Halfling (Black Petals Book 1)

by Tarisa Marie

  Forrest pulls out a flashlight when we get to the bottom of the ladder and to the black hole in the wall. How far is this walk going to be?

  Forrest goes first and I follow him, the human after me. We jog for a while, but the human can’t keep up, because he is clearly malnourished. We walk for what seems like hours, and it’s unbelievably hot. I feel like I’m suffocating. I’m not claustrophobic, but this little space is making me feel like I am. Finally, I see a very dim light and pick up pace. Forrest warns me to slow down, because he wants to check out the surroundings outside.

  He peeks out of the small hole above us and listens for a moment before pulling me up onto the grass above. Then we help up the human together. We stand in a treed area. A familiar treed area. It’s the same place that Aiden and I came to when we first arrived in hell.

  Forrest motions to the rock and hands me a knife. “Everyone hold hands. Megan, cut your hand and let it drip on that symbol, then I’ll say the words to open the portal.”

  Inside I’m partially surprised that we haven’t gotten caught yet. I do as he says, wincing as my palm is sliced open. It stings like a fricken bitch. Holy chocolate blueberries.

  Soon we are standing in sunlight. Well, a little. The tree canopies make it a little dark, but it’s the most light I’ve seen in days. A sharp breath escapes Forrest.

  “I’ve never seen the sun,” he mutters to himself. A brilliant smile invades his face.

  “Now what?” I ask him nervously. What are we to do with this human now?

  He looks to me apologetically. “Megan, I’m sorry. I had to do what I did to get out of there. I needed your blood.”

  I don’t get what he’s trying to say.

  “I want the servants to be freed, don’t get me wrong, but I also had to get out of hell,” he explains slowly, a frown growing on his lips. “You can’t compel someone to open the portal or use their blood to open it without them. That person has to be truly willing. When you showed up in hell and I saw how much you cared for the servants, I knew you were my way out. I gave Mr. Castile the weapon he wanted for my brother’s freedom, but little did anyone know that my brother, like me, has never been affected by compulsion. It was just a ruse. He pretended to be compelled, pretended to be a loyal guard.”

  My breathing catches in my lungs. Oh my god. I’ve been set up by Forrest. A cuss escapes my lips in a rush, and I clench my teeth. He’s used me to get out of hell. I just helped him escape. I helped two demidemons escape hell. Aiden is going to kill me.

  “This is my brother Maxwell. We are going to go now. Again, I’m sorry. It’s nothing personal. I actually like you, Megan,” he apologizes. I don’t know what to say. My mouth is basically hanging open in shock.

  Why did I ever trust him? What reason did I have to trust him from the beginning? Aiden has warned me time and time again not to trust anyone in this new world, and here I am. “You can drain her now. Strengthen yourself for the trip ahead. You need to be strong,” Forrest says to the Maxwell. “She’s a halfling. She’ll live on.” They both turn and look at me. What is he talking about? Draining me? I know this can only mean one thing but I don’t understand how it’s possible unless demidemons survive off of souls. Do they? Is it possible? I guess it could be, seeing as they are more like demons than they are like humans, the opposite of how halflings are.

  At this revelation, my jaw drops even further. Holy crap on a stick. This can’t be happening. “No! I won’t say anything. I don’t care if you run,” I stutter, scared.

  “I like you, Megan. I like you a lot. I think that in another life we could’ve been great friends, but I have to look out for myself and my family. I’m sorry. It won’t hurt, not much anyway. Maxwell here is frail, they don’t feed the guards or servants much in Tartarus. I’m sorry.” Forrest looks genuinely apologetic, but it doesn’t make a difference. I’m not about to give up my soul without a fight. Even if I know that I don’t have a chance. It’s two demidemons again me, a halfling who has hardly any training and no demonic characteristics. I’m flipping screwed.

  Maxwell dives at me, knocking down. I kick him in the shin, and he throws me down harshly to the ground.

  “Easy now, brother. You don’t have to make it painful for her,” Forrest warns ad steps forward.

