A Mother's Story
By Risa
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
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Chapter 4
Another two years had gone by and, true to his word, no demons came after Elizabeth and her family. But she still had a constant, vague unease and a part of her was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Cole was now four years old and his demonic side had only appeared once since that first time. Elizabeth had privately named Cole's demonic side "Belthazor", which meant "dark one" in the old demonic tongue. The demonic tongue was one of the first languages of the demons and was still used by some of the most powerful demons in their spells. Elizabeth had learnt it once a long time ago.
She and Cole had seen lesser of Benjamin this past year. He was getting busier everyday by his rapidly advancing career. Although Benjamin helped where he could, the burden fell to Elizabeth to watch over her son, and make sure that his demonic half was kept under tight control.
Then, one day, after Elizabeth had left Cole with the neighbour while she went out to buy groceries, she saw something that was to change the course of their three lives.
As she walked past the house of a person whom she knew to be witch, she saw a familiar figure by the door, wearing a jacket that Elizabeth had bought for him so long ago.
And he was kissing the witch.
Cold fury and rage burned through Elizabeth. When she could see the man's face, a murderous anger rose at the sight of that face she knew so well.
Benjamin.
How could he have betrayed her trust? After she had given up so much for him? Just because she was a demon and that-that woman was a witch? She should have known. All those late nights, all those missed weekends…
She would have killed the both of them there and then. But Elizabeth had a tight control over her emotions – a remnant of her days as one of the deadliest demons. The red cloud of rage dissipated as a deadly calm came over her. A cold clear fury descended over her. She kept herself out of sight until Benjamin and the witch went into her house. Then she walked to the neighbouring house.
She rang the doorbell. An elderly woman answered the door. By then, Elizabeth was crying. Although her tears were out of genuine sorrow, they also served a purpose.
"I'm s-so sorry," she said. "But I need to know… have to know… how long has the man been visiting the woman next door?"
"Why?" the woman said suspiciously.
"H-He's my husband," she said, as the tears poured down faster than ever.
The woman's face turned into one of sympathy and horror. "Come in, you poor child, come in."
The woman told her that Benjamin had been coming by for the past year and a half. Nobody around had any idea that he had a wife. Everyone had thought they were the perfect couple.
As the woman spoke, Elizabeth decided on her course of action. She had to get her revenge, her vengeance. Then, she'll bring Cole and herself far away from this place. When the old woman finished telling Elizabeth whatever she knew, Elizabeth smiled sadly and said, "Thank you."
She walked out of the house and shimmered into the house of the witch. The witch was not really powerful, an easy target. She quietly and cautiously walked around, looking for any sign of Benjamin. When she was certain that he had left, she shimmered to where the witch was.
Silently, without saying a word, she let loose an energy ball.
She stood there, watching coldly as the witch screamed in pain at the flames before shimmering back to her home.
She hastily packed whatever belongings she had when Raynor shimmered into the room. She did not notice his presence until he said, "I've told you before that humans couldn't be trusted."
Elizabeth turned sharply and glared at Raynor. "Go away Raynor," she snapped.
"My dear Elizabeth," Raynor said, "betrayed by the human that she gave up all her power and status for. Was it worth it?"
Elizabeth dropped the clothes she was carrying and stared at Raynor. "I said, go away."
"You can still come back to us," he said casually.
"And why would I want to do that?" Elizabeth said exasperatedly.
"Because there's nothing left for you here. Because you're still one of the best demons around and it'd be a shame if you just let yourself wither away."
"No, Raynor," Elizabeth said. "I'm never coming back."
"Then where are you going to go?" he said rationally. "Your actions today have shown that you're still the demon that you were – that you are still evil. You killed the witch in cold blood. All of us sensed the evil in that act. Why bother to hide from your true nature?
"Do I have to hit you over the head with something?" Elizabeth said, annoyed. "I am not going with you."
"If that is what you choose…" Raynor said. "You can call for me if you ever decide to change your mind." He shimmered away.
