2. Kel
2
KEL
E motion. That’s the strange sensation running rampant throughout my body. What started as a trickle upon meeting Sera has transformed into a raging flood of long-forgotten feelings. It’s...uncomfortable. I want to fidget, to lash out and distract myself. Instead, I hold completely still. The emotion that’s dominating most of my body right now? Heartbreak .
I knew something bad was unfolding the second I saw Sera disappear into the barn with that psychotic prick. I’ve seen this type of thing before. It feels so much more personal watching it happen to someone I care about.
The cult members hold an array of sharp objects in the air. Butcher knives, saw blades, daggers, scythes. The chanting ends, and the slaughter begins. They take turns bringing their blades down, butchering Sera as she flails on the ground.
Her screams are piercing. They rattle my bones. My teeth threaten to break free from my jawbone. No one will come to her aid out here. No one will save her from these animals. And in a few minutes, she’ll be dropping into my domain. The violence and brutality of her end is what seals her fate. Ritualistic sacrifices don’t go to the peace and sanctuary of the Higher Hallows. It’s a flaw. One no one can do anything about. Not even me.
She suffers for far longer than she should as they hack her to bits. What remains is an unrecognizable pile of dismembered flesh, scattered across a sea of rapidly spreading blood. The savagery of these men sparks within me the need for carnage that used to rule my every decision. I peer over at Sera. Her good hand is covering her mouth as tears stream down her newly constructed cheeks. I’d thought her reaction would be to scream or faint upon watching such a disturbing act. Her silence is far worse. She looks utterly broken in a way that has nothing to do with her stitched-up appearance.
The men shovel up her remains and drop them into a shallow hole outside. They laugh and jest, drinking beers as they stomp the dirt over her final resting place.
Death is unfair. I know that better than anyone. Still, her death is one that already haunts the hollow chambers of my heartless chest. And now…
We’ve seen enough .
I pull us out of the memory. The darkness of the Deeper Hallows falls in around us. Sera sits as still as a doll. I don’t know what to do. How can I help her? What could possibly help someone who’s just watched their own horrific death unfold? Her hand rests in her lap, the fingers clutching the nub of her other wrist. I haven’t missed the subtle twitching in her pocket. I know the appendage lies within, waiting to be reunited with its body.
She is still unmoving as I reach for her arm. “Would you allow me to help you with this?” I ask.
Her gaze is vacantly fixed in the distance. A nod is the only response. I’m pleased to find a needle and thread alongside the torn-off hand. It will make my job easier. I’m usually able to do such things with ease, but my magic is still replenishing itself after my trips to the surface and from so many soul and demon removals earlier.
Sera flinches as I take her wrist in my hand and gently move it to my lap. The skin is ragged around the ruptured sutures. The circumference of her wrist is so small. My hand swallows it, forcing me to work even more carefully. I roll her wrist over and line up the still-twitching hand. The short fingernails alternate in color, green, black, orange. Likely decor for Halloween. It doesn’t escape my notice that the hand I’m sewing back on is not the same one from the memory I was just in.
The needle slides through her flesh with little resistance. She jumps but does not cry out. I’d bet the emotional pain she’s feeling far surpasses the physical sting of the needle. Little by little, I reattach the hand. Sewing is not my greatest skill, but I try.
“There we go,” I breathe out in triumph as I tie off the final knot. Sera’s gaze shifts to me as I bite off the thread. “As good as new.”
Her fingers bend and stretch, testing their newly forged connection. It’s only now, with her hands side by side that I realize only one has painted fingernails. Looks like this the second hand may actually have been Sera’s. I rub my fingertips along the painted nails, examining them before checking the other.
“They’re two different hands. Just one of the many mismatched parts of me, now,” Sera says in a small voice. She raises the hands in front of her and turns them from front to back. “But thank you, Kel. Two mismatched hands are still better than one.” She gives me a slight smile that breaks open the space where my heart once existed.
“You’re welcome.” The words don’t seem like enough after what she’s endured. I don’t know what else to say.
“So those men, the way they—” She swallows. “The way they killed me. It’s the reason I ended up here?”
I nod. “The brutality of the act marked your soul with darkness. It’s unfair, but unfortunately that’s how it works down here.”
“And now I get to suffer for eternity in their place.” The sadness in her mismatched eyes hardens into anger.
“Not in their place. They may not be here now, but when their time comes, they’ll be staying in the deepest parts of the Hallows. I will personally ensure it.” A bit of my truest self comes over me, sneaking out with the gravelly shift in my voice.
