Trapped In Sin: Ava’s Story

The Face That Should've Stayed Buried

Narrator.

The heavy storm outside had finally stilled, but within the ancient stone walls of Azrael's castle, a storm of another kind was brewing.

The heavy doors groaned open as Azrael stepped into the castle. His long black coat was soaked from the rain, as he walked into the castle, his presence commanded the room before he even spoke.

His eyes were as sharp as fractured glass as they swept over the empty corridor, but he didn't miss the flicker of candlelight seeping beneath Ava's room door.

He could feel that something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was until he heard the sound of laughter coming from inside the room.

The faint sound of Hannah's voice reached his ears, and Azrael felt his anger rise. He warned Cassian about making Hannah meet Ava, but his brother still defied his orders. He clenched his jaw and moved towards the door in deliberate silence. The door was left slightly ajar, giving Azrael a small gap to see into the room.

His eyes roamed around the room until they fell on Ava. She was perched tensely on the edge of her chair, her expression was guarded, but she didn't look afraid. If anything Ava looked far too comfortable and that pissed Azrael off.

Hannah sat across from her, looking far more relaxed and excited. Her voice was filled with warmth that sounded too familiar to Azrael. He didn't like the affection he saw in Hannah's eyes.

Azrael knew exactly what his sister was trying to do, and he wasnt going to allow her to ruin his plans. He clenched his jaw and decided to leave before he lost his cool, but Hannah's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"You look exactly like someone I used to know." Hannah whispered, but Azrael heard her loud and clear.

Azrael's eyes darkened, and the air around him shifted into something deadly. He stepped back from the door before either of them could notice him and clenched his jaw. Hannah was playing a dangerous game, he thought as he turned away and disappeared into the shadows.

Azrael walked into Hannah's room and waited patiently for her to return. His anger was rolling off him in waves that every servant in the castle shrieked and fled from the castle.

Azrael never gets angry because he always knew how to mask it so perfectly. But tonight, his sister crossed a line. One she should have never crossed.

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. But Azrael was determined to wait; every hour that went by only infuriated Azrael more.

The door to Hannah's room creaked as she pushed it open and walked inside.

Hannah was startled, but she wasnt surprised to find her brother in her room. He was standing by her room window with his back facing her; she felt his anger just like every servant and guard in the castle did. But she didn't comment on it.

"Have you lost your mind?"Azrael hissed, spinning around to face her. "You were told to stay away, Hannah."

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked further into the room. "She was terrified, brother, she needed someone like me. You're treating her like__"

"She's meant to be alone." He cut her off sharply. "She has to suffer, Hannah. Pain summons what sleeps inside of her. Every kindness you offer her delays everything that I've been waiting for."

"Don't you think she's been through enough pain at the hands of her stepmother? What happens when she starts to remember, Azrael? You can't keep lying to her." Hannah shot back. Azrael stood up from his seat and walked closer to his sister.

"That's none of your business." He growled. "Do you have any idea what you almost did? You had no right to mention HER to Ava."

Hannah's face turned pale, but she held her ground. "I didn't say her name." She bit her lip hard because she now understood why her brother was so angry; she forgot that the walls of this castle answered to Azrael.

Azrael closed the distance between them, his huge frame towering over her, and his fury could barely be contained.

"You didn't have to, Ava remembers her in fragments of her dreams." He spoke through clenched teeth. "If she remembers too soon, she'll burn everything to the ground, including herself. You think I'm being cruel, but I'm the only thing standing between her and oblivion."

Hannah laughed bitterly and scowled at her brother. "You've always played God, Azrael, even when we were children. I can't afford to hurt her, brother."

"And you've always been weak. But this, this isn't about you or your guilt." Azrael shot back coldly. Hannah's heart sank at her brother's words, but she refused to show him how much his words hurt her..

He walked away from her and yanked the door open. Azrael paused by the door with his back still facing her.

"I want you out of the castle tonight. Don't say a word to Ava, just leave and don't return until this is over."

Azrael was about to leave, but Hannah's words stopped him. " She's not a weapon, Azrael, she's a woman and you loved her once."

He sneered at her words, and with his back still facing her, he left without saying another word. Hannah's last words repeated in his head as he walked down the dimly lit corridors, and memories from centuries ago came back to haunt him.

As he walked into his room, the bedroom lights switched on, and the fireplace came to life. Azrael poured himself a glass of whiskey and downed it in one go.

His eyes fell on a small portrait of a woman and himself. The woman was smiling and holding onto his hand, her blue dress matched the colour of her eyes, and the smile on her face as she stared at Azrael made his heart ache.

He traced his fingertips along the painting and cursed inwardly.

Azrael just stood there and stared at her face, the same face that Ava now wore, the same plump lips and the same eyes that held so much defiance and temptation.

He walked away from the portrait and picked up a chair behind him. Azrael threw it across the room, and it crashed onto the wall beside the portrait, but the painting didn't even tremble.

"Why? Why does this key have to look exactly like you?" His voice was low, but the anger and sadness were evident in his tone.

He took slow steps forward, his eyes burning with rage.

"Is this some cruel joke from the Gods?' He snarled. "Or is this a punishment, or some kind of test? Am I supposed to forget what you did just because she walks around wearing your face?"

His hand shot out__ and for a moment it looked like he was about to strike the painting, but he didn't. Instead, his fingers hovered just near her painted cheek. His voice dropped to a ragged whisper.

"You chose him over me, you destroyed everything... And yet I still couldn't kill you without my soul rotting." Azrael backed away from the painting, his eyes were full of rage and guilt, and something far too broken to name.

"I hate you, and I hate her for being you." His tone held malice. Azrael turned away from the portrait; he was unable to look at it any longer.

Inside the tower of the castle, Ava sat on the edge of her cold bed, her fingers twisted in the sheets. She furrowed her brows when she felt a sharp pull hit her. She felt the grief that tore through the stone walls, and her breath caught.

She looked around the room, but nothing moved. Yet something felt wrong, and she couldn't understand what it was.

A cold chill ran down her spine. "What was that?" She whispered to herself, half expecting an answer.

But nothing could prepare Ava for what was about to unfold in the days to come. She stood up and walked towards the room window. She pushed the curtains aside, and her eyes landed on the west wing of the castle.

Ava felt drawn to that part of the castle, but she couldn't understand why. Little did she know, someone was looking directly at her as she stood by the window with an internal battle of his own; he didn't know whether he should love her, control her, or destroy her all over again.