Heart of Darkness

"Why did you save her? She was clearly lying?" Rayven asked him as they rode back.

"I didn't. I just followed the law." Skender said not knowing why he even bothered. But something happened to him, his curiosity peaked when he saw his button around her neck instead of the cross. Why didn't she sell it to repay Ulric?

And her scent, the scent of salt and ocean reached his nostrils and he didn't even like that scent. He was a river person. He shook his head. Why was he even making the comparison?

As he tried to forget her, Lazarus had to ruin everything. "The woman has skills. Did you see how she faked a cry?"

She was a liar and a thief. He should have let Rayven deal with her accordingly.

"You can go without me. I need to be somewhere else." He said and went a separate way.

He rode fast, letting the wind throw off his cloak and whip his hair back. The last few days, since his conversation with William about the destroyer he had been feeling something strange. A pull. A desire for something more. A desire to have the destroyer back and he was trying to fight it. But it was getting harder and the voice in his head became clearer.

That voice belonged to no one else. It was him. His desires speaking. The lonely part of him. The one wanting to escape this emptiness. But he couldn't be selfish. He couldn't hurt people, so he had been trying to fight this desire of his.

The fight wasn't going well. The heart overruled the mind and logic and the destroyer was slowly creeping to the surface. Skender could feel the itch of when his demon tried to come out. It was getting worse each day and he became fearful.

He came to a halt and got off his horse. Then he tied it to a tree in the woods.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the thing he hated to do. Ask Marie for help. He hadn't seen her for a long while. He had no reason to either.

When he arrived at the cabin where she could somehow know of his presence and this time she arrived immediately. "Skender!" A smile lit her face. "I haven't seen you for a while."

"How have you been?" He asked.

"Good. What about you? I see the spell has been working well."

"It has been but… I think it is breaking now."

"How so?" She frowned.

"I don't know. Can you do something?"

She shrugged. "I could try to numb it again."

"That will do." He said.

She stalked toward him with that mysterious look in her eyes again. "Does that mean we will be together again?" She put one hand on his shoulder and walked around him. Skender closed his eyes, trying to remain calm. He was distressed and could not think of this right now. "It has been a long time. I missed you." She came to stand in front of him again. "I will make you feel good, like the last time."

Make him feel good?

The strange itching in him made his face burn hot. His hands trembled at the sides of his body as she grabbed his face gently between her hands. Before she could bring her lips to his he grabbed her by the throat and as he pushed her into the wall and choked her he felt like he could finally breathe.

"You are really good at what you do I must say. As much as I enjoyed your magic touch, I don't enjoy your attitude as much." He pulled her away from the wall and threw her against it, causing her to fall forward on her knees with a gasp.

Marie crawled away in fear and confusion. She was quick to regain her breath and began to hum a few words.

"Don't even try. You know your magic can't do me any harm and you don't want me to come and find you in your home."

She looked up at him pleadingly. "Skender! Come back. You can fight this."

He held his arms open. "Fight what? And I am here."

She shook her head.

He walked up to her and she crawled away. "Don't be afraid." He told her, holding his hand out.

She looked up at him with doubt.

"Don't make me wait." He told her and she took his hand quickly.

He helped her up and pulled her closer. "Listen Marie. Sparing your life is my way of repaying you. It is a lifetime repayment as the urge to kill you is always there. Now I want you to find out the witches that want my blood and how they are able to overpower me? You know that should be impossible right now."

"I will," She said but he knew she was lying. She thought he was a danger so she would warn them if she found them.

That would do. Maybe they would stop their stupid plans.

"Very well then. I shall leave you alone. I would keep you company as you have missed me but I think we have some trust issues right now."

She nodded slowly, the shock still clear on her face.

He gave a slight nod and then went back to his horse. This time he rode back with no itching or distress. He was perfectly fine.

When he arrived at the castle he came across William in the hall. This boy was his savior. "William" He grabbed him by the shoulder. "Are you busy?"

"Did you need anything, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular. I thought we could have a drink."

