24
After this Draven and I seemed to pass through our days in a state of marital bliss. I hadn’t encountered another strange demonic freak out from Draven and I didn’t know whether this was down to not letting him get close to my birthmark again, or that the strange hellish storm had passed.
Obviously, I was hoping for the latter of these two.
We had been here a week now, but it had only felt like a few days. To be honest, it was just nice spending quality time together, just the two of us and now for the first time without any prophecy shit lurking over our heads like a dark cloud of doom. Of course, this didn’t mean that it was incident free but at least what did happen I could blame myself for…or at least blame my tortured mind.
The day started out simple enough as Draven had given me a tour of the grounds surrounding the castle. This included a beautiful walled garden that was filled with wild flowers that weren’t cut or trimmed or pruned to fit with whatever man-made design was thought as being royal enough for a castle. No, this was simply a beautiful, natural piece of the world that reminded me of the children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.
All there was to tell you someone had intruded on this little slice of heaven was the stone pathway, a few stone archways and a cute half-moon shaped bench that had been made to fit half way around a huge weeping willow tree. I remember Draven grinning at my excitement when I saw it, grabbing his hand instantly and pulling him through the green curtain.
“Gods, it’s beautiful,” I uttered in awe, looking all around as I had never seen one so big. The way it cast long shadows against the lush green blanket of grass as the sun tried to penetrate through the long weeping branches.
“No,” Draven said coming right up close to me and tilting my head back with a crooked finger under my chin.
“It’s only beautiful when you are under it, speaking of its beauty,” he said before leaning down to steal a kiss. Then he picked me up around the waist, hugging me to him before walking me backwards so that he could stand me on the low bench. This managed to put me slightly taller than him and it was lovely to be able to seek his lips with ease. Then, before I knew what was happening, the only sounds to be heard were that of nature, our heavy breathing and the sharp sound of my zip being pulled down.
Once loose he then peeled back the jacket over my arms, trapping them behind me.
“Draven.” His breathy name sounded from my lips as he gripped my jacket with one hand fisted at my back, whilst the other yanked my top down before freeing one of my breasts from the satin and lace cup. Then he groaned the second it was free in his hand before he pulled hard on my makeshift restrains, making me arch my back, pressing my breast up into his waiting mouth. I let my head fall back as a loud moan of pleasure rippled not only through my lips but also along my throbbing clit.
And right there, looking up at the canopy of green, Draven made me orgasm so hard with his teeth around my nipple and a hand down the front of my jeans, I was soon shuddering in his arms. Once I had come down from my high, I started wondering why, after slipping his hand free of my underwear, he started to button up my jeans.
My face must have said it all because suddenly he pulled me close, and told me,
“I will take you sweetheart, but here, under this age-old willow, I want this forevermore be your place and yours alone, for the beauty it holds is nothing compared to the beauty you just gave me watching you come undone by my hand.” Then he proved just how much he had enjoyed himself when one finger at a time, he sucked them clean with his mouth, groaning at the taste of me.
And this blissful moment, over the last few days, was one of many.
Well, minus the one hiccup and that was to fall upon me that night…
The night of my living nightmare.
I was back in the gardens, but this time I was alone. But that’s the thing about being alone, it is not only the feeling of being lost in a place but more about being lost in the prison of your mind that can sometimes be more deadly…because how do you fight against yourself?
But that night, I was to find out that I wasn’t just fighting myself, but I was also fighting,
A new Demon obsession.
I don’t know why I had decided to venture out so late at night, but it felt like I couldn’t sleep, even in Draven’s arms. I vaguely remember leaving our bed, looking down to see him still asleep and reaching out to brush back a fallen piece of his hair. He looked so peaceful in sleep, an almost innocent glow to him. As though it was solely his angel that rested, whilst the beast lurked beneath the surface, lying in wait.
Waiting for the chance to take what he deemed his…
Complete control.
But right now, the beast was contained and what was left was the sleeping Angel in our bed, one I was about to leave. Because something had woken me. I looked back to the window where I had first seen the light and quietly shifted from the bed. I walked on bare feet to the window and saw a flickering light in the distance, only now it was moving away, as if someone was carrying a flaming lantern through the grounds.
