Julian

Smoke scratched my throat, filling my lungs on every inhale. Each step I took jostled my arm, the burn sending flashes of pain up my shoulder as I raced away from my pursuers.

My heart threatened to beat out of my chest as terror muted everything around me to the rushing of blood in my ears. Through it all, my mother’s voice echoed back.

Demon who wears my child’s skin, begone! If you were truly her you never would have cast the devil’s magic!

But I hadn’t meant to! I’d been saving her, saving all of us!

Nothing I said convinced her though. She thought I was devil spawn and my hesitation in fleeing had come at a cost. Mother’s screams gained unwanted attention and in hardly any time, the town had surrounded me.

After their failed hanging in the square they had proof of what I was–dear Lord, what even am I?!–and now with mother’s shouts their baying for blood rang back through my ears.

I wasn’t safe here anymore.

Racing through the trees, braches whipping my cheeks to leave painful welts, I swallowed the sobs building my throat. I couldn’t make noise, if I did they’d find me and it would all be over. I’d survived the first hanging somehow, but who knows what they’d try next.

Despite my thoughts, quiet hiccups bubbled from my throat, hot tears blurring my vision as my ankle caught a thick tree root, sending me sprawling on my injured arm. Agony flared hot, tearing a cry from my lungs before I could stop it. My hand raised to muffle the sound, but too late.

The barking of dogs came, fire’s red light casting an eery shade around me as the villagers stormed through the bushes, unholy wrath in their eyes. At the end, the mayor strode, my mother right behind him as he sneered from above me.

“Your days on this earth are done demon, prepare to be sent back to the hell from which ye came.”

It wouldn’t do any good, but I still protested. “I’m not a demon! I don’t know how I made the men go away but I’m not one of Satan’s spawn!” Looking to my mother, I pleaded, a desperate broken part of me begging her to listen. “You have to believe me.”

Pain lit her face, indecision coming on its tails, and for one blissful second I thought she might step in. Only for my hopes to brutally burn to cinders when she shook her head, hate filling her gaze once more as she spat.

“I must believe nothing you say, demon. Now go to hell and stop your attempts to sway me using the voice of my child.”

Rejection buried its blade in my chest, the sight of her back turning, walking away as the villagers inched forward with blood hungry eyes branding into my memory. Grasping hands ripped at my clothes, shredding as dozens of voices jeered over their overpowering the ‘demon’.

Just as one of them dragged me against their frame, the mayor stepping forward with a curved blade and a wicked glint to his eyes, a voice cut through the clearing, all but throbbing with promise of the grave.

“Stop!”

All activity froze, every head swinging in the direction of the voice as a blond man marched over, the light of righteous anger burning in golden eyes as he ripped the man still clutching me away. Throwing him to the how I child would a toy, he sneered at the rest, back facing me. “Touch her again and you will find out exactly what is worse than death.”

The villagers eyed him warily, none of them making a move despite the bloodlust still lingering in their eyes. The stare off went on for what felt like eons before the mayor finally scoffed.

“He will leave the demon’s side eventually and when he does, we will deal with it then.”

Slowly they left until only my mother remained. She said nothing, eyes burning into me with hate. After a long moment, she turned and left too, not sparing a glance back. Silence rang out before the sobs finally broke free, twisting something inside me into a gnarled knot.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She was gone. Despite the years spent together with only each other, she’d left as if I meant nothing to her. As I were a stranger.

Tears poured twin rivers down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. The only person here was the man who’d saved me and what did it matter if he saw me cry?

Through watery eyes, I watched the hard line of his shoulders ease, his form turning to face me. I shrunk back instinctively, unsure of his intentions. He’d saved me, yes, but why? Did he have plans for me to?

He hesitated, taking me in before very slowly, he began stripping his shirt.

Fear and disgust curled through me as I scrambled back, my injured arm pulsing angrily with every move. When my back hit a tree, I choked out through my raw throat. “Please, don’t-!”

He froze, my vision clearing just enough to see understanding and disgust curl through his features, a grimace tugging his lips as he raised his hands, the shirt clutched in one of them.

“I would not harm you or anyone else in such a way. I am merely offering you some covering. This will be the only thing I remove.”

