“What happened?” she had asked him again.
Kieran put a hand on his forehead and looked at her once again.
“Your dark energy,” he started, letting his arms fall next to his knee.
“What about my dark energy?” she said without a clue.
“It’s immense. I saw it, I felt it,” he stated still not believing the sight that was layed out in front of him.
“You saw my dark energy?”
“Yes, black smoke was coming out of you.”
“Gross, from where?” he sighed at her response.
“From everywhere, it surrounded you. I never saw this kind of energy before and certainly not from a human.”
“What does that mean?” she asked all concerned.
“I don’t know. But do you have a tragic past or life situation?” Kieran had asked because he thought her sadness and anger transformed themselves into dark energy but if it isn’t the case, it is truly a mystery.
“Well not really. Sure I was unhappy with my life but not so much to have all this dark energy you are talking of.”
“Did someone hurt you deeply?” he asks again as there must be a reason for him.
“Everyone gets hurt by someone and hurts someone in their life,” she nonchalantly said.
“I don’t see a reason for you to have this much dark energy when you hadn’t even started training.”
“Is it that strange?”
“Yes! Very strange, I don’t emit this much dark energy either.”
“Then, am I better than you?” A smirk appeared on her face.
“If you can control it maybe?” Kieran admitted.
“I’ll try to emmit this dark energy again.” Leila closed her eyes and breathed in the impure air around her. The deep and dark thoughts she contained were released. Leila visualized the black smoke around her. She felt that energy until a hand was placed on her shoulder making her open her eyes.
“What?” she said looking at Kieran.
“You can’t control it yet.”
“How can you tell?”
“This time there was no smoke, there was only your human smell.”
“So I am not strong.”
“No, you are. You have darkness inside of you. You need to accept that darkness in order to let it out.”
“Alright. Darkness, I accept you!” she exclaimed.
“Not like that dummy,” he laughed. “It’s more of a personal and spiritual thing. You’ll read about it in the books. It will take some time.”
“You said that time doesn’t flow in Hell,” she remarked.
“It doesn’t…”
“Then…?”
“I’m interested in earthly things, remember?”
“You finally admit it!” A large grin formed on her face.
“Yes…” He looked away to hide his expression.
“If you have any questions about the earth, you can always ask me. You know that?” she reliably told him.
“I know. I’ll be in the office. Now read!”
“Yes sir!” Leila picked up the book once again and fixed her eyes on the page.
Kieran had stopped mid-way from the walk to his office. He looked back at Leila with perplexing eyes. Something was odd. He thought that maybe Leila wasn’t picked randomly, it was intentional. He walked to his office and shut the door tightly.
He could not stop thinking about the scene he had previously seen. He lived for eternity but had never seen anything alike. The smoke around her rose high, it had almost a tail-like appearance. A long tail that could have surpassed the ceiling if he hadn’t stopped her. He also wondered why she failed to execute the spell when she had such power.
“Maybe the energy was overflowing and just was out of control?” He whispered to himself.
The darkness she emitted was so strong that he had no choice but to stop her. The smoke had almost become destructive. A demon felt weak because of that power.
The image didn’t leave his mind but he stopped thinking about it. He moved on to his usual activities to get his mind off things. He sat at his desk and took out his coloured pencils and started a new page. Soon enough, the once blank page gained colour. Lines were formed out of his imagination. He often drew things that could be found on the earth but they were different. His knowledge came from rumours and fiction novels written by vampires. Thus, it wasn’t always accurate. These days, due to the lack of sources, he drew out of pure imagination with colours he previously used in his drawings of earthly things. Kieran easily entered his own world of art. He was free of distractions and in a calm environment.
Sadly again, it was too early to think that way. A knock was heard at the door. A single knock. Kieran stood up instantly. Leila opened the office door and entered in a hurry.
“Here put that on and stay under the desk.” He handed her a dark cape which contained his dark energy.
He tightly closed the door leaving Leila in hiding. The person behind the door hadn’t said a word or hinted at its identity. Kieran was reluctant to open the door. Aside from his childhood friends, he never expected anyone. In fact, Kieran had never received so many people to his apartment.
Kieran opened the door to a tall person. When he saw the blood-red moons on his long black cloak, he recognized him and immediately lowered his head. He could not look at him in the eyes, no one could.
“She’s here,” The man stated in a low voice. He had already felt Leila from afar.
“Yes,” Kieran said without hesitation.
“Bring her out.” His voice had no emotions, but it wasn’t robot-like stiff. It was low and clear but precise.