I placed my hand on the glass, feeling the beads of condensation dripping down my fingers. It was ice cold and for a moment I felt stuck there. I tried to pull my hand back, but it was as if something wanted me to stay. Suddenly the light started to flicker brighter and I could see the silhouette of a man turn towards the window.
I couldn’t be sure from this distance, but it looked as though he raised his hand to his mouth, first to indicate my silence at seeing him. Then he made a motion for me to follow him. It was at this moment that my hand was suddenly released from the glass and the compelling need to do as he asked nearly overwhelmed me.
So, I moved through the room, taking heed of his warning not to wake Draven and padded barefoot across the wooden floor. I casually picked up the flimsy nightgown I had been wearing before Draven had removed it to make love to me. Then in a dreamlike state, I slipped from the room still naked with the silk and lace clutched in my hand, trailing on the floor behind me.
“Dress for me.” A voice suddenly spoke in my mind and without knowing what I was doing, I did as I was asked, slipping the long gown over my head. It was more like a long dress of tight lace across my chest and easily showcasing my erect nipples through the pattern. This joined the layers of black silk under my aching breasts that flowed down to my bare ankles. My hair was loose and fell like a curtain of golden waves down my arms and back, making me shiver whenever the ends would tickle against my bare skin.
As I walked down the dark hallway, one I knew would lead me to the right staircase, I could feel eyes watching me. I turned to see that even the grand pictures on the wall were judging me, some even willing me to go back. Telling me without words that this was wrong. The moonlight breached through the window, casting shadows on their painted faces and their glassy eyes of disappointment stared at me as I continued on, despite their silent warnings.
Somewhere deep in my mind I knew I wasn’t dressed for going outside and told myself that I was only there to have a look. But the second I was faced with the front door, I found myself sliding back the locks, knowing I would go further. The echo of metal grinding against metal was so loud in the silent room, my hands nearly slipped from the latch as they shook.
I took one last look at the empty hallway behind me, staring into its vast darkness as it suddenly became elongated, twisting all its walls around and becoming a tunnel. There at the end was fire licking at the woodwork, licking out its orange forks at anything that would ignite to fuel its rage. This was enough to get me running through the door and into the calmer night.
I jumped as the door slammed behind me thus sealing my fate to continue. Looking down at the pale steps I then looked back up at the moon, to see it peeking out beneath the rolling clouds. It seemed just enough for me to be able to see my surroundings and where I knew I must follow…
Back to the weeping willow.
I closed my eyes, inhaled a deep breath and took my first step into the unknown. The smell of the garden was different at night, as though you could almost taste the early morning dew as it penetrated the air. It was so serene and calm… peaceful even, that I was getting lost in its dark beauty before I even noticed what I was doing to it.
But as I continued to walk down the steps, I couldn’t help but notice that in my wake I was leaving behind crusted black footprints, as if my bare feet had infected the stone. And this wasn’t just my feet as I looked up to see that as I passed each bush that framed the stone wall of the stairs, each started to die and crumble in on itself.
What was happening?
I couldn’t make sense of it right now, so I decided not to even try as I carried on until reaching the bottom. Then I turned to where I knew the lantern and its carrier had disappeared to and I knew it was through the gardens. At first when I had started following this compelling force, I had felt almost in a drug induced state, but then once I stepped outside again, it was as though I was released from its power.
No, now I was doing this on my own, I knew deep down I should have gone back. But then again, was it safe or was it just as dangerous inside as it was out? I didn’t believe I had walked away from a living inferno but only the essence of one. But surely, I was safer inside with Draven…
Wasn’t I?
Asking myself these questions seemed to be the only thing keeping me going as the further I went, the darker the scene before me became. Like the stone steps had done, now the grass beneath my feet turned to dry dirt, branching out and cracking under my feet with every step. The beautiful colourful flowers, seemed to either wither up and die, or if I happened to touch one, it would turn black and freeze the edges into a deadly shard of ice.
I couldn’t understand what I was doing?
Maybe the man would know, maybe this is what he wanted me to see. Suddenly I found myself desperate to know so I took off running. I came to the stone path, that dotted its way through the grass, leading me to a stone arch. The second I stepped on the first slab my feet sank a little, as if I was walking on wet sand. I ignored the feeling and ran to the arch, tripping a little and catching myself on the corner of the stone to save myself from landing.