Then, he threw his shirt to me, not budging an inch afterward.

The cloth landed inches away and I took it, keeping him in the corner of my vision as I hastily tugged the soft material over my head. Once I was properly covered, I scrubbed my good hand over my cheeks. “Thank you…”

A sad smile curled his lips. “This is nothing to thank me for, even had we not been friends I would never have left anyone to face that.”

Wait, friends? We knew one another?

Narrowing my eyes, I tried to pinpoint where we’d met. Now that he mentioned it he did seem familiar and on top of that, being near him made me feel…safe. As if nothing could hurt me with him here.

After my mother’s rejection and the villager’s hate, I never thought to feel safe again.

His scent wafted up from his shirt, soothing me for reasons I couldn’t name as I used the sleeve to scrub my eyes. “You look familiar–no, you feel familiar–but I don’t know you. Why don’t I know you?!” The more I tried to reach for the memories just on the edge of my mind, the more my head ached. After a minute it was all but splitting from it.

Just as it felt ready to leak out of my ear, hands cradled my face and gold eyes met mine again. “Calm yourself, Julian. My name is Dimitrius ValenTina and I am your friend. Think, how did we meet?”

At first nothing came and more tears escaped as I tried to follow his order. Would he be angry if I couldn’t figure it out? Maybe he’d even call the villagers back.

Before the fear could arch through me again, a distant voice whispered through me. You need not fear my anger, I shall never be wrathful over a mere question.

That was better than mother. She’d detested my constant questions for as long as I could remembered…

Staring long and hard at him, I focused. Nearly doubling over when the memories hit all at once. The call from Seraphina, being sent to retrieve the kids, and then…Dimitrius. It all came rushing back and I jerked upright, mind trying to keep up with everything as I questioned.

“Dimitrius, what are you doing here? And for that matter, where is here? Because I know this place but you weren’t with me last time.”

He offered a hand, eyes soft with understanding and something else I couldn’t name. “You are in a nightmare. I saw you were trapped in the throes of one. I meant to soothe you with my power, settle you into a peaceful sleep, but somehow I wound up in here with you.”

At that, my stomach dropped. “How much did you see?”

Had he seen the hanging? The riots of villagers with pitchforks?

My mother’s rejection?

He shook his head, pulling me away from dizzying thoughts. “Nothing. I came just as they were surrounding you.”

Oh thank God. Deflating in relief, I let a shuddering breath go.

He hadn’t seen the worst of it. Must be happy with the small things life threw my way. Clearing my still sore throat, I nodded.

“Thank you for helping, but can we wake up now? I’d prefer not to be here.” That was the understatement of the century…

Without hesitation, he nodded, his hands coming to rest on my temples as everything around us melted away. The dizzying blur of colors turned my stomach and I closed my eyes to hide from it. The next time I opened them, the dark outline of my room came into clarity with Dimitrius hovering over me, worry pinching his expression.

Knowing a conversation was on the horizon, I tried to cut it off. “Can we not talk about what you just saw? I feel like grade-A crap and talking about that isn’t going to make me feel better.”

Thankfully, he let it drop without complaint, his hand drifting to hold mine as he offered. “If you would like, we can go to the study? Nightmares make sleep difficult, as I know from personal experience, and we still have a plethora of topics to discuss.”

I jumped on the offer, even the thought of trying to go back to sleep making me edgy. “Definitely. Just…let me put myself back together.”

He nodded, hefting himself off the bed, though–to my surprise–his hand stayed clasped around mine. I almost asked him to remove it, but safety eased out from the contact in waves and right now I burned for more of that. Taking slow breaths until the shards of panic fled, I eased off the bed before gesturing for him to lead on.

In no time, I found myself lying down with my head in his lap, the soothing caress of his fingers through my hair working magic as my lids fought to remain open. Wasn’t I telling myself to not let this happen anymore?

His fingers dug deeper, massaging lightly, and after a second of thought, I let the worry go. I was only napping on him and after the hell that was my nightmare I deserved some peace.

If the price of that peace was my crush growing ever bigger? Well, I’d deal with the repercussions of that later.