Sera looks up at me with wide eyes. As a part of the Hallows, she can no doubt feel the power emanating from something like me. A shiver rolls across her skin, followed by another.
White puffs of steamy breath flow from between her blue lips as her body temperature plummets, plunging her into the icy depths of her new skin. The rattling coming from her mouth is even more worrisome. My gaze fixes on her jaw and the way her teeth have begun chattering.
Concern startles me into action. "We need to get you warmed up.”
“First I was a raging inferno, now it f-feels like I’m in an ice bath. What’s hap—happening to me?” Sera grits out through a clenched jaw.
“I think your body is trying to get acclimated after being brought back. You’re going through some different phases as your new form learns to adjust to the Hallows.”
“Great. I really am F-F-Frankenstein’s little m-monster.” She continues to shiver as I hurry around, collecting loose branches and building a fire. I don’t know how much longer it will take for her body to settle into this new life and realm. The closest I’ve come to anything like her runs more along the lines of a zombie than a tortured, stitched-up woman. She’s unique. It draws me to her, but my unfamiliarity with her condition keeps me further away than I’d like.
“You’re no monster. Trust me, I would know,” I reassure her. She stares into the fire. I need to get her back to the Mid Hallows. The Mid Hallows isn’t perfect, but those who reside there find their own version of contented happiness amongst each other. It is not a place of dark entities or screams in the night. Or at least it never has been, to my knowledge. I will need to pay the good doctor a visit if the things he’s doing behind those laboratory doors of his are as despicable as Sera claims.
My first priority is to move us out of the Deeper Hallows. This is no place for a creature as innocent as the broken, beautiful woman before me. This is a place of suffering. Sera has suffered enough.
It takes nearly an hour but eventually she stops shivering. A soft rosy warmth has pinkened her pale cheeks, giving me another glimpse at the girl she was before her untimely death. The full power of her unique gaze turns up to look at me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any creature so lovely. I want to fix that broken look in her glassy eyes. To strip her of the sadness that’s haunting her soul and replace it with—what exactly? Peace? Joy? Love?
An anxious tension creeps along my painted skin. She could stay with me . Be mine. Pour light into the emptiness of my never-ending existence. If she stayed with me, I would never feel the vast loneliness amongst the crowd again. If she stayed with me, everything would be as it was meant to be.
But if she truly wished to go to the Higher Hallows, all of those hopes and dreams would be lost. She’d fall into a state of ignorant bliss and forget all about the life she had before or after her death. She’d forget about me.
“Oh god.” Sera doubles over, clutching her stomach and breathing heavily.
“What is it?” My mind races through the possibilities of what she could be experiencing now. Hot, cold, what’s next? I reach a hand to touch her, but she bolts upright, putting some distance between us. “What’s wrong?”
Her breathing is labored as she paces back and forth. “I— My body.”
“Does it hurt? Is it your stitches? The hand?” I rise to my feet but she backs away from me.
“Not exactly.” Her words are breathy and low. “I think my body is still acclimating, like you said, and...” She shifts her weight from foot to foot. “I feel things. New things.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “New things. Alright. And these new things—”
“Ughhh.” Sera groans in frustration. “I just feel... I feel.”
Her fingers drop to the hem of my oversized jacket and clutch the fabric, inching it higher up her thighs. She crosses her legs and rubs them together, rocking uncomfortably where she stands. Maybe she thinks she needs to use the bathroom. Though, that sensation usually fades once you’re dead. It could be a phantom sensation.
Her gaze flicks up to mine and away just as quickly. She appears embarrassed. Whatever she’s going through is surely a natural stage of acclimation. Still, her actions are different than before. What’s changed?
Something about her posture stirs a new simmering layer of darkness within me. My eyes drop to the shiny trail of liquid that’s slowly collecting between her thighs and dripping lower. Realization shoots through my body like lightning.
“You’re feeling...aroused?” Speaking it aloud awakens a desire in me that has long been dormant. To touch and be touched. How long has it been since I’ve felt the urge to connect physically with another? My muscles tighten and I take an unintentional step toward her.
“Unbearably so. Oh god...” She backs away from me, covering her face with her hands.
The very act of her backing up triggers the predator beneath my skin. I take another step forward, grasping for the small semblance of control that’s keeping my human facade in place. I can’t say I saw this coming. And being caught off guard always makes it harder to keep from losing my skin.
“Do you need...” I have no idea how to say this delicately. I’m a monster. Delicate is not a part of my vocabulary. “Relief?”
She peeks at me through her fingers. I’d moved even closer while she was hiding behind her hands. It’s disheartening to see fear in her eyes. She takes another step back. My approach halts.
