Stalker
2854 Words
“You could have asked, you know,” her fingers crawled up my arm.
“Uhh,” a huge lump crawled down my throat, flushing my face further. “What brings you here, Cyrille?”
“I was wondering where you went after the ceremony. What about you?”
“Me? I was looking for you.”
“Why? You left me without saying anything. Didn’t I tell you to wait for me?” her teasing tone receded.
“I was a fool for following a human girl into her house,” I admitted.
“And you did it with her, didn’t you?”
“What? No! I would never do such a thing,” a bead of sweat walked down my temple.
“Why are you sweating so much? It was just a simple yes or no. What really happened, Luke?”
“I—” my fingers trembled, so I formed them into fists. “I’m sorry for leaving you back there, okay?”
“That wasn’t the answer I was looking for.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“The answer—a truthful one, Luke,” she demanded, “we aren’t going anywhere until you answer me, right here and now.”
“I swear, I was not fooling around,” fingers stabbed my palm, clenching at the gritting nerves. “Do you actually believe I could do that to you?”
“What do we have, Luke? What are we?” her arms crossed under her breasts.
“We are human and dragon. No. We are two souls talking to each other.”
“Can you be straight with me, please? I do not want a wavering, shallow answer.”
“In all honesty, I want to be with you because I think I’m in love with you. I would understand if you don’t. It’s fine,” my eyes searched the ground for the questions.
She took a moment before she spoke again, “I know that, Luke. You didn’t have to tell me.”
“Do you hate me?”
“It’s not hate, but I’m getting there,” she glared at me straight in the eye.
I picked up her hand, “Wasn’t my apology enough?”
“I wasn’t asking for one.”
“Then what do you want me to do?” I bent on my knees.
“Get up, you’re embarrassing me,” her cold stare pinned me in place.
“There’s no one else here, but us.”
“I wouldn’t be sure about that. Guards?”
With quick movements of her fingers, a pair of winged creatures carried me by my pits.
“What are you doing, Cyrille? I didn’t do anything.”
Her fingers gently swiped my chin and planted a kiss on my lips, “Does that answer your question?”
“You can’t do this to me! Cyrille? Cyrille!” I called out to her from the top of my lungs, fighting my way out of the hands that caught me.
She glanced at me for a moment. When they dragged me away from arm’s length, that’s the only time she turned her back toward me. Her shoulders quivered gently like rustling leaves during fall. Have I truly fallen for her or was it my need? No, it had to be the first one. It has to be, right?
My arms reached for her, but the pull was so strong for me to grasp her tiny frame. Their grip lowered in temperature, stiffing my arms in mere seconds. My skin got covered with glossy blue, as if mimicking the armed dragon’s armor. A pair of thin spikes from each arm attempted to poke my eyes.
If I tried to stare at her one more time, I might see her again.
This was the price I had to pay for my sins. The ice might bury them, but when the sun gazes upon them, they will make itself known again. How much did she know? Did it even matter? A sin is a sin no matter the extent, no matter the price.
I had her there before me, but I let her escape. Did she feel the same for me? I couldn’t tell from the flash of events. My body sagged and icy hands threw me inside a damp, chilly cell of white. Numbness coated my arms or legs as time ticked by. Walls spun my surroundings, knocking out my consciousness.
My eyes opened on the frozen plains of white. The surrounding area was blanketed in white. Nothing else was of any other color than my own—human. Come to think of it, what was my color? When I looked at my skin, it discolored into a shady hue. The solid pond refused to show me the reflection of who I was.
Who was I, really? I couldn’t grasp myself under this white light. Then, those two female figures who took away everything from me appeared from behind the leafless trees. They had skinning knives in hand. Slowly, they crept toward me. A group of hands rose from the pond and held my legs in place.
A woman dressed in an intricate blue gown had a shining crown matching her dress. She licked the knife’s edge, squeezing some crimson along the way. Her lips formed a harrowing grin, eyes dead set on its hunt. Cold breaths escaped from her blue mouth. It froze my shoulders shut, unable to wave for help.
