got in crackers could be useful? Alarm bells rang in my head that such a feat should have been impossible, but once again I ignored it. I was proud. Proud I’d achieved something on my own, but also acutely aware it would be a short-lived victory. Once again I dragged my companion through the undergrowth with little care for our direction, wanting to put as much distance between us and the predator as possible.

“…I could have done that…” Luneth muttered beside me as soon as I’d allowed us to relax. He had his hands behind his head, kicking the dirt lightly while he pouted at having missed his chance to show off.

“Sure you could” I said with a smug grin

“You have the luck of the devil” the slight tension between us drifted away as we spoke, letting go of our stress induced irritations

“Well between that and having you bring me back to life, I think I’ve used it all up” I tried to sound light and cheerful, but it was probably the truth. I was walking in blind into a world I had been blissfully unaware of until last night. We drifted off into silence for a while; Luneth seemed to struggle to hide his brooding, I on the other hand continued to bask in self-glory. It was a short-lived notion however, as I soon realised that we were completely lost. I had gone and dragged the two of us completely off course. Maybe I should have kept hold of some of that luck.

“Well, we can’t be that far, we’ll get there” my companion grinned at me as soon as I pointed out my fears, seeming to make a quick recovery from his mild depression. I wasn’t going to argue with him and encourage another mood swing, instead opting to sigh and silently trudge along behind him, legs itching constantly as they got caught up in a vicious cycle with the terrain; they got scratched to death by the brush, my demonic heart healed it up almost instantly, rinse and repeat. Things only got worse as Luneth suddenly began to sing in some crazy bid to raise morale. Despite feeling like my ears would bleed, I left him to it, not wanting to sound cruel. I could only hope we arrived soon and made a mental note to never ask him to do karaoke.

[123Sylvie321]

Too Long; Didn’t Read. I have trouble forcing myself to read long texts too. Damn it brain. -.-

ah right, well whether you read or not is entirely up to you lol. I don’t think i know how to write short stories

[fatso12321]

This is cool.

A TL;DR Version would be a nice feature. I want to read this but I dont.

How can you add a tl:dr to a full story? I dont think in the history of book making have they ever added a side note at the end that read something like;

TL:DR? Well, harrys parents were killed, then went to hogwarts, shit happend and he defeated he who shall not be named, also Dumbledore has had a bad experience with berti bots beans. The end.

On another side note however, yay more story!

[123Sylvie321]

This is cool.

A TL;DR Version would be a nice feature. I want to read this but I dont.

How can you add a tl:dr to a full story? I dont think in the history of book making have they ever added a side note at the end that read something like;

TL:DR? Well, harrys parents were killed, then went to hogwarts, shit happend and he defeated he who shall not be named, also Dumbledore has had a bad experience with berti bots beans. The end.

On another side note however, yay more story!

I lol’d hard.

On a side note, chap 3 will be up momentarily

[123Sylvie321]

Considering i finished writing this up at 5:30 am this morning, thought it best to proof read. It had been a good idea lol, enjoy.

Chapter 3 – Luneths POV

[size=10pt]It had grown dark. I peered into the shadows cautiously as we moved, careful to keep my demeanor relaxed. Thick clouds had gathered overhead, preventing even the faintest hint of starlight through. I glanced back at Rowan with a pang of worry. Her pace had slowed considerably as she fumbled through the darkness. She was obviously tired, i wanted to reach out and guide her, or carry her rest of the way. It would be simple if i ran at full speed, but she had already made it clear she didn’t want to be picked up. My gaze lingered on her a little longer, happy that she was so strong willed, but wished she’d allow others to help her more. When she nearly tripped for the fourth time I couldn’t suppress it any longer. I grabbed her wrist, pulling her a little closer, surprised when she offered no protest, instead mumbling a thank you. I couldn’t keep the grin from my face. That was a good sign right? She was starting to trust me again?

I briefly slipped back into my memories, seeing a bright eyed eight year old girl in my mind. Her eyes would always light up when she saw me, so full of trust, as if ‘lulu’ were the centre of her entire world. I blinked quickly, shaking my head a little to disperse the image. That had been a mistake. I had gotten too involved too soon. I wasn’t going to let ‘them’ find her again; I wouldn’t slip up this time.

Hunger gnawed at my insides but I easily brushed it aside. Rowan was a more pressing concern, she must have been hungry too, and her feet were dragging behind her. With a hint of guilt I realized it might have been better to put my mistrust of the landlord aside and taken the ride to the top, for her sake. But I just hadn’t been able to do it. Anyone could be an enemy, and a Shinigami appearing out of the blue and offering the two of us a home was suspicious. But it was out if the way, and with the protection spell finally waning i hadn’t been able to decline the invitation.

“So…when did he say dinner was?” Her soft voice penetrated the darkness. I could tell from her tone that she was poking at my crazy decision to make us walk. I went along with it playfully; she had always so easy to tease when she was hungry. She’d probably get angry if she knew I found her irritated side adorable.

“He didn’t say…want to order a pizza?” I watched her face as I said it, my grin only widening when I saw her bite her lip the way she always did when she was trying to stay in control of her emotions. Her brow slightly furrowed as she pulled away from my grasp, stumbling over to the nearest tree and pressing her forehead against the dry bark. Presumably it did little to quell her annoyance, because I could still feel her irritation as if it were my own. Her heart resonated with the two inside my chest, faintly allowing me to feel what she felt. After giving her a minute of space I swiftly moved to her side, lightly placing my hand on her shoulder,

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked innocently. She spun to face me, dropping her hands onto both of my shoulders and taking a deep breath before meeting my eyes,

“Just…just forget it; we’re both tired right now. It’s probably best if we just…ignore each other for a bit. Why don’t we pick a place to camp?” I raised my brow in response, happy she wasn’t planning on pushing herself. However I had no intention of camping somewhere I couldn’t use my powers. The encounter with the bear had been unfortunate, a momentary lapse in caution, the mild panic that had gripped me making the seal slip my mind. I still didn’t fully understand how she’d pulled off such a ridiculous idea with a tape measure of all things, but I wasn’t going to question it either.

