The Bewitching - Book 1

Chapter 6 - Not As It Appears

Elyssa closed her eyes, readying herself for the deadly blow. She felt her body tense up in frightened anticipation. It felt like forever. As she sat curled up waiting for the fatal ending, her mind wondered just what that would be. How would they find her body? Torn to pieces by this monster’s own hands? Maybe he’d end it neat and clean, a simple cut along the throat.

What of those who would find her body? No one would ever find this murderer. Who would believe that this thing, this monster, even existed? What of poor Annette and her mom, and tiny Tobias? Would they be spared, or would they meet the same end that she was about to?

Her thoughts were scrambled as every tiny question that could be thought in such a dire moment flashed through her mind. How could this be the same person she had bumped into not more than a short time ago? She was sure he was the one from her dreams, who she had held so tightly and felt so safe with, and here she was about to meet her end by his hands. She could only imagine what would be written upon her tombstone, “Here Lies Elyssa, A Woman Whose Life Was One of Irony.”

With that final thought, her body and mind both froze as she felt his arms wrap around her. These were the last seconds of her life. She felt his hands dig into her back as he squeezed her tightly in his arms, so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe. She could feel his warm breath upon her neck, which sent shivers up her spine.

She waited for it all to end, for the world to go dark around her. She could feel his grip tighten slightly and then relax again. His breath on her neck would throb, in beat with the tightening grip, and then resume in a soothing and rhythmic fashion as his hold on her would relax. At first she reasoned he was toying with her before crushing her to death, but even as that possibility ran through her mind, her body instinctively relaxed against his as if she was safe.

The death blow never came. She felt his grip loosen enough for her to pull away slightly. As she did, she realized how warm his body was. It wasn’t just warm, but felt as if it was almost on fire. She could feel the sweat beading up on her forehead from the heat his body was giving off.

As she pulled back, she looked into his eyes. His pupils, she noticed, were actually a bright glowing crimson with a surrounding iris which burned a dull red, like days old blood. The sockets of his eyes were not exposed as she had first thought, but instead were a pitch black. From a distance it had made the inner red portions appear to be floating in nothingness.

His eyes stared deeply back into hers, penetrating every bit of her being. She couldn’t help but feel that there was some familiarity there, as if she had looked into those eyes many times before. It wasn’t the frightening look of them that she found familiar, but something much deeper. There was something behind them and the way they gazed at her.

He seemed as fixated with her as she found herself with him. Slowly she raised her hand towards his face, intrigued by what she saw before her. As she did, a small droplet fell atop her hand, and slowly ran down towards her wrist before pooling and dropping to the floor. She recognized it instantly, as a steady stream began to drip down upon her fingertips.

That’s when she noticed a large chunk of glass firmly embedded in his shoulder, flowing with a steady stream of blood. She quickly realized that his neck and shoulders were also almost completely covered with tinier fragments of glass, poking out like quills on a porcupine. She glanced up to see that his wings were wrapped around them like a protective shield. They arched out massively, almost completely enveloping them within. The wings fluttered violently here and there, and she could only assume that the cause was the shards of glass that he appeared to be deflecting from her.

She glanced questioningly at him. He wasn’t trying to take her life, but instead was trying to protect her. But why, and from what she wondered. A terrible screech suddenly filled the air, a sound so loud she thought her eardrums would explode. She crushed the palms of her hands against her ears. It didn’t help. Her head was ringing and she found herself struggling to put together a coherent thought. Whatever it was that was creating this horrible sound, this had to be what he was trying to protect her from.