The other woman who wrapped herself in a sandy brown ceremonial dress waved the knife as if some newly bought toy. She spat at it, constantly shining the pointed tip, brandishing it on my neck. My skin cracked upon contact. It burned my most prominent vein—the largest and closest to the surface.
My vision suspended into the air as if pushed by gravity. Tears couldn’t leak from my frozen stance. The coldness was too much for me to bear. My groin became numb and it won’t be long until the ice walked up to my chest. As this frigid woman blew behind my ear, burning sensations reached my mind.
Dense air escaped from my mouth and nose, leaving my tongue hanging. This sand woman next to me played with my tongue like a candy displayed in front of a shop. It melted until there was nothing left.
Soon, other parts of my body followed. Finally, they split my heart into two—the right half went to the ice woman. They kept my lungs and other organs intact. Pain left as quickly when they withdrew from my stiffness.
Satisfied laughs warmed the atmosphere for a fraction.
They took it apart and ate it, never to be seen again. I wanted to scream, but no words came out of my mouth. Saying my last words before my consciousness turned white proved impossible. The last thing I saw were white doves crossing the blank sky.
Some force full of air pushed my lungs to work again. I was still alive, but numb to the limb. A girl in a blue dress paced back and forth on the other side of the cell. Her eyes fixed on the ground as if ready to confess her crime. I continued watching her, waiting for her next move on me.
“You finally did it this time, Cyrille! What will you do now?” she muttered to herself.
I sighed as crawling or crouching won’t do me good, “This is all my fault, Cyrille. I deserved this.”
“Be quiet, prisoner. You have no say in this,” she bit her finger.
“It’s true, isn’t it? I have caused you so much trouble since I left my grandfather’s house. These all happened because I got sent to him by my parents because of my past actions. It’s clear to me now where I should place myself.”
“And where is that?”
“Inside this icy prison. My limbs needed to be frozen for me to realize these things.”
“Oh my goodness, are you okay? Let me get you something hot. I’m sorry. I totally forgot you were human,” she frantically ordered her guards to fetch something.
“It’s fine. I have nothing to live for, anyway. No one wanted me. The girl I yearned for doesn’t even love me, so what’s the point of being alive when I am dying inside?”
“I didn’t say I don’t love you. You caught me by surprise last night, that’s all. I wasn’t prepared to give you an answer, standing under Dragopolis summer sky.”
“You call this summer? This is a joke, right?” I scoffed.
“Does it matter? I wouldn’t be laughing if I were in your condition.”
“Look, Cyrille, I’m sorry, okay? I was so scared that I was desperate to see another human being. That was until I saw her true beastly nature. I soon realized that humans are beasts, too.”
“I understand how you feel,” she bent down and placed her hands on the grills. “Believe me, I really do, but I have to condone such atrocity.”
“That seems fair, though I wasn’t.”
“Luke, that’s enough. Stop beating yourself up. I need you to stay alive for me. Can you do that?”
“What for?”
“If you are curious, stay alive until the time comes. I promise you, it won’t be long.”
“I wish to hold your gentle hands again, but ice locked my body.”
Some scaly creatures arrived in time with steaming tubs of boiling water strapped on their backs. My eyes lightened at the proximity of heat. Their claws were like ice picks as they removed my body from the frozen ground. I was like a block of ice when they dropped me into the steaming water.
I screamed in agony when my skin contacted the water. My skin painfully melted. Soon, the biting frost dispersed, imparting moist on the ceiling. Finally, I could move my neck and bobbed it from left to right to where Cyrille stood. My limbs were free from their icy prison thanks to the burning water.
Her downcast eyes landed upon mine. My limbs softened to a bend as well as my loin. I did not want to look in the water and see the damage. Her gaze sent me into a calming trance. I saw through her soul—the ache it cried and the length of its suffering. I saw it all with these human eyes of mine.
“Touch me,” she ordered softly. “I will allow you this one time. So please, if you want to touch me again, wait until the moment I come for you. That is all I wish, Luke.”
I placed my hands on her cheek. Her lips searched mine. The coldness struck my heart, reheating the brittle parts. My thoughts lingered on her and envisioned her as my bride wearing a long gown walking down the hall, church bells ringing.
