Beauty’s Monstrous Demons (Fairy Tales With A Monstrous Twist)

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

LORELEI

E verything around me is black. My ass hurts after I slammed into the ground, yet as I crawl forward, my hair whips around me, as if I’m in a cyclone.

“Please,” I whisper, wincing as the word is thrown back at me louder and louder until it’s a blaring scream.

The lack of light, too much sound, and disorientation surrounding me is overwhelming. Tears flow down my face as I sob, angry with myself. I wish I could have had more time, or been a step ahead of my future.

Except, that’s the awful part of life: you never know what’s coming for you until it’s too late.

My screams taunt me despite my efforts to keep my lips closed. The sound is still amplified around me until I collapse on the ground. Everything is so fucking cold, too. Where is summer?

Why isn’t it warm?

“Lorelei,” a voice crawls over my mind, making me shudder.

“Who is that?” I ask, flopping onto my back as I stifle the urge to ask more questions. The words just screamed back to me, no matter what.

The sensory deprivation is going to make me mad. I don’t know how much time has passed, just that I’m alone and I hate it. My mates have spoiled me in the time I’ve had them.

“Think about us,” the voice growls.

“Who are you!” I scream, feeling my sanity slipping away. I feel desolate and exhausted, the wind whipping around me hurting my skin.

“ Your mates ,” the voice says.

My mates are gone.

SAMAEL

Lorelei is too distraught to be able to bring up a happier memory, so I create one. The trees, the flowers, a beautiful water’s edge as we sit together on a sunny day on a pretty blanket. I pull all of these details together so her mind won’t reject it.

I’m running on pure instinct, struggling to get through to Lorelei.

Waiting on the blanket, I call her name again.

“Lorelei, you’re late for our date,” I tell her.

Her body materializes in front of me, almost as if she’s a character in a black and white television show. At first she’s fuzzy and then slowly fills into color. We’re still in her mind, I have hope that we’ll be able to get her to wake up by reminding her of what she’s missing.

“A date,” she whispers, looking around her. “It’s not cold here.”

The darkness where she’s been trapped is apparently windy, because her hair is wilder than usual.

“Can you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin?” I ask, my voice deeper than usual because it’s full of emotion.

It’s taken a week to be able to make this happen. While the guys have been able to wake periodically from their deep sleep-like positions as they struggle to be able to get in touch with her, I haven’t.

I’ve continued to attempt to get in touch with her. I don’t have to do the normal things that creatures need to do. I don’t have to eat, sleep, or piss. My entire life revolves around Lorelei.

“Why can I feel that?” she asks curiously. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt any warmth.”

“You’re in charge of your environment,” I say, hoping it’s true. “If you want to be warm, you merely need to think of it.”

“That’s not true,” she sighs. “Everything will be dark when you leave. It’s cold there, and all I do is cry. I miss you. I’m so sorry it's ending like this.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I rasp, swallowing hard. Fuck, this is so hard. “It’s not our end, baby. I need you to fight.”

“I can’t,” she whispers. “Let me enjoy you while I can. At least my imagination is being kind for now.”

“What’s one thing that you want more than anything?” I ask her.

I don’t know why I ask that, I just need her to keep talking to me.

“One more minute with you all,” she says, dropping her head back to feel the sun. “It would be nice to have Alecto’s bite, maybe have a birthday cake for once.”

She doesn’t know that he gave it to her after she fell into her deep sleep. I believe it’s the only reason why I’m speaking to her now. It’s the tether we needed to keep her with us.

“I promise we’ll have that cake,” I say, hating every minute of this. Phenex made her one, and we planned to sing happy birthday to her once Alecto joined us.

So many stolen moments, I’m willing to sacrifice everything to steal them back.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” she says, smiling sadly. “I have to go…”

“Lorelei, don’t?—”

The space where she was sitting is now empty, and the darkness is slowly eating away the scene I created.

“I’ll keep trying,” I promise, forcing myself to wake up. It’s the only way I can communicate with the guys, and there’s much to discuss.

Sitting up in Lorelei’s nest, I rub my head. It’s throbbing, even though my energy stores are constantly refilling from her fear. She lays perfectly still, wearing new clothes and having been freshly bathed. The guys are taking care of her, I see.

Standing, I stumble out to the living room where Alecto is on the phone with someone. Phenex hands me a water bottle with a glare, and I drink despite not really needing it.