“I never get tired” I reminded her, keeping my playful tone. It wasn’t a complete lie, I just possessed vastly superior stamina to humans and it would be several more years yet until she developed such abilities. She threw her hands up in the air in what I presumed to be frustration.

“I know, I know, you apparently defy all laws of physics. I bow before you…let me lick your shoes and all that…” Her tone was a mocking sigh which I purposefully ignored.

“Damn right I am!” I boasted, puffing out my chest with pride, “Glad you think so highly of me. As a reward you can have the honour of being carried by me!” I saw her roll her eyes in the gloom as she groaned,

“Didn’t you do that once already…?” She trailed off as if suddenly in thought.

“No that was different! You were going to chicken out because of a mere sign!” I said a little too quickly, mentally kicking myself for sounding too eager. Her change in posture threw me a little, what exactly was on her mind? For some reason I felt I wouldn’t like what was coming next.

“Of course! Maybe you could carry me after all! It’s so simple. Why didn’t we think of this at the start?” She sounded excited, a smile on her lips. Usually I would be overjoyed she was smiling at me, but her sudden shift in attitude still made me uncomfortable.

“…I can…?” I said cautiously.

“Well…if human lore is anything to go by…demons have wings don’t they? I mean I’d hardly doubt they’d be ‘sealed’ or whatever…why don’t we just fly up to the top? Someone as amazing as you could do it no problem, right?” For a brief moment I was amused by her attempts to flatter me into doing her bidding. On any other occasion I would have jumped at the chance to prove myself to her. But this time it was too much. I felt my heart sink like a stone, that familiar darkness creeping up from a long forgotten part of my soul. The space between my shoulder blades ached in a painful reminder of what was hiding there.

“I cant” My voice was quieter and icier than I would have liked. Chilling darkness twisted and gnawed inside of me like a parasite. I was forced to look away from her, not wanting her to see the pain that was surely reflecting in my eyes. ‘Drop it and move on. Please…’ I thought. I wasn’t ashamed of my exile, it was a proud reminder that I chose to control my own life that day. But I hated being grounded. My wings had been a symbol of my strength, an invaluable part of who I was. I missed gliding through the air without a care in the world. Missed the days where I wasn’t constantly nagged by pain.

“Can’t…or won’t?” Rowan asked, her voice containing a hint of fear that made me wince. Why couldn’t she just drop it? I shot her a look that I hoped would be enough to make her lay off. She visibly flinched, causing a knot of guilt in my gut. I grew angry at myself for not having better control of my emotions, angry that I was making her feel this way, angry that she had pried – even if the question had been asked in complete innocence.

“I SAID I CAN’T” I snapped, instantly regretting my small outburst. I needed to cool off, growing increasingly afraid I’d harm her. She was my light; I needed to keep her safe. But I couldn’t do it in this state of mind. Quickly I turned my back to her, stalking off up the path until she was just out of sight. My chest fluttered as it felt Rowan go through a wave of emotions; Fear, confusion, anger, sorrow, loneliness, back to fear. I steadied my breath. It had been wrong of me to just leave her there.

I stepped back out of the bushes in time to see her fist flying towards me. Out of instinct I caught her wrist.
“Sorry…” I mumbled, if she was angry enough to hit me, I probably should have let her, “I didn’t mean to scare you…i just…no I guess there’s no excuse-“ She cut me off by throwing her arms around my waist, burying her face into my chest in a hug. I stared down at her in surprise, unsure where I should put my hands.

“…Rowan?”

“Idiot…” She mumbled, tilting her head to look at me with a small frown, “Don’t ever scare me like that again!” Her grip on me tightened. I returned her look with a guilty one.

“I’m sorry…” I repeated. Her frown turned into a scowl.

“You better be! Who just walks off like that this late at night, in the middle of nowhere and leaves a girl out here alone? I seriously had no idea what I was going to do”

“I’m…sorry?” she’d thrown me again, it seemed she was getting good at doing that, “if I hadn’t… I didn’t want to hurt you…” She released me from her embrace, turning her back to me and folded her arms, tilting her head in my direction ever so slightly as she tried to hide her relief.

“W-well then. Since that matter is settled, let’s hurry up and get there already” I let go of a breath I hadn’t even realised I had been holding. She had forgiven me. She wouldn’t push me away.

“We can’t be too far. Race you!” I laughed, breaking into my usual grin as I darted past her

“You better not go easy on me!” I heard her yell behind me, I was glad to find she’d cheered up a little. We hadn’t gotten very far in our ‘race’ when I skidded to a halt, relief washing over me as I read the large sign that protruded from a bush ‘just a few more miles’ It read. At that moment Rowan overtook me thinking she could be cocky, and I was reminded of her lack of night vision all too late. She collided with the sign, and I cringed before trying to swallow my laughter as I steadied her.

“Are you okay?” My lips curled up into a smile against my wishes.

“Could you warn me next time?” She groaned, rubbing her head slowly. The fact that she assumed there would be a next time almost had me in giggles on the floor.

“Sorry…forgot you couldn’t see it” I could hear my voice beginning to crack, threatening to laugh myself to tears. I resorted to a light chuckle instead, and still received a light punch on the shoulder for it. I clasped her hand, pulling her into a run again. She protested of course, I could see she wasn’t getting her hopes up. She left me no choice. I spun to face her, giving her hand a sharp tug and scooped her up into my arms before moving on, allowing my pace to quicken. Her pulse quickened and she wrapped her arms around my neck tightly, her protests only escalating.

“This is embarrassing! Put me down” She pleaded, I just chuckled in reply, “Luneth!” Her eyes searched my face for something before she sighed, seeing that I planned on stubbornly ignoring her request.

“It’s not like there’s anyone around to see” I stated, highly amused that such a small thing could bother her.

