Charlotte Munro

Such a pity, really; the prey falling for the predator. The victim in love with the killer... A mere mortal girl thinking a demon was capable of love.

You can wait as long as you like, pretty one, it won't make any difference. He will never see you as anything more than some victim he has to protect. Why he thinks it his duty to protect you from the inevitable, I do not know... unless he knows something we do not...

By the sound of things, you know nothing about mathematics.''You can put it like that. I'm utterly useless.''Useless is such a harsh word, you are merely... inexperienced. So I thought we could start at the beginning.''I'm not that stupid. I know how to add, subtract and multiply-''I don't mean that kind of beginning...

I sunk to my knees in the spot he had left me. I felt a part of me had just been lost. I was fraught with so many emotions, confused by them all; however, I was hurt more than anything. Hurt to hear him call himself a monster. A monster? Of all the things I thought he was, a monster was not one of them.

You are a bright light, Elli._ His own breath hitches, a sound that I cannot quite grasp. His eyes are darkening, his lips tightening. His hands grasp me tighter and he moves closer, his mouth inches from mine, I can almost taste the sweetness and saltiness of his scent, the rich coffee beans and sugar, the vague spearmint. I say nothing, I__ not even sure I__ breathing.__ou shouldn__ have to see such pain, such blackness. You are too pure._ His lips do not collide with mine, his skin does not brush against me, only his voice sends a shiver down every notch in my spine, trailing goose bumps over my skin. He tilts his head to the side, his lips gently brushing against my ear. And that is all. I__ not good enough for him. I__ not. That__ why_ that__ why__oo pure_

East Hollow is full of tormented souls._ I remark, only to hear his chuckle, his eyes moving forward just in time to step out of the way of a wayward man with armfuls of carrier bags.__ow that is the attraction.

I want to get to know you a little better._ His hand touches mine, the briefest of touches but I still recoil my hand into the sleeve of my cardigan. His touch is blisteringly hot, I__ sure earlier today when he cupped my cheek I had burn marks. But no, it is just him, just his touch, it sends crazy little shivers throughout my entirety.__ don__ understand you_ you said you want what you cannot have. Isn__ this a form of torture?___oes a person who wishes to lose weight not taunt themselves with sweets? Does a person not go by the same window every day, just to glimpse the piece of jewellery they long for, yet can never attain? We torment ourselves every day with things we cannot have. Perhaps it is torture, but perhaps my request is genuine.

You__e different, Elli. You__e unlike anyone else, it__ because of that___ow can a Prince, how can someone like you be seen with me? I get it, Evan, its fine.___t__ because of that, I want you.

I can__ just take it.___ou can. I__ giving it to you._ She affirms, glimpsing quickly up at me and then down to the floor, moving her foot once and then back again. Still her hand is offered to me, still flinching with the ring in her palm.__hat do you want for it?___othing._ __ou must want something._ __... got what I wanted._ She smiles, such a light, smooth movement of her lips, but it dies out so quickly, like a candle light being blown in the wind. __hat__ that?___ got to see you again, to give it to you.

No. No_ No!_ the fear ebbed my voice, cut through me like a knife. I ran, bare feet slipping and sliding over the floorboards. I turned the corner and headed for the backdoor.Run. Run. I must run.As soon as I reached the backdoor in the kitchen, pulling the barn door from the hinges, I felt his gaze upon me. Cinders and kindling crunched at my feet; what had once been my lovely mahogany kitchen furniture was now little more than firewood. My crockery and china splintered in shards and as I turned to face him, I felt them dig into my skin, cut me with every shiver that bolted through my frame.__ou wanted Hemlock House. You have, Hemlock House._ His voice was dark, cruel and yet hauntingly light. As if cooing, whispering to a newborn. He was lounging against the countertop as if waiting for breakfast, as if waiting for something so meaningless.

I can__ believe it._ I whispered.__ou can__ let him lure you back in, Felicia. He__ wrong. He__ wrong!_ Vanian pleaded, I could feel the quiver of his magic, the wisps that were fighting against the iron burning into his wrists, I could feel the crackle as it fought in the air, against his emotions, against his pain. I shook my head, was about to speak but Adam grabbed him by the front of his shirt; as if a few more tears and shreds couldn__ go amiss. The tightness of his grip paled the Faerie__ cheeks, caused the blood to trickle down faster, dropping to the floor.__y wife._ He yelled, __he__ my wife, silverblood._ With each growl of a syllable he accented it with a punch to Vanian__ face.I couldn__ take much more. I jumped over and pulled at Adam__ shoulders, fingertips driving into the nook of his collarbone, pressing down with as much as I had in me, anything to break his hold. He recoiled and rose his hand to me, at first I flinched but I stopped. He wouldn__ hurt me. He wouldn__.

I stared down at my hands and saw the blood coat them, how warm and real something felt when it wasn__ just ink and stains. This was life and I was holding it in my hands. I drew my eyes back up and beneath the flickering streetlight and the throng of drunken cattle, I saw nothing else but the dead girl. Somebody out there had taken her life, her heart, and there I was with her warm, sticky blood. Feeling the most alive I__ felt in years.I had to find him. I just had to.

Ah, such a good pretty one.' There was a pause, 'You even got yourself dressed up.

Avalon is full of desperate people._ She bites at her lower lip this time, fumbling her hands, knitting her fingers into the bundle of plastic coin bags in her grasp. __re you implying that I__ desperate?_ I say, one eyebrow tilting.__ou don__ need to be desperate_ you can have anyone... I_ she trails off. Looking up and trying to search the line of shops for the bank. I repulse her, I make her want to run. Why is this so hard? I need to get inside of her, I need to know what she is thinking, what she is wanting.It surely isn__ me she wants. Not to the extent that I_ want her.__ou?_ I entice her to finish her sentence but she doesn__, she stares off into the bustling crowds, memory flashing her eyes with a darkness.__adi wouldn__ fumble like this.__h, she would fumble, but not in the way you are, Elli.__ou__e not her, Elli._ I entice her again, trying to force the dark memory, the sadness from her.__o, if I was, you wouldn__ have wanted anyone else.__ breath hitches in her throat, she puts a hand over her mouth and says something else, her cheeks dance a shade of red that brightens and brightens until she apologises and quickens her pace. I chuckle, pulling at her arm and encircling one around her waist, pulling her back to me. Beneath my touch, her body trembles. When I raise my hand, my palm touching her cheek, I am sure she isn__ breathing.__ don__ want anyone, Elli._ My eyes burn, consuming her with my gaze. She is like a frightful deer, struggling beneath me with a gaze that cannot quite meet mine. When she does, it is only for a brief second before falling down and all I see is the gentle flutter of her raven flashes.__ told you. I want someone I cannot have.___hat is a really harsh way of telling someone you__e not interested.