AN:/Here is chapter 12. Chapter 13 will be uploaded either tomorrow or on Monday. I had a little bit of trouble posting this one, but I posted it on the app on my phone for the first time. Enjoy the new chapter, guys.
Chapter 12: Smell Goods
"Why are you doing this? Uncle? Help me, mommy, daddy, Corvin, Tira? It hurts, please help me," cried a small child. It was dark and smelly in the damp basement. The small child was scared of being down there. He wanted to go home, but the bad men would let him, and his uncle wasn't anywhere to be seen. Salty water filled up his eye sockets and started to fall. The pain was too much for his body to handle. "I'm scared."
Selendrile sat up in his bed, all flushed and breathing heavily. His inner dragons were whimpering by the memory. Selendrile covered his face with his hands to hide from the pain. He stayed like that for about three hours. He got out of his stupor by the noise from the alarm on his phone. Selendrile turned off the alarm and saw that it was 6 a.m. He flopped back down with a loud sigh. He didn't know why that memory even came.
"It might be from last night when Alys stayed on the porch until she couldn't see us anymore," Inner chimed. That might be the reason. Seeing Alys on that porch bought some painful memories. The thing that made it worse was her expression. She looks sad and hopeless. Selendrile was kind of shocked that she showed those kinds of facial expressions. It didn't help him from questioning himself and her. Did she forget Something, or did she want them to stay? And why does he feel so guilty?
"We need to pay attention to her facial expressions."
Selendrile nodded in agreement. He got off his bed and began getting ready for the day. Selendrile was getting dressed in front of the mirror. He bent down to get his until he saw the reminder of his past on his left shoulder blade. Selendrile touched it, and memories flashed in front of him. Beads of sweat began to form on his skin. Inner Dragons were growling at each image. Selendrile, on the other hand, collapsed to the floor with one hand covering his eyes and his other hand still on the reminder. The urge to whimper and to scream was so strong, Selendrile felt so weak that he crawled to his bathroom panting. Lights automatically turned on, he crawled towards the shower, turned on the water to cold, and climbed in. Selendrile curled into the fetal position and let the cold water douse him the droplets of icy stings. He began to breathe slightly normal. The tension slowly began to recede, and the feeling was slowly coming back. The reality was starting to go back to Selendrile. Colors began to form. He finally was able to calm down and accepted that he was in his bathroom. Selendrile sat up and let the water continue to sprinkle on him.
"That hasn't happened in a long time," Inner mentioned, "what triggered it?"
"I don't know, but we better be more careful so that it won't happen again," Selendrile said. Inner agreed and disappeared. Selendrile cleaned himself in the cold shower and continued to get ready for the day.
Alys and Risa
"Take it slowly, now," Risa instructed.
She was carefully helping Alys to her in her car. They were at the hospital. Alys came over to Risa's place in a bloody mess. The ambulance was called, and they were at the facility all night. The doctor gave his consent to let Alys leave but gave her strict instructions like he does every time he sees them. The doctor would shake his head when he was denied calling the police. Sadly, he lets it go and does what he's instructed. Alys squinted from the pain of the sun's brightness. When Risa finally got Alys in the car, they were able to leave the parking lot. Risa had to drive really carefully since every little action or obstacles on the road would cause Alys to wince in pain. Because of how Risa was driving, they got to their store a few minutes before opening. Risa helped Alys out of the car, into the building, and sat her down in the recliner chair in the office upstairs.
"Whew," Risa said, "I need you to stay here, take your meds, and get some rest so I can open the store." Alys didn't argue, shockingly. She took her medicine, Risa covered Alys with a blanket, and Alys closed her eyes to get some sleep. Risa left Alys to dreamland and went to open up the store. She texted Nathan about Alys' condition on the way downstairs.
Upstairs
Alys was sleeping with the drugs' help. She wasn't having sweet dreams - only nightmares. Sweat started to form on her forehead. She whimpered and tossed her head around.