“That’s not the point…I feel like we’re going to crash…”

“It’s fine, no worries! I could do this with my eyes shut”

“Do that and I won’t pity you when you collide with a tree, In fact I think I’d collapse with laughter” she finally laughed. It was like music to my ears and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling down at her softly.

“You’re such a pessimist. If I crash you’re the one who hits the tree first” She laughed again in response, it was incredibly encouraging. ‘Just for a little longer’ I thought to myself, ‘I want her to be able to laugh and joke or get angry at me over stupid things for just a little longer…’

“There it is!” The girl in my arms yelled, pointing to a cluster of lights in the distance as we emerged into a large clearing. I was starting to feel exhausted, but would never admit it. A bead of sweat trickled down my brow as I struggled to catch my breath discreetly,

“See…told you we could run it…” I panted, sticking out my tongue. She’d spent a lot of the last leg trying to get me to put her down; I’d spent a lot of it ignoring her.

“Let’s walk the rest” she suggested. Damn she still wasn’t going to drop it. I shook my head defiantly. I’d made it this far, there was no sense in quitting now. I forced myself to jog the last stretch of land until we were almost dwarfed by the size of the building in front of us. From what I could make out in the gloom it was an ancient but well-kept structure with several floors and an exterior made of red brick. Slowly I set Rowan on her feet, but kept a hand firmly on her shoulder, keeping her close. Before we could do anything else the grand oak doors flew open, revealing the Shinigami that I had spoken to previously.

“HELLO!” He yelled in an overly enthusiastic manner. I rolled my eyes; he still had no taste in clothes. He was tall – much taller than me, with stupidly long jet black hair kept together in loose plait down his back. He wore a casual, plain black T-shirt and low hanging baggy jeans half covered his red converses. I had no clue what look he was going for but it lacked style. The black contrasted with his unnaturally pale skin and the dragon skull he paraded around like a hat was disturbing. His dark green eyes shimmered dangerously and I reminded myself to tell Rowan not to stare into them.

“You must be Rowan! You’re so much cuter than I imagined!” Death continued, oblivious to the nervous glances Rowan was casting at his choice of head wear,

“Uh…” It was possibly the first time I’d heard her at a loss for words. Like a whirlwind, the landlord continued talking, his excitement at our arrival obvious

“What took you so long? You missed dinner! Was my mountain harder than you anticipated, Luneth?” A sly grin slipped onto his lips but I ignored his jab. My cold glare reminded him of why we were here. He took a step back and cleared his throat before offering Rowan his hand

“So sorry. Terribly rude of me! I just can’t help myself when I see cute things. My name is Death”

“So…the name of this mountain is just…?” She trailed off as she gingerly took his hand and shook it. He released her hand as quickly as he’d offered it and beckoned us to follow him back into his manor, the warm yellow light bleeding through the doorway a stark contrast to the murkiness outside. It was almost blinding, but our host gave us a moment to adjust ourselves. We were standing in a circular foyer. The walls were a sterile white with a circular staircase climbing up the outer walls of the room, occasionally breaking off to allow access to some hallway or another. Two highly polished suits of armor stood guard at the front entrance, the red feather plumage decorating their helmets the brightest thing in the room.

“You must both be hungry and tired, I have something set aside for you guys but I think I should lay a few ground rules; Firstly, violence is forbidden in my house. Secondly, with the exception of Rowan, humans aren’t allowed here." As he spoke he led us across the black and white checked floor through a large archway, it linked directly to a modest oak dining room able to seat at least ten people. Two bowls of steaming hot soup sat on the table waiting for us. I nearly started drooling.

“There are five floors, the ground floor houses the kitchen, dining room and living room, the first and second floors house the guest rooms – you two are on the first floor with me by the way, my other two guests are on the second, the third floor is the attic. Pretty much just a giant storage room, careful you don’t get lost in there… Finally there’s the basement, but you don’t need to bother yourself with it. In fact I’d like you to pretend it doesn’t exist, pretend I never mentioned it” He motioned for us to sit and we obeyed eagerly.

“You only need to clean the rooms that are in use…and I trust you are a decent cook?” Death had continued his verbal tour as we’d helped ourselves to his soup. I saw Rowan blink in confusion and I scratched the back of my head,

“I…might have forgotten to mention that to her” I confessed. She just looked between the two of us, realizing that the Shinigami had been addressing her.

“You want me to take care of the house?” She sounded uncertain, so I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Like I said, humans aren’t allowed here. You need to earn your keep.” Death smiled at her calmly, but I still wasn’t going to trust him, not yet, “The other two shouldn’t be too much of a problem and I’ll check in often. I’m not planning of dumping an insane amount of work on you.” Rowan nodded slowly in response. Worry, unease. I wondered at the exact thoughts running through her head accompanying those fleeting feelings. I personally had no problem with her playing caretaker, as long as Death’s other residents didn’t put her in harm’s way. We needed this place.

[Petroliam]

This is cool.

A TL;DR Version would be a nice feature. I want to read this but I dont.

How can you add a tl:dr to a full story? I dont think in the history of book making have they ever added a side note at the end that read something like;

TL:DR? Well, harrys parents were killed, then went to hogwarts, shit happend and he defeated he who shall not be named, also Dumbledore has had a bad experience with berti bots beans. The end.

On another side note however, yay more story!

Invent a speed reading chip that you can eat which makes you take in info really quickly. Do it. Now.

[123Sylvie321]

Ahem. Seeing as ive finally gotten my life sorted out and new job and stuff with a pretty nice work rota with nice set hours, i should have time to come back more often… so…know i havnt posted in here for a while but…

Chapter 4 – Rowans POV

The alarm on my mobile rang suddenly, startling me out of my slumber. The thing was now completely useless for its original intended purpose, since we were miles away from getting any kind of signal. Not that I had anybody to call.