He wants to remind me of reality, while all I want is to live inside Lorelei’s mind. Bast rubs his face, which has a thick shadow of facial hair, and I sit on the ground to begin stretching.

If I’m going to be spending more time with Lorelei, I need to make sure my muscles don’t lock up.

“Thank you, Dr. Heidi,” Alecto says. “Yes, I appreciate that you understand this needs to be addressed with secrecy.”

As he hangs up, I raise my brow, wondering what I’ve missed.

“Lorelei was injected with a strain of infection that hasn’t been seen in eight hundred years,” he says. “The same plague that only killed omegas is what someone shoved into her vein.”

“She’s not sick,” I deny.

“And we’re not dead,” Phenex adds. “I don’t know that we would still be here if it had worked the way it was supposed to.”

“Well that’s the thing,” Alecto says, stretching. “The doctor who analyzed the sample of Lorelei’s blood that I got her said that the strain she was given should have killed her very quickly. Dahlia on the other hand suffered for weeks before she died.”

I can tell he’s in lecture mode because there’s no emotion in his voice. I don’t blame him. He wants to get the facts out without falling apart. I can see he’s also been very busy while I’ve been attempting to tempt Lorelei out of the deep recesses of her mind.

“Whoever did this planned for her to die, not sleep,” I murmur. “I spoke to her just now. I don’t know if she realized it was me or she thought I was a dream.”

“How is she?” Phenex asks. “I can still hear her screaming.”

“I feel like I’m losing my mind,” Bast admits. “What did she say to you?”

“I promise to tell you,” I say. “Did you find out anything else, Alecto?”

I feel bad that I don’t have anything very exciting to tell them. It was such a small interaction.

“Dr. Heidi said there were some anomalies in Lorelei’s blood and asked for permission to do some more analysis,” he says. “I said that was fine as long as she was careful not to let anyone know what or why she was doing tests. She works in a private laboratory and said that was fine. Now what aren’t you telling us?”

Fuck, he shouldn’t know me this well.

“I was able to create a pocket of happiness in her subconscious,” I say. “It was warm, beautiful, and bright inside of it. I was able to draw Lorelei into it. It wasn’t for very long, and I don’t think she knew it was really me. However, I think it’s the best way to get her to wake up.”

“How so?” Bast asks.

“Reminders of what to hold onto,” I say. “Wherever she is it’s cold, windy, and terrifying. Respite periods of warmth and life will help her gain her strength. She needs to remember that we’re here, that we love her.”

“You created a date scene, right?” Phenex asks. “We could create anything, though, right? Things that are familiar to her.”

“Like class? Is that what you’re getting at?” I ask. “Yes, I suppose. Things like that may get her to stay longer, because she won’t be able to figure out that it’s not real. She may believe her mind created it.”

“How long are we doing this for?” Alecto asks. “I mean, fuck, I would do this forever if it meant that one day she’d open her eyes and rejoin the world of the living.”

“As long as it takes,” I say firmly. “It should be all of us, taking turns speaking to her, helping her gain the strength to wake up. Instead of killing her, this plague has thrown her into a healing sleep.”

“No one can know about this,” Bast rasps. “I think we should move her. Find a cabin or some shit and possibly take a leave of absence.”

“Yes,” I murmur. “We also need to figure out who this was. Maybe we can ask Lorelei if we can find a lucid moment. Madam Sera said it was someone in a position of authority. President Christa really wanted us at the carnival…”

“She also was pissed when I walked away from her that night,” Phenex mutters. “She’s been banging on the door of the apartment the last couple of days, Samael. Grab a shower and we’ll get the fuck out of here. I’ll book us a rental somewhere.”

“I got it,” Alecto says. “I don’t want her to be able to trail us in any way. I’ll book it under one of my umbrella companies that isn’t connected to my name.”

Raising my brow, I shrug. I doubt all of his business assets are legal, and I don’t give a shit about that. It comes in handy when you’re on the run.

“Shower,” Phenex reminds me, growling as I stand and nod. After a week, I smell like ass.

“Go sit with her,” I say. “Follow the tether of your bond to her mind, and then create something for her to remember her life. The darkness is a lie, Phenex. She doesn’t understand that.”

“I’m on it,” he promises, rising to move to the bathroom.