It was dark, cold, stank, and wet. Drops of water could be heard hitting the cobblestones. Someone was running. Alys didn't know what they were running from or who/what was chasing them. All she knew is that she was hiding behind a wall, breathing hard, and she felt tears trailing down her cheeks. She knew the feeling of fear very well, but she didn't understand why she was hiding. Whoever was running was getting closer to her location. Alys started to run away from whatever this is. She ran around the corner, passing by weird-looking statues. Alys turned her head to see what was chasing her. There it was, a strange-looking animal. It had black fire fur all over its body. The flames spewed out a sulfur smell and would flicker based on its emotions. The creature's teeth were sharp as knives, and slobs of DNA covered them and plopped on the stone floor. The beast growled at her with a mischievous smile. It roared that sounded like lightning striking a tree. It got ready to run once again to grab the prey, which was her. Alys' legs were getting exhausted from running, but she couldn't. The beast was chasing her again, but there was more than one thumping sound. Now, she heard sixteen thumps coming her way. Alys ran faster to get away from the monsters, but they were faster. She turned another corner and was at a dead end. Thumping sounds stopped, and growls were heard. She turned around to see 16 monsters. All were different colors- black, red, white, orange, purple, dark green, gold, maroon, olive, indigo, yellow, grey, dark blue, mauve, maroon, and peach. All of them hungrily stared at Alys and attacked her. She screamed from the pain-inflicting on her. Her limbs were torn apart, and her blood was painted on walls. Her scream became gurgles until she was nothing but bones.
Alys screamed out of the dream. She breathed heavily and frantically to see if the monsters were with her in the room to finish their job. Tears trailed down her face very fast. She was scared, and her biggest fear was no one to save her, and it became real in the dream. The door was kicked open, and Risa came in with a knife, waving it around.
"Where's the intruder? Are you okay? What happened?" Risa asked, still waving the blade around. Alys ran to Risa to give her a crushing hug and cried on her shoulder. Risa had to raise the edge overhead so that it wouldn't pierce Alys. She received the hug and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's alright, Alys. I'm here; everything is going to be alright," Risa soothed.
With Selendrile
"And that's how we can grow with your influence and expertise to our business," said the presenter from VicroTvi.
Selendrile was gazing through the copied presentation that was in front of him. It looked good enough on paper but not in the system. He did his research on the business. They were on the verge of foreclosure and being investigated for money fraud. The presenter was getting quite nervous from Selendrile's silence.
"I hope he says yes. I need this job, but if he says no, I'll get fired. I won't be able to pay my bills next week."
"I'm sorry to say this, but I have to decline. It's too risky for us right now, but I can give you my card in case you get into a tight situation. Thank you and have a nice day," Selendrile said.
The presenter wasn't happy that he didn't take the offer, but he could try working for Selendrile. He left the room and left Selendrile alone with his bodyguard, Aventio. Aventio was a Dragon Gargoyle from Rome, Italy. They met five years ago when Selendrile was in Italy and found himself in the middle of a mafia war. Ever since then, Selendrile found out that Aventio was just like him, and they became closer. Aventio became another part of Selendrile's small approved family and became his bodyguard.
"Are you about to leave and meet your fiance?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm about to leave now. Can you make sure everything is going well while I'm gone?" Selendrile stated while opening the door to leave.
"You know I always do," Aventio smiled. Selendrile rolled his shoulder and gave a small chuckle.
Selendrile arrived at his destination, Goodies to Smell. A dear friend of Selendrile owns it with his wife, and he would come there every week to order new or old fragrances. Goodies to Smell was the place to go for the best cologne and perfume in all of France, and it was catered to everyone. Since the owners are fae but act like silly clowns one in a while. Selendrile wanted to bring Alys here so she could have perfumes that match her scent. Don't get him wrong, the aromas Alys wears smells great and fits somewhat with her natural scent, but it doesn't last very long. He did notice a change in her perfume choices. It might've been Gower who forced them on her, and those were monstrosities just like Gower's business decisions. Selendrile went inside the building to see nothing changed when the last time he was here. The shelves were built into the walls, filled with liquid scents vials, and had different colored lights. The room was too bright because of the sun and the overly bright colors.