My eyes remained glued shut as my mind tried to free itself from the groggy clutches of sleep. It would be so easy to just stay inside the warm sheets of my bed sink back down into sleep’s comfortable embrace. The alarm continued to shriek, as if protesting against my desires. With an annoyed groan I slipped my arm out of the warmth and blindly felt around the side table for the damn thing. Finally my hand fell upon its chilled vibrating form, and attempted to quiet the offending tech’ by roughly slapping my fingers against it; hoping to hit snooze. My attempts proved to be futile, and in frustration I snatched the mobile from its resting place and flung it as hard as I could across the room before retreating back into my cocoon.

There was a loud crack and the noise abruptly stopped. I snuggled deeper into my duvet, deciding I didn’t particularly care if my phone had just shattered against the wall. It was warm and cosy in here. A soft chuckle behind me snapped me into alertness, but before I could open my eyes and investigate, a voice whispered gently into my ear.

“Good morning, Rowan” The voice was husky and heavy with sleep, sending deep shivers of something I couldn’t quite place down my spine. But after a brief moment of panic I recognised its owner. My eyes shot open in an instant, and I rolled over to face him, intending to reprimand him for sneaking into a girl’s room while she slept. Only to freeze, mouth parted in a small ‘o’. The moment I laid my eyes on Luneth I felt my cheeks burn. It seems he had done a lot more than just sneak in to wake me.

He was relaxed on his side, head supported on his hand casually as he tried and failed to wipe the blurriness of sleep from his eyes, his pale, silky hair rustled and unkempt. He was shirtless, his chest firm with a faint hint of muscle and a few pale scars ran along its features. I was thankful that he was wearing a pair of jeans at least. My heart quickened in my chest and I swallowed nervously at how vulnerable and unguarded I had been. Did my room have a lock? I was still staring when he gently reached out to brush a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. That small movement alone was enough to allow me to catch a glimpse.

He was still wearing that damn cape.

The thought snapped me out of my momentary stupor. I heard myself yelp in surprise as my body threw itself off of the bed, landing awkwardly on the oak panelled floor and scrabbled backwards until I joined the scattered bits of phone against the wall. Luneth stared at me with a mixture of shock and surprise and I gulped, trying to moisten my throat,

“W-what are you doing in here!?” I finally managed to stammer, hugging myself as I pressed my back more firmly into the wall. Hurt raced across the intruder’s face for a brief moment, but was gone so quickly I couldn’t be sure if it had even been there in the first place. Luneth sat up slowly, running his fingers through his hair as he did so, and glanced back towards the door. He remained quiet for a long time, eyes flicking about the room as if checking for something before he shifted, bed creaking under his weight.

“And here I was thinking my little Rowan might have felt uneasy or scared on her first night in a new house…” There was still a husky undertone in his voice that made his intentions hard to read, but there was a smile in his eyes as he silently padded over to me. Slowly he crouched down in front of me, gently resting his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth “Thought I’d keep you company”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out his ulterior motive. Perhaps I could give him the benefit of the doubt; so far his intentions had been in the right place at least. Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to reprimand him. Sighing, I lightly patted his hand and he helped pull me to my feet, his eyes never leaving mine; as if he were trying to distract me into forgetting his offense.

“I was perfectly fine, thank you for your concern…but Luneth, I do not appreciate you creeping into my room while I sleep. I believe I already told you that I wasn’t comfortable sharing a bed with a man I hardly know. That still stands” I struggled to keep my voice level and firm. It was way too early in the morning for me to be civil and reasonable, but I had to at least try.

“Yes, I know but-“He began, eyes suddenly pleading, but I held up my hand to signal I wasn’t finished, and he respectfully fell silent.

“You have done a lot for me over the years. I get that. But you are forgetting the whole closeness thing is, for the moment, one way. You know pretty much everything about me, I assume, and yet I know next to nothing about you. I didn’t even know you existed until two days ago. Trust is earned, not given, and I’ll willingly give you as many chances as you feel you need, to…prove yourself or whatever. But I suggest the best start is to not let me catch you doing this again okay?” I forced a small smile as I finished, taking a deep breath as I observed his reaction. He just stood there silently, taking it all in. Eventually though, he gave me a slow nod

“Don’t let you catch me. Got it.” There was a glint of something mischievous in his eyes as he slowly removed his hand from my shoulder, running it through his hair again instead. I folded my arms and waited silently. Eventually realisation dawned on him

“Oh! You…want me to leave right?” He offered me a sly grin, but when I didn’t return the gesture he let it drop and coughed nervously, clearly he’d had enough of verbal beatings for one day already “right…right of course. Leaving. Just call if you need help changing~” He spun on his heels and headed out the door.

I quietly headed towards the kitchen, feeling the same sense of awe at my surroundings as I had when we first arrived. Since I was apparently now the caretaker of the place I figured breakfast would be a good place to start. My brow furrowed slightly as I passed through the dining room, Death had mentioned there were two others beside Luneth and myself. Would they be joining us for breakfast? Would they even eat anything I made? This entire world was still so new to me; I could only pray that we all got along.

Walking into the kitchen was like stepping into another dimension. It didn’t even feel like a kitchen at all. I dithered in the doorway, wondering if I was even in the right place. The room was long, the walls and floors stark white. A large counter ran along the length of one wall, two fridges resting neatly under it near the door. The opposing wall at the far end was decorated with a grand, albeit dusty shelf, crammed full with tattered books. There was nothing else, no cupboards, no oven, not even a sink or stove. I took a tentative step into the room, ‘just how is this kitchen?’ I asked myself, glancing towards the ceiling as if it held the answers I sought.

There was no ceiling. Instead there was clear open sky. I stared up at it dumbfounded and confused, already beginning to miss my old, normal home.

“Okay, deep breaths, you can handle this” I whispered quietly to myself. I let my eyes fall shut, let my head drop, as I ran my hands over my face. Opening my eyes again was a mistake; the previously white floor flashed multiple colours beneath my feet before fading back into white. I could only stare and focus on keeping my breath steady. As I watched, the floor began to paint itself again in reds and blues, occasionally a brief word would appear and then everything would fade again to start over. Apparently the kitchen was happy to see me. It might take longer to get used to this place than I had originally thought.

