"What do you want from me?"

The question had no tone of fear, nor irritation. The voice was deep and whispery like a dark lover and as dead as the fall of sand. Blue-green eyes stared calmly ahead of himself, his hands bound high above his head by blessed shackles with runes scratched into them. He would not be leaving until he would be released, it did seem…

One red eye looked at him out of the shadows that seemed to shroud him. He heard a childish cackle from the bearer of the cursed eye.

"Well, that's a secret!"

The owner of the blue-green eyes narrowed his gaze upon the shadow. The shadow cackled again as he swaggered forward to put his face hardly an inch from the redhead chained to the stone wall.

"Hhhhmm, I guess I could tell you! After all, you're not going anywhere till I let you go, aren't you?"

He tapped a mocking finger against the silver holding the redhead wrists.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Spoken as if he were a small child saying he was going to go to the park, full of excitement and quivering energy. Blue-green eyes remained blank.

"We both know that's impossible. Why try?"

His voice held not a shake or a trace of surprise. In the blood of the red eye, he could tell that the shadow was smiling, possibly with such gruesome intentions that it belied his immature behavior.

"Oh, but it is, Gaara. Oooh! Big bad sand demon! Loveless and without weakness, entirely untouchable!"

The shadow laughed in a high-pitched tone as he poked the redhead's shoulder where a gash that had been open and pulsing blood was already nothing more than a scratch. The wound would have killed a human, but he wasn't human, was he?

"I'm touching you now, so you must have a weakness, neh?"

The redhead gave no reaction. The shadow didn't act as if he had expected one. Instead, he took his hand away with a pleasant hum and was suddenly gone, once more by a large cauldron placed in the middle of the underground cavern of the mountain he had been tricked in to. Musk and basil had been thrown in, as had been rosemary, vetivert, clove, lotus, myrrh, mugwort, wormwood, benzoin, willow bonded cords of green and red, hemlock, nightshade, rue, thistle, henbane, mint, and cinnamon.

Had he thought the man an imbecile, he would have believed he was attempting to create a love potion… Except that would be stupid, and would not explain the presence of half of the herbs used, nor for the number of poisonous plants.

"So you must have a mortal weakness! Of course, you don't have that right now, but that was the whole point of all of this trouble, wasn't it?"

The redhead did not feel a thing as the shadow came forward and shoved a sharpened wand of elder wood into his heart. Elder wood was used in evoking and exorcizing demons. Had he been a lower demon, he would have died in great agony at that moment, seeing as how the wand tore straight through his heart. Because he was not, he only flickered his darkly shaded eyes in acknowledgement of the uncomfortable feeling and sudden pain. He made not a sound. The shadow cackled into his ear before returning to his pot, raising the bloodied wand over the opening and allowing a few drops of the red liquid to drip into the boiling contents.

'By this blood I bind

This demon's mind

Heart, soul, and life


By this blood I bind

This demon's mind

Heart, soul, and life


By this blood I bind

This demon's mind

Heart, soul, and life

"Who do you hope to bind it to? You have offered nothing of another into your recipe. Do you hope to bind me to air? The earth?"

He did not mock. That would be below him; but it was a question either. Possibly a taunt to the ear of the ignorant. The shadow ignored him as he repeated his chant for a few more moments.

The redhead gave pause to his calm persona, his eyes widening as he felt his heart quake and quicken in his open chest. It's beat became faster and faster until the world around him spun, his breath coming out in pants. This was… impossible. Nothing of personal value of another had been tossed into the cauldron. His blood alone had entered the turbulent of herbs. As suddenly as the furiousness of his heart had begun, it stopped… Entirely. Not even the slow beat it had gone to before remained. For a short moment, he choked on air at the realization. His heart had usually beaten thrice a minute, an incredibly slow rate that allowed his body to heal so quickly before blood loss could become a danger. Now, he listened in near fearful rapture. One minute went by… another… Three passed by before his eyes turned to the shadow before him, a snarl on his lips as one red eye stared smugly back at him.

"What have you done?"

"I bound your heart, life, soul, and blood to another… Now, you have to go find that person to restore yourself, don't you?"

Aside from his heart, he felt no different from before. He had always been believed soulless. It was, however, the afflicting tone of the shadow that gave him yet another pause. His life… Was no longer his own. It had been bound to another… And if that other was found and murdered… His life would leave with that being. In essentiality, he would die with that other.

His blue-green eyes stared emotionlessly at the shadow.

"My blood was the only personal element placed into the spell… There's no possibly way you have bound me to another."

The other stopped laughing, but his cackling continued.

"Oh, but there was another blood offer in that spell! It was in your own blood… And don't tell me it's not possible when it clearly is!"

The redhead stared at the shadow.

"Aw, you don't remember!? How sad… I'm sure your last victim does!"

