Heat.
It pulsed through my fingers, curled around my abdomen, caused my shirt stick to my back and my breath to rattle through dry lips. It pressed intrudingly against the sides of my head and slurred the incantations that poured almost subconsciously from me.
I fumbled with the rusted charm of Cain that cut into my sweating palm and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to concentrate on the Latin words that swirled chaotically in my mind. I could not get this wrong. This new book collection I'd acquired in my trip to Tel Aviv contained some new sets of pronouncements that filled me with a weak sense of hope, which was more than what I'd felt in a long time.
I could feel the effects of the charm trying to flow through my veins, but Darli was feeling especially strong today, and he pushed back with a ferocity that constricted my lungs and left me bent in pain. The level of concentration caused strips of sweat to appear on my upper lip, the nape of my neck, and my back. My head throbbed with my heightened pulse.
Why can't you just leave me the hell alone?
Darli rumbled in my ribcage, finding this to be delightfully amusing, I suppose. I asked him that often, and his answer was always the same. It was also the same whenever I asked Why me? or Why won't you just let me die? Just a rumbling chuckle and a fresh wave of pain through my stomach. I sighed and focused all the more on the task at hand, determined. Very hopelessly determined. I knew, of course, deep down, though no amount of mumbling could rid even me of an dickhead - excuse me, a great and powerful dickhead- like Darli. And he knew it. He was simply letting me walk through this empty world, making pitiful attempts at just a moment of peace.
Suddenly, I stood from my kneeled position and threw the charm across the room, and it smashed into the dusty concrete wall, though it didn't shatter like I'd hoped it would. Grabbing the leather-bound book from the broken wooden floor, I pulled the disposable lighter from the pocket of my jeans and shoved it, lit, into the book's tattered pages, which was quickly devoured by the swirling flames streaked with green. I watched with great rapture as the book crumbled to ashes in a few short minutes.
I stood slowly, still staring at the weakly glowing pile of cinders. When I finally raised my eyes, my eyes happened to rest on a rust eaten mirror caked with dust, and I froze, my spine seizing and my heart dropping to my toes. Staring from the doorway behind me was a man. A man with a gun pointed at the center of my back, his green eyes, not unlike the flames that had laced the worn pages of the burning book, locked with mine. We stared at each other, neither of us moving a single muscle.
Fear and confusion reverberated through my body. And anger. I hated that anyone could just come up behind me like that. Jesus, focus on the problems at hand, idiot. Like, gee, I don't know, the freaking model pointing a gun at your back.
Yeah, I know.
Wow, Iv, your life is in freaking danger, and you're noticing this guy's jawline. Nice. Real nice. His jawline is really nice. Wow.
Oh, God.
Anyway.
I spun to face the stranger, my hand flying down to my holster, though I didn't close my hand around the butt of my gun. For now. With no idea who this guy was, no idea why he had a pistol pointed at my chest, or why he was even here.
I saw him sizing me up just as I was him, the expression on his face guarded and… triumphant, almost. Which meant he must have found what he was looking for. Which would be... me.
Damn.
"Don't even think about it." I saw him say, referring to the gun, I suppose. And sure, I may have wondered, briefly, if his voice was a velvety as his lips. Briefly. I only tightened my grip on the butt of my FNH-FNS, though he and I both knew I could never draw it in time. I winced inwardly at this realization.
May as well ask.
"Who are you?"
He stilled a bit at my voice.
Huh.
"That's doesn't matter. Are you the vessel we're looking for?"
Did he just... call me a vessel?
Wait… we?
I spared a quick glance at our surroundings. Only him, me, and the pile of ashes.
We?
"What do you mean… vessel?"
He took a step towards me, and I backed away, drawing my weapon, though I kept it by my side. I still had no idea who he was or why his beautiful self was here
No, BAD Ivy. Stop thinking about how pretty he is.
"I think you know damn well what I'm talking about, demon."
My pulse skipped.
He…
He knew?
At this, Darli slammed against my rib cage. I resisted the urge to punch myself in the abdomen, seeing as this guy already thought I was some demon vessel thing with a speech impediment who went around muttering and burning helpless books. Didn't need to add crazy or self- harming to the list.
I wracked my brain for a retort, but Darli was jumping around my head. You know, Michael, now would be a good time to, ya know, destroy my body and all that stuff. Just saying.
I decided to go for the innocent angle.
"Demon? Did you just call me a demon? Are you crazy? And why are you pointing a gun at me? I was just-"
"Save it." he interrupted. I stared at him in indignation.
" Ex-cuse me?"
He blinked, taken aback by my tone of voice.
"You come bursting into my home, weapon drawn, and call me a… vessel, and a demon, then have the stones to interrupt me when I try to ask you what the hell is going on? I don't think so, pretty boy. I don't know how you were raised but in the real world that is the definition of rude."
His jaw dropped a little. He obviously wasn't used to his targets, or whatever I was, having a little sass. Darli pulsed in my fingers. I know what I have to do, jerk. Just let me find the right time. He grumbled, unsettled by this man's presence. I smiled a bit to myself. Anyone who made Darli uncomfortable was a friend of mine. Although seeing the way his fingers fluttered over the trigger and the stiffness in his posture told me friendship was far from the hunter's mind. I felt bad for what I was about to do, but I couldn't risk a human's life, especially one with such a sculpted jaw. I mean, this guy was like freaking Adonis and-
Focus.