“Might have to have a chat with Death about this…” I mumbled to myself, looking around for a distraction from the floor, my eyes eventually resting on the fridges. Curiosity here was surely a bad thing. Regardless I walked over to them and crouched down, opening one up.

“Well I was going to make breakfast, this is as good a start as any” talking out loud made me feel a little more sure of myself. Okay so the kitchen was alive, sort of. I could just file that piece of information away to deal with later and try to focus on doing something normal. I would have plenty of time to adjust to this place, no point trying to take in too much at once.

A small groan escaped my throat as I saw that the fridge held anything but normalcy. The top shelf was packed full with square vials the size of my fist, each filled to the brim with a thick red liquid. It was a lot harder to see what was in the small bottles on the shelves below however. Whatever was in them took up the rest of the fridge. Carefully I picked up the closest and peered into the opaque glass. An innocent pair of eyes stared back at me, as curious as my own. I tilted my head, starting to make out the ethereal form that they belonged to. Rounded and small, ghostly blue in colour with a tiny tail misting out behind it.

“What are you?” I asked it slowly, holding the bottle up to the light and watching as the thing became nearly invisible. I wasn’t really expecting a response. It pressed itself up against the glass, as if it was just as interested in me, that or very eager to escape its prison.

“Ooh~ So THAT’S what an innocent soul looks like” I jumped out of my own skin at the sound of Luneth’s voice behind me. When had he gotten here? I desperately fumbled with the bottle, but it slipped from my grasp and shattered on the floor next to my knees. That wasn’t good. I looked over my shoulder at Luneth helplessly before glancing back at the mess. The soul was observing the broken remains of its prison, its form hard to make out in the daylight. I couldn’t quite be sure, but I think it might have been dancing.

“Crap. Don’t worry; I’ll clean up your mess before Death comes back!” Luneth lunged at it, as if he could catch the thing with his bare hands. At the sound of his voice the blue blob ceased its excited bobbing, effortlessly darting out of the way once it had fixed it’s huge eyes on him. Luneth crashed on top of the glass and I cringed. He didn’t seem to care however, and was up on his feet instantly, lunging at the soul again. It darted out of the way once more, always staying just out of reach. Always watching, but I could see no hint of malice or taunting in its eyes. I heard the demon growl in frustration as the pursuit continued around the room. If I left him to it, it would never end. I held out my hand and after a few seconds the soul drifted over to me obediently, hovering just above my palm. A slight chill ran up my spine.

“Hah! Got you now! Quick, Rowan, cage it!” Luneth was panting and grinning at me as if it had been his plan all along. I raised my brow at him; the blob didn’t seem to be going anywhere, content to just sit with its rescuer.

“How would you have me do that?” I asked motioning around the vastly empty room with my free hand.

“Hand it over and I’ll use my amazing skills to make an inescapable lightning cage?” He offered with a slight puff of the chest. I responded by pulling the soul closer to me protectively, and he fell silent, pouting with sagging shoulders. I examined the soul again. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I could see its form a little more clearly. It had tiny fins at its sides where I presumed arms would go. It was…actually kind of cute. Unable to resist I slowly reached out and poked its cheek, it silently stared back at me, unflinching. I blinked, laughing in surprise.

“It feels like jelly.” it was cold, and squishy. Perhaps a marshmallow would have been a better comparison. Luneth chuckled at my observation, but remained silent, presumably still thinking up an alternative capture method. I bit my lip.

“Do we have to shove it back in a bottle? I feel kind of bad for it”

“Why? It’ll be going to Heaven. I’m told it’s pretty nice up there”

“Maybe so, but in the meantime, Death keeps it in his fridge.” I frowned as I spoke, having mixed feelings on the matter. Luneth had dropped down in front of me at some point, and it was then that I noticed the dark purple blood slowly dripping down his right arm. I stood quickly, startling the soul enough for it to dart up my arm and bury itself in my hair. I paid it little attention, grabbing Luneth’s wrist I pulled him to his feet and glanced around the room before dragging him over to the sink.

“Hold still” I commanded before he could even question my actions. Gently I turned his arm over and observed the damage. An angry shard of glass protruded just below the bend in his arm.

“Rowan, don’t worry about it, this is nothing” Luneth grinned at me when he noticed my hesitation. He reached down and yanked out the jagged shard without a second thought, tossing it into the sink. I flinched as I watched him, immediately grabbing a cloth and dampening it, intending to clean and bandage the injury. However, when I wiped the blood away the wound had already vanished. Luneth laughed lightly.

“Demonic healing comes in handy, as you know” Ah yes. Of course, if I could do it with just one of his hearts, it would make sense that he could too. I paused. ‘Wait a minute…’ Slowly I looked down at the surprisingly modern stainless steel sink embedded in the counter next to us.

“That wasn’t there earlier” My voice was quieter than I would have liked. The soul nudged its way out of my hair and floated up to sit on top of my head, making patting motions with a fin as if attempting to curb my growing distress. Luneth glared at the thing as if he expected it to snatch me away the moment he turned his back. I needed to sit down.

“Rowan?” Luneth called after me as I turned and headed to the dining room, the floor painting a playful path for me to follow and leaving a set of footprints in my wake. ‘Okay. Think positive. There is a soul sitting on your head… but it’s cute so that’s okay. You’re not dead, and no one has tried to kill you yet; that’s a bonus. There is a roof over your head and a warm bed to sleep in, even if the kitchen seems to have a mind of its own. It’ll take some time to get used to, but that’s okay too, because it seems nice enough…’ I plopped myself down in the nearest seat and took a deep breath, Luneth trotting out after me like a puppy, face full of worry.

“I’m okay” I said, offering him a small smile “just…adjusting” He nodded in understanding and took a seat next to me, waiting in silence until I felt ready to face the weirdness again.

