I rubbed my chest and thought about what she said. Hell, maybe she was right. Who knew what was going on between us?
“I don’t even know how to explain what she makes me feel…” I trailed off. “I just know I was meant to run into her at the hospital. Don’t you see? It’s not a coincidence that she’s being chased by imps.”
“Exactly.” August cracked his neck and stood from his chair. “How do you know this witch isn’t a part of what’s going on? Perhaps she’s the witch we’re looking for instead of… What was her name again?”
I sighed. “Not everyone’s a crook like you, August.” There was a pause. “I trust her.” Backing up a step, I turned away from them both. “And Harvest isn’t getting anywhere near her again no matter if he’s the one behind this with the kids or not.”
“Sebastian,” Maureen called after me.
“Don’t go playing hero,” August added.
“Isn’t that what the good guys do?” I asked them both.
I found my way back to Izzie where she peacefully slept. There was no way I’d sleep, not with all this energy. I was tempted to try to wake her but decided on watching her instead.
“What have you done to me?” I whispered. Only she didn’t hear me. Not that she’d know either. She was caught up in the whirlwind just as I was. Only I wanted it to keep spinning. I feared my little energizer might wake up and want it to stop.
Too bad for her I was a persistent pain in the ass.
Thirteen
Isabella
"All you have to do is breathe in the darkness, pour out the light. You feel that warmth you cling to? Get rid of it. I don’t need your goodness. I want the corrupt part of you.”
Hands clung to my shoulders. The darkness snaked around my fingers and cried for more of Julius. At this point, I’d grown to be wary of his whispers in my ear. I realized when he spoke, a darkness in me grew until the manifestation lingered even when he wasn’t touching me. The darkness made a home in me and that was exactly what he wanted.
Every touch, every kiss, every time he was inside me, he left bits and pieces of something horrid.
When I wasn’t succumbing to the darkness, I had a moment to think, and I’d remember a dead demon’s face from nights ago, and it made me wonder why I only had time to think of all the bad things Julius did when he was away from me.
Then it was somewhere around that night when I finally realized that every feeling I felt toward him was a mirage; a manipulation because when he was away, I felt disgust roll off me in waves. I looked down at my frail body and I tried to understand how I survived off darkness and deceit. The more I thought, the more I couldn’t remember the last time I ate or if I even did eat anymore. I ran to the mirror and looked at myself and gasped. Iwasn’t the little girl I remembered, but I wouldn’t call myself a woman either. I was hollow—skinny and lifeless.
What was he doing to me?
I needed to see more of myself, but there were no lights. Searching the room, I found a lantern, flicked it on, only to scream. Something ran all over my skin like tiny black snakes. I backed away, but I couldn’t escape myself. What was I becoming? My hands smacked over the lines but they were everywhere, and not only that, it hurt. The light was torture to my skin.
In the middle of my panic, my bedroom door opened and Julius stepped in. His hair, I swear, was bathed in flames. I’d never seen anything quite like him. Even the monsters dimmed in comparison to the glint in his eyes and the way he carried his shoulders. His skin sometimes looked white, other times it was almost the color of his hair.
“What have you done to me?” I screamed at him.
“Calm down,” he said as he came for me. I backed away. He smiled. “Why do you always do this? Why do you fear me? I take care of you. You’re becoming like me.”
“No. No.”
He reached for me. I tried my hardest not to let him touch me, but I was so strangely weak until he gave me his touch… And when he did, the fear dulled. Everything faded away. His hands gripped my shoulders roughly as he leaned down and whispered into my ear. “There, there,” he soothed me.
The darkness purred, and all my worries became nothing at all. I sagged into his arms and sighed happily. Whatever had weighed heavy on my heart… Was there such a thing?
“Look at you, you’ve taken so well to my power,” he purred into my ear. “There’s something we must do.”
“What?” I asked.
“There’s something I need you to harvest.” I nodded, and he grinned. “I’ll let you stay in my world when it is all that’s left. Just you and me. Then we’ll dance on the Devil’s grave when his future is stolen by me.”
???
I sat on my knees in a dark room. For how long, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t aware of some of the things I did. Sometimes I was a blank slate. Only when I did become something that had thoughts, I was left confused and afraid. I glanced around the room trying to figure out where I was.
