"You won't resist?"
Zamiel stared into her emerald green eyes. There was innocence and vulnerability in them. He could tell she didn't know much about the world and it's people. She was raised sheltered and learned to love and trust. And here he was, knowing and feeling nothing but resentment. How different they were.
For a brief moment, he actually thought of compelling her. The urge to bite her had been so strong that it swayed his judgement.
"I.. I…" Was she hesitating? "I don't know." She admitted.
This would change things if she became willing to be bitten. The mark would not fade away as quickly. The mark stayed longest when both parts consented to the bond.
Stupid girl. Maybe he should have scared her even more. Just in case he become willing in a moment of weakness she would still be unwilling.
The damn witch would enjoy this if she was still alive. Him biting a witch as soon as the mark faded.
The more he resisted, the quicker the mark would fade and the more he would need to fight the urge to bite her. There was only one way out. If he resisted the urge long enough without biting her, then it would disappear forever and he would be free from the bond.
Zamiel heard that resisting the urge was almost impossible, but he was different. He had already endured so much pain, a little more wouldn't hurt.
He grabbed her wrist over the dress and took her back to her room. She looked around surprised before looking at him.
"Thank you." She breathed.
When he dropped her arm her eyes darted in panic. She didn't want him to leave. He should have frightened her more.
"You look sick." She pointed.
Yes, he weakened himself so he could fall into a deep slumber until the urge disappeared, but she ruined his plans. Now he would have to start from scratch and try for several days, maybe even weeks, before he could fall into a deep slumber.
"Heaven. Next time you come to meet me, I'll send you to heaven." He threatened.
To his surprise, she smiled. "How can you be sure I'll end up there? I thought all witches were bad and would end up in hell."
She baffled him. He didn't know what to respond, and that caused her smile to widen.
"I think deep down you know I wouldn't hurt you." She said.
It should have been the other way round. Him telling her he wouldn't hurt her, but she understood the true meaning of hurt.
"If I come to you, then you should hurt me if you don't want me to bite you."
"If you come to me, then I understand why."
He wished he could shake the innocence out of her.
Suddenly someone materialized into her room. It was the man she called friend.
"Heaven!" He drew his daggers.
Heaven turned to him, startled.
"Zarin!" He could hear the shock in her voice.
Zarin kept his gaze fixated on Zamiel while his eyesblazed with anger.
"Get away from him!" He ordered.
Again with the ordering around.
"It's not what you think." She held her hands out, signaling for him to calm down.
If he didn't Zamiel knew the perfect way to do it.
"He is not here to hurt me." She said.
Zamiel fought the urge to laugh, but Zarin was not amused at all. As if disappointed, he dropped his arms.
"You went to see him." He said with disgust.
"I… I can explain."
Zamiel didn't feel like listening to their fight. So he just took himself back home, back to his room where her scent still lingered.
What was he supposed to do now? He needed to find a plan to fight this extreme urge.
By the way, who was that friend of hers? From the way she spoke to him, it seemed like she cared for him deeply.
No! He was starting to care again. He should go try to fall back into his slumber as soon as possible. There was no other way he could fight this.
He lay down thinking back of the time when life felt as lonely as it did now. Before he was locked inside the coffin he had isolated himself inside his home. Day in and out he just slept, not eating or drinking.
Razia would come to him sometimes and try to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't even care to chase her away. He just shut her voice out. Someday she would get tired.
One day she came to him. "Zamiel, I am moving somewhere else. I came to say goodbye." She said, but he kept ignoring her.
"I baked this bread for you. Your wife taught me how to do it. I thought since you are not eating you wanted to… nevermind. I will put it on the table."
She went and placed the baked bread on the table. "Won't you even look at me before I leave or ask me where I am going?"
He continued to ignore her. She sighted. "Alright. I hope you make some changes. This is not called living."
And just like she left him. Now he felt the loneliest. The only person remained to care for him had also left him now. He couldn't blame her.
Being starved, he couldn't ignore the scent of freshly baked bread. It smelled like the one his wife used to bake. He loved it. Unable to ignore hunger that rose within him, he went to the table and ate the bread alone.
It tasted exactly like the one his wife used to make. As he chewed a bite tears fell down his cheeks. All the happy memories came back to him, paining him even more.
Gamila.
Why did she leave him all alone? She promised to stay with him for eternity, but he couldn't blame her for breaking her promise. It was his fault. He had promised to protect her, but he failed miserably.
"I am sorry Gamila, I am sorry Mikah." He whispered.
Zamiel remembered the day Mikah was born. The warmth that spread inside his chest. He never thought he would one day soon hold her cold, dead body in his arms. He failed not only as a husband; but as a father as well.
He didn't even deserve to eat this bread, but he had already finished eating it.He went back to bed. The only way he couldn't feel pain was to sleep. He even decided once to fall into a deep slumber and wake up after many years, but he had a mission now. To protect demons from facing the same fate as him. He would put the witches in their place and make all of them know to never mess a demon.
He closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day, he thought. But before that day came, he woke up with an extreme pain. It felt like someone was stabbing and twisting his organs. He felt sick and vomited.
It was blood.
What was happening to him? It felt like something was eating him from the inside, like his body was corroding away.
Blood ran from his nose. Something was wrong with him.
"Zamiel!" Suddenly Razia stood in the room.
She looked at him in the state he was and didn't seem the least surprised.
It was her.
"What… what did you do?!" He growled, trying to get out of bed.
He would kill her!
"I am sorry. I had no choice." She said calmly. "At least you enjoyed eating it."
The bread. She must have poisoned it. She knew very well poison couldn't kill him. What did she plan to do?
"This poison is deadly. Well, for humans anyway. It eats at your organs one by one. So while one heals another one rottens. Oh, I also added som magic to make it more effective."
He got out of bed, furious and ready to kill her, but his legs gave in and he fell to the ground. His body burned, his limbs trembled.
"Don't fight it, Zamiel. I won't kill you. I just want to help you understand a few things." She spoke so calmly while he choked on his own blood.
He wasn't only enduring the damage caused by the poison, but also the process of healing.
She loomed over him. "After I am done. You will understand everything." She assured him.
*****
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