Angelica's Capricious Fall

× Lennox ×

"She's like a fucking disease," I muttered, my voice a gravelly rasp. I stopped abruptly, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had been thinking about Angelica, my hostage, the beautiful, kind girl who had managed to worm her way into my mind. I could still see how her eyes, the color of summer skies, had widened in fear when I first took her. But as days bled into weeks, her fear morphed into something else he couldn't quite name.

"What's wrong, boss?" Louis, my youngest minion, chirped, his voice a sharp contrast to the room's somber mood. He held an apple in his hand, taking a bite and letting out a satisfied sigh.

Thandi, her braids catching the flickering candlelight, snatched the apple from Louis' hand, taking a bite before he could protest. "Well, describe your feelings to us, maybe we can help."

Louis frowned, his face contorting into a comical expression of indignation. "Hey! That was my apple!"

Alexei, his face perpetually etched with an air of weary indifference, sighed. "You know, Louis, your apple would have tasted better if you hadn't left it on the floor for Thandi to discover. It's a wonder you haven't been eaten by a rat by now."

"Oh, Alexei, you're so mean," Louis mumbled, his voice laced with playful indignation.

I watched them, a flicker of something akin to amusement passing through me. They were so different, my minions. Louis, a naive, good-natured boy, almost laughably clueless about the world's darkness. Thandi, with her fierce loyalty and uncontrollable temper, was always ready to fight for what she believed in. And Alexei, the old wolf, his wisdom and cynicism a shield against the world's cruelty.

But even with their differences, they were all bound by something: their unwavering loyalty to me, the man who had given them a purpose, a place in the world.

"You're all idiots," I muttered, my eyes narrowing. The words were meant to be harsh, and dismissive. But there was a tremor in my voice that betrayed my true feelings.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thandi challenged, her eyes narrowed, her hand instinctively reaching for the small, ornate dagger at her hip.

"It means you're all too easily distracted," I snapped, my voice regaining its usual commanding tone. "And I need your focus. We have a mission to complete, and a hero to destroy. And for that, we need to be ruthless, and efficient. No room for sentimentality."

"I don't understand," Louis said, his brow furrowed. "Why are you so obsessed with destroying this hero, boss? What did he ever do to you?"

"He stands in the way of my plans, of my destiny," I said, my voice hardening. "He is an obstacle to be eliminated, a threat to be neutralized."

But even as I spoke, I knew the truth, a truth that gnawed at my soul. This hero, this man who had captured the hearts of the people, was the only one who had ever dared to see through my charade, to see the vulnerable, broken man beneath the mask of cruelty. And it was that vulnerability, that raw, honest gaze, that had ignited something within me, something I couldn't control, something he couldn't explain.

"And Angelica?" Louis asked, his voice soft. "What about her?"

I stare at him, my gaze softening a little "She's... she's nothing."

But even as I spoke, I knew it was a lie. I had seen the way her eyes lit up when they spoke, the way her gentle voice eased my corrupted soul, chasing away the shadows of my darkness. I had seen her kindness, her strength, her resilience, and I was starting to understand the fear in her eyes, the fear that I was the one she should be afraid of.

"You're just saying that," Louis insisted, his voice firm for the first time. "But I think you like her."

I feel my face heat up a little, I move my gaze to the floor, "That's ridiculous." 

I take a deep breath in and relax a bit. 

Louis was right. 

I believe I have caught feelings for her. An Angel.

A fallen Angelica.