Images flooded his head. A raven haired boy… Yes, with obsidian eyes. Dancing naked before the full moon on his lonesome. Around him, animals had gathered, mostly the smaller prey of the forest… The hunger that had been enveloping him, the rage and fury that had been reddening his mind even before he had come upon the scene… Wicca. The boy had been Wicca, therefore he had been mentally more powerful than a civilian, therefore he had had a deep earthen connection. Therefore, he had rested his eyes upon him, at that time a wounded man with his demon energy ebbing, and had reached out to aide him… How he had left that boy alive, he was uncertain. Maybe some chivalry had demanded that he not kill the same being who had only wished him health, possibly because he had outgrown the need for devouring blood decades ago.

Blood cells were regenerated and spread throughout the entire body. The attack had occurred an entire year ago. The human red blood cell, as long as it worked, lived for an average of 120 days, and the human heart beat was an average of 70 beats per a minute depending on age and weight. Put into those terms, a blood cell from his own body lived for over a year…

Which meant that the raven's blood continued to circulate throughout his own body, having been absorbed from his digestive system into his blood system to act as his own blood cells. Lesser demons commonly used the technique to quicken their healing processes as well as speed their heartbeats to gain an edge of warmth and a feeling of humanity, a curiosity of sorts that usually meant death to the preyed upon being.

His breathing stopped. Seeing as his heart no longer beat, oxygen was useless, therefore the process was halted. The raven was alive… and he had to find him before his every bodily response ceased as well. He wouldn't die, he would fall into a coma like sleep… Which would be just as bad in this case. Humans, no matter if they were Wicca, were still mortal. He would die in his sleep just as the Wicca boy died in whatever way he was to die.

The shadow squealed with laughter as it swirled and then vanished. The shackles holding the redhead clicked, releasing him to land silently on the ground that had been an inch or so out of reach before. He continued to stare at where the other had stood.

The shadow was right… He had no weakness, so a weakness had been created. A mortal weakness of his own now walked the earth. Soon, most likely very soon, he would not be.

He hissed as energy that had been sheathed by the blessed shackles rolled off of him, pulsing against the cavern walls and blowing over the still boiling pot. It's contents spewed over the floor, making curls of vapor rise from the ground as it's heat countered the cold icy surface. It was too late, though. The spell had been initiated. For now, there was only two options available to him: He could allow the raven to die, thus ending his own life, or keep the raven alive until he could break the spell. There was always a counter spell… It was impossible to create a spell without another being there to counter it.

He made his decision, if not even mentally muttering it, as he disappeared into a surge of red energy that shoved at the cavern walls, collapsing the cave onto itself.

It was magic… In it's most perfect, most open sense. It was beautiful, captivating, breath taking…

He danced for the moon, for his priestess, for the goddess and god that led them. He danced for the another cycle ending, he danced just because the urge had been so strong as he had walked about life that day that he had had no choice but to dance! Here he stood, in the blessed circle of stones that rested in a clearing, illuminated by the full moon that mothered them all. His feet touched the earth gently, moved swiftly through the air, twirled over the dead autumn leaves lovingly. His hand swayed and clawed, reached towards the moon and then fell to the earth beneath. His entire body moved to and fro in a symphony of nature around him.

He laughed softly as he realized he had an audience, tiny black eyes staring at him from high and low surfaces as even larger eyes stared at him from the faces of does and stags and their little fawns. Around them too stood night birds and a bear had wandered peacefully into their midst, settling it's large frame onto the ground to stare at him through poor eyesight. The gazing eyes did not dismay him- oh no!- they gave him an even greater need to dance.

The breeze brushed against his naked body as if it were his partner, whispering against his body and sighing into his ears. He threw his head up to the moon, a large smile on his face as if in ecstasy.

Finally, hours after having mindlessly begun, he fell to the ground. His energy was spent, the madness of their mother moon had washed over and then left him. He gasped for air as his body burned and shook. It was glorious! Surely, not a better way could be found to spend the night of the full moon?

His smile disappeared as the harmonious aura that had descended the clearing broke with cries and roars as well as darting feet. The night birds flapped wildly into the sky as the deer fled and the bear ran. The smaller creatures scattered and hid. What had disturbed them so? Perhaps the company they had been keeping had finally been realized? That would not explain why the bear had ran, though. Nor why so sudden they had each retreated…

There was a rasping sound outside of the circle. He sat up on shaking arms to look through the lighted clearing into the surrounding dark forest. There! He saw a pair of glowing opaque eyes staring directly at him! Now he was embarrassed by his nudity, yelping in surprise as he grabbed at the pants he had worn there. His body had yet to be seen by any but the animals, his mother moon, and himself! This pair of opaque eyes, he could tell, were from none of them. He shoved his legs through the pants quickly, his voice mumbling under his breath as he could not think of what to say. Anyone outside of his coven would think this insanity! Folly! And he knew of no one in his coven with such eyes… Eyes that were so unusual, only an animal would gaze with them…

An animal… or a demon…

He shoved the unkind though away, standing in the circle and meeting golden eyes once more. He would not apologize, not for something he felt no shame for. However, the rasping of the other's breathing reached his ears once more… As if the other were in pain. His eyebrows drew together with concern.