“You’re saying you’ll touch me?” Her eyes rake up and down my body.
“Would you like for me to touch you?” Because I would desperately like to touch you.
“I don’t know. This is all new and strange. I don’t know you. I don’t know this place, this body.” Her words become panicky. She shifts on her feet, her eyes flicking around in terror and confusion. She groans again and more arousal leaks down her legs. She’s warring with the sensation. Her needs are being tainted by her environment and circumstances.
I raise my hands high. “Calm down. I promise I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to. Maybe you can touch yourself? Get some relief that way? I’ll turn my back.” Please say you want me to touch you.
She pulls her lip between her teeth and nods. “I can try.”
Every bone in my body fights me as I turn away from her. But I don’t look back. When you rule as I do, you find control to be the only thing that separates you from those beneath your reign. I try to imagine what she’s doing. Slim fingers tracing up her leg, dipping into that sweet, wet warmth between her thighs, curling upwards as she moans with—
“I can’t do it.” The defeat in Sera’s voice has me wheeling around.
“What happened?”
She shrugs her small shoulders within my massive jacket. “This body, these wounds. I can’t bring myself to touch it. I don’t know who could. It’s repulsive.” She wraps her arms around herself.
“I don’t find you repulsive.”
She gives a bitter laugh. “You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“No. I’m not.” My legs move of their own accord, bringing me right up to her. This time she allows it. I reach a hand out to tuck her new blonde hair behind her ear and cup her cheek. She flinches and shuts her eyes, but after a deep breath, she opens them once more. “Do you know why I’ve been calling you Sera?”
She shakes her head. Those wide green and blue eyes peer up at me with a doe-like mixture of fear and yearning.
“It’s short for Seraphim. Because even though heaven isn’t what you mortals believe it to be, and even though I’ve never believed them to exist, when I saw you, I thought you were an angel. A light, sent here to brighten the darkness that has surrounded me all these centuries. When I saw you, something illuminated within me. Sera…” I stroke my thumb across her cheekbone to wipe away the tear that she’s shed. “When I saw you, my first thought was that I’d never seen any creature in the entirety of the mortal world or any of the levels of the Hallows as beautiful as you.”
Her tears flow freely now but I do not sense sadness within her. She lifts up on her tiptoes and I bend low to meet her. Anticipation and disbelief barrel through me. Is this really happening? As her face moves closer, I see that there are flecks of gold in her green eye.
Our lips touch and the spark she ignites within me blazes to life. We stay there, locked together, savoring this moment of unexpected connection amongst the heaviness of sorrow and hope. My hands clutch her face, careful not to disrupt her many stitches. Her lips are soft and warmer than my own. When I move my mouth against them, they open, unfurling for me like the feathery wings of the myth she so closely resembles.
Have I ever felt a touch from the dead with so much life inside?
Her slender frame is so close and still feels worlds away. My left hand slides from her face and to her lower back, pulling her body into mine. The whimper that escapes her gives me momentary pause. It pains me to break the kiss, but I do it for her.
“Did I hurt you?”
She shakes her head. Her hands land on my chest. The outline of each finger melts through my t-shirt. Small bumps rise along every inch of my skin. Goosebumps ? It’s a sensation I’ve never before experienced. Our lips meet again with more fervor than before.
“Kel?” Sera speaks into my mouth. “Did you mean it when you said you didn’t find me repulsive?”
I continue our kiss, whispering back against her lips, “Absolutely.”
My hand drops to her hip, squeezing slightly. This time a deep moan fills the space between our eager mouths. “Will you...touch me?”
“Sera…”
“I want you to touch me.”
This time when I pull back, it’s to gauge the truth in her eyes. There’s a sea of need swimming beneath her gaze that’s so potent it could drown me. She makes a surprised sound as I scoop her up and carry her to a nearby tree stump. I sit down first, then bring her down to straddle my lap. Sera’s only wearing my jacket. Beneath that is a world unexplored.
Her chest rises rapidly as I draw the zipper down, exposing her bare flesh beneath. Every part of her, every stitch, every bit of new flesh, every old and new scar, is perfect. Perfect .
I go slowly. Taking my time seems the best way to avoid scaring her. She’s in a new body, after all. I can only imagine how strange her experiences must feel right now.
With the zipper unlatched completely, I’m able to shrug the jacket off her shoulders. It hits the soft earth below, never drawing my attention away from the vast new landscape of skin that’s just been revealed to me. Taking her mouth once more, I plant deep, desperate kisses on her trembling lips. I hook one arm behind her waist, securing her in place. My other hand explores every bit of soft skin.
