WormWood

Death

I slowly started to wake as I noticed my lifeless body was being carried. I still didn't have much control over my body. I was able to open my eyes enough to see the face of a man. He looked so familiar but I couldn't place him. My mind felt foggy and my body was so weak. I couldn't open my mouth to talk even if I wanted to. I had no fight in me and I could feel myself starting to drift off to sleep.

I had a splitting headache. I awoke once more, but this time I woke up on a soft warm bed. I slowly sat up as I still felt very weak. I noticed my arm had been bandaged. I looked around the room, it was dark, the only light was from the fireplace. I felt a wave of nausea hit me as I stood. I held a hand over my mouth to keep myself from being sick on the floor. "You need to get back in bed." a voice came from across the room. I had sworn I had heard his voice before but I couldn't place who this man was. I swallowed down the vomit that was sitting in the back of my throat and managed to say "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

I stood in place as I heard him moving around. Before I knew it, he was in front of me with a bucket and helping me back into bed. "Your body is still weak, the claws of ghouls paralyze their victims to make eating your flesh easier. Luckily, the effects wear off and you will be back to normal in a day or two. You're lucky I was able to get to you, Iris. I don't understand why you came back here." He put his hand onto mine and the feeling of calmness consumed me. Then it clicked. "Death?" I whispered out. He removed his hand from mine, "I told you to not return here and yet you did." he huffed out in frustration.

I could feel myself tense up from his frustration, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've only met you in my dreams. For all I know, this could be a dream too." I said back, now frustrated with him. He shook his head in annoyance, "This is far from a dream, this is reality. You almost got yourself killed again, do you know what that would.." he stopped himself. "You met me 11 years ago, you entered the forest and the same thing happened all those years ago. You almost died then and you almost died again. You're lucky I'm able to sense when you're close. You're lucky I'm your ma.." he stopped himself again.

I could feel tears coming to my eyes. I never liked being yelled at, but I felt like I could feel every single one of his emotions rolling off of him and it overwhelmed me. "I'm sorry, I don't remember my first time in the forest." I got out through sobs. I could sense he was no longer frustrated but concerned and a bit scared. "Iris, I'm sorry. Once you're feeling better, we'll talk more. Just rest for now." A second wave of nausea hit me and I found myself hurling. He kneeled onto the bed and moved my hair from my face and rubbed my back as I continued on. I nearly filled the bucket with vomit, before being able to stop. "Sorry you had to witness that." I said as embarrassment flowed through me. He took the bucket from me and handed me a glass of water, "Drink, you need to stay hydrated," he said softly. I sipped a little water here and there. His eyes never leaving me.

He looked just as handsome as he did in my dreams. Suddenly, the passionate moments we shared in those dreams flashed into my mind and I felt my face fluster. I could sense a shift in his emotions as he took notice of my flushing complexion. I wondered if he could sense my emotions just as I could his. "Death isn't your name right?" I asked, trying to avert his attention. "It's Dorian. Death is my title." I looked at him confused, "Your title?" he nodded, "Yes, just as Prince is a title. Death is my title, as it is my job. I deal with the dead." My brain was having a hard time computing what he had just said. "So you're like the grim reaper?" he shook his head, "Reapers collect the souls for me. I decided on where the souls go. I ship them to heaven or hell." Another round of nausea hit me. "Bucket." I managed to get out between dry heaves.

--

I spent the next few days sick and bed ridden as Dorian nursed me back to health. We spoke here and there, but I mostly slept throughout the last few days. I awoke the third day to the sun beaming through the window. I looked over to see Dorian resting peacefully. I felt my heart do a little flip at the sight of him. I had no idea why my body reacted the way it did to him. His touch immediately brought ease to me. Whenever he looked at me, I felt myself heat up. Everytime he was in my eyesight, I felt butterflies in my stomach. It had to be the dreams I had prior. I don't know why I had such scandalous dreams about him, but I knew when he was in my sight I wanted to act on them.

I got up from bed wanting to bathe as I hadn't been able to in the last couple of days and I was sure I had dry vomit in my hair. I felt embarrassed that I looked so disheveled in his presence. I made my way towards the bathroom that I only frequented a few times when I needed to relieve myself. I quickly got my bath ready and began washing up. The warm water felt heavenly on my skin. I removed my bandage to wash my wound. When I uncovered it, I was horrified by how awful the scratch was. It had torn pretty deep into my bicep. I tried to carefully wash it but every time I grazed over it, pain immediately shot through me. I gave up on washing it and moved onto my hair. It felt so good to remove all the sweat, dirt, blood and vomit from my body. It had been a rough couple of days but I knew I needed to get back to my task and get back to mother.

When I finished bathing, I wrapped a towel around myself. I didn't want to put my dirty clothes back on, so I stepped out into the room to find Dorian laying out a beautiful emerald green dress. When he turned around to look at me, his face turned scarlet red. He looked down at the floor, " I figured you'd want something clean to wear, this was my mother's. I'm sure it'll fit you." he began making his way to the door, "Wait." I blurted out. "I need you to bandage my arm again." he stopped in his tracks and then turned to walk to the bathroom. He came back out a few moments later with a roll of bandages. "Have a seat," he said, motioning to the chairs near the window. I made my way over and sat down. He kneeled down and looked at my wound. "Looks better than when I first bandaged it." He grabbed my arm and I flinched in pain, "Sorry." he said sincerely.

"It's okay, just wrap it quickly." I said while trying to relax. He gently caressed my arm and began wrapping. It still hurt but I could tell he was being as gentle as he could. "I'll be leaving today." I said as he finished wrapping my arm. He gave me a confused look, "Leaving the forest, that is," he said back to me. I shook my head. "No, I'm looking for a rare herb that only grows here. I'm not leaving without it." I could sense his frustration. "Iris, do you not understand you'll die out there? You're leaving the forest and that's it." I let out a laugh, "And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?" He stood up, "I'm your.." he stopped. "You promised me eleven years ago that you wouldn't come back, I expected you to keep that promise." I shook my head annoyed, "I can't keep a promise I don't remember making. I'm in danger here and I'll be in danger if I go back home right now."

"Why are you in danger at home?" he asked. Concern was radiating off of him. I pinched the bridge of my nose as a headache started to form from our argument. "Before I left home, a man named Malcom was trying to force me into a marriage with him. I ran from home and he assaulted me before I made my way into the forest." Dorian's emotions quickly went to rage, "Assaulted you how?" I shook my head, "I'm not saying anymore, I don't feel like reliving it. Besides, why do you care?" His emotions were all over the place. I didn't understand why I could sense what he was feeling. I felt like I could read him like a book.

"You wanna know why I care?" The frustration was radiating off of him but he held back from saying anything further, instead he bent down to my level and pulled me in for a kiss. My body started heating up and I started getting wet between my legs. The kiss was passionate and heated, there was so much behind that kiss and I could feel every emotion of his, all conflicting with each other, but I could tell he was lusting for me badly right now. He pulled away, leaving me wanting more.

"You're not going anywhere," he said as he walked away and slammed the door behind him. I touched my lips, my face was flustered and I felt unsatisfied just as I had in my dreams. I wanted more of him. I had been lusting for him since I first I dreamed of him.