Slay My Soul

I shake the cigarette pack at Eve and raise a brow. She nods and my heart leaps with joy. We sit on the stairs out back with Eve sitting between my legs, leaning back on me. I light hers first, then my own, as we puff away in silence. Her line of sight is glued to the mound of dirt in the distance, with its white headstone glowing in the light of the moon. I attempt to distract her.

“So, I take it you saw Marcus?” I ask, my lips curving into a smile as she snorts.

“Yeah, what’s left of him. Sirus was slapping his face with his own arm when I walked in,” She chuckles.

Sirus had removed Marcus’s arms and legs last week, cauterizing the wounds so he didn’t bleed out. He liked to use the now decaying body parts to torment the broken man. It was creative but sick as fuck. At least he had something to focus his inner darkness on.

“Your father has issues.” I shake my head laughing.

“Fuck, don’t we all?” Eve groans. “I think I should put Marcus out of his misery. He’s been punished more than enough don’t you think?” I nod in agreement.

“Will you sleep with us tonight Eve? We miss you,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head. She sighs.

“Yes, but can we just throw some mattresses down in the lounge? I can’t go back to that bed without him in it. It’s just not right.”

“I’m sure we can do that,” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her front and cuddling her to me. “How did today go for you?”

“It went,” she shrugs. “Part of me keeps waiting for him to walk through the door and yell out ‘jokes!’ Part of me hopes this is a bad dream. But inside my soul is shredded and bleeding, as it screams for him. It hurts Luka, it hurts so much. It’s hard to just keep breathing, to function in any capacity. I want him back. I just miss him you know?” Her voice wavers as she tries to suppress her emotions. She takes a deep shuddering breath, trying to ground herself.

“I know Amor,” I say, holding her tight. I know how much she hurts, we all do. We felt her pain as it rippled through us when her grief exploded that day. We saw her crawl through her pain to get to him, while Darius's own pain held him immobile. Her strength and love were beyond anything I had ever seen. That inner strength of hers is what is going to keep her going, and the love we have for her will help her find a way through it.

I wait for her to flick her cigarette butt away before leading her back inside.

“Would you guys be keen on a slumber party type of deal tonight down here?” She asks. The guys grin and immediately start moving furniture back, while others head off to drag mattresses down from upstairs. Before long the beds are sorted and we are all piled on, drinks in hand as Eve grabs the remote and puts on Netflix.

“What are we watching sweet cheeks?” Dev asks.

“Space! The final frontier,” Eve says.

“These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise,” Dev's eyes light up as he continues the speech.

“It's continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds,” Darius laughs, squeezing her to him.

“To seek out new life and new civilizations,” Garret calls out dramatically.

"To boldly go where no one has gone before!" We all yell, clinking our glasses and cracking up, while Carino looks at us like we have lost the plot.

"Just watching, or drinking and watching?" Ly asks. Eve grins evilly.

"Drinking!" We cheer and Ly laughs, heading off to grab supplies from the liquor cabinet, while Acassus explains the rules to a bewildered Carino. Before we begin, Darius holds up his glass and yells out "to Reece!" We all echo his words and drink. I'm really going to miss having Reece with us.

It becomes a messy night fast, as Eve purposely puts on an episode that guaranteed lots of drinks. When we are happily wasted and I notice most are asleep or dozing off, I get up and turn off the lights and lock the doors. I climb back into bed, watching Eve as she sleeps peacefully, before drifting off to sleep myself.

Eve's scream has me bolting upright. Someone flicks the lights on revealing Eve in a full-blown panic, trying to untangle herself from the other's limbs as she looks around for some unseen boogeyman. She looks terrified. Garret and Darius grab her, crushing her between them as they try to calm her. I crouch beside her.

"Amor? What has you so upset?" I ask her gently, wiping away her silent tears as her eyes continue to dart around the room.

"Reece was here," she says, her voice a quiet quivering whisper.

"Angel, no, it was just a bad dream," Garret reassures her.

"Was it a replay of his death?" Acassus asks sadly. Eve shakes her head.

"No, no! I was drinking coffee and then something big was in my mouth, I spat it out. It was an eyeball." She shudders with revulsion. "I looked up and he was sitting opposite me with his eye missing. He smiled at me and then said 'eye see you,' and then he laughed and laughed. But then he wasn't Reece anymore, he was Belestine and he lunged at me. Then I woke up," She sighs. "Sorry guys. Try to go back to sleep."

"It sounds terrifying, don't apologize for it," I tell her, kissing her forehead. Want us to leave the stair lights on?" She nods and I flick on the stair light and turn off the lounge ones. Slowly Eve settles back to sleep with the aid of Garret's purrs and hair strokes and Darius's hands rubbing her back as she clings to him.

I hear her call out in her sleep on and off throughout the night and Garret's purrs start-up, putting her back under as Darius whispers that she's safe in her ear.

By the time morning comes we are all still tired from all the interrupted sleep, but we muddle through the best we can and fill Eve in on the border attacks, to focus her on something else.

I watch in admiration as she rearranges patrols and warriors, shaking things up to be less predictable.

When night comes and we bed down in the lounge again, it is even worse than last night. Eve wakes even more frequently, screaming in terror. All her nightmares center around Reece and Belestine.

By the end of the fourth night, we are all cranky and snarly. Eve is a jumpy mess with dark rings around her eyes. She's barely functioning, she's too scared to sleep because her nightmares are getting worse. Carino pulls me aside.

"I'm going to set a ward around the perimeter of the house," He informs me.

"Why and what does it do?" I ask tiredly.

"I don't think she's having nightmares, I think Belestine is attacking her in her sleep and the attacks are getting worse."

"Fucking fucker!" I swear. "You really think it's him? It's really starting to affect her."

"Not just mentally. I've seen bruises on her and not from training either," he whispers. "It's manifesting physically now. What he does to her in her dreams is coming through and affecting her body. When have you ever known Eve to wear a turtle neck, or have that much clothing covering her?" My eyes narrow as I swing my gaze over to where Eve sits, head bobbing as she tries to stay awake.

I snap my fingers and motion the guys over. Quickly repeating what Carino just said. Garret growls lowly and stalks over to Eve. Despite his anger, he speaks gently to her.

"Angel?" her eyes flicker open. "Raise your arms for me?" Eve looks at him disoriented but raises her arms as requested. Garret pulls her top over her head and I hiss at the marks on her skin. This isn't just a few bruises - she's covered in them. Garret drags off the baggy sweatpants she has on as well. Her legs are just as bad.

"Do it!" I tell Carino.

He kisses her forehead then hurries off outside to do the ward thing he was talking about. I sit on the couch and bite my wrist, pulling her to me as I press my wrist to her lips. The blood hits her nose and her fangs extend, biting down. She begins to suck slowly, enjoying the comfort of it as I stroke her hair and watch the bruises start to fade.

Her fangs retract as the last of them disappear and I continue to hold her in my arms.

"It's safe to sleep now," Carino confirms. Mikyda pops a pillow behind me and helps me arrange us on the couch, before covering us with a blanket. The guy's bed down on the mattress's on the floor yawning.

"Get some sleep everyone, we can talk and sort it all out later," Garret tells us.

Eve's already out. I bury my nose in her hair and swiftly follow suit.