  I can’t move. This is it. I wait for it. I wait for him to start sucking out my soul. I even pray. I don’t know who I pray to, because I don’t believe in god, but I pray. Then I feel it. It feels like someone is pulling something from my brain, down my throat, and out my mouth. It’s the most disgusting feeling that I’ve ever felt. It sends chills down my spine. My vision begins to blur then finally it fades out completely, and I’m left lying on the grass passed out.

  When I awaken, I am so extremely pissed off that I have trouble keeping a handle on myself. I stand and take in my surroundings. Everything is so damn bright that it makes my eyes hurt. Where is that asshole? He’s gone. I don’t have a clue how to get back through the portal to hell, I don’t know the magic password so to speak, so I begin walking through the field in the direction I came here from days ago with Aiden. In less than an hour later, I make it to Aiden’s house without getting lost.

  Walking up to the gated house, I nearly bust down the door in rage.

  “Megan?” a male voice asks, sounding concerned. It’s Terry. The man whose son just tried to suck out my soul and turn me into a demon.

  I stop dead in my tracks and stare at him, shooting him daggers although I know that it’s not his fault.

  “What’s going on? Is Aiden alright?” he asks, sounding genuinely worried. Does he not know where his son is, and what he’s been up to?

  “Where’s Forrest?” I ask him, ready to tear the guy apart.

  “In…hell…I would assume,” he says slowly and takes a step towards me.

  “He used me to get out of hell,” I tell him, expecting him to give some sort of clue that he was part of Forrest’s plan.

  Terry’s eyes widen. “That little shit. Aiden’s going to kill him. Shit!” Terry slams his fist into a wall, sending drywall flying every which way. I’m not sure if he’s angry because of Forrest’s actions or because he knows that if and when Aiden finds him he’ll kill his son.

  “Yeah, Maxwell too. They’re both out,” I explain, when I realize that obviously he has nothing to do with any of this. If he did, then Aiden would have been aware of Terry’s sons’ plan, because Terry is loyal to Aiden. Even if that mean betraying his sons.

  I ignore his little fit and storm into Aiden’s library where he keeps all of his books. I pull one from the shelf and sift through it until I find what I need. I find a scrap piece of paper and scribble down the words that’ll get me back through the portal. I have to find Aiden and… And what? Apologize? I’m still in the wrong here. I still snuck two demidemons out of hell. Sure, I thought I was helping human slaves escape, but that’s still illegal.

  A hand lands on my shoulder and turns me around.

  “Ma’am you need to get back under Mr. Castile’s protection. Does he know about your current situation?” Terry wonders, obviously he’s regained his composure. “You’re not safe here unguarded.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” I admit. He’s probably worries sick about me. How long have I been gone anyway?

  “I will inform him. Do not go anywhere,” Terry warns me sternly. He’s never talked to me so harshly, so demandingly. He’s Aiden’s servant. He’s a servant. He can’t talk to me like this. Well, actually he can if I do something that Aiden would disapprove of. Terry is Aiden’s servant not mine. He has to listen to Aiden no matter what. If I am in some sort of danger or he thinks that Aiden needs to know something, he has to tell Aiden. If Aiden told Terry to do everything in his power to keep me safe, which I’m sure Aiden did, Terry has to do just that.

  Terry must know that I’m not about to listen to him, because before I have the chance to reply, Terry is subduing me. He holds me in a grasp so firm that I can’t move a muscle. Th
en my neck makes the most terrible cracking pain imaginable, and a splitting pain climbs my back.

  I wake up in a cell in Aiden’s basement, Aiden standing over me.

  “Megan,” he states evenly.

  “Aiden,” I say in a rush. I suddenly feel like all of the air in my lungs has been kicked out of me.

  “How did this happen?” he asks me, no emotion on his face whatsoever.

  “Forrest tricked me to get out of hell. He told me we were…helping some servants escape,” I mutter truthfully and struggle to stand. My legs are weak and wobbly, and I’m starving. How long have I been in here?

  Aiden stares at me for a few very long seconds, agonizing seconds. “I will be back. Hang tight.”