"Wine?"

"Yes."

"Who is having wine?" Suddenly Lazarus appeared in sight. "Shall we?" He raised a brow.

"Shall we," Skender said and both William and Lazarus looked at him surprised.

"You mean… ladies too?"

"Why not?"

"Your Majesty?" William looked at him with worry.

"Don't worry William. I am doing what you told me. Not only breathing." He said.

Skender could see how the boy put the pieces together in his mind and then his eyes widened. "You are…"

"Yes. With your help, I am back." He smirked.

"What secrets are you two sharing? I feel left out." Lazarus spoke.

William remained worried. "Don't worry. Come! We will have some fun."

"You are scaring me by stealing my words Skender," Lazarus said. "Besides is William really coming with us?"

Skender came to a halt and turned to William. "Do you want to…"

"I want to come with you." He cut off.

Skender's lips curved into a smile. The boy was trying to be a man. It would be interesting to see how well he would do with his always polite behavior.

Lazarus took them to his second home. The parties, the drinks, and women. William looked around calmly. At least he wasn't in shock. Acheron and Blayze joined them and both looked at him surprised.

"His Majesty is honoring us with his presence?" Blayze said who mostly came here to drink. According to him, he couldn't be with human females. It was dangerous with his demon who could turn into a beast. A large wolf-looking creature. But Skender knew he just didn't think human females were good enough. His beast only came out when he was angry as a punishment for his sin wrath.

Unfortunately for him, it was said that if any of them ever got redeemed and fell in love, then it would be with human females. It was part of their punishment and redemption. Human world, human mates, human everything. Now if that was true was hard to say, but according to the visions that a few of the arch had, that was most likely to happen.

Skender had to admit that it was a very fitting punishment for most of them, especially Blayze who hated humans but also had no patience. Getting a human mate would not only anger him but force him to be patient as well.

Seeing fear in a loved ones eyes, explaining what you are, assuring them that you won't harm them, waiting for them to accept you and to be ready to mate. It required a lot of patience and work if he was lucky or not so lucky to fall in love.

Thinking about this, more than ever now Skender didn't want to fall in love again. Therefore he needed to take care of his needs sooner or later.

"Young William is here?" Acheron asked surprised.

William gave a nod. "Yes, My lord. I am only here to drink. A little." He said.

Acheron smiled. "Well then maybe you should come with me and Blayze. We will only have a drink. I think these two other men are here to do something else."

William glanced at him as if afraid to leave him alone. Skender gave him a reassuring nod and then the boy followed them.

"Alright then, let's go upstairs," Lazarus said.

"Do you have your gold up there?"

"The more you go up, the more shine and shimmer you will find," Lazarus said as they walked upstairs. "But what do you prefer? Long, petite, curvy, slender, golden-haired, brown, black? Reserved or wild?"

Skender shook his head with a smile. "Do you have them all?"

"Oh my! You want them all?" He pretended to be shocked. "I mean, I am sure they won't object when they see you."

He led them to a room and flung the door open. "Ladies!" He called as if they had been locked in the room waiting for him to arrive. Indeed, there were women of all shapes and sizes.

Skender already began to ask himself what the hell he was doing here?

"Come," Lazarus led him inside and some of the women gathered around them. "Oh, my, who is your handsome friend?" They wondered eyeing him.

Skender was surprised by these parties where people only came to do this. But he was here now so he shouldn't be so surprised. Maybe like him, they all wanted to release some tension or maybe these people really enjoyed themselves.

"My friend here is very picky. I had to drag him here and he wants to leave already." Lazarus lied. Partly.

"Don't worry. I will change your mind." One of the ladies came, putting her hand on his arm and leading him to the couch. They surrounded him, all of them trying to flirt and impress him. Skender wasn't interested in all of this so he just grabbed one of them and led her away.

"Oh," she said surprised that he picked her of all and he could hear the disappointed sighs of the others.

They went into a secluded room where he let himself be a man. After he was done he felt different. Like he was more demon than ever. Drinks, parties, and sexual activities were very much a demon thing.

