Bound

by K. H. Kate

  But when the chance finally came? That woman ruined everything. I should have tried harder to keep her possessed, to make sure she never felt anything but to follow my orders.

  Feed on my words and die on my wrath.

  "What are you doing here?" It surprised me how she was still holding on after getting tortured every day. When I didn't say anything, she hissed. "Came to my see my misery?"

  "Don't talk to me in that tone. You have disgraced me."

  "No...you are the one who disgraced me."

  I wanted to laugh at the braveness she was putting on. She was gullible, always so ready to jump at my words. The poor girl was so desperate for a friend that she'd do anything. Pity, once I really liked her. "You should've taken my hand when I offered it to you. Then you wouldn't have to worry about your children killing you, Keisha."

  Keisha was weaker than the last I saw her. She was in prison with nothing but her past memories. With no souls and no magic? She was just as good as gone.

  "I chose what I had to choose. You bewitched me. Talked about love and sacrifice. I didn't even realize when I got trapped in your stupid games. You were the one who didn't let me live in peace! You ripped me from Zedkiel, you killed my unborn child, and I had to kill my husband to lift the curse you brought upon me! Your book didn't work. You lied to me!" She yelled at my face, gripping the iron trying to rip it apart. Too bad she wasn't as powerful as she used to be.

  "I just bought a curse upon you, don't I, sweet Keisha? So who saved you from your sacrifice, who thought you'll be a perfect bride and took powers from the old King of Darkness. I wasn't the one who got knocked up even if she wasn't meant to spread this curse."

  "I may not love Jonathan but we had an understanding. But you had to ruin that too. Did you really think I'd marry you? A hellhound!" She cried out. "You sadistic bastard, I should have killed you the first time I realized you had no longer any control over me."

  I couldn't stop the chuckle. "It was merely a test which you failed. I thought you'd give me the powers to break the seal between hell and earth. Or at best, find me a Seeker. And what did you do? You jump right in the bed of a warlock, a clan leader nonetheless."

  It was a long time plotting, really. Thousands and thousands of years of failed attempts had made me perfect the chaos I brought to the life of the Desahyes bloodline. And what made it easier was Keisha's naivety. That girl was too dense to realize when a hellhound was starting to control her every move, her every breath and in the end?

  Her entire life.

  Fate was null when it came to her. I wrote her fate, I guided it. And sooner or later she'd cave it again. With that thought, I turned to leave but her loud shriek stopped me from taking another step.

  "If-if I wanted to...really wanted to, both of them would be dead by now. But I triggered their curse instead. Ever wondered why?"

  I didn't turn back. I only grinned as I thought of how she'd take the news. "Lucky for me, you weren't the only puppet I had. Lana is coming soon to join that prison of yours. Goodnight."

  "You'll rot here with me, master." She snarled, slamming the iron bar with her bruised fists. "I'll end you! I'll end you, you bastard!"

  "Seven centuries, Eros. When would we stop?"

  "When you decide it. I can't be the only one waiting-" He stopped, turning around quickly to notice who interrupted their talking.

  When I scheduled a meeting with Eros, I didn't exactly expect to see him get caught with a girl. Not my fault if he forgot to say goodbye to his clients before the next meeting.

  I waved, grinning.

  The girl didn't take long to leave and then Eros was coming over with a grin of his own. "Can't resist a little gossip?"

  I shrugged. "You two weren't exactly quiet. Who's that?"

  "Catherine, Rebecca's daughter."

  "The bitch has a daughter?" I threw my hands off when he raised an eyebrow. "I'm not saying sorry."

  "You're not entirely wrong so..."

  "What's up with the sulking?" The handful of times I've seen him in the coven, he was always grinning or cracking jokes. He looked far away from that now.

  He sighed. "It's complicated."

  Complicated for me was Mikhail. And the fact that I was trying to bring back Emie for two months only to face failure.

  "What? The bitch doesn't want you to be with her daughter? Thinks too highly of herself?"