The second my hands touched it, the stone blocks turned to black glass, cracking like heavy footsteps on a lake. I instantly let go and this was when I finally turned around contemplating heading back once more. The second I did I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth in horror as I took in the death all around me. When walking through, only certain parts of the garden would die but now, well now it looked like that infection had spread out over the entire thing, and I…
I was the disease.
This was when I decided to turn from the deathly sight of what I had done and run through the archway. The second I did I screamed in fright when I heard the cracking continue until it shattered, raining deadly black shards all around me. I threw my hands up to protect myself from the deadly projectile pieces and the second before they could cut into my back, I felt a presence surround me. I opened my eyes enough to see that a black cloak of some kind had whirled around my body as if providing me with a barrier against the destruction.
It happened in a blink of an eye and then,
It was gone.
I raised my head up slowly as if expecting to be faced with my unknown protector, but all I saw was the sinister night. I looked back to see what had happened to the glass to find it had all fallen in a line, as if hitting a wall and instead of bouncing back, it simply fell.
“Come to me.” I jumped when I heard that luring voice only this time, it wasn’t in my mind. I looked up to see where the voice had come from in the open space and focused quickly at its centre where the huge tree sat.
The voice had come from inside the weeping willow.
So much of me didn’t want to go in there but I swear it was like pushing against a vault door as my will wouldn’t seem to let me just run away.
“Come see me.” The voice hummed again in a gravelly way that sounded like it was trying hard to appear soft, when any minute now I knew it would roar at me in anger. This was what I feared, almost as much as I feared to move. But in the end, move I did as my feet took me closer towards the tree. At first it seemed unaffected like the rest of the garden, only with long hanging branches now darker in the night, creating a wall of darkness surrounding what lay hidden behind it.
Then as it started to rain, I felt my gown begin to stick to my body as if it was suddenly made of latex, looking as though someone had just painted my skin with oily black paint. I could hear the wet crunch of leaves beneath my soles as I imbedded them deeper into the grass and the sound of rain dancing on the earth’s many surfaces. I finally made it to the thick blanket of branches, now swaying as the weather had taken a darker turn. I reached out, ready to cast them aside to grant me entrance when I heard the thunder cracking the sky in the distance.
“Come closer.” The voice returned, louder now I was closer to it and it spoke as if it could feel my reluctance. Then with a deep breath I lifted my arm up, catching the branches and stepped inside.
I don’t know why but the second I was out of the rain I felt colder, which didn’t make any sense. However, I barely had time to wonder this for long as now I looked ahead and saw a large shadow perched up in the tree. The moment I saw him my automatic response was to take a step back. The second I did I saw his head turn toward me in a slow dangerous way. Then I saw him extend out an arm and he beckoned me forward.
“Come closer,” he repeated, and I saw a long talon tipped finger reach out towards me before curling in on itself. It was only now I could see that I wasn’t exactly faced with a man. Oh, he had the right shape but even in the shadows I could see the differences. Starting with the horns coming from his forehead and curling back on themselves, twisting up again to reach the sky. I took a single step forward and then wisely stopped.
“Tut, tut, little Alice,” he told me, sounding almost playful in a creepy way and now shaking that same finger at me in reprimand.
“Th…at’s…that’s not my name,” I told him stuttering on the first word, wondering why he called me that. The second I said it, his hand snapped out and grabbed the thick branch overhead as he leaned his body down through the gap in the tree. Once there and slightly closer he told me on a demonic growl,
“I know who you are!” I frowned back at him and then jumped when he suddenly bellowed,
“NOW COME HERE…where I can see you…all of you!” he ordered at first with a demonic roar, which sounded as though it dragged up Hell itself. Then he ended it with more of a silky promise, with only an underlining presence of who he really was.
Of course, neither of which compelled me to do as he asked, so instead I stumbled back until I could feel the branches at my back. But then came the thick drips of oil weeping down my arms and I looked back to see that the branches had also now changed. Now they looked like long drips of tar running down each branch, as if it was bleeding black tears of pain.
I backed away from it and before I knew what I was doing I whipped back around to face the demon.
A demon that wanted only one thing…
Me Enslaved.