She let go of my lips. A puff of mist formed from her departure. Surging heat thawed my frosting heart—the last thing that needed warmth.
“I love you, Luke Langress, with all my heart,” our foreheads met for a moment and she strutted out of my confinement—a sultry walk.
My limbs wouldn’t move, not because of the chilly atmosphere, but of those three words she imparted. Did I hear her right? I sunk into the water, dipping down to my upper lip. Were they lies? They couldn’t be. Her blue eyes told me they weren’t. A kiss from my frozen rose—my frozen love.
My heart beat steadily in my mostly sunken state. Soothing beats cured my aching veins from pulling themselves away to their attachments. Moments later, a dragon guard brought in some new clothes for me to wear. He squinted his eyes at me as if I was the vilest creature in the entire continent.
“It must be nice to be taken care of by our queen,” he grumbled.
“What was that?” I slipped out of the water.
He returned with a smile, “What I meant was, enjoy your stay inside Dracopolitan prison.”
He wagged his lengthy tail with utmost agitation. What was his problem? I wrapped myself with the comforts of rich blue fabric. It fit my frame perfectly. The cotton had nothing cold placed on my skin. I was able to breathe normally again.
Glancing over water, I seemed to be the imprisoned prince of some faraway land. At the strike of the moon, my clothes mirrored its magnificence. It lighted the night sky, watching over its people. Through the window, military men roamed the streets. It would be some stories high if I jumped out.
I sighed and waited for the moon to retire, curling in the solid bed. Another lonely night, it seemed.
The next morning, Cyrille visited me with a tray of warm soup in hand, “Good morning, Luke. I brought you breakfast.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“I insist, for this is only temporary.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are leaving soon, right?”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“That’s right. What am I saying?”
“Why did you bring me here, Cyrille?”
She gently placed the tray and scooped a spoonful, “Eat up, Luke.”
“Please answer the question,” I refused the spoon entry.
She dropped it and sighed softly, “I’m keeping you safe for now while I think of a way to get you out of here.”
“Can’t we talk somewhere else? The chills are getting to me.”
“Don’t be silly. The clothes I brought you should be cold resistant. Anyway, I want to know what you were up to since you left me.”
I filled her in with the details, discounting my weird experiences. She nodded occasionally, like a normal human being as she listened to my story. When I finished, she shoved heaps of warm liquid into my mouth. She giggled at me—as if a fallen angel recently fell from heaven bearing grace with her.
“Uhm, you have something there on your lips,” she pointed.
I tried to wipe it off, “Where? Did I get it?”
“Here, let me help you,” she leaned in closer.
“Huh? What are you doing?” I fell on my back and crouched on top of me.
“Relax. I won’t hurt you.”
She used her lips to pick up the wandering strip of chicken meat. That strip got sandwiched between our tongues. It enriched the flavor of the trapped piece, drowning me in with it. Providing me space to breathe, she leaned away—an angel trying to extract my soul out of its binds.
“Woah, that was intense,” she huffed, her cheeks tinted red.
My heart wanted to tear my eardrums apart, “Why did you stop?”
“I need to focus on my work. Finish up your soup,” she stood up, propping herself.
“Will you be back?”
“I will see you again around lunchtime.”
I waved her goodbye. Her stiff posture reminded of Darleen for a moment, her sandy dress flowing with grains. Those sandy eyes saw beyond me. Her morning smile kept up with the sun’s glory. The moment she shook her head and turned away, it never left my mind.
I was worried about her. What if she stormed in here, attempting to break me out? Did she follow me here in Dragopolis? That would be highly unlikely, but it would help ease my mind to see her again.
My line of thoughts broke when some loud pounding quaked the entire room. Blares of horn trumpeted erratically. Smoke formed by dust exploded from the window. Oh no, this can’t be!
“Luke, I have to get you out of here, fast. Let’s get you somewhere safer!” Cyrille ran back, catching her breath.
Have my fears been realized? I hoped for the worst thing possible—that it wasn’t true.
- Writer