Her breathing shifts to quick pants as my fingertips dance atop each of her breasts. I take my time with each one, toying with her nipples, relishing the moans of pleasure they elicit from her.
She reaches up, taking my hand in hers and pushing it lower. “I need you here .”
The space between her thighs is gloriously wet. I glide two fingers through her arousal-dampened folds, rubbing until I find that small nub at the apex. She grips my shoulders, gasping as I make contact. Pleasuring the human body is not something I’ve done in many centuries. But with Sera, the muscle memory returns with hardly a thought. Her mouth drops open as I circle her clit, giving it a variety of light and firm strokes. The way she shivers beneath my touch has my cock so hard I can barely keep my other body from ripping through.
With a small rotation of my wrist, I bring my thumb up to take the place of my circling fingertips and slide those two fingers into her pussy. The guttural sound she makes as I slip deep inside her has a greedy growl rumbling out of me.
I descend on her lips, taking them hungrily as I pump my fingers. To my surprise, she begins to rock. Her hold on me tightens as her hips roll forward, guiding my touch where she needs it most. She spreads her legs wider, dropping lower onto my lap. The friction of her grinding atop my jeans feels so incredible, a low moan thunders out of me.
The rhythmic rolling of her hips moves faster and I match her pace. The curling of my fingers works in tandem with the swirling of my thumb. Breathless, whimpering whines fill the darkness around us. Our lips remain touching as we moan and pant into each other’s mouths. The movement of her hips becomes frantic as she cries out, “Kel!”
The feeling of her walls tightening around my fingers has me dying to experience the same sensation with my cock buried inside her. My real cock. She cries out again and again, riding the waves of her orgasm and dripping arousal down my wrist.
I lighten my movements, slowing my fingers and giving her clit one last gentle brush with the pad of my thumb. She tenses again, her climax quick and quiet this time. I wait until she collapses against me to pull out of her.
Her tangled mess of blonde curls settles into the nook of my neck. I hold her to me, supporting her as she goes boneless in my grasp. Everything about holding her in my arms feels right. It warms that lonely lost part of me that has spent my eternity alone.
“Thank you,” she whispers. Her breath tickles my neck.
She moves so quietly that when her hand grasps the erection through my jeans, I nearly jump out of my skin. “Sera.”
“Kel...” Her hand slips beneath my waistband, gripping the hardened flesh pulsating against my thigh. The conflict wavering in my mind vanishes as she strokes me. I buck my hips up, sliding my jeans down and freeing myself. Sera gasps as she stares down at it. If she thinks it’s big now, she’s in for a hell of a surprise when I take my royal form.
I close my eyes as she squeezes me from base to tip. The touch is so intimate, so soft and pure. My eyes snap open as her hand vanishes. Sera raises herself up, settling over my cock. Her mouth drops open as her hips sink down. I mimic the action, mouth gaping as her tight passage squeezes down around me.
She shifts her hips, whimpering slightly. It’s a tight fit. I can feel the sutures within her stretching to accommodate me.
“Just take it slow,” I whisper, speaking words that contradict my every instinct. But I won’t ruin this experience. Especially since I plan to have Sera by my side for all eternity. This is the first time for both of us. I won’t do anything to scare her away.
She moves again, and I capture her whimper in a kiss. Her fingertips dig into the meat of my shoulders as our tongues intertwine. Sera finds a steady rhythm, rising and dropping over my cock. Fuck it feels good.
I can honestly say that even though I’ve fantasized about her since the moment I caught sight of her, I never imagined we would end up here. I’d hoped, prayed that one day she would trust me enough to let me touch her. That day turned out to be today. And I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity she’s granted me.
My hands sneak to her waist. Her gasp of relief urges me on. I guide her by the hips, taking over and finding a pace that has us both moaning without care or thought to who or what can hear. Her frame is so small compared to mine. My hands swallow her from waist to thighs.
Goosebumps rise as my lips trail down her neck, kissing along the many suture paths covering her pale flesh. She shudders as I brush along the sensitive places. Her body tenses slightly. But I want her to know there is nothing wrong with her stitched-up skin. I desire it as much as I desire her lips, breasts, and her devilishly wet pussy.
She lifts a hand to push my face away. “You don’t have to act like my stitches aren’t hideous.”
I snatch her hand, pinning it to her side and running my mouth along a line of sutures beneath her throat.
“Soon they’ll only be scars and I’ll lick them every day to remind you how much I want every”—I buck up beneath her, making her gasp—“single”—my hips thrust again and her body quivers—“part of you.”