Beth sighed next to him, "that felt good. You haven't told me your name?"

"That is a secret." He told her. "Do you want some wine?"

"Yes."

Skender kept drinking with Beth and then the rest just faded.

"Skender! Skender!" Someone tried to shake him out of the darkness. Skender opened his eyes with a groan and saw a pair of silver eyes staring at him. "It is morning now," Lazarus said.

"Morning?"Skender rubbed his eyes and forced them open. It was bright with sunlight shining through the windows.

"Seems like you had a crazy night, but we have to go back to the castle."

Skender sat up, confused for a moment. How did he get here?

Lazarus threw him his clothes. "Hurry," He said and left. Skender got out of bed, trying to remember what happened as he slid into his trousers. Slowly he remembered drinking with a woman, and then attending to his needs and …coming here with William? Oh lord! What had he been thinking?

His thoughts went further back and he remembered Marie. His heart sank. What had he done?!

The destroyer. He was back but… this time he remembered everything clearly.

Thankfully he didn't kill Marie. The woman must be in shock now. Even though he didn't like what she did, he never blamed her. She lived in the human world and thought like humans so she could possibly not understand how he felt. Or maybe he underestimated her and she did. People were complicated. He knew she cared about him in her own way.

"Are you coming?"

"Yes." After getting dressed, they quickly left for the morning meeting. "Where is William?" Skender asked.

"Don't worry. He had a few drinks then went home. He should be here anytime soon."

As they sat in the meeting room, William arrived with Rayven and then they were all ready for the meeting. Skender felt his head throb in pain. He felt disorientated and couldn't focus.

"Alright, now that everyone is here…ah" the pain in his head increased as he spoke. "Well, if you have anything report it to Vitale." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes feeling like his head would explode.

'He looks awful. What is wrong with him today? He had fun last night. He is not used to it that is why he looks like this. He should have just continued to sleep. These morning meetings are useless anyway. What is Angelica doing right now?'

Skender shot his eyes open. He looked around. All of them were silent. Did he just hear their thoughts?

Ugh…I can't control this hunger anymore. Skender turned to Acheron but his lips didn't move. He was sure he heard his thoughts.

No.

No!

At least their thoughts he didn't want to hear. He rose hastily from his seat and they turned to him. "I am not feeling well. Proceed without me." He said and rushed out of the room. William followed him. "Your Majesty."

"Not now, William. I need to be alone." He went back to his room and let out a deep breath. God, he would lose his mind soon. His demon was completely awake if he could hear thoughts which meant the destroyer was there with his full power and potential. Why was it quiet then? Was he playing tricks on him?

Where are you? He called and then laughed feeling like a mad man when he got no reply. He was now talking to himself. Great.

He fell back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He would just have to wait and see his life turning upside down. After a while, when nothing still changed, he decided to try meeting Marie and apologize. If she even wanted to see him after what he did.

He found himself standing outside the fence, knowing that she would not find it safe to meet him alone in the cabin.

"Skender?" She was surprised to see him but he could see that she approached him carefully and with fear. "I think it is better if you don't come here anymore."

"I just came to apologize." He said.

She kept a safe distance between them.

"I wasn't really myself."

"I know. It is alright." She said. "But you are unpredictable now. It is dangerous."

"I know."

"I hope you can overcome this." She told him.

"Thank you."

They looked at each other for a while. "I… I want to apologize too." She began. "I have been thinking and I realized I was taking advantage of my power."

"Thank you," He said appreciating her apology.

"You deserve better."

He nodded. "You deserve better as well." She didn't deserve this one-sided thing. He hoped she would understand that she wasn't getting anything out of this. Only hurt that would come at some point.

She forced a smile on her face.

"Well, the destroyer didn't kill me. It seems like you have some control over him." She changed the subject.

He did?

Many things were indeed different this time and he truly hoped that it was him having control and not the destroyer luring him to think so.

"I hope so.." He said.