[123Sylvie321]

Chapter 5 - Rowans POV

Cooking had been an interesting experience. The books I had noticed earlier were chained to their shelves, and had tried to eat me when I got too close, growling like dogs. Luneth had laughed heartily, before growling right back as if it were some sort of dominance game. I then had to endure his endless prodding and teasing while I cooked with the aid of the kitchen–and that in itself had been odd ‘may I have a stove please?, don’t suppose you’re hiding a cupboard anywhere? Pans?’ – I let him have his fun; anything I might have said would have just made him feel guilty for bringing me here in the first place. A smile suited him best.

I only made enough for two, unsure if the other residents planned to join us. I hadn’t seen hide or hair of anyone else all morning, the place felt deserted. Although Luneth more than made up for it with his constant chatter and boasting while we ate. After a while I tuned him out, getting caught up in my thoughts. I was still trying to adjust, still trying to figure everything out. What exactly had happened for me to end up here? If I hadn’t seen his mojo myself I might have even questioned Luneth’s claim to be a demon, he was just so…normal. Most of the time. And judging from the name and the souls in the fridge, Death had to be some sort of Death God. Surely things could only get easier from here.

“What do you think?” Luneth’s voice sliced through my thoughts and I blinked at him in mild confusion. When had he started talking to me instead of at me?

“I’m sorry, I was miles away” I admitted, deciding honesty was better than grasping at straws. He pouted, shoving the last of a sausage into his mouth and swallowing.

“So you missed the entire story about how I obtained my epic cape of glorious wonder?” I raised a brow. Was that what he called the thing?

“Yes, I missed it, sorry.” I put my knife and fork down realising my plate was empty, and ran a hand through my hair, once again startling the soul; who had apparently still been resting there. Luneth let out a long purposeful sigh before collecting both our plates.

“Well no matter, I know you have a lot on your mind.” His eyes flicked over my school uniform for a moment as he headed towards the kitchen. “I need to head out for a little while…will you be okay without me?” He seemed reluctant to ask, and even more reluctant to leave. I nodded and waved at him dismissively

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, go do whatever it is you need to do. I’ve managed by myself up until now” He opened his mouth to protest at that, but decided against it, instead walking off into the kitchen to wash up. I mentally slapped myself, only just remembering his claim to have secretly taken care of me. ‘Smooth, that must have sounded harsh. Go apologise‘

“Right then! I’ll just be heading off, try not to burn the place down while I’m gone~” He spoke the minute I entered the kitchen, he was smiling warmly at me, his tone light as if my comment hadn’t bothered him at all. I could only nod in response, suddenly lost for words. I had expected to find him brooding. He rustled my hair as he passed and slipped out of the house before I could even give voice to my apology.

The layout of the manor was surprisingly simple, yet it still took me well over an hour to investigate. The little soul I had freed from the fridge kept me company as I explored the upper floors and unused rooms, appalled at the state of the place. Death had said to only keep the rooms in use clean but the thick layer of dust and cobwebs in the others made me a little sad. Even they should get some TLC now and then. I had taken to unimaginatively calling my little companion Soul. And despite my better judgement, was starting to grow attached to it. The thing was so adorable it was hard not to, and just watching it investigate everything with the curiosity of a child; eyes full of wonder, made me smile.

I finally came to a halt in the foyer and glanced around, considering my options. Luneth still wasn’t back. I could make a start on one of the rooms, but I hadn’t actually found any sort of supply cupboard yet. There must be a tonne of hidden doors around the place that I would have to scope out on a slow day. I let my gaze wander towards the front door.

“We could always explore the grounds” I suggested quietly to Soul with a shrug. I strolled over to the doors and threw them open, surprised by how fresh the mountain air was. Almost immediately my silent companion headed towards the exit. I blinked, had it just been using me to get out? I didn’t have long to contemplate, the moment Soul passed over the threshold I was blinded by a blue light. It took a minute for my vision to return, electricity still sparking across the doorway. I stared at it for a long time, waiting for my brain to catch up as it tried and failed to grasp at what had just happened.

“Soul?!” I realised there was no sign of my adorable little marshmallow. Did it get fried? My panicked gaze finally rested on the back wall, where a sooty black blob lay on the floor. I dashed over and threw myself down next to it, cupping my hands around my newfound friend and pulling it close. Its colour eventually changed back into its usual faint blue and it looked up at me with a dazed expression.

“I guess this means you can’t go outside. Are you okay?” I continued to look Soul over until it nuzzled into my hand to reassure me. Now I had another dozen of questions and no one around to answer them. Death and I were going to have to sit down for a cup of tea the list was getting so long.

“A false alarm I see.” I jumped in surprise once again, and spun around to see Death leaning against the wall, uncomfortably close. Apparently this was quickly becoming the theme of my day. He shifted his weight, pushing off of the wall to instead lean against the large bone scythe he was holding. I tried to avoid looking at it, at looking at him. He didn’t quite seem to be the same man I had met last night. It was unsettling. I blinked and he was suddenly gone.

“Just the one? I half expected the whole gang to be tearing the place apart, looking for a way past the barrier” He was behind me again, forcing me to spin to face him once more. Each step he took towards me was slow and purposeful, and despite everything I began to feel the faint hint of fear. He lifted his hand, watching Soul curiously at it struggled in its grip, his thumb and forefinger firmly on its tail. I frowned and looked down at my cupped hands. When had he taken it?

“You didn’t release her on purpose I hope?” He gave me a small smile as he asked, seeming to purposefully avoid looking into my eyes for too long, which I was thankful for. Luneth had warned me about how eyes were the window to the soul, and just another tool to use for ‘Death’s kind’. I quickly shook my head.

“It was an accident, I’m sorry, I grew curious and then Luneth caught me off guard” I admitted, surprised at how level my voice sounded. I wanted to step back and increase the distance between us, but my legs wouldn’t move. Death smiled more as he let his scythe rest against the wall, searching his body for another container.

“Good, glad to know my work isn’t in jeopardy with you around” He chuckled as if the idea was more amusing than it should be, but if there was a joke involved I certainly wasn’t in on it. Soul continued to struggle, its eyes pleading as it reached for me.