"I swear, they need to change the color of the paint," Selendrile mumbled.
"Welcome back, Selendrile, and the color will change whenever I want it to," someone said.
"Please, L, this room was always too bright, and that is the reason all of the customers go through the online store," Selendrile reprimanded him with a smile.
L rolled his eyes at Selendrile and laughed; Selendrile joined in until a woman came from the back.
"Oh, look who's here? Our dear Selendrile."
"How are you doing, Tim?" Selendrile asked.
"I'm fine until I get my Bettsy back," Tim seethed.
"Well, your favorite toy is still lost, and I gave you a catalog so I can buy you a new and better one," Selendrile answered.
"You better go find it, and I don't want a new one. Betsy treats me just fine."
"I'll see what I can do," he sighed.
"Hmm, good. Now, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to order my regular and new; also waiting for someone," Selendrile answered.
"Is it a female?" L asked, "I heard from the grapevine you're betrothed to a human."
"How did you find out?" Selendrile glared.
"Wait, this right here is getting married...to a female, but a human at that?" Tim pointed, laughing.
"Yes, the very one, dear." Tim continued laughing at Selendrile's circumstance and left the room to fulfill Selendrile's order in another room.
"Why did you mate with her again?" Selendrile asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Like the last time you asked, she keeps me grounded, and I love the way she handles herself. "reminded L, "Now, how about you tell…"
Ring goes the bell at the door, and Alys comes through, peeking her little head. She looked around the shop with curiosity until she eyed Slendrile at the counter with a good looking gentleman. A nervous smile crept upon her face. Shyly waved and walked over to him, still gazing around the little shop. The air smelled clean and not overly scented like the other perfume places, but it was super bright.
"Hello," she said. Selendrile nodded in acknowledgment, and L waved at her with a smile.
"So, what can I do for you, young lady?" L asked.
"She's with me, L. Alys, this silly man here is my best friend L and L this young lady is my betrothed Alys," Selendrile introduced.
"Oh, so this the one you're waiting for." Selendrile nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alys," L greeted.
"Likewise."
I'm going to leave you two to look around and pick some fragrances," L said; he left them to their own devices. Selendrile motioned Alys to the walls. Each shelf had a different color of vials filled with scents. Alys started at the glasses and didn't want to touch them since they were so beautifully designed, so she stared at them. Selendrile grabbed one of the scent tabs from the little box in front of the bottles, sniffed it, and then sniffed Alys' neck to get a whiff of her natural scent. Alys flinched away and glared at him questioningly. Selendrile ignored her reaction and continued smelling fragrances. He grabbed the vials, opened them, and handed them to Alys so she could smell them. Alys hesitantly took the bottle from him and smelled it. The scent smelled quite lovely. It had a pleasant meadow aroma. Alys could get a hint of the stream, fresh flowers, and the sweet grass. Alys went ahead to the next fragrances and let Selendrile smell them. Selendrile kept doing what he was doing, but it was getting harder for him. Everything he had to smell the aroma then see if it would match Alys' natural scent, but he enjoyed it, and so did his Inners. Inner began to become active while the other stayed dormant, and smelling Alys wasn't helping either of them. Alys didn't notice Selendrile's struggle, but she was getting uneasy with Selendrile sniffing her neck. It puzzled him, and she wondered if men do that, so she asked him.
"Do guys usually do that, or am I wrong in that assumption?"
"I'm getting your natural scent." Selendrile forgot that Alys didn't know anything about fae or men in general. He was kicking himself in for not explaining to her what he was doing.
"I apologize for not giving you an explanation. Faes use their natural scents for certain things like perfume. I want your perfume to be of your liken but also my own. The ones you had worn before, I enjoyed them because they weren't too much to the point of me wanting to puke like Una's perfume. Hers is overpowering, while yours is better for the nose. Also, from my knowledge and being around human males, they don't sniff women at the neck. I know that some do smell another area, but it's more degrading, which will never happen unless…"
"Unless?" Alys probed.