Inhale…
I gasped and stared at the doorway behind the man and, poor soul, he fell for it and threw a glance over his shoulder. I raised my shaking fingers in his direction, giving Darli control, just for a second.
...Exhale…
Black, wraith-like streams flowed from my hands and flew towards him. I braced myself for what was to come.
...Inhale…
Time slowed. He turned in slow motion back towards me, and there was one millisecond where our eyes met, and my stomach twisted in sadness. His eyes were an ethereal color, the color of the forest and the shallows of the sea. They emanated a flood of emotions, but the primary one was realization. Realization of what I was, of his mistake, of what was to come. In that moment, I wished I could pull that black energy back into myself, and Darli would leave my body, and I could be saved by this beautiful stranger. Something about him made me want to be safe. I wanted him to make me safe.
...Exhale…
The black force slammed into his broad chest, and he flew back into the crumbling wall, smacking his head with a sound that reverberated through my chest. He slumped onto the floor, blood already coating his feathery auburn hair. His gun had flown down the steps, and thankfully he had not followed. Darli swirled excitedly through me, making me nauseous and cramped. He sent wave after wave of dark matter towards the hunter, causing the latter to buck in pain.
...Inhale….
"Stop it!" I screamed, closing my fists and trying to pull back, trying to stop the horrible pain that was coursing through the both of us. Darli faltered slightly, bemused by my strong want to protect this weak mortal. I fell to the ground, curling my fists to my stomach, at last cutting off the waves of pain. I saw the human sigh semi-consciously in relief and his long eyelashes flutter shut. Good, I thought. Perhaps he would stay that way for a while, then wake up and find help, with no memory of what had happened, and go living a demon-less life. One may dream.
...Exhale…
I rose shakily, panting. I needed to distance myself from this guy, who was an obvious danger to himself, chasing demons with no protection, no backup. I picked up the Mark of Cain wearily and strode for the door, but not without first whispering an apology in the ear of Adonis, noticing how he smelled of sweat and whiskey and soap. I ran my fingers lightly through his soft hair and a finger over his open palm, savoring the feeling, unable to place the last time I'd made contact with a human. I then stood and headed down the stairs, unsure of what to do next.
...Inhale…
Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, I shed my green army jacket that Darli had shredded up in the process of attacking Adonis man and tossed it in a corner sadly. It had been one of my favorites. I opened the door to outside and shivered in my thin white t shirt. The moon was full and the sky was breathtaking, but, sadly, the stars scattered against the vast black only reminded me of the light freckles that dotted the hunter's high cheekbones. I rubbed my eyes and sighed. Why was this mortal man so present in my thoughts? I had only just… met him 10 minutes ago, briefly, and I could still recall every detail about him. The pattern of his breathing, the crescent scar around his left eyebrow, the deftness of how he handled his weapon. And since when did I care about any human? I tried to clear my mind, at least as much as possible with Darli blocking any sort of coherency.
...Exhale…
That was when my day, and my life, took a complete turn for the interesting.
Before I could take a single step, my vision exploded and a raging fire roared through the right side of my body. I screamed as flames engulfed the thin fabric of my jeans and then my shirt, and tears streamed down my cheeks. I dropped to the gravel and tried to roll around, but pain overcame logic and my voice subsided as I watched the fire spread across my torso. All I could think was, finally. Finally, it was over, through some mysterious force of grace, my end was coming and I would be free.
Then Darli began to shriek curses into my head.
Fresh waves of agony roiled through every centimeter of my being, each starting a second after the other. I wish I could say it was a time when my mind separated from my body and everything became numb. Oh, how I wish I could say that. But that was not the case.
Never have I felt more than in that moment. Anything in my body that could feel, felt. Everything kicked into a confused overdrive, unable to process the event. I grabbed my head and writhed, screaming for an end, any end, and it burned burned burned Darli was tearing me apart. He twisted my body with such force that my ribs cracked and I couldn't breathe, and gashes and bruises were forming all over in the places he tried to escape me, but we were intertwined so that there was no escape for either of us. I was trapped in this eternal hell.
I was yelling, make it stopmakeit stop make it end leave me please Ihateyou Darli I hate you hateyouhateyou you should have let him kill me and then there was a sensation, a feeling of a touch on my bare legs, and then there was something covering me, something rough and heavy and I cried out and kicked and Darli raged and pushed at my pelvis pushed my hip ouwards and a gasp escaped my lips. Confusion clouded my thoughts but I couldn't remember why I was confused. There was pressure around my waist and the weight covering me rubbed against my burned skin and it was like someone was pouring acid into my veins. I was all blood and tears and begging incoherently to the stars for help. It seemed darker suddenly, and a thought pushed through.
the fire is out.
But there was no relief. Darli screamed and raged and tore me apart. I wished for something verbally, but I had no idea what it was, whether death or heaven or the stars.
And then Darli stilled. And so did my heart.
I still wish I could've known what it was like to rest in death's arms.