Soul Crafter

Chapter Nine: Wretched Warlock

“Are you alright?” he tenderly asked, searching her eyes. Michelle was still feeling disoriented from whatever Melek had done to her.

     Her lips quivered. “Did you take me away from that place?” her voice cracked in some parts.

     “Yes, you’re safe now,” Victor said, crouching down beside her on her bed. She turned and swung her legs off the side.

     “Was that him?” Michelle asked, feeling pressure intensifying in her chest.

     Victor didn’t have to ask who she meant. “Yes, it was him.”

     Michelle put her hands in her lap, looked down and nodded. “Can you give me a minute please?” Michelle asked. Victor looked down and noted her hands were shaking. She tried to steady them by clenching them together.

     “Why?” Victor asked, gazing up at her and putting one cool hand on her knee. “What is it?”

     She looked up at him and he saw that her eyes were filling with tears. She could no longer control herself and let out a sob.

     “It was so horrible,” Michelle confessed, her shoulders beginning to shake. Victor got up, sat down beside her and put his arm around her.

     “It’s okay now,” Victor said reassuringly.

     Victor thought to himself about what he really wanted to do to her. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her tight. His brows furrowed as he chased the thought away.

     “I thought they were going to die!” Michelle sobbed, putting her head against his chest and crying freely now. “I was so scared,” she exclaimed through the fabric of his shirt. He held her with both arms and discreetly kissed the top of her head. He then scowled thinking of what Melek had done.

     “Where are they now?” Michelle asked through her tears, pulling away from his tear-stained shirt.

     “I sent them home,” he answered.

     Suddenly, Michelle’s phone rang.

     She answered her phone and heard a hysterical Bianca on the other end.

     “Michelle, are you okay?!” 

     Michelle, who now had fresh tears of relief dripping down her cheeks, replied as calmly as possible. “Yes, I’m home. What about you? Are you okay?” She tried to make her voice sound as calm as possible.

     “Did what happened really happen? Or was all that a dream?”

     Michelle hesitated. She looked up into Victor’s eyes and knew he heard what she asked. Should she pretend none of it happened? Should she keep her friends out of what was going on?

     She covered her phone with a pillow so that Bianca couldn’t hear what she was about to say. “Should I keep the truth from her?” she whispered.

     Victor raised one eyebrow as if to convey to her that her question was a rather silly one.

     “If you wish to endanger them and keep them ignorant, by all means— they’re your friends, not mine,” Victor replied.

     “What do you mean?”

     “Since you are associating with me, it puts you and anyone you hold dear in danger,” Victor said in a grave tone she’d never heard him speak in before now. It sent chills up and down her spine.

     “So that would mean they’re in danger no matter what?” Michelle clarified, wide eyed.

     Victor nodded.

     “I see then,” Michelle said more calmly. She slid her phone out from under the pillow and put it to her ear.

     “One more thing,” Victor uttered, putting a finger up.

     Michelle covered the receiver.

     “What?” she whispered.

     “Certain information could put even bigger targets on their backs,” Victor warned.

     “So you’re saying I shouldn’t tell them at all?”

     “I’m saying it’s all up to you. There’s potential danger no matter what.”

     Michelle pensively chewed on her lower lip. She was thinking of what the best course of action was. She had no idea how any of this would turn out. On the one hand, she thought about telling them everything she knew about Melek, about Victor, about everything that’d happened to her up until now. But she worried about how they’d take it. Would they understand? Could something even worse happen? Michelle also knew that Bianca and Chris both came from a very religious family. And what about Chris? How would he react? Would he take it well?

      “Hello, are you still there?” Bianca’s voice called out from the receiver.

     “Hey, sorry, someone was at the door,” Michelle lied. “Is everything okay there? Is your mom around?”

     “Yes, thank god that nightmare is over. I have no idea what happened to us.”

     “I don’t really remember anything, to be honest,” Michelle said.

     “What? What do you mean you don’t remember?”

     “I mean, I remember that you were looking for your mom, and that we were lost somewhere, but that’s it. Everything else is a blur,” Michelle said.

     Victor looked at her with raised eyebrows, surprised by the direction she was going in.

     “You’re telling me you don’t remember that monster that touched me, or that man that came to see us when we were in that… alternate universe or whatever?”

     “Alternate universe?” Michelle said incredulously, squinting her eyes in self-disgust. She didn’t enjoy lying to her friend like that.

     There was a small silence before Bianca replied.

     “Wow, you really have no idea what happened? Even Chris remembers, but he’s trying to forget,” Bianca explained.

     “Yeah, I guess I just hit my head or something.”

     “I wonder if it’s the shock that’s giving you amnesia. I know it happens to trauma victims sometimes.”

     Michelle wanted to reply to her friend that it couldn’t be that, because she could still quite vividly remember the murder of her own parents, and it still haunted her almost daily.

     “Yeah, you could be right. I think I just need to rest, honestly,” Michelle replied.

     “Good idea; I’m going to do the same and pray something like that never happens to us again.”

     “See you,” Michelle said plainly.

     “Rest well, Mich.”

     Michelle hung up.

     “Why didn’t you tell them?” Victor asked.

     “I don’t want to cause them anymore trouble than I already have.”

     “There’s no guarantee,” Victor said.

      “You’re saying that since you’re around, I’m in constant danger, and so are my friends?” Michelle asked, her tone unsteady.

     Victor nodded.

     “Then why don’t you leave?” Michelle blurted anxiously.

     Victor looked into her eyes and seemed, if only for a millisecond, hurt by her words.

     “Not that I want you to leave— but don’t you think that it’s better if you’re not here?”

