So, everybody. You know how I discontinued Unforgiving? Well, I decided to revamp it. As in a total makeover rewrite.
It's not going to be the same as the original (though I do have the chapters from the old version), but it will go how I wanted it to be. In a way.
My mother told me a story…
The devil was looking for a soul, a pure soul, to devour accordingly, for souls were the staples of the diets of devils.
As the story goes, this devil found such a soul. A young human girl whom lived quietly among the disdainful souls, whom lived her life day to day with no quarrel, was one such prey that the devil desired. The devil waited for a chance to strike, to snare this pure soul in his clutches. One night, the devil had his chance.
The girl was returning to her quaint home before she was accosted. The stranger had pinned her frail arms and was about to have their way with the girl, whose shriek cut through the night. The devil came upon the stranger and upon his weak, mortal flesh came his wrath. Under his claws, the wicked mortal was nothing but ash. When the devil turned his red gaze upon the female he longed to devour.
The female returned the devil's gaze with one of her own and the cunning devil reached for her, his claws bare inches from the flesh of her pale cheeks.
"Who are you?" The girl breathed into the night, her words so soft, yet they fell upon the devil's ears. "An angel?"
"I assure you, foolish mortal, that I am no angel," replied the devil in a haughty tone, his claws now caressing the girl's cheeks in an almost loving manner. "I did not save you merely for your sake. I desire your soul, nothing more."
The girl's gaze was unwavering as her eyes pierced the devil's brazenly. The devil was astounded, unable to find the stench of fear upon her soft flesh. "Are you afraid, girl?" he hissed, baring his fangs.
"I do not fear devils," the girl proclaimed without a quiver in her voice.
For once in his eternal life, the mortal girl whose soul he desired at that very moment impressed the devil. So he did not take her soul as he intended. Instead, he let the girl live.
Days had become weeks. Weeks had become months. Months became years. The devil watched the girl from the shadows as she lived her quaint life. It seemed the girl had forgotten about him, had dismissed him as a figment of her imagination until she had spoken.
"Devil, why do you watch me?" she asked in such an innocent voice. "Come, let me see you."
The devil should have not heeded the mortal female. Alas, he did as she requested of him and revealed himself to her, in the guise of a mortal man. "How did you realize I was in the shadows?" he asked of her.
"The shadows stir whenever your presence is near," answered the girl, and she smiled at the devil as though they were old friends. The devil did not find himself offended that the girl's eyes glittered in such a way.
"Impressive, girl," the devil murmured, bowing. "Not all have such keen eyes."
"I just wanted to thank you properly," the girl replied, bowing to the devil in gratitude. It was not a form of submission like he would receive in hell from the lower level demons. He wanted this girl to bow before him as he subjugated her and took her soul. Her soul was the ultimate prize and he would not rest until he took it.
So he convinced the girl to let him stay with her in her humble home and stayed by her side. The closer he got to his prey, the more his prey trusted in him. However, the devil was becoming aware that the girl was becoming enchanted with him and he was finding himself weakening in her presence. The devil no longer wanted to devour the girl's soul. He wanted to keep her forever, so in his human skin he remained.
But fate was cruel.
The mortal girl was suddenly afflicted from a grievous illness, unable to leave her bed, and the devil went to the ends of earth to find a cure for her, but none were to be found. His beloved human was losing time, as the illness was eating away inside of her, her fever causing her skin to be slicked with sweat.
The devil cursed the heavens for creating the pure soul he so desperately longed to keep in his hands and cursed hell, for scores of demons would surround the area to devour the soul that so rightfully belonged to him. He threw himself at her side, for he could smell death upon her.
"Forgive me," the girl whispered weakly, her frail hand reaching to grasp his own. The devil took his beloved's hand and used the other to lift her head from her pillow.
"You will not die," he vowed. "I shall make you immortal, a demon like I, and you will live forever."
The girl merely shook her head and offered the devil a heartrending smile. "Do not trouble yourself, humans were meant to die," she murmured weakly. "I wish to die the way I was born—as a human."
The scent of death became stronger as her soul began to fade into oblivion. That unexpectedly brave, utterly pure soul that he saw only as a staple of his diet before he truly allowed himself to become enamored with it—it was fading away each passing second.
His human's hand slackened as her eyes closed. "I set you free, my devil," she breathed out, her last words falling upon his ears. Her hand slipped from his grasp as she took her last breath, the cold of death biting into her flesh.
The devil let out a howl of pure agony as he clutched his beloved's body to him, his human skin melting away to unveil his true flesh. His fangs elongated through his agony and, because of his devastation, lunged his head and tore into the neck of his beloved. Her blood broke free from her wound, staining the sheets where she had lain, soaking the devil's flesh as he devoured her in his refusal to release her as she had released him.
When nothing remained, when all of her flesh was within him, the devil left the home he shared with the mortal girl. In his grief, he returned to hell, hardening his heart until it was nothing but stone, silently honoring his beloved human by vowing to never take another until her soul lives again in a new life.