  "That." A smile formed on his face. "And she already has a beloved."

  Oh, it was that complicated.

  "That sucks."

  "Yeah sucks that her beloved has no problem with me but she has. She's being irrational, kinda like you, 5132. She thinks she's protecting us."

  “It’s not complicated then. You love her like I love souls.”

  He snorted, poking my nose with a smile. “I’m that transparent?”

  He had no idea. "Yup. I am starting to think I'm going to like this Catherine."

  "Oh, you will. She was the one who broke the monarchy system, bringing all the Volkios together. Unfortunately, you caught her on the wrong day. Enough about her. What did you want to talk about?"

  I took a deep breath, not wanting to show him how utterly desperate I was. "I wanted to know if you can talk to some demons again."

  I expected to see him frustrated but he was looking at me with pity. That was even worse. "Look. You asked me and I did already. They don't know where she is, none of us do."

  "Maybe they were low tanked demons," I suggested. That was possible, right? "Why don't you visit home for a while? Better yet, take me with you."

  "You know it's not possible. We're stuck here." Fuck, I knew. Of course, I knew.

  "5132, I understand you want your family back. Some of us want that do too but there was a reason the gate was closed. We've all accepted that. Maybe it's time you should too." No, no. Accepting meant giving up, moving on. I couldn't do that.

  Never.

  "So you can't help me."

  "I didn't say that. Ask me about anything else-"

  "I don't want anything else. I just need my sister back!" This wasn't the way I hoped this meeting would go. Fuck. "Either you give me some word, anything that tells me where she is. Or I'm leaving."

  He stared at me, unflinching. "I'm sorry."

  So be it.

  I left his estate for the coven's manor. Two months. Two whole months of trying and hoping were coming to an end just like that. Hannah tried several spells from that book, spells that were forbidden to even use. We even dared to summon some demons via Eros so that I could find out in what part of the hell Emie was in. But it's like she disappeared off the hell. No one knew where she landed when she was banished with Keisha. Either I had to try harder or the other realization...it was just so surreal.

  I didn't want to believe that Emie was dead.

  "How did it go?"

  I didn't need to look up to see who it was. Whenever we would be in the same room, her eyes always followed mine.

  "Not good. He can't help us anymore but I'm not giving up." I gritted out much to her amusement.

  "Sometimes it's hard to tell you two apart. Especially when you both have the same stubborn nature to figure out something." Her words only made me cringe. I wasn't like my sister. I was a psycho on souls, always high and looking for trouble.

  "5132?"

  "Hmm." I distractedly answered.

  "Dear, you alright?" Hannah asked again, her hands grabbing onto my shoulder in concern.

  "Yeah, of course. We will find her without opening the gate. We have to." In truth, I was tired as fuck. Even if I didn't want to admit it, staying far away from Mikhail had its own brand of punishment. But I couldn’t ask for more favors. Not when I saw what the gate of hell opening did to him.

  "You look tired. Do you need...?"

  "What?"

  "You know...Soul?"

  The way she said it...Was that the reason Hannah always looked so guarded with me? Like I'd just jump on her if she pissed me off? She must h
ave seen the look on my face as she quickly apologized.

  "I didn't mean it like that way! We need you stronger now. I thought it's best to ask rather than you-" Hannah paused, looking away. "I didn't have the best interaction with a Reaper, you know. I don't want you to turn into your ma. But if you stop taking at least some energy, it's going to blow up-"

  "It's OK!" I was quick to assure her. The stories I heard from everyone only propelled me to become like anyone rather than that bitch. "I have it under control. I took some souls from the older members of your coven. The ones already dying so I don't go after the humans. It's kind of a routine I made up not to piss off your other members in the coven. I think even they agree."

  "That's not why she is worried." Allegra's voice made me jump. Where the hell she even came from? She sounded irritated as she waved her fingers back and forth between me and Hannah. "She is worried because of a new threat. And what do I know? The threat came as soon as you were welcomed in the coven."