"I won't tell you that now, but maybe someday, just not now," Selendrile nonchalantly said. He didn't want to get in trouble with Risa or his family. He knew that Alys was innocent based on her mannerism and her scent. He and his Inners appreciated that fact. Alys let it go and continued smelling and allowing Selendrile to remain to do what he was doing. They went over all the vials with a box. Selendrile grabbed from behind the counter, filled with approved perfumes, until they arrived at the sensual section. Selendrile noticed the changes in Smell and cursed for not paying attention. Alys, of course, didn't see and continued.
"Do you like this one? I think it's too sweet."
Selendrile nodded in agreement after smelling it. It was too sweet and didn't go very well with Alys. Selendrile was happy that Alys couldn't find any sensual perfume yet. He knew that she would soon, and that would mean Inner. He didn't notice Alys asked about a specific scent until he smelled it and Inner came out.
"Yes, this one smells delicious on her. Let me out so I can help." Before Selendrile disagreed, Inner took over and began smelling all of Alys' scents, leaving her in the dust and confused. Almost all of the vials on the shelf were gone. Selendrile annoyingly forced his way back in control over his body while reprimanding his Inner, which was ignored. L came back to the counter to see if Alys and Selendrile were finished. He was shocked to see three boxes filled with vials. L smiled at Selendrile, who looked indifferent at the cardboard box. Alys looked a bit happy and confused, which confused him.
"Something must have happened between them. I'll check the cameras later," he thought. Tim came back into the room with papers in her arms. She placed it on the counter, looked up to see her husband smiling, Selendrile gazing into space, and a young lady staring at her with wonder. Tim turned to L and pointed at Alys and Selendrile, mentally asking what is going on.
"Tim, this is Alys, Selendrile's fiance. Alys, this beautiful woman is my wife, Tim. I'm guessing Selendrile is kicking himself over the amount in the boxes," L answered. Tim nodded and smiled at Alys, who did the same.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you, Alys," Tim said.
"Hi," Alys said apprehensively.
"By the way, Selendrile. I reordered everything you wanted."
"Thank you."
"Honey, can you help Alys some more while I talk to Selendrile upstairs?" L asked. Tim nodded, and the guys left the girls by themselves. Alys was still shy and didn't know why Selendrile left her with Tim, who she didn't know. Tim motioned Alys to follow her back to the wall to find more fragrances. Tim was quite curious about how Selendrile met Alys. Tim noticed that Alys was a timid girl and gets uncomfortable real quickly, which Tim found adorable. To her, it didn't make any sense. All of the years of knowing Selendrile, Tim never noticed, saw, or heard about Selendrile ever having a lady friend, so this was new to her.
"How did you and Selendrile meet? I'm just curious since I've known that guy for years," Tim stated. Alys picked up a vial to smell it before answering Tims' question. Tim listened intently and wasn't too shocked to hear Selendrile's family was here and was behind the meeting. A couple more scents were added, and Tim noticed Something was wrong with Alys, and it reminded her how Selendrile was when they met. She smelled blood on Alys, and she began to worry about the girl. Tim knows that Selendrile would never hurt someone without reason, so it must be Something else. Tim wanted to learn more about Alys and hoped Selendrile would treat her right since she was hurting just like him. Alys started to get comfortable around Tim and began getting to know her more. They got to know each other and started laughing at the little things. Alys and Tim went back to the counter to add the vials to Selendrile's orders with some extras that she knew Alys would like, and Alys bought the extra ones she found and can take home. They talked some more before Alys announced she had to go back to work.
"I'll tell Selendrile that you left. Here is my number so you can call me anytime or talk. Hey, maybe I'll go to your shop and see what you have," Tim said, and to meet Risa."
"I would like that. See you next Time," Alys agreed. She waved at Tim and left the store. Tim went upstairs to give Selendrile some advice.