  “Where are you going? Let me out! Terry threw me in here,” I explain. God, why am I so edgy? So angry? Yes, I should be pissed at Forrest, but seriously, I’m having an absolute freaking fit.

  Aiden looks to me sadly. “I am going to speak with someone in hell. I’ll be right back.” Without another word, Aiden is up the stairs, and I am alone again. If only all demons carried cell phones. If only cell phones worked in hell.

  While he’s gone, I focus on calming down and steadying my breathing. No harm’s been done right? I mean besides the possibility that I could be in a whole lot of trouble, but hey, I’m going to die in a few months anyway, right? Oh my god. Who am I trying to kid? I’m not okay with this. I’m not okay with dying. I’m terrified of dying. Crap. This really sucks, but what did I expect? Not this, but I knew that there was a chance from the beginning that I could be caught.

  Aiden returns nearly an hour later, a grim expression on his face. “Forrest will be found and taken care of, Megan.”

  “Don’t hurt him,” I beg. Forrest’s actions are punishable by death as per law. I don’t want him to die from his actions, even if he did piss me off and nearly cause me to turn into a demon, my worst fear. Anxiety overwhelms me. I feel a panic attack coming on.

  “The council will decide what becomes of him, Megan. How are you feeling?” he asks, staring me in the eyes. He’s cold. Icy cold.

  I gulp, squeeze my eyes shut tightly for a moment and then slowly open them. “I’m fine. I’m just really hungry,” I admit, the hunger becoming impossible to ignore. “What is going to happen to me? Are they going to have to kill me for breaking the law?”

  One side of his mouth curls up into a half grin. “No, I won’t let them touch you, Megan. Of course not. If I say that Forrest kidnapped you, then that’s what happened. I won’t be questioned. My word over a criminals will easily be taken.”

  But isn’t kidnapping me going to add another charge to Forrest’s plate? Won’t it get him in even more trouble? “You can’t do that!” I shout, not meaning to raise my voice. “And it wasn’t just Forrest. It was his brother Maxwell,” I tattle, feeling like an asshole and throwing the guy under the bus.

  “I know about Maxwell.” His back straightens. “Actually I can do this, and I will. Why would you defend someone who’s done this to you?” he wonders, clearly confused.

  “He’s a good guy. He just wanted freedom. You can’t blame him for that. Wouldn’t you have done the same?” I try to justify the mens’ actions.

  Aiden thinks about it and then scratches the back of his neck slowly. “I know that you are partly in the wrong for this, Megan, but I will not let anyone lay and finger on you. It might be selfish and wrong, but I will throw Forrest and Maxwell into the fire if it saves your life. They’re both probably going to be sentenced to death anyways without the charge of kidnapping you added to the mess. They’re demidemons, free demidemons, but still demidemons, ones who can’t be controlled by compulsion. The council won’t give them mercy,” Aiden continues. He sighs a deep sigh. He looks exhausted.

  “Megan, he did to you what you never wanted for yourself. He took your soul without your permission and damned you to eternal life as a soulless creature without chance of reincarnation. You can’t possibly have forgiven him for that already.”

  My heart falls into my stomach, and my mouth drops open again. Does Aiden think that Forrest and Maxwell turned me into a demon?

  “You didn’t know,” Aiden observes. He looks to me as if he feels sorry for me, and that angers me deep down. “Megan, you’re a demon. He took your soul.”

  I swear that my heart stops in that moment. Aiden turns and picks up a piece of shiny tin from the corner and holds it up in front of my face. Dark, black, endless irises envelope my pupils making one big round black hole. I nearly puke. No, no, this isn’t happening. I realize that I’m not breathing and suck in a quick breath. I step back from the mirror-like tin and a disgruntled sob escapes me. I have to be seeing things. This can’t be happening.

  “You’re not in transition yet. You have to consume a soul first. If you don’t, then you’ll go crazy until you do consume one. You’ll eventually lose control,” Aiden summarizes, reaching through the cell bars to grasp my hand. “After you take your first soul, you’ll start becoming a pure blood demon. You’ll start losing certain emotions and gaining new strengths.”