My next deep thrust sends her into a silent orgasm. Her muscles tighten, breath halting, eyes rolling back to reveal their whites, as she grips my cock so tightly that I come without warning.
My release spews up into her, freeing my body even further from the frozen wasteland of its lonely years. The powerful climax rips through my defenses. It fills me with an unforgettable sensation that has me addicted to Sera and already needy for more of her touch, taste, everything.
Bliss. Contentment. The overall feeling that this is so fucking right. All of it settles over me like a thick blanket of spider webs. My lungs release an exhale that has the tension in my monstrous muscles melting into mush.
“Whoa.” Sera breathes against my chest. “That was unexpectedly amazing.”
Gazing down at her, I quirk an eyebrow. “You’re saying you didn’t expect an experience with me to be amazing?”
She giggles and the sound ricochets through my chest, popping like fireworks. “Not you. Me. I didn’t know, because of this body. You know.”
I lift her chin, planting a tender kiss on her parted lips. “Well, now I hope you see that there’s nothing wrong with you or your new body.”
“Thanks for... That. It was exactly what I needed. I know I barely know you…” A warm blush colors her cheeks as she wiggles off my lap and gets on her feet.
“Guilt and shame are mortal mistruths. You don’t need to feel embarrassed about anything. You’re in the Hallows now. Once we make it back to the Mid Hallows, you can do as you please without thought as to what’s right, wrong, proper, acceptable, or what anyone will think of it.”
Especially considering she’ll be a queen. My queen. And my queen will need to answer to no one.
“Are you always like this?” Sera asks as she slips my jacket back on. It pains me to see her cover her body again, but if all goes as planned, I’ll see it again soon.
“Like what?” We sit near the fire once more.
“This easygoing and nice.” I release a chuckle that’s nearly insulting. Sera frowns. “Was that funny?” she asks.
The urge to tell her everything inches its way up my throat. I settle for a partial truth. “I’ll always be this easygoing and nice with you.” She releases a huff of unhappiness, clearly not enjoying my dodging her question. “I’m not always like this, no. I’m different. Especially the way I look.”
Her fingers trace the jaw and teeth drawn across my cheek. “You mean without the skeleton costume?”
If only. “Even more than that. My position here in the Hallows means I’m different. I have to be able to handle things.”
“Your position? As a monster hunter? You mean you’re different because you aren’t a monster?” Her eyebrows pull tight as she works to piece my ramblings together.
“Not quite. Sometimes it takes a monster to hunt a monster.”
She smiles. “What kind of monster wears face paint?”
“It’s not just the paint. It’s everything. My royal form—”
“Royal form?” she echoes. “What are you, some sort of monster hunter prince?”
I rise, pacing. It’s too soon to tell her everything. Frustration gnaws at my thoughts. If she knew the truth, would she still want to be mine? Does she even want to be mine? I want her so badly that I just assumed she would feel equally as called to—
My pacing halts as I spot a mass of red and yellow eyes moving swiftly our way. The forest darkens at their approach. Even our fire seems to dull as the mass ambles closer. Their yips and bellows come soon after. A cacophony of nightmarish sounds worms its way between the trees.
Every entity that’s been sentenced to eternity in the Deeper Hallows was put here for a reason. It’s a usual part of the evening for the migration of cursed spirits to pass through these areas on All Hallows’ Eve. They wander through the woods, collecting other spirits and growing their horde. They target the nightmares of most mortals.
The eyes peering back at me belong to those creatures that go bump in the night, the monsters that lurk beneath beds, those things that whisper your name when no one else is around.
Those creatures wouldn’t dare to challenge me in my royal form, especially on Halloween. Despite knowing that, a warning bell chimes within my mind. If they decide to take an interest in me... In her .
I reach within, calling out to my monstrous, true skin. The need for it echoes emptily back at me. I’ve overextended myself and my powers this evening in an attempt to rid myself of the monotonous despair wreaking havoc within my bones. Too much reaping, not enough rest. I never thought I would still be in the Deeper Hallows this late. I should have been back in the Mid Hallows hours ago.
Stumbling upon Sera changed everything.
The cursed mass closes in and I brace myself in anticipation. “Keep moving. Keep moving .”
The way they’re clustered makes it impossible to tell how many of them are in the dark cloud that shrouds their twisted forms. If the eyes are any indication, there could be hundreds.
The cursed spirits pass directly in front of the circle of trees we’re standing in. Keep moving . Without warning, they stop. Those hundreds of eyes turn as one, all focused on something behind me.
Sera .