  Whereat times Allegra didn't exactly like me but she wasn't out to get me either. So if Allegra thought there was a threat...

  "What's this about?" I asked Hannah, the pressure starting to get to me.

  "I-I...your ma took my soul once. When she was sent to hell every person's soul they took was returned. The humans were worst, gal, lost to find where they left their life. I was a clan leader but still when I returned, something in me changed. The truth is...I became a Volkios because I killed the previous one in the middle of a panic attack."

  The shock made me almost speechless.

  "What happened?"

  "I woke up with too much pain en loss. I think it's the guilt that I couldn't save Emeline, my only student was who made me lose it. I went back home, found your sister's husband asking for my help. When I couldn't help him, he kicked me out of my own town." Hannah's gaze turned cold. "I had a lead that dit coven took witches that needed help or didn't have anyone. I came here to ask for help only to lose control once my position was challenged. I am sorry, I shouldn't have said that much."

  "No, no!" I was curious to know. "What does the threat has to do with this story?"

  "Some of the members still don't trust me to lead dit coven. And once you were welcomed, someone...some people from our coven started getting possessed by evil spirits. They were talking in gibberish. Most of the time they were asking for some Seeker. It’s not like I could cure them, one by one everyone dropped dead."

  Seeker?

  The feeling of cold foreboding made me shiver.

  "What...what Seeker?"

  "Huh?" Hannah looked back only now realizing the tight grip I had. "Oh...Legend has that when a witch en demon mate, that's when a Seeker is born. Their offspring becomes a Reaper hunter. They were born solely to kill your species. It's like a poison to your kind. You will want to kill them en they'll want to do the same. Some clans en bloodlines follow the spirit magic. Those who are in favor of a Seeker want to make sure there's no Reaper left alive. The clan I was born in en the others follows traditional magic. Where we don't particularly like you, we wouldn't want you dead either.”

  Fuck.

  Mikhail was a Seeker. He warned me, he warned me many times but I never listened.

  "Dear...what happened?" Hannah asked with a frown when she didn't find any reaction from me.

  "Seekers..." I could feel my breath hitch as I said the words. Was anything even real between us? All those talks about figuring me out? Giving me time? "Do they know what they are or what their purpose in life is?"

  "Um, I don't know much Seekers to know about but in the last few centuries, there were some Seekers who learned to live like normal people. But it is in their instinct to kill one when they see one."

  He told me he’d fix me.

  And, I practically handed him everything.

  I was a mess.

  All my hope was fucking lost. Mikhail turned out to be after my precious shelf. My trust issues were starting to give me purple flags at this point. And that's not even the worse thing. Turned out, I really needed meds to continue living. After having a seizure that made Hannah sob like none, I was on house arrest. Or whatever Allegra said was needed for me to get back to my feet. I mean I couldn't even be good at being a healthy Reaper.

  How could anyone be that imperfect?

  Not only that.

  Staying alone all day made me start to see Samara again. I didn't know what to think about that. She kept telling me stories of the lost souls, not to believe anyone but myself. To hold onto my sanity. But how could I when I was constantly seeing my dead best friend giving me lectures about life?

  "Fuck them," I whispered, throwing a glass at Samara.

  She didn't react.

  "You left me. He left me. All of you are plotting against me, aren't you?" Picking the broken parts, I pointed a large one toward her. "You want me insane then you want to fix me. Lies!"

  "Is it me you're angry at?" She asked, pity in her gaze.

  "Who I'd be angry at, huh? You all-" I was just about to force myself to sound indifferent when my door was ripped open.

  "It started again!"

  Startled, I looked at the door to see Allegra with a worried frown. Oh, fuck no. If these witches were being possessed again... "Where's Hannah?"

  "She's taking control of the ritual room right now. Also, they threatened to kill everyone if you don't show up." Allegra sounded too tensed to a liar. Usually, they just shouted and disappeared themselves but I had to admit, it was a new way to approach us. Did they finally learn how to command the coven?

