Eternal

“Unya please, I need you to have an open mind, there is so much for me to explain and you really need to hear it.”

I stood up, pushing the chair back abruptly, as I repeatedly shook my head at her, I refused to listen to anymore of her lunacy as I high tailed it to her back door and ran down the garden.

She called after me, begging me to come back, but I refused to acknowledge her plea as I kept on running until I made it back to my car.

Z

Lawson

Three Days Later

It had been three days since I had last seen Unya and I knew it was time to put any personal feelings to bed and get on with my assignment because that was all she was. I just had to discover one way or another if she was ‘The One’ that he was seeking, and if she was I would simply deliver her to his feet. If she chose to not cooperate, then I would simply drag her there kicking and screaming.

Once that was done, I could go about my existence as though I had never lain eyes on her, Kat may find some issues with what I had to do, but she would move on. She always knew what was going to happen if Unya’s fate had already been sealed for her, all I had to do was keep an eye on her and make sure that she stayed alive long enough for me to know if her life really was worth anything to us.

I found myself scratching at the scars under my shirt, before cursing under my breath. I knew that Lilianna would not approve of my sudden change to Unya, but what did it matter. I decided to try and get a little shut eye before trying to locate her again, and once I drifted off, I found myself wishing that I just simply stayed awake.

I was back in our cottage, it had never been anything special, to be fair it was more run down then anything, but it meant everything to the two of us.

I kicked at the thick layer of dust that was covering the floor and wished that my subconscious would stop torturing me, by bringing me back to this place.

“Maybe I should just burn this whole place down to the ground,” I said out loud to myself, and then a floor board creaked, I spun around on the spot and was left staring in shock, with my mouth hanging wide.

“Don’t you dare Lawson; you know how much this place meant to me.”

Lilianna was standing right in front of me, with her hands firmly on her hips and at that moment I hoped I never awoke again.

I swooped her up into my arms and held her close, as she laughed softly into my chest, before slowly pushing me back and placing her feet back on the ground.

“My sweet Lawson, what has happened to you, you are filled with such darkness and anger?”

“Are you really surprised, they stole you from me, they snatched away all my hopes for the future when you went away, how can you not be angry?” I fired back at her, feeling the rage building up inside me, just searching for a release.

“My Sweet, of course I was angry at first, we had the entirety of our lives to enjoy with one another, but obviously that was not meant to be. As for being angry now, how could I be, it has been over three hundred years since that event happened. You need to put the past behind you and create a new future for yourself, find someone that could make you happy, that will make you want to smile at least once every day.”

“How could you ask that of me, my happiness died, the day you vanished from my life, forget a three hundred years, it feels like yesterday to me. You were everything to me, you kept me from turning dark, what a lot of good that did in the long run hey.”

I felt the palm of her hand connect with my cheek, and stared at her in shock. My Lilianna would have never raised a hand to me, but of course she wasn’t really mine at all, this was just a figment of my imagination, nothing more and nothing less.

“It is not my fault that you went there, I begged you to not let what happened change you, you could have found someone else and been happy, but instead you sold your soul to the figurative devil. You are filled with nothing but darkness and anger or so you believe. But I can see the truth of what really lies beneath your skin Lawson,” her fingers splayed out across my chest, as her eyes darkened and her voice took on an eerie and creepy quality.

“I couldn’t help it, all I could see was red and I couldn’t wash the blood off of me, it tainted me and changed me. I tried to hold on to whom I was when I was with you, but that Lawson is long gone.”

She pushed me up against the door and pushed her face closer to mine, with the tips of our noses touching and her breath dancing across my lips.

“You cannot sentence that girl to a fate worse than death, if you do then you are right, the man I gave my heart too really is gone. I’m just glad I didn’t live long enough to meet this version of you, so goodbye Lawson, keep telling yourself this was just dream if it makes it easier. This will be the last one I ever visit you in.”

She crushed her lips against mine, it was so intense that the air in my lungs blew out of me. I opened my eyes as she disconnected her lips from mine and I couldn’t help the scream that lodged itself within my throat. The vision that was my Lilianna had been warped and ruined by the blood that was now covering her, her dress was soaked in the sticky substance and her mouth was wide open in a silent scream. Her glorious blue eyes, now nothing more than black cavernous pits. I stepped back, but she kept on pursuing me, reaching out, silently begging me to save her this time, when I had failed so pitifully when it truly mattered.

I woke up screaming, with Kat sitting at my side shaking me frantically. I stared up into her eyes and a dam broke from within me as the tears streamed down my face. She pulled me into her arms and just listened as I recalled every detail of the dream that would forever be imprinted in my mind. It was the first dream I’d had of Lilianna where she had spoken to me coherently before the inevitable scene of bloodshed.

Chapter Eleven

Unya

A week passed since my strange encounter with Mihaela, I knew that she was crazy, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about what she said. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she believed every word that she said to me, even if it was impossible.

I managed to find a cheap little bed and breakfast, that thanks to my authentic looking fake ID, I was able to stay in. But since a week had now passed, I knew that I had to go back to Jackie’s, my lack of bruises would no longer be held under suspicion, but I knew that I wasn’t going to get away with my little disappearing act.