“Death?” My mouth had acted before I even had the chance to talk myself out of it. Well there was no going back now, sink or swim. What’s the worst that could happen? He paused and looked at me expectantly, starting to feel like the warm hurricane again.

“Would it be incredibly rude of me to ask a… uh, Death God, if that is what you are, would it be rude to ask if I could…” I trailed off, feeling wrongness in my gut. In that sentence alone something about Death had changed drastically. Soul slipped free, forgotten, as my landlord once more reached for his scythe. His eyes shielded from view by that skull on his head. The temperature seemed to drop like a stone and I visibly shivered, my arms turning to gooseflesh. Something was very, very wrong. My legs still wouldn’t move.

“Did you just mention God?” Death asked darkly, raising his head to meet my gaze. He felt cold and cruel; the fact that he actively sought my eyes was enough for me to know I was in serious trouble. ‘Move’ I told myself, but I could only gulp nervously.

“I detest God. Absolutely despise Him.” His grip on his weapon tightened and he closed the gap between us, grabbing my chin and jerking my head back to look me fully in the face. My heart hammered in my chest wildly; it was all I could avert my eyes.

“I hate Him, but His will must be done. The list must be adhered. You are an abomination. Your very existence violates the balance of order” He released me, taking a step back and drawing back his scythe. ‘He intends to reap me’ realisation dawned; the shock rattled me enough to make my legs obey. I stumbled backwards blindly, just in time to avoid the swing.

“Death? Death it’s me, you’re the one who said I could stay here, hello? Rule number one?” I held out my hands as I continued my slow retreat, mind racing. Where exactly could I go to escape from a man, in his own home? Now I wasn’t a genius but i was pretty sure you couldn’t escape a reaper. Well, not without some outside help. He swung at me again and I yelped, throwing myself out of the way. It embedded itself into the floor where I had been standing, but I decided I didn’t want to hang around. I scrambled away while he worked on freeing his weapon. He was blocking the door, nothing for it but to flee up the stairs and pray I didn’t trip and do his job for him.

Death was somehow waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I stopped dead in my tracks, suddenly overwhelmed by the hopelessness of the situation. Perhaps he was right, perhaps I should let him do his job and save everyone a load of trouble. I should have died long ago, what right did I have to be standing here now? Death reached out and gave my chest a solid shove, my eyes widened as I felt myself begin to topple backwards. He must have decided it would be easier to reap me if I couldn’t move. Panic enslaved me, I couldn’t breathe. ‘I want to live’ the thought was fleeting, selfish, but the desire ached so badly I thought my heart might burst.

‘My heart?’ I felt like I had just slapped myself in the face. ‘My’ heart was Luneth’s, and by rights, my life was his. For some reason he had wanted me to live. That was as good a reason as any to be selfish, to carry out that wish. To give up would be a cruel and heartless act against a man who had worked so hard to get me here. I may not know the exact details but I certainly wasn’t going to sully his efforts. The seconds passed by in slow motion. I closed my eyes, not in resignation, but in trust. ‘Come on. You said you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Please…don’t fail me now’ I poured every emotion I had into my silent plea.

The scent of earth washed over me as strong arms protectively pulled me to an overly warm chest. Luneth had a fierce scowl on his face, glaring daggers at Death.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner” Cold hard anger lined his voice, but I felt only trust. He allowed his gaze to drop to me just once as he said, “We need to talk later.” Ah. I was in trouble too.

“So, you finally show your true colours. I knew a Shinigami’s offer was too good to be true. You all have a stick up your ass when it comes to your filthy list.” Luneth spat the words, holding me close as he slowly backed us towards the door. He felt tense and ready to snap, his fingers digging into my back slightly. Death appeared in front of us, just how was he doing that?

“Ah, and here you are. The exile, you are aware there is a bounty on your head?” Death’s eyes flicked between us, before narrowing, “so she is the one? We always had suspected you lied. So you pulled it off after all. Allow me to end it.”

“You talk too much” The two moved so quickly I couldn’t follow who had acted first. Luneth had tightened his grip on me, his free hand shaking with the effort of holding back Death’s scythe, just below the blade, electricity sparking from his hand. Both their faces were completely focused. And I was helpless to help in anyway.

“Oh, for crying out loud…CATS! Death, CATS!” A new voice floated over to us, accompanied with the sound of thundering footsteps on the stairs. I glanced up just in time to see a man force his way into the scuffle and slap a photograph onto Death’s face; who instantly froze. The newcomer was tall with broad shoulders and a slim waist. His hair albino white, spiked at the front in a way that nearly defied gravity, the rest held together in a very loose ponytail that rested between his shoulder blades. A tribal tattoo framed the left half of his face, eyes a startling shade of blue. Everything about him seemed to draw me to him. I couldn’t help but stare. It was odd that I wasn’t even bothered by the fact he only wore a pair of boxers. Luneth was staring too, but the look in his eye told me it was for an entirely different reason.

– incomplete post –

[123Sylvie321]

– chap 5 cont –

“Um…thank you?” Luneth said it as if it were a question, and just pulled me even closer before adding more quietly, “Not that I needed help”. Death remained frozen in place as the newcomer regarded the two of us, eventually scowling in disgust.

“I didn’t do it for you. I just don’t fancy taking the blame for the damage, again.” I found myself hanging onto his every word. God I wish he would never stop talking, his voice was like silk. “If you are so intent on staying here, I advise you listen to me. One. Never mention the big guy, ever. Two, the bitch stays far away from me”

I flinched at his sudden rejection, frowning to myself ‘why do I even care?’ Luneth didn’t even hesitate when he replied, “More than happy to oblige.” Before anything else could be said, Death’s scythe vanished in a wisp of blue flame, and the chill in the air dissipated. He reached up and peeled the photograph off of his face and observed it, nodding in approval before tucking it away in some hidden pocket.

“Leo! What a pleasant surprise! When did you join us?” There wasn’t a hint of the cold ruthless killer that had been hunting me earlier. He observed the signs of battle and sighed. “Now, I know, you three are excited to meet, but must I remind you of rule number one? No violence in my household!” I couldn’t help but stare, wishing someone would tell me what was going on.

