Warm water lapped against my skin, floating weightlessly allowing the heat to seep into my muscle and melt the coldness within. Experienced fingers worked the tension from my shoulders. Freesia filled the air with its sweetness as it mingled with his clean scent. Rale, prince of darkness, would spend hours bathing and pleasing me, me, Isla his servant, the women he loved and the mother to his unborn child. His tender fingers drawing circles over my heated skin, his soft lips bruising mine, with the never-ending kisses, I could stay like this always. My lover. My friend and my soul mate. My Rale. Even though it was forbidden to fall in love with me, even though he face exile, or worse death, he stayed. You are my heart Isla, how could I give up my heart and live? No, mother will come around, she just needs time.
“Isla, wake up.”
Was I sleeping? I didn’t think so, I was with Rale and he was bathing me, telling me of his plans and our future. Reaching for him to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I kissed his lips, soft and gentle as always. “I love you Rale and I will love you until time ends.”
“Isla, open your eyes.”
They are open, what was Rale thinking?
“Please Isla, please be alright.”
Rale had let me go and I was floating away, drifting through the water. Panic made my muscles tense, no longer floating, the water filling my lungs and choking me, I kicked my feet trying to reach the surface and Rale, but I couldn’t.
“I’ve got you, it's ok, and you’re safe now.”
Where were the words coming from? Breaking the surface I coughed and drew in lung full’s of air.
“That's it breathe, just breathe.”
My eyes opened and my heart broke. Just a dream it wasn't real.
Resting my head against the edge of the bath, I fought the devastating feeling of lose. I would never get that back, that blissful happiness was lost forever.
Reece scooped me out of the bath and I let him, I didnt want to live. Even if we broke the curse I didnt want to live, too much time had passed. Too much ugliness filled my memories. He lay me down on the bed, it smelled clean and fresh, he had changed the sheets. Turning my head away from him, I lay curled into a ball and will myself to sleep. I couldn’t face him right now, couldn’t face all the things I had lost.
The smell of food woke me, wrapping the sheet around me, I went to find it.
“I thought you would never wake up,” He said, as I approached. “You’ve been unconscious for three days now. Are you hungry?”
Three days, I had slept for three days, that meant...
“I have two days left,” I sighed, and sat down at the bench watching him cook.
Time, want it to slow down and it moves at the speed of light, want it to speed up and it seems to move like a snail. You can't win.
“I have been thinking about that,” He said, then smiled and his eyes lit up.
“It's best not to think I find Reece, it leads to a headache,” I sighed, resting my chin in my hand.
“Well since you’ve been dead to the world for three days I had little else to occupy my time with. I didn’t want to leave in case you needed me, and I wasn't sure if I left whether the pain would come back,” He placed a plate in front of me, it smelled really good and I was famished, not that I needed to eat but I had missed it so very much.
“Thank you,” I ate like a starving animal, shovelling the food in with my fingers.
“You really were hungry, I'm sorry I should have taken better care of you.”
I didn’t answer him, there was nothing to say, so we ate the rest in silence, he watched me eat and I tried not to look at him.
“Would you like me to make you something else?”
“I'm not sure,”
“I have an idea, let’s get out of here for a while, I'm going bat-shit crazy cooped up, and I'm sure you could use some fresh air.”
“If I leave here and the curse comes back, it will rip me apart and bring me back here.”
“You’ve been free of it for a while now, who’s to say that it will come back?”
“It will, trust me.”
“What if it's faded, it's been three thousand years Isla, it may not come back.”
“Your mother would never let this fade, she is too strong for that.”
“My mother?”
“It was your mother that cursed me, or rather, it was Rale’s mother,” I had been thinking about going out, distracted, and I had told him something he should never have known.
“Why?”
“Because Rale loved me, and he was the... he was forbidden... So she took me away from him, if he managed to break the curse he could have me and... but he failed and I took his powers into me, so that he could be reborn and try again. He kept just enough magic to find me, human was the only way he could do it, but as you see, we never made it,” I had said too much, but what difference did it make now, I would die and he would go on.
“Shit. So this is all my fault,” His face paled, “What a spineless bastard I must have been. I would never have let anyone do this to you Isla, never.”
“You don't know who his mother is Reece. Your mother! She is not someone you can stand up to. You would have done the same thing, do not speak of things you know nothing about. Rale did the only thing he could, for both of us.”
“I can see this upsetting you. Look why don't we go out, if the curse comes back, it comes back, but at least you will have had some freedom, and there is somewhere I want to take you,” He said, pulling me to my feet so that the sheet dropped to the floor. “hmm, better get dressed first I think, as beautiful as you are, you will most certainly get arrested for exposure or cause several cars to crash,” The smile that lit his face was wickedly impish, I couldn’t help but smile back and let him tug he to the bedroom to dress.
“Here, this should fit you, when I said I hadn’t left, it was a small lie, I picked this up for you, seeing as you don't have anything and my clothes are too big,” Tossing me a bag, he turned to leave but not before I saw the colour darken his cheeks. “I hope you like it.” He said before closing the door.
The dress was pale blue and set off my colouring perfectly, it was also my favourite colour; it was loose but fitted perfectly, flowing with my curves as I moved.