“Bast, pack up her things specifically, please. Her favorite lotion, sweaters she likes to steal from us, things that mean something to her,” I rasp.

Rubbing my eyes, I escape to the bathroom when he acknowledges me. Fuck, I just want her back! My tear ducts burn, desperate to release tears I won’t allow to leak free.

I’m on a mission. I won’t rest until her beautiful eyes open.

Dropping articles of clothing as I undress, I leave them where they lay as I turn on the shower. Forcing myself to take deep breaths, I climb in, allowing the water to splash across my skin.

Except instead of the gentle sound of the running water, all I can hear are Lorelei’s screams in my mind. They never end, they simply get more and more forlorn and desperate.

LORELEI

I’m sitting in class, and there are students surrounding me, but their features are shadowy. I suppose it’s unimportant because my eyes are on Phenex, drinking up his features, the way he says his words, and how his lips curl as he speaks.

I’m still in love with him, my heart still aches because I know this can’t be real. I’m willing to pretend though, as it’s the only time I’m able to get any relief from the terror of the shadows.

They want to ruin me, tear my sanity from my mind, so that all that exists is sadness and despair. I’d much prefer snippets of my men than the screams and taunts from the darkness.

“Lorelei, can I see you after class, please?” he asks.

Nodding, I stand, ignoring my things by my desk as I walk down the stairs toward him. I can vaguely hear movement from the other students as they leave, but time is moving oddly for me. I know this isn’t real in a way, I’m just grateful to have it.

“Professor?” I ask, gazing up at him.

He smirks as he lifts me onto the desk at the front of the room, his arms caging me on either side.

“What have we established that you should call me?” he asks, grinning at my giggle.

Happiness, this is what that feels like. I’ve missed it so much.

“Maybe I want the professor,” I tease him, shrugging.

“You can have whatever you want, baby,” he murmurs before he kisses me.

Our moans are the only thing that can be heard for a few minutes before he kisses down my throat.

“I love you, do you know that?” he asks.

“I do,” I whisper. “I love you too. I miss you.”

“Good, hold onto that, Lorelei,” he says. “Do you feel anything pulling you away?”

“No,” I say honestly. It’s like everything around me is quiet. “Have we had this conversation before?”

It feels as if we may have, but I’m unsure.

“For six months,” he says softly. “In different ways, but yes. Do you think you can answer another question?”

“Maybe,” I reply. “I feel like I’m losing touch with the world. Six months is a long time, Phenex.”

“And yet, it’s but a blink of an eye,” he says. “Do you know who did this to you?”

“That’s what’s odd about it,” I say. “It sounded like President Christa, but her voice was really fucked up and she had all of these arms. Why is that? I couldn’t move, I couldn’t scream.”

“But we heard you, and we still do,” he says. “She’s a type of shadow creature. She can grow her appendages as needed. It’s why she gets whatever the fuck she wants. People have a very healthy respect for her.”

“Fear isn’t respect,” I growl.

His face is beginning to crumble, and tears begin to flow from my eyes.

“Not again,” I wail. “Phenex, please stay with me.”

“We’ll find you,” he promises sadly. “Hold on, Lorelei.”

The darkness crawls in, overtaking the light, until there’s nothing left of his strong features, his wild black hair, or his stone colored skin.

I’m all alone again.

BAST

I’m sitting on the bed next to Lorelei, all alone at the rental property today. Things feel desperate, despite what we’ve been finding out about President Christa or Lorelei’s blood.

Her blood has properties from all of her mates. We’ve managed to give her a part of each of us, and it’s completely changed her DNA as well. Her body is fighting the plague, yet she remains trapped in her mind.

It’s been eight months since she first closed her eyes. I need to see her, speak to her. Swallowing hard, I lay down next to her and take her hand. Following the solid rope between our souls, I close my eyes and slide into her mind. The screams are as loud as ever, but I have a plan.

Imagining a private lesson, I create the theater and sit at the piano as the spotlight shines on the stage. I can play many different instruments, just like I can sing. I simply prefer to teach instead of perform.

Opening my mouth, I sing to Lorelei. It’s a song I made for her, a duet written for the two of us. It’s not meant to be heard by anyone other than her, and so I use my words to bring her to me.

My mind empties of anything too heavy, no sadness touches me, despite how hard that is. The lighter I allow the music to make me, the easier it is to pull her into my created world. It’s a lesson that’s taken me an absurdly long time to learn, and even harder to master.

