• tab Where am I? Where am I? Cillia’s mind says in confusion, Everything feels so strange…like a part of me is chained down, but nothing is chained. Well, nothing from the outside is chained. She feels something brush against her skin. Where am I? It’s like I’m in a foreign place, an unfamiliar place. My heart feels so cold…almost like a cold metal cage had locked up around it. Why am I here?
    tab She jolts awake as her face met the hard floor. When she sat up, hand holding her head in pain, she finally saw where she was. I’m not at the hospital. The inside of the cabin was dim and uninviting. The morning sunlight didn’t even dare enter through the tiny cracks or shielded windows. No one was around besides her.
    tab And then the screaming came. Well, not from her mouth, but from her mind. All of a sudden pain starts to sky rocket inside of her blood streams. Her head thudded and every limb of her body pulsed. It hurts. She bit her lip, refusing to yell out loud. Cillia was never the type to wail in pain, even during the fight with the Honstuki’s. It hurts! Her mind cries. It felt like flames ran through her veins, scorching up every single life in its path. She was in so much agony that she forgot why she was here. She didn’t even realize it when someone opened the door and came inside.
    tab “Shut up” it was Allester and his tone was icy cold, not in the mood to amuse.
    tab Cillia exhaled through her gritted teeth and stared up to him. He was so close to her that she had to lean her head far back just to look at him straight in the eye. I’m not scared. I’m not scared of any psychopath kidnappers.
    tab Allester, despite the awful mood he was in, laughed at her. She was confused but she tried not to show it. “Me?” he calmed his laughing. “I’m a psychopath kidnapper?”
    tab Now she was really confused. How did he know what she said in her mind? Pain still nagged onto her but she did well at not showing it. A jolt of pain at her rib almost made her lose her cool, but it sure did make Allester stop his laughing.
    tab “I hate feeling your suffering and your loud screams” he kneels down and they stared at each other, eye to eye. Cillia felt a strange aura coming off him, a strange power. What she felt was right because Allester was trying to send her some of his energy to repair her broken body. She wasn’t accepting it though. “Take it!” he ordered.
    tab Cillia, however, was not willing to obey. “I don’t take things from strangers” she didn’t know what exactly he was trying to give her, but she knew it was wrong. There was something weird about him, something off. He can read my thoughts. Who is he?
    tab “I can do more than read your thoughts” his eyes narrowed, annoyed. “Take it” but, like before, she didn’t. She wouldn’t let her guard down enough and she wasn’t willing to accept anything from him. This bothered him even more. Their bond connects them, but really, they’ll never accept each other. That’s why it’s so hard to do things.
    tab “Who are you?” Why aren’t I in the hospital?”
    tab He was baffled for a second, then grinned. “You don’t remember, do you?”
    tab “No, I—”
    tab “Can’t you tell?” he interrupts. “Can’t you read anything from my mind?” when she didn’t say anything, he puts a hand on her hurting rib. She flinched, giving him an evil glare.
    tab “Don’t you dare touch me!” she growls. But her anger quickly washed away as Allester began releasing his energy from his hand to her body. The energy felt so strange, so unreal. It was like the feeling of seeing meteor showers in the night sky. Her skin tingled as if an invisible blanket of electricity covered her. The energy flooded inside her, cool, warm; unlike anything she had felt her whole life. “This is—”
    tab “Bad” Allester says. Bad wasn’t exactly what Cillia had in mind, it was more like amazing or wonderful. Her pain was going away. All her fractures, cuts and bruises were healing. He could feel it, sense it. He also feels his own power draining away. No more. I don’t like this anymore. He pulled back his hand, cutting off the energy transfer.
    tab Cillia was awed. She knew her body was healed—more than healed, rejuvenated! Like the first sunshine in months of pouring rain and dark clouds. She had, also, felt the touch of Allester’s mind. His thoughts poured into hers. It wasn’t strong but it was something. Don’t worry—it’s not bad. It’s really, really good! This feeling, this energy…its great! She threw herself on him and gave him a gigantic hug, forgetting all suspicions she had, still not knowing that Allester was a monster, still blind to the knowledge that she is his user.
    tab “I…” he stops, surprised. Cillia’s reaction to this tossed Allester off balance. He was sitting there, appalled; after all his hate for humans, now this? “Off” he says lightly. Get off or else you’ll be dead in the next five seconds. The way he projected it hurt Cillia. She knew he wanted to do that because she could feel it, feel the truth in his words, but that also means she knew that he wouldn’t do it. He was the one to revive her, after all.
    tab “No you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t hurt me” she gave him one of her best smiles. “You’re the one that saved me” then, mentally, she says, you’re the best! Believe me, you’re amazing. The things you can do—it’s frightening! I don’t care why you took me out of that hospital, but I’m glad you did.
    tab Allester had enough of her compliments. She’s just a blind idiot to him, a tool for power. A menacing smile formed on his lips. “Would you still be grateful to me if I told you I wasn’t human?”
    tab That made Cillia frown. “What are you…trying to say?”
    tab I’m a monster, the rare human-looking kind. He chuckled as Cillia let go, backing up, scared. She didn’t even hear the worst news yet. And you’re my user.

    to be continued
    go to part one