“You look stunning,” he said as I came out, “Ready for you first outing?”
Holding my hand he walked out the door, I slowed but only momentarily before running past the door making him have to move fast too.
“You doing ok?”
Nodding my head not trusting my voice just yet, I followed as he store down the hallway and stopped in front of metal doors, pushed a button and waited. I didn’t have to wait long to find out why we were just standing there. The doors creaked open to show a small box, Reece stepped into it dragging me in beside him. My heart pounded as the doors closed. I felt trapped. Clutching his hand tighter as the box moved, I screamed as my stomach dropped.
“It's ok Isla, this is called a lift and it's taking us to the ground,” He laughed but pulled me against his chest and into his arms.
“Were are we going?” I asked to stop form thinking about the box, lift that we were trapped in.
“For pancakes and a walk.”
There was a ping sound and then the doors opened and in front of me were see through doors. Beyond the doors there were people walking, lots of people.
We walked for a while, his hand in mine. This world was amazing, building and metal things that carried people inside them. The noise was astonishing, nothing I had ever heard before. The last time I was out of the knife was three hundred years ago and how time had progressed since then. Reece explain it all to me, the metal were called cars and they could take you anywhere that land was, if you wanted to cross the ocean they had Airplanes, which I saw far above us.
The pancakes were delicious and the coffee too. The park he took me to was called central park and it was beautiful, like an oasis in the middle of all the buildings. He talked and I listened, soaking everything in. His hand never left mine even while we were eating. I felt safe and loved.
“Do you think you could live here Isla?” He asked, and I didn’t know how to answer him.
“No Reece, this is not my time, too much has changed.”
“You will adapt to this life in no time and I will be here to help you.”
I had to tell him, he wouldn’t give up otherwise.
“Are you still going to marry Mary?”
“Of course, I Love her.”
“Then how can you ask me to stay? You are my soul mate Reece, how can I ever be happy knowing you don't love me the way I love you?”
“So you still want to die, even after everything I have shown you today.”
“Yes.”
He pulled me into his arms, and bent his head to look into my eyes, his lips a hairs breath form mine, as he spoke.
“What if I loved you, would you stay then?
I wanted him to kiss me, more than anything I wanted him to love me, but even then I didn’t think I could live with all these memories.
“Do you?” I asked, breathlessly.
“I don't know,” He answered, and then let me go.
“Reece, don't do this to yourself. I don't expect you to love me. I don't want to change your life, I just want you to set me free, can't you understand that?”
“No, I can't, not when it means I have to...to be the one that ends your life. I don't think I can do it.”
“You’re not ending a life Reece, you’re saving it. I will be reborn.”
“Will you remember anything?”
“No, I will make sure I don't, but before I die I can give you back what is yours, if you want it, otherwise it to will be gone forever.”
“I won’t see you again, will I?”
“It's not likely; we will be on different paths.”
Before I could protest, not that I would, he claimed me again and kissed me this time. The kiss was demanding, his tongue sought entry into my mouth and his arms held me tight, like he was afraid I would vanish. He groaned as his tongue touched mine, a primal sound. A deep and claiming sound. He wanted me, but what did he want? To love me or to fuck me?
“REECE!” the female voice screeched.
He pulled away faster than I could catch my balance, causing me to stumbled into him, His arms came around my waist to steady me as my hands rested on his chest.
“What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, her hands resting on her hip, face like thunder.
“Nothing is going on Janet. Why would you think there was?” He was lying but why? I didn’t want to upset things anymore than they already were, so kept silent.
“Having your tongue down a trolops throat isn’t nothing.”
“She not a trolop Janet and I didn’t have my tongue anywhere near her throat and if you tell Mary, who do you think she will believe? Me or a lying bitch like you.”
“We will see wont we.” She said and stomped off, leaving us alone again.
“Shit,” he said, sitting down heavily on the bench. “I need to see Mary.”
“You must go to her Reece, take me back to your house and go to her.”
So we left our beautiful oasis, and I had my memory of that kiss to last me while I was alone.
We had been out for hours and the curse hadn’t done anything, I was beginning to think Reece might be right, that it had faded or perhaps his mother was dead. We made it back in one piece, not curse in sight.
“Are you going to be alright here on your own... I may not be able to make it back tonight.”
“You’re going to have sex with her aren’t you,” It bothered me. No, it hurt me that he would and I had no right to be upset.
“Yes.”
“Just go Reece. Please just go and don't come back for two days. It's better for me that way.”
“Will you be ok?”
“I am a very old woman and I have been ok without you for a very long time,”
“Fine I will see you tomorrow then.”
“NO! Don't come back, there’s no need, look the curse hasn’t come back all day. I think you might be right and it is gone, so don't worry about me, just stay with HER. I don't want you here, it hurts too much, don't you see that,” The tears where streaming down my face, no point in hiding them now.
Reece lifted my chin and kissed my lips before leaving.
As soon as he shut the door I fell to the floor, crushed under the weight of my love for him. Managing through the pain of losing him, I made it to the bed, great, rib shacking sobs stained the pillows as I cried myself to sleep.
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