"Are you alright?"

He called out to the being he could not clearly see. No answer was returned except for a snarl.

"Please! If you can, walk here!"

It was an attempt to see if this were a demon or not. The circle was blessed, no demon could enter. However, he was not answered, nor did the being step forth. His heart trembled, but it was not with fear for himself. What if he was truly harmed? What if he needed help immediately!?

He set aside instinctive fear and stepped out of the circle, his obsidian eyes locked with golden eyes.

The next moment was uncertain. There was a roar of need and then he found himself flung against a tree, his mouth open in a scream that echoed throughout the forest as teeth too sharp to be normal pierced the flesh of his right arm and tore. Energy tore at him, cutting into his face and body. The flesh of his right leg ripped and his scream grew to a crescendo before he fell limp against the tree. Perhaps he was still conscious… perhaps he was now having a nightmare. Either which way, his gaze was hazy as he stared down at a head of red, listening mutedly to the sound of sucking and growls. Across the being's body were gashes and tears that would have dropped even a whale dead. Yet, even as he watched, they disappeared. Perhaps that could be attributed to how light his head felt and was possibly just an illusion…

His body slid down the tree, only held up by the arm that was suddenly about his waist, hoisting him away from the tree and against the redhead's body. Long moments later, the being looked up at him. Golden eyes flickered and then dimmed, becoming a light green before dimming even more to look like sea foam.

Beautiful eyes… truly…

The redhead's face was bathed in his blood, sharp fangs visible in the man's mouth as the redhead continued to pant.

He was released. He landed onto the ground with a 'thump', now looking up at his offender… At a demon… He should had stayed in the circle. Now his priestess would be ashamed of him, surely. After a moment's pause, the demon followed him down, getting onto his hands and knees to suckle at the open wounds on his leg and arm. By the time the demon lifted his face again, he was only able to see shadows, relying on hearing to tell him everything that happened. He would have rather had his sight… He could have been able to shut his eyes. He heard the whisper of clothing and then felt pressure against his lips. It was only when he tasted blood, his own blood, that he realized that lips were pressed against his own.

Was this a sick punishment for leaving the circle? Was this demon about to rape him? He didn't give the second question much thought, deciding against it. He had been told constantly that he was not that attractive. Yet, how could this be explained then!?

"Thank you."

The voice was deep yet whispering, like the sound of the ocean right beneath the waves. Then the warmth that must have been the demon disappeared, leaving him alone. He did not realize that at first, not until he opened his eyes once more to no longer be in the forest. Above him was his priestess, to his side was his coven brother, and at the foot of the bed was his coven sister. For one moment, he fooled himself into believing that it had been a nightmare. That his screams had roused these three from their sleep and they had came to check on him.

It was only that moment, however, because then he tried to tell them that he was fine. His voice cracked on the words, and agony enveloped him as he tried to raise his arm to touch a hand to his throat. The walls of this room were white, he finally realized as he stared at the ceiling. The walls of his room were green. The bed was not his own either. The looks on their faces were not of concern, nor curiosity. No, sorrow and understanding were their auras.

What had happened, happened…

And he remained alive to tell the tale.

Lee gasped for air as he shot up from the bed, his right arm and leg flexing in reflex for awaiting pain. His sweaty black locks swayed as his gaze shot about the room, searching out golden eyes he technically knew weren't there. He gave a shuddering sigh as he curled his knees to his chest and ran his hands agitatedly through his hair, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

How long as it been since that night? Ah… A year from yesterday… A year since his last moon dance… He was no coward, but he… The damage his limbs had taken in the attack… He did not want to disgrace the mother moon with what would be a terribly worship. Luckily, however, he could still run. He could still walk and stand without a cane… But the sliding and fluid motions of dancing were beyond him now.

He sobbed into his knees, rubbing at his calves as a pain entered his heart, making it's beat increase to where he felt it would burst. He cried out as it felt something was stitching itself into his very soul, suddenly not just his own body, but that of another's. His hand twisted the fabric of his nightshirt over his heart until the furious beat seemed to abate just enough that he felt he could breathe safely once more.

He stared with wide eyes at the green comforter over his knees. What… had that been?

It's a badly written chapter, isn't it? I was in In Phase today, and found 'Book of Shadows'. It gave birth to this idea and I bought the book in order to have reference. That does not mean that all the items I use in this story came from the book, it just means that what I have is most likely real and correct. Please do realize that the first spell used was not from the book, and some of the herbs used were poisonous.

I'm not certain how often I will get around to writing for this… It was a solid idea when I first got to it, but the enthusiasm faded somewhat. If you want to read more, you're going to have to tell me, aren't you?