That of a Dying Black Rose

Chapter Seven: Falling

She tosses and turns under the quilt as nightmares soon plague her mind. The night of her parent's deaths play vividly through her mind again - almost as if she was reliving it. She could feel her mother's blood splatter on her face again. She could feel the power surging through her veins as she let her demon blood take hold of her. As soon as her father gets impaled - she shoots up in the bed, covered in a cold sweat.

She pants as she looks around the dark room, relieved that she is still in Emile's home. She gets out of the bed and walks out into the cool night so she can think.

She shivers at the cold night air as she looks around the forest and listens to the nocturnal animals sing their songs in the distance. She smiles as she sees an owl in the trees and it hoos at her. She sits in the grass as she continues to stare at the magnificent creature.

She hears the front door of the cabin open and she looks towards it to see Emile walking out of the cabin.

"I did not mean to wake you. I had a nightmare so I needed to clear my head..."

"No worries. I just needed to know you were ok" he tells her as he pats her hand that was in the grass. He was sitting next to her now.

He hears her stomach grumble and he chuckles, "you did go to bed without eating. Your human stomach must be starving" he tells her.

She just nods shyly and follows him back into the cabin.

He starts helping her cook herself some food when an idea comes to his mind. "What do you say to a picnic under the stars," he asks with a kind smile. She could see the smile due to the oil lamps being lit in the kitchen.

"I think that sounds like a lovely idea" she smiles at him.

He nods and once they finish dinner, they pack it into a basket that Emile had lying around and head out to the front of the cabin again. They sit on a quilt in the grass and pull out the freshly cooked pork from the basket and light the candles around them so they could see.

They dig into it and joke with each other as they eat and drink the water they got from the well out back.

"If you do not mind me asking, Rain. What was your nightmare about?"

"I...I constantly have nightmares about my parents' deaths. They always feel so real, like I am reliving the past over and over again"

"I see," Emile says as he scoots closer to her.

He wraps an arm around his friend and she lays her head on his shoulder.

"As long as I am here, I will do my best to save you from those horrible dreams" he tells her.

She looks up at him with a smile and realizes that she was quickly falling for this man. He was so kind and so loyal to her, she did not want to lose him. She did not want to marry Lucius, she did not ever want to see or hear of Lucius ever again.

She hated Lucius for everything he had done to her involuntarily. Even though he did not take part in the murder of her parents, he took no action to stop it. Therefore it was like he took part in it.

She stares into the candles and sighs as she remembers the flames that engulfed her that day, "I am sorry I killed your friends..." she apologizes to Emile.

Emile looks down at her, he was taller than she was even while sitting. "They dug their graves once they agreed to Lucifer's plan. I feel no sorrow in losing them" he shrugs. Sure that could come off as a bit harsh but Emile truly felt that way. He did not sympathize with stupidity anymore. Daniel was the last stupid person he sympathized with and he died for his own ineptitude.

"Well, I am going to clean this up. Care to help me?" He asks as he gets up from sitting down.

"I will be there shortly, I will put everything in the basket" she tells him.

He nods and takes their dishes back into the cabin.

Rainette starts packing the quilt back into the basket when she starts to think back on to just a few moments ago.

She never thought she could ever fall in love so fast or fall in love so hard. She loved Emile and saying that over and over in her head just made it even more exciting.

She wanted him to kiss her lips, to take what was rightfully his. She yearned for his touch again.

For he was the perfect man for her.

He was what she wanted; loyal, kind, handsome, and intelligent. Emile was the one for her, not some blind follower of an unjust "god."