Once Upon A [Stolen] Time - [Stolen] Series I

CHAPTER 12

EDWARD
APRIL 1415

You killed your sister.

Today was the day my twin sister Veronica died. She left this world, making me empty, hollow and soulless. I didn't wait for the night to engulf me—instead, I came to the chapel right after she died.

You killed your sister.

I stared at the mirror with deep-seated animosity. I wanted to confront the mirror to see if the hideous beast bled. It did not. It was as vicious as it had been earlier—the difference was...I was able to recognise it more clearly. I was getting fond of this beast because that's what I was—a monster I accepted wholeheartedly. A monster that had annihilated his only light and had chosen to stay in the darkness forever.

You killed your sister.

The hideous beast stared back at me with equal contempt—reminding me of the lowest sin I had committed. I had no other choice but to torture my body in the worst possible way, but I didn't seek forgiveness from Him. The sin was tied to my soul now. I had no right to expiate it. I would live with this pain forever.

You killed your sister.

Yes, I killed my own sister. She had promised me she'd make it easy for me.

When Stefan dragged her into the tower, she stabbed herself without giving me any chance to begin her torture. Not a moment was given to me so I could stop and freeze time to save my sister. At that point, God turned the page and gave me a new existence. I became a monster. I came to know how you would breathe without a soul, how you would hurt yourself without feeling anything, how you would listen to any order without it touching your heart. Yes, I became a lifeless man devoid of soul or any feelings. The beast in the mirror depicted my true existence.

You killed your sister.

I stood before Satan's mirror to see if King Stefan was right. He told me the curse might be lifted if Veronica left this world. That life would begin a new chapter tonight.

You killed your sister.

Moving closer to the mirror, I studied the beast. His eyes were made of steel, death residing in them. As I placed my forehead on the mirror to look closely into the beast's eyes, I didn't see its eyes in the reflection.

Beautiful grey eyes were watching me with love and warmth. Her long lashes blinked, and I saw the tenderness in her gaze. I saw her in the mirror—the woman who had been haunting me in my dreams for years and making me crave her more and more. My heart leapt during that moment, telling me it still existed. I thought I had lost it and buried it with my sister this afternoon, but there she was—carrying my heart in her eyes. I wanted to break the mirror and take her out of it, so I asked her.

"Come out and talk to me," I whispered, hoping she'd say something.

She vanished from the mirror like a wisp. I stayed there, glued to it. Please talk to me. She returned in a moment. She was standing in the same chapel I was, but it was empty. Why was it barren? Where did the pews go?

I placed my palm on the mirror—a desire to touch her invigorated me with hope. Her warm touch, in return, filled my heart with unspoken and unsettled craving.

I jerked back, regarding the looking glass in a daze.

"You are real," I mumbled to the looking glass, although all I could see now was the hideous beast. It took a moment to get my bearings, but I approached the mirror again, placing my forehead on it. As soon as my skin touched, the eyes of a beast turned into beautiful grey eyes. I was able to see her again. She was waiting for me.

I had not felt this before... ever. I had never touched a woman like this before. I could feel her breath on my skin, drowning me in an ocean of lust. I was completely enamoured with her touch, desperately wanting to pull her out of the mirror.

"All my life, you came into my dreams to haunt and kill me." My voice was drunk with flames that never burned before. I moved my palm to feel her smoothness, and she copied my moves—we were lost in the enchantment of this looking glass. "But now, when I can feel you through Satan's mirror, you are not here to kill me." I smiled, enjoying the rhythms my heart was giving me. "Can you see me?"

"Yes," she whispered. I took a deep breath. Her voice sent me into a bottomless pit of desire that I knew not existed. I had never longed for any woman's touch, but with a voice like a feather, this woman touched my heart and invaded my body.

"Do you know what I look like?" I asked, needing to pull her into my world.

"Yes, I can see you, King David," she answered softly.

"I am Edward. Do you not know?" The heart that had just raced at her voice died the moment she spoke of King David, the owner of this castle. The love in her eyes that I thought was meant for me was for King David.

Perhaps the woman I had been meeting in my dreams was not there to kill me. She came for King David, and that man was not me—he merely looked like me. She had loved King David and not this beast.

The dream I'd had for so many years was not a dream for me at all. I saw love in her eyes, and it wasn't for me; she longed for King David. I had been making a fool of myself, desiring the woman who had haunted my dreams for years, and the woman was never mine. I had wasted a significant portion of my life thinking about her, hoping she'd come one day. It was a very foolish idea to talk to someone in my lonely times when she never existed for me.

Perhaps the tales were true. A few centuries ago, King David had fallen in love with a beautiful witch. Now I had seen the witch, who was apparently locked in the looking glass for some unknown mysterious reason. Maybe she had brought the curse here... perhaps it was her that made us look hideous in Satan's mirror...maybe there was no other curse than her.

Or rather, it was my punishment for killing my sister, that the only woman I'd ever feel anything for in my life would be the witch trapped in Satan's mirror, who would haunt me forever.

Pulling away from the mirror, I turned around and swore on my life never to look at it again.