  He stops for a moment, letting me come to terms with this as if it’ll only take a few seconds for me to digest this all. “You’re locked up down here because Terry didn’t know what to do and didn’t want you running off before I could get here. He was helping you by throwing you in here, Megan. If you’d have run and killed a bunch of people without meaning to, then you could be in all kinds of trouble with the council. You have to be in control before your set out into the world.” A touch of warmth enters Aiden’s eyes and sticks his other hand through the bars to grasp my free hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll be with you through this whole thing. I promise.”

  I can’t believe it. None of this can be true. I don’t feel any different. I don’t feel like I’m a demon. I feel normal. I mean besides the fact that my eyes sting a little, and I’m starving.

  Aiden sticks a key into the lock of the cell and twists. I feel my cheeks dampen with tears. I didn’t want this. I really didn’t want this. I was ready to choose death over this.

  “Follow me,” Aiden instructs, beckoning me to follow him with his finger. I follow him to the only room in the house that I’ve never stepped foot in. His kitchen. The room that he feeds in while living in the human realm. He swings open the metal door, and I tell myself not to look. I don’t know what I expect to see. Blood, body parts, severed heads, I don’t know.

  I finally open my eyes. Two men sit in the corner of the room. One a young, brown-haired man and one a tall, old guy with blonde dreads.

  Aiden locks the door behind us and shoves the key into his pocket. “Breathe, Megan.”

  I do what he says more out of instinct than obedience. I smell nothing but dirt and body odor. I hope it’s one of these men that stinks and not me. I don’t smell anything of importance, yet I suddenly find myself in front of the young man, my hand on his cheek. I don’t know why. I don’t understand it at all. His eyes suddenly seem mesmerizing to me, and I get the weirdest urge to kiss the guy even though I know he’s a criminal. I don’t know him, and he’s really not all that attractive. I push myself away from him.

  “Megan, you need to do this,” Aiden urges. “If you don’t, you could kill an innocent human or turn a halfling.” He says this in a near pleading tone. “You’ll only get hungrier if you don’t do this. I can promise you that.”

  Before he finishes speaking, something in me takes over and I black out.

  Chapter 22

  “Megan, come on, it’s me, Aiden,” a rough voice pleads. “Come back now,” it begs gruffly.

  My vision is pure red but the redness begins to fade as I recognize the voice speaking to me. The hunger begins to not disappear, but fade into the back of my mind. Mind over matter.

  “Megan?” Aiden asks for the hundredth time.

  I blink and realize that Aiden is holding me against the wall, so I can’t move. I realize that I’m struggling against him. I don’t kn
ow why. I stop.

  “What happened? What’re you doing?” I beg, scared, my breathing erratic like I’ve just ran a marathon.

  He lets go of me and sighs a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god,” he mutters exasperatedly. “You’re a feisty one. Your father’s that way too, so I shouldn’t be surprised. In fact, it’s why I locked the door to this room behind us.” Aiden steps back from me, giving me space. “Are you feeling better?” I notice he’s huffing and puffing, but I don’t understand why.

  I think about it and nod. I do feel loads better than I did, before I blacked out, yet I’m still hungry, extremely hungry. I look back at the two men who were sitting in the corner. Both of them are now in a heap on the floor.

  “They’re dead aren’t they?” I ask Aiden slowly, tilting my head to get a better look.

  “You sucked out their souls. Now they are dead, yes, unless someone turns them into demons, but we don’t need to do that. If we did that to every human we took souls from, demons would have outnumbered the humans millennia ago. We have to keep the demon population in check.”

  I don’t hear much of what he says, because I’m too taken aback by the two men I’ve just murdered. Only, I don’t feel regret, nor do I feel sorry for them or guilty. I feel nothing. I feel empty. I’m just surprised that I did that. I’m all too used to this feeling.

  “You compelled me,” I state. “Don’t mess with my head!” I shout angrily at Aiden, and I find myself jumping at him. I mean, I leap right onto him, catching him by surprise. He peals me off of him and pins me to the wall again.

  “I didn’t compel you. By nature as a demon, you cannot feel anything towards those you kill. Like I said, you’ll start losing human emotions now. This is the beginning.”