Elizabeth looked out of the window and saw Benjamin walking towards the house. There was no time. She had to leave immediately. She abandoned her packing and ran out of her room shouting, "Cole? Cole! Come here! We're leaving!"
The small boy came running out of his room. Elizabeth felt a pang in her heart at the sight of the boy. He was the very image of his father. "Mother?" he said. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere else, honey," she said as she held the hand of the little boy tightly in hers. "Somewhere far away from here."
"Aren't we waiting for Father?"
"Your father would meet us there," she lied, not having the heart to tell her son the truth. Elizabeth walked quickly, hoping that Benjamin had not seen them. But he had. He ran to catch up with them.
"Where are the two of you going in such a hurry?" he said laughingly, which only served to make Elizabeth more angry.
"I'm leaving and I'm taking Cole with me," she said, refusing to look at Benjamin.
"Leaving? Where?" Benjamin said as the smile faded off his face, replaced by confusion. Then realisation dawned on him. "Why?" he said, grabbing Elizabeth's arm.
She struggled free from his grasp. "You know why," she said angrily.
"No, I don't!" he shouted. "Elizabeth, just what the hell are you trying to do?"
"If you couldn't take my being a demon, if you didn't love me anymore, why didn't you tell me?" she shouted back. "Why did you go behind my back with that witch?"
"What witch!" Benjamin said confused. "And who said I didn't love you anymore?"
"I already know the truth! Could you just please stop lying?"
"I'm not lying, Elizabeth! I have no idea what the hell you are talking about." He reached for her arm again.
Elizabeth struggled free and turned to him. "You're having a bloody affair! Since you don't want to be with me, fine. I'll leave. And I'm taking Cole along with me."
"No!" he shouted. "I will not let you do that." He tried to reach for Cole.
By then, the rage and frustration and the need for vengeance had taken over Elizabeth's mind. She hardly knew what she was doing when she pushed Benjamin away and released the energy ball at Benjamin. All she knew was that he wanted to take away the one last thing she had in this world and she was not going to let him.
As she saw the energy ball head towards Benjamin, she could only stare at her hand in disbelief and horror. Finally gaining control of her senses, she grabbed the crying Cole who was rushing towards his father and shimmered them away to her own quarters in the Underworld.
She sat down on her bed heavily, in shock. She had not meant to kill Benjamin. The thought had crossed her mind but the love she had for him prevented her from doing so. She might have been furious at his betrayal but she could never bring herself to kill him. She stared down at her hands, not recognising them.
Was what Raynor said true? Could she never escape from what she was?
Cole was sitting on the floor crying. Then suddenly, he stood up and ran to Elizabeth, his small fists raining on her. "I hate you!" he shouted. "You killed Father! I hate you! I hate you…"
Elizabeth was numb, her mind blank. She barely noticed Cole. All that was in her mind was the same scene that was playing over and over again. Benjamin pulling Cole, she pushing him away and releasing that energy ball, the scene when the energy ball hit Benjamin…
It was just then when Raynor appeared. He took in the scene with a small cruel smile on his lips. Suddenly, Cole went silent as he slumped to the floor in sleep.
"What did you do to him?" Elizabeth said emotionlessly, still in shock.
"Nothing serious, I just persuaded him to sleep," Raynor said. "I needed a little less noise."
Then he walked over to Elizabeth. "I told you. You can't run away from what you are. Come back to us. You made a mistake, Elizabeth. But you can still return to what you once was – a powerful, respected demon. And your son would become one as well. He'll never have to know the betrayal, hurt and pain that you feel now."
Elizabeth didn't answer. She just stared forwardly blankly. Then, dully, she said, "All right." Raynor was right. There was no point trying to run away anymore. Besides, she knew better now. Humans were not to be trusted. They were to be made use of, manipulated… but never trusted. As for Cole – she'll train him, bring out his demonic side. There was no use for his human side anymore. It was better this way.