Hellfire ✞ a.f.i.

8: candlelight

    Does it kill, does it burn
Is it painful to learn
That it's me that has all the control?
Does it thrill, does it sting
When you feel what I bring
And you wish that you had me to hold?

Harder to Breathe; Maroon 5

Eden's hands tremble as they come to rest on her chest just underneath her throat, the burning pain that was just there is now fleeting like a ghost from a flame.

Those damned emblems again. Closer this time. Engulfing her. Swallowing her whole.

It's dark outside, well into the witching hours, but silvery moonlight pours through the tall windows in Eden's room like a spilled cup of crystalline water. She's sat up in bed, the heaviness under her eyes almost dragging her head back down towards the tempting pillow. She compromises, her eyes fluttering shut for only a moment, so close to falling back—

"Another nightmare, sweet thing?" A voice almost echoes into her ear.

Her eyes snap back open. Weight shifts to Eden's left. Her auburn hair falls over her shoulders as she turns to look at who the fuck could be lying beside her. She doesn't remember falling asleep with anyone, and she had nothing to drink at the casino. A fog of confusion starts to cloud the inside of her mind.

Ashton stares back at her, his tattooed frame shaded by the shadows left untouched by the rays of the moon, his hazel eyes softly aglow, the brightest thing about him. Eden, the fog growing ever thicker inside her head, narrows her eyes at him. He sits up, and scoots closer to the bewildered palm reader. Her breathing starts to quicken, an infinite number of thoughts across a plethora of topics race through her mind all at once.

"I...how—?" Eden starts, trailing off, unsure where that question was meant to go.

Ashton reaches up to stroke her cheek gently with the back of his right hand, trailing his fingers slowly down her face until he can easily cup the back of her neck, bringing her ever closer. Her heart begins to reach a beating pace she's never felt before.

How the fuck is he in her bed?

"It was only a dream, Eden. I'm here," He murmurs, his eyes glowing fully now, hauntingly orange as she had sworn they had been during those brief moments in the dimly lit casino. They must glow brighter in the dark. As he moves closer, the moonlight glints off a long chain dangling just in front of his bare chest.

They are nearly nose-to-nose. Eden, full of confusion and an odd mixture of fear and desire, can't seem to bring herself to move. If either of them leaned forward, their lips would touch. Her bed is suddenly made of quicksand, and she is stuck.

"Y-You're not..." Eden breathes, fighting desperately to keep her eyes open at this point, "you can't be..."

"That's where you are wrong, love," Ashton's grip suddenly constricts noticeably on the back of her neck, and abruptly, her skin underneath his hand feels as though it has been lit ablaze.