     “It doesn’t matter where I go. My enemy knows you now.” What he purposely left out is that he has always known her, but only just recently found her.

     “Then why did you come here?” Michelle asked innocently.

     Victor’s jaw clenched. “It doesn’t matter. I have work to do,” he finally said.

     “What kind of work?” Michelle asked. She stood up and went to the kitchen, Victor following close behind.

     “To protect you, of course,” Victor said, watching Michelle as she exhaled and with a shaky hand, took out a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.

     “How are you going to do that?” Michelle leaned against the counter and took large gulps from her glass of water.

     “Enchantments and the like,” Victor said, looking around the room as if he could already see some hidden magic that she couldn’t. “Nothing you’re familiar with,” he added with an air of finality.

     Michelle eyed him. She wanted to know more, but felt he was not in the mood to share much at the moment.

     She spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house, and then studied as she watched him through the window from where she sat. He seemed to walk about the outside of the house, but she couldn’t for the life of her make out what he was doing with his hands.

     By late afternoon, she decided to take a break from her studies and take a shower to refresh herself. She was going to take a quick trip down to the convenience store to pick up some items she needed.

     Once she was out of the shower, she put on some black jeans and a teal sweater, which complimented her fair blonde hair. She picked up her blue handbag and checked that her wallet was inside, then proceeded to head for the front door.

     “Where are you off to?” Victor asked in his thick accent. He was sitting and reading a book on the couch.

     “Oh, I didn’t realize you’d finished your… enchantments.”

     “The first layer is done; I’ll do more later.” He smiled, closing his book.

     “I’m going to the convenience down the street; do you want to come?” she asked tentatively, looking down.

     Before she even had time to look up at him, he was already standing right next to her.

     They both went on foot. When they arrived at the convenience, Michelle immediately went to the hygiene aisle and picked up some Q-tips, mouthwash, and cotton balls. Michelle could feel Victor close behind her, hovering over her no matter what she did.

     “Do you want anything?”

     Victor seemed lost in thought. He looked at her with his deep, piercing blue eyes, and she felt like he was searching for something in them. She noticed her knees also seemed to grow weak.

     “I can create whatever I want. Why would I need to buy anything here?” he stated.

     Michelle hadn’t thought of it like that, but now that he brought it up, it made perfect sense to her why he would never go shopping.

     “So, you never go out?” Michelle asked, putting some nail polish remover into her basket.

     “Not much, no. I don’t get along with people usually,” he said.

     Michelle’s expression softened at that.

     “Do you not have many friends?”

     “No,” Victor said flatly.

     Michelle made her way to the checkout and greeted the clerk.

     “I only have Bianca, really, and her brother as a friend. I’m not really a friend of her friends, so…” Michelle trailed off, and then put all of her items on the counter to be scanned.

     “Yes, I know. And it’s mostly because Bianca is going through a difficulty herself,” Victor said observantly.

     “How do you figure?”

     “I know about people; I read them easily— I can read their past, mainly. Not their future so much, as there are too many variables. But I know what happened to her, and I know that helped solidify your friendship with her,” Victor said.

     The cashier finished scanning the last item, and eyed Victor with a perplexed look.

     Michelle paid and then put everything into her small pouch.

     “So, you know her parents are separated?”

     “Yes. It makes Bianca feel weird, broken, not like everyone else. Somewhat like you, but you take it better,” he said, admiring her.

     Michelle nodded in agreement.

     “I don’t really care if people want to avoid me. If I give off… some kind of depressing energy because of some past tragedy, it’s better people who don’t want to be my friend just don’t come near me at all,” Michelle finished.

     “Wise words,” Victor agreed, gazing at her sympathetically.

     They made their way back home, and Michelle put everything she’d bought away in its proper place. At some point, Victor had said that he could have even manifested all of that for her— that she need not even bother shopping. Michelle noticed that ever since she’d been sucked into that other world, he’d been a lot quieter, and a lot less cheeky. She figured he might go back to normal at some point, and that perhaps he just needed time.

     Evening came and Michelle was now preparing roast chicken with a side of stir-fried vegetables for dinner. Predictably, Victor had asked her if she wanted him to instantly cook it himself, to which she declined, saying the love and energy she put into cooking it was all part of the flavor.

     Victor then simply sat down on the floor in the living room and quietly meditated for the whole time that she was there. She wondered how he was able to stay as still as a rock, and then figured it must have something to do with him being a vampire. She did also question whether or not he’d drank blood recently. After he’d been meditating over an hour, she decided to ask him.

     “Victor…” she gently said, to test if he was listening.

     “Yes?”

     “How often do you need to drink blood?”

     With his eyes still closed, Michelle saw him raise one eyebrow at her question.

     “Sometimes two to three times a week,” he said.

     That was not at all what Michelle had imagined. She thought he’d be more like Dracula, who she remembered needed to feed every night.

     “Do you… kill people when you eat,” Michelle asked nervously.

     With that question, Victor grinned widely, exposing his fangs which were not fully descended.

     “Sometimes,” he smiled, “if I think they deserve it.”

     Michelle swallowed, hoping she never did anything to annoy him.

     “Do you prefer to do it with women?” Michelle asked, blushing.

     Victor finally opened his eyes and gazed at her, and she noted his eyes were somewhat black and red.

     “Why?” he began. “Would you like me to do it with you now?”

     Michelle’s heart began to race. She was about to say no, but suddenly he was standing. The next thing she knew, with impossible speed, she was no longing setting the dining table, but was pinned on the couch, him on top of her and his arms on either side of her head. He lowered his lips to her ear, and she trembled in anticipation.