It feels false, as if I’m lying to Lorelei. Phenex told me it wasn’t like that if it gave her access to me. We should be willing to do anything for her, even if it means emptying ourselves of the living hell we are living in without her in our lives.

Her footsteps finally sound along the wooden stage as she walks across it, and then she’s standing by the piano.

“That’s pretty,” she says as the final notes echo in the new silence. “Is that new?”

“It is,” I admit. “I wrote it for the only girl I’ll ever love. It’s a duet.”

“Teach me?” she asks, sitting beside me.

Nodding, I mark out her part of the song on the sheet music, and we begin again together. It feels reminiscent of our rehearsals for the musical that feels like it happened a million years ago, her voice lilting with a longing I’ve never heard before.

Our girl is tired of being alone. One day she’ll snap and wake up. I just know it.

For that moment, I’ll walk through fire for her, cry when no one’s watching, and then pull myself back together. We’re fighting for our future and hers.

When she begins to disappear as we get to the end of the song, I reach out as if I can keep her with me, and place my hand on her thigh. Slowly, she seems to come back, her presence has a weight it never had before as she leans against me.

Lorelei stays for longer than she ever has been able to before, until she whispers, “The shadows are coming. Please come back for me.”

“I’ll always come for you, baby,” I croak out as I watch as her body breaks apart and is pulled away from me.

In this life and the next, I’ll follow you.

ALECTO

“Go see her!” Phenex yells at me, pushing me toward the bedroom where our sleeping mate lies. “I know you’re on all of these phone calls, late visits to the lab, yet you’re not really here.”

“It hurts,” I admit, swallowing hard as I look over my shoulder to where the sunlight hits her blonde hair. “The scientific shit I can hold it together with, even with the sound of her screams in my head. It’s when I sit next to her to create an image with her that I can’t get my head right. Why would she want to see me if I’m so fucking sad?”

“How do you know she won’t?” Samael asks, walking out of the kitchen. Fuck, I didn’t even notice him. Maybe he materialized, but I’m in a funk.

I could be the reason she’s not getting better. Ten months have gone by since her twentieth birthday, and President Christa has put in her resignation. She’s lost in the wind, free to fuck over someone else’s life.

“Her screams are different,” I whisper. “There is so much pain in them.”

“She misses us,” Bast says, slamming into the cottage I rented, and overhearing my last words. “It’s hard for me too. I’ve started leaning in creatively to be able to get through it. I sing, or create new music when I go to see her, that’s when she comes to me.”

“Create a place you both have a passion for,” Samael adds. “You have this giant brain and are shit at the emotional stuff. I have to go see my parents.”

“I’m going to get myself into trouble asking the obvious, but is that a good idea?” I ask.

“I need hellhounds who can track that bitch,” he says. “There’s magic in the shit she injected Lorelei with. It’s been corroborated by your doctor. Maybe if I find her and kill the twunt, it’ll lessen the hold it has on Lorelei.”

“Or maybe it won’t,” I sigh.

“I’ve avoided my parents for a very long time,” Samael admits. “It’s time to go home.”

“You have to come back,” I hiss. “She needs you.”

“Ha! She needs us all,” Phenex corrects. “Get your ass in there and talk to her.”

Blowing out a breath, I nod. Turning, I walk into the room, pulling off my suit jacket to cover her body as I climb into bed with her.

“Hey, pretty girl,” I murmur, laying down with my head on her stomach. It’s my favorite place to be. I can feel her breathe, hear the blood moving through her body.

It may seem odd, but that all relaxes me. It reminds me she’s still with me. Tugging on the thread that’s between our hearts, I close my mind and follow it until the familiar and terrorizing darkness surrounds me.

Creating a laboratory, I pull on the memory of when she made a descenting spray. It’s the day that I realized she was an omega and mine. I follow the steps she did, talking to the air.

“If I’m fucking this up, I hope you come fix it,” I say teasingly as I work. “Does baking soda go in this?”

“Only if you want it to bubble over,” she says, appearing next to me with a white coat and protective glasses on. “Is that what you’re going for?”

“It sounds messy,” I murmur, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her onto the counter. “Save me from myself, Baby Girl.”

God, her smile lights up my entire world, and I promise to do better by her. Being near her is painful, but losing her completely would kill me.

She needs to come back from this.