In L's Office
L opened the door to his office and let Selendrile go in first before he entered. Selendrile sat down on the couch while L sat behind his desk. "So, tell me how the great Selendrile is doing? How did you two meet?" L asked, swerving in his recliner chair, smiling like a child. Selendrile rolled his eyes at his long-time friend and brother. He leaned back on the couch and sighed. Selendrile closed his eyes and told L everything, even the embarrassing part where Alys and Risa found out that he and his family are Dragons. L intently listened to his friend, laughed at funny parts, and sigh aggressively at the last detail.
L knew that whenever Selendrile gets heated, he tends to forget where he's at, who he is talking with. Still, it only happens when his family is around or hearing that person's name. They were the reason why Selendrile hasn't seen them for five to six years. He understood why Selendrile stays away from his family. Still, for Selendrile to get out of character like that, L can definitely agree with being away from them. It was sad, though. Family is vital to Faes, and to have a dispute or an argument with them usually costs a lot of turmoil. In Selendrile's case, he should distance himself until he's better with himself. The past is still hurting Selendrile, and his family isn't helping with coming back to his life when he hasn't healed yet.
"What are you going to do with your family?'
"Explain," Selendrile asked.
"I mean, you have bad blood with one family member, and the rest of the family follows and listens to whatever that person says. So, what are you going to do? Tell them?"
"I'm not ready for that yet since my mom is related and very close to 'that' person. I can't hurt her even though they have hurt me," Selendrile admitted.
L nodded in agreement. L has been around Selendrile for years and noticed that Selendrile does care in his own way. The pain is overshadowing everything regarding his family, but that didn't stop L from wondering how long will it take for Selendrile to be pushed to let the truth come out. "Are you going to let Alys meet 'that' person?"
"Over my dead body. Alys will never meet that piece of shit. That bitch can die for all I care. I will make it my personal mission never to let those two meet," Selendrile and both Inners seethed. L nodded and waited for Selendrile to calm down and for the air to get back to normal. Tim, at that moment, decided to come into the office. She walked over to L and sat down on the desk, and glared at Selendrile.
"Alys left to go back to work, and she bought some perfumes while the rest was added to your order," she said with a smirk.
Selendrile scoffed at her for doing whatever she wanted. He let it go because arguing with her would be too exhausting. "I'll call her later on today. Thanks for telling me."
"No problem, but we do have to discuss Something. One, how could you do a stupid this like that? Showing your true form like that in a park, no doubt."
"I don't need a lecture, alright. Risa and Alys wouldn't tell anyone about my family or me. I already know that I messed up and didn't need you jumping down my throat about it."
"Fine, I'll let that go since I already told her about L and I being Dragons as well. The second thing I wanted to talk to you about does deal with Alys. Selendrile raised an eyebrow at her but kept his mouth shut. "Something is wrong with her. I smelled blood on her, Selendrile, and no, I didn't ask her about it. You better take good care of Alys. I'm - hold on, let me finish. I honestly don't know how I became overprotective of Alys. I just am after being around her for a short time. For some reason, she reminds me of you when we first met, hurt, angry, and frightened. I believe that you guys are meant to be together, and I want you to be good to her. Suppose I hear anything negative about mistreating her. In that case, I'm coming after you with everything I got," Tim said, "I want both of you to be happy, I do. You deserve it, and so does she, but you both need to heal, and I think you can get that with each other."
Selendrile couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tim being overprotective over someone that wasn't L or him! That was strange, but it also amazed him that Alys got Tim's coldest heart to like her in one day. Selendrile promised her that he wouldn't hurt Alys and to make sure to watch her closely. He left his friends' shop to go back to work and think over what Tim said.
AN/ L and his wife Tim were introduced in this chapter and will be back later. Who is this person Selendrile hates so much, and what did this person do? Will Selenrile adhere to Tim's advice, or will he ignore it? This will be edited next time. I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas and staying healthy during this time. Review, please, and thank you.