“Give me a break! Who the hell would be excited to meet a weak little human? Why is this bitch even here?” Leo snarled. In response Luneth practically exploded, lunging at him, only to be cut off by Death. Luneth glared. Any trust he may have had for the Shinigami gone after his attack.

“Don’t you dare call her that. Just what is your problem? Are you also going to tell me that she shouldn’t be allowed to exist? Because I swear to Go-“I covered his mouth before he could finish. Leo had said not to mention ‘Him’, and if that was what had set Death off earlier I certainly didn’t want a repeat.

“That’s right Leo, you shouldn’t be so mean to someone so cute!” Death stepped over to join us, not seeming to notice our behaviour.

“I know right!?” Luneth agreed, grinning as if he couldn’t help himself. If looks could kill, Leo would have slaughtered the whole lot of us in that instant.

“For starters she has your taint. What’s so ‘cute’ about her anyway? All women are vile, disgusting and weak. We’re better off without them” I flinched again. There was so much malice in his voice, but there was also a brief flicker of pain in his eyes. I found myself feeling sorry for him instead of offended, clearly he’d allowed something in his past to skewer his view on the world. I expected Luneth to lunge again, but to my surprise he smirked.

“So you lean the other way? I don’t know about you but I think woman are pretty important”

“Why am I even still talking to you?” He snapped, stalking back up the stairs.

“Well that’s pretty contradictory. How are you even still alive” I heard Luneth mutter. I pulled myself out of his crushing grip and rubbed my temples, apparently being human meant I missed out on a lot of cues.

“Please enlighten me” I didn’t fully move away from his side, still expecting Death to turn around and suddenly start trying to kill me again.

“Ah right, our lovely moody friend is an Incubus. Please take his advice and stay away from him. And uh, anything you think you feel for him, it’s not real” He almost sounded jealous, before glancing over at Death cautiously, “How is he still alive anyway? Because he doesn’t strike me as the type to suck up his prejudice, and last time I checked humans only had two genders”

“I toss a couple of souls his way every week, just enough to keep him going, not enough to disrupt the system” Death laughed, and I felt myself frown again. That sounded practically the opposite of whatever the ‘Black’ Death had been spouting. Just what was going on? It was then that Death’s gaze fell onto me, I half expected my body to freeze again. But there was nothing, no killing intent, no cold aura.

“So, I believe we were talking before the two hotheads interrupted? Oh yes! The soul! Where is she…”

“Can I keep it?” I asked abruptly ‘what are you doing? He already tried to kill you when you asked last time’ I took another step closer to my demon guardian and laughed nervously, “I mean… we’ve become pretty attached to each other, and its good company… it’s not like you or Luneth can be around all the time…would make me feel better than just talking to myself to try not to get too freaked out over things…if that makes any sense at all. Since talking to a soul is pretty uh, out there in its own right”

“Sure why not, I’ll just pass it off as another of Leo’s meals. Did you need me for anything else? Because I kind of need to get back to work now that I know only one soul escaped and not the entire months’ worth.” Death shrugged nonchalantly, offering me a carefree smile that caught me by surprise. ‘So it definitely was the ‘God’ thing that set him off and not the asking for a soul .I hope I never set him off ever again.’ I opened my mouth to reply before glancing around with a frown. He had vanished. I heard Luneth exhale slowly, watched the tension seep out of his shoulders. He pulled me to him once more, holding me firmly by the shoulders as he checked me over for injuries.

“I don’t know whether I want to slap you or kiss you” He growled in irritation when he eventually released me. “You gave up. You gave up Rowan! Why? Did you ever think-“ He cut himself off, starting to pace. I stayed silent. He was angry because he was worried, because he had been scared. Though whether he had actually been scared for me, or the thought of being left alone I wasn’t sure on.

“What exactly happened? I have never felt you so scared in your life, and I’m sorry I couldn’t back sooner. But whatever that was, that wasn’t Death. And Broody back there sure as hell didn’t explain anything. He doesn’t even seem to remember trying to kill you.” He finally stopped pacing, frowning as he stared at his feet, “Perhaps coming here was a mistake. Alright uh, I’ll find us a new place within a week okay, just try to lay low”

“Luneth wait!” I grabbed his hand as he was about to charge off. “Let’s not rush into anything. What happened here was my fault, I set him off. I’ll be okay as long as I avoid the trigger word. I don’t know about you, but I would like to find some answers instead of running away. You obviously bought us here in the first place because you felt it would be safe, because you felt that you would stand a chance here against whatever might after me. So let’s stay, we’ll make it work. It’ll take a lot more than this to unnerve me, I promise” He gave me a pained look as my thumb stroked his hand of its own accord. He placed his hand over mine.

“Your life is mine. I won’t let anyone take you from me. Feeling you give up…that really hurt me Rowan.” His voice was barely more than a whisper. Raw with pain, possessive. His grip on my hand tightened and I immediately felt guilty. “But then, after what you said this morning i- I wasn’t expecting that trust you placed in me either. I…thank you Rowan, for giving me the chance” I just gave him a smile and a nod. Obviously sharing his feelings was hard for him. When he pulled his hand away it was obvious he was finished with his emotional outburst, his features smoothing over with a familiar childlike grin, presumably to hide how awkward he felt.

“Anyway! Go to your room~” He gave me a tiny shove towards the stairs, tone now playful as if someone had flipped a switch.

“Wait, what? Why?” the questions rolled unbidden off of my tongue and he just chuckled as if he had anticipated them.

“Well I went out for reason; you didn’t expect me to let you walk around in that uniform for the rest of your life did you? So if you don’t go to your room, I will personally carry you up those stairs and undress you myself” I didn’t need telling twice.

[Petroliam]

Not read this yet, but the irony of this title after your little Facebook sofa rant is brilliant.

[123Sylvie321]

Hahahahaha i suppose it is, i don’t even understand where the sudden need to rant about that even came from either xD