  "Come on." I sighed, looking at the mirror in front of me. Shit, I was hideous. Refusing to see the damage, I jogged out of the room to see the most horrible thing anyone could've ever face. Allegra's face held the same horror I was trying to hide.

  There were bodies throughout the hall room and kitchen. Some were half dead and some were already dead. Didn't they cry or scream? I should've known if there was that kind of murder going on. My nose started to pick up the familiar smell of death and I could hear those tunes again. That lullaby...There was something else in here. I couldn't see it, but I could feel the pull. It was toxic and deadly. I hurried to the ritual room with a whimpering Allegra and froze.

  "Run." Allegra looked at me, shocked. I nodded at her with an apologetic gaze. "You have to run and ask for help. I can't leave considering they want me."

  Allegra choked out a scream as she also saw what was left of the coven. "But 5132-"

  "The coven comes first. Go!"

  Allegra didn't need another push. With new determination, she rushed through the maze of possessed members of our coven. Only when I knew that Allegra safely ran out of the manor that I allowed myself to enter the ritual room.

  There was at least hundreds of member staring down at the corner of the room where Hannah was in, chanting something loudly. I couldn't help her like that but I wasn't completely useless. Taking off the necklace I got from Keisha's stuff, I let it dangle between my fingers, feeding off those crazy witch and warlock's energies.

  Some of them must have realized what I was trying to do cause even Hannah's attention was on me. "What are you doing!"

  "Saving us!" I yelled back, pushing past the possessed members. Those eyes gazed at me in fear and anger giving Hannah time to slip through a trap door. The best part of this manor? There were trap doors only Hannah and I knew.

  "Don't you know if someone wants something, you definitely don't give them that?" Hannah chided with a smile. "You can hide it now. You're going to suck my energy dry too."

  Oops.

  "What to do now?"

  "That book you had, I need you to hide it somewhere safe. They want it." That book? What the hell were they going to do with it?

  "They want to practice dark magic? That's it? Disappointing really-" The door was broken with a couple of angry dead witches. Without waiting to see if they caught up to us, we took off to the library. Instead of keeping the book with me, the Volkios argue
d that it should be in the library.

  Now they might have already found it.

  Dammit.

  "Why do they want it!"

  "There was a section in it that I didn't want you to read. There's a spell that's usually used to summon the Seeker who is tied to the Reaper he was meant to kill. They are going to use it on you, hun."

  Unbelievable!

  "Fuck!" Kicking the door open, I looked around, catching sight of the book. They couldn't be any more subtle even if they tried any harder. Cursing, I snatched the book from a random section only to hear footsteps behind.

  "We have to go."

  Hannah shook her head, a sneer on her face from how hard she was trying to block the people from getting in. "You have to go. Hide it and don't get killed, please, Lana. Promise me!"

  "I...I let Allegra run!" I didn't know I was panicking until Hannah touched my chin. "Hannah, she could have helped you. Dammit!"

  "No, she couldn't. She would have died." Hannah shook her head with a sad smile. "I have to hold the fort. That's what Volkioses do. Now, run!"

  I didn't know how fast I ran.

  Or where.

  "Pre io!" I gained more speed hearing the snarl behind me. They couldn't catch me. Not now. Suddenly something slammed me down to my knees with the brutal force they used. Two pairs of hands were grabbing my shoulder to keep me in place before I could even sprint again.

  "Master won't be pleased. Take the book and the girl to the Seeker. Hurry up!" He snapped at the rest of the members. He was the first one to say any English word between all of them but I didn't understand who this master was.

  Valentine?

  Anger like nothing before rushed through me. Teeth bared, I spat at the man holding me. "I'll kill you and your master, you fuck-ah!"

  My throat burned as I tried to scream in hunger. If my hands were free, I just knew I would have clawed my throat out. My breath shortened which surprised me to no end. I had only ever felt like this once in my life. When I first met Mikhail. It was pure torture to just feel the Reaper side on the surface and not being able to fully turn. The men laughed around me but it was humorless. Almost like coming from some kind of delirium.