Enthralled

Decisions

She leaned unto Haydn as a dozen of thoughts rattled in her head like dices in a cup. A wave of nausea assaulted her senses and Hazel barely turned in time before she threw up all over herself.  Vaguely, Hazel was aware of Haydn murmuring reassurances in her ear, holding her hair back as the acrid taste of bile burned through her throat. After it was apparent she was done heaving, she slumped into the support of his body.

Haydn carried her in the cradle of his arms, lifting her up from the ground. She was too disoriented and exhausted both physically and mentally to bother making a sound of protest. She nestled her head in the crook of his neck, trying to piece her mind back up sufficiently to make sense of the flash of events mere minutes ago.

She felt him settling down. He placed Hazel on his lap as he stroked her hair back from her clammy forehead, inquiring gently about her condition. “I don’t want to know what just happened back there,” she said wryly, trying for a tone of sarcasm but the feebleness of her voice betrayed her fear for the unknown.

“It has something to do with dark magic,” Haydn replied darkly. She gave a weak groan. “Oh please don’t tell me there’s more of these things,”

“There’s lots of such that you mortals have not an idea about,”

Hazel grunted in frustration. “And why do I know all these right now?”

 “Because some people have found out our connection and are using it against me. Or at least that is what I am assuming at the moment.”

“You are not sure,” It was meant as an accusation. But with the note of panic in her voice, it sounded like a hysterical question.  She looked up at him alarmed.

He gave her a wry smile. ”The world is not as small as you think, sweet. Loads of people-” he paused and added “or non-people, are always waiting for the right moment to be rid of me.”

“Rid of you? Why? How? And was I hypnotised? What did she want with me?” She needed answers for all the bizarreness that was wrapping around her once normal and content life, twisting it into one nightmare after another. She had most probably lost conscious in the past few days more than she did in her entire life. Heaven knew she hadn’t fainted once before Haydn swept into her life.

“So many questions,” he clucked at her in mock disapproval. And he made no move to provide her the answers she so crave until she whacked his chest in impatience. He chuckled at her annoyance. But Hazel could feel he wasn’t as relaxed as he was presenting to be.

“I have a measure of power in hell. Taking my place means free reign in hell. And there are many people who wish to have such control. Death and afterlife is something mankind have lusted to command over since forever. Somehow whoever that girl was, she knew about us. I have no definite explanation for her reasons of hypnotising you but a gut feeling tells me it has something to do with being my soul mate.”

“You are telling me she was using me to get to you.” Hazel stated dully. “Well, in this case, it is a moot point, seeing as I am not your soul mate or any mate of yours.”

He looked at her archly with a raised brow, making him look all the world like an arrogant prince.  But he let the comment slide, not denying her statement. His eyes took on a look that made it seem as though he was weighing certain decisions in his mind but his face showed no trace of it.  It made her uneasy and she discarded that disturbing fact for the moment. “What about your father?”

“What about him?”

“No point getting rid of you when he is still the king of the underworld. Or has he retired.” She asked with amusement.

“With my power, they can always go for a rebellion to overthrow him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You have those in hell?”

“Like I said, there are lots you do not know. But I couldn’t be sure for now. That girl might have other intentions for attacking you. To overthrow my father, to steal the keys to other Realms, to steal some other artefacts from the family’s collection, for revenge. The possibilities are endless.  ”

Hazel mused about the new information for a moment. It was so complicated. As though politics, magic and mythology were all rolled into tangled mess. She hadn’t even gotten over the fact the Haydn is some underworld prince, a demon of a kind when she was hypnotised. Hypnotised, for Heaven’s sake! This was too much for her to take. The way Haydn had callously murdered a man for her acquiesce that was momentarily forgotten now rushed back at her in vivid images.

“Okay, it was a very enlightening talk. I would like to go home now. Thank you for help-“. She paused in stunned silence when she took note of her surroundings for the first time since her bout of insanity. They were in a fair when she saw the girl. Now, they were in a woods with trees, trees and more trees around them.

“Where the bloody hell are we?” she blurted out in alarm.

“The woods at the back of your- our school.”

“How did we come here?”

Haydn grabbed her by her shoulders firmly and gripped her chin to face her squarely, allowing no space for her to avoid his dark blue eyes, that were almost a shade of indigo. Clearly expressing the seriousness of the matter he wished to discuss with her. The same matter she didn’t want to think about.

“Look, Hazel. I am who I said I am. There is nothing I can do about that. And you are my soul mate. Regardless how strongly you might object, you could feel it is the truth. There are many things about me that would frighten you and I can only hope you could look pass all that and accept your position in my life, by my side. I agree I may have been all sorts of horror you abhor, and done things that might turn your stomach. I have been brought up to view mortal life as frail and disposable, the only thing that mattered was their death. But if you are willing, you can shed some light and restraint on my behaviour. Despite all this, I did not kill the man. I knew he was about to die, call it sixth sense if you wish, but I used that knowledge to bully your compliance. It was childish and uncalled for, I know. And I am sorry for causing you fright as well as the events of the past days.”

He looked into her eyes intently and it unnerved her. She could see the internal struggle in him. He was caught in a dilemma and he sounded almost defeated like the last plunge of a valiant general at a chance of victory, knowing it was close to impossible. He was waiting for a sign from her, yet she didn’t know what he wanted from her was.

“Why are you telling me this?” Hazel asked softly.

“I’ve tried to make you come to terms with being my soul mate to no avail. I’ve resorted to coercion and I am not feeling very honourable about my actions – Lord knows it had never happened before. And now, to know that it might have been me that jeopardised your safety. It’s the last straw. Hazel, make up your mind if you wish to accept me and give you my protection. Or I shall leave you be. I will make sure your life will be as before and there will be no attempts on your life. I’d rather you safe and sound than terrified for your safety, terrified of me and terrified of whoever that attacked you.” He paused a few times throughout. It was obvious it took a lot for him to come to this decision.

Hazel couldn’t come to a decision. It was too overwhelming. To find out stories that were once myths actually exists. That Haydn was a part of it.

 Her heart ache in objection when she thought of opting for her life to be the way it was without Haydn. She’d known him for give or take a month, and yet the ties between them were as though they’d known each other forever – as though they were made for each other, corny as that sounded.

“Myths don’t exist, Haydn.” Her heart was screaming at her to swallow the words she had just uttered and she could barely choke back a sob.

He smiled dejectedly in understanding and brushed a kiss on her forehead, lingering for a moment as she wrapped her arms around him tightly. It was unspoken but Hazel knew she would never see him again.