“Before that, your highness, I would like to discuss with you an important matter without her presence.” He agreed to Kieran’s request. “First do come in,” he pointed to a seat in the living room, all that while avoiding his eyes. The man did not sit. “Earlier, when she attempted a forbidden spell for the first time without previous learning, Leila had emitted an insane amount of dark energy. I’ve never seen so much dark energy come from a single person.”
“Is that so?” he said with an unchanging tone. You wouldn’t know if he is intrigued or not. Kieran was similar but he could show embarrassment and anger and he laughed at times as well. Kieran continued, “but she doesn’t seem to know where it comes from or how to control it. With practice, she’ll be able to become a full-fleshed witch but…” Kieran had hesitated.
“Keep on.”
“Such power could be destructive, I am afraid that there will be times when even with the training she will not be able to control such power. ”
“So you are worried that her small body will not be able to handle all this power?”
“Yes, your highness.” The usually cool Kieran was on his toes.
“I’ll keep that in mind, now bring her out.”
“Right away.”
Kieran went back to the office and quickly crouched down to see Leila.
“Leila, the prince of Hell is here.”
“Finally the one responsible for my misfortune. I better go talk to him.”
“No.” He always feared this outcome knowing Leila’s personality a bit better now. “Listen to me, he is dangerous. You can’t fight with him like you do with me. He wants to see you. Be careful with your words and most of all don’t look at him in the eyes.” He held her arms tightly and made sure she understood.
“Why? Is it rude because he’s royalty?”
“No. His eyes are the most dangerous weapon he owns. He can do all sorts of things with his eyes. It’s not a joke, do not, I say do not look at his eyes.”
They both stood up and left the art office.
Leila made her way to the living room with shivering hands and shifting eyes. She did not know where to look.
“Leila.”
“Yes?” she answered slightly raising her head as a habit. Kieran lightly tapped her arm to remind her. She bit her lip and looked at the floor this time.
“Shall we go on a walk?” The prince proposed.
“Uh… Sure?” Both Kieran and Leila were dumbfounded by his request.
The prince went ahead leaving Leila behind.
“You’ll be okay, nobody will approach you since the prince is with you,” Kieran had whispered to her before she followed him.
They walked in the hallway in peace. Both were quiet. The prince did not ask her anything and so Leila felt as if she should not talk either. She wondered what he wanted to tell her. All that silence drove her crazy. She bit her tongue, fidgeted with her fingers and moved her pupils in every direction except his.
The prince had remarked it but didn’t do much about it. Even the darkest creatures of Hell bowed in front of him. A mere human wouldn’t be any different.
They had entered the elevator.
“I heard a big amount of dark energy came out of you.”
“Yes, I didn’t see it or feel it personally but so I heard.” The prince didn’t respond or add anything. Leila was tempted to look at him even if it was his side. At the moment she tried to peak, the elevator door had opened. They walked out of the building and walked in the night. Leila felt all the stares she got. All sorts of creatures were showing up from all sides. Most of them only watch, they did not dare approach the prince of Hell.
“Did he explain everything to you?”
“Only the fact that I need to become a witch but I-” she was cut off by a rapidly approaching demon. He was a brave one, emphasizing ‘was’. Before he could touch a single hair of Leila, he burned. His skin was burning. He screamed in the now quiet and empty street. He slowly disappeared leaving only his ashes scattered on the road which quickly flew across with a rough breeze.
“Did you do that?” she asked petrified.
“Didn’t he tell you about my eyes?”
“Y-Yes but I thought you needed to look at them…”
“You underestimate my eyes.” His words mustered courage she didn’t know she had in her. Rather than courage, it was temptation. Ever since she had come to Hell, the word temptation had felt more right than ever. Leila clenched her fists and did the feared act, she looked him right in the eyes. His eyes had blood-red pupils. She could also see his oval-shaped face. He had a defined jaw line and a sharp nose but the long collar of his cloak practically covered his jaw and bottom lip. From certain angles, you could see more. His black hair was attached in a low ponytail. A few dark bangs were seen across his face.
The prince for once showed a different expression. With intense eyes, he stared at her.
“Do you want to die?” he shouted.
“No,” she answered maintaining eye contact. “Tell me why I need to become a witch.”
The prince bewildered could only answer, “We need witches for a confidential project. You’ll be evaluated a couple of times at the castle. If you are unable to do so, you’ll die and never go back home.”
The prince had dropped a bomb right in front of her eyes. It was not a strange dream anymore.
“Why me?” she had asked eyes brimming with tears. The prince hadn’t answered and looked away from her stare. There was no easy fix to this situation. It was now a life or death situation for Leila.
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