Timeless (Timeless Book 1)

4

She tilted her head a bit in confusion at his reaction as a look of pure horror and anger took over the shocked expression. He glared at her, his body beginning to shake. "Do not see him anymore! He is a demon!" 

She was taken aback. "What!" she snapped. "Why should I have to stop seeing him? He is a guardian of the forest!"

"No! He is the demon king, you foolish child! I forbid you from seeing him! Nothing but bad can come of you seeing him!"

"You can't stop me from being with him!"

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet. "You will listen to me! I'm protecting you from losing your life to him!"

She snatched her wrist away and slapped him. "I love him and I will continue to see him!" 
He pushed her onto her bed and stormed out, slamming her door behind him and locking it. She gasped and jumped up after a brief moment of shock. "No!" she screamed as she pulled on the doorknob. "Let me out!" 

"This is for your own good, Genovefa!" he said before walking away. His wife ran to him. "What are you doing to her?" she demanded angrily, trying to snatch away the key from his hand. He gazed at her in an angry gaze. "She must stay in there till she gives up on that cursed demon! She was courting Balor!"

She gasped and put a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. "No," she breathed. She watched him walk out of the house, an aura of anger rolling off of him. She looked over when the pounding of the girl's fists upon the wooden door reached her ears. She put her hands to her heart sadly. "You must learn that if you continue to see him, you will lose your life, my child," she said before leaving as well to try and calm her husband down.

Genovefa sank to her knees after she left. "No," she sobbed, her heart shattering. "I can't lose him, too!" After a few moments of crying, she wiped her eyes and stood. "No! I will get out of here!" She looked around for something to pry open the door with and spotted the fireplace tools. She grabbed one and stuck it into the space between the wall and the door. She pulled back, trying desperately to put in all her strength and open the accursed door. She fell back when the weak metal bent suddenly. She sat up and looked at the stick. She growled and tossed it before looking over at the window, a smirk coming to her rosy lips.

She scrambled to her feet and grabbed a chair from the small table in her room. She heaved it up and brought it into contact with the glass, shattering the window. She used a poker to get rid of the sharp shards that didn't fall to the floor. She used the chair to hoist herself up and out the window. She didn't have time to even let out a yelp as she fell out and landed on the ground below. A bit winded, she got up and brushed herself off. She glanced back in the direction of the village, glad that her house was just on the edge to where no one would see her leaving. She scooped up her skirt in handfuls and took off running. I won't be stopped from being with Balor, she thought angrily as she fled the village, her heart pounding in her ears. 

She reached the forest and didn't stop; she couldn't stop now with the overwhelming fear of being caught. She burst into the clearing at the waterfall and fell to the ground, panting heavily. "Balor!" she cried at the top of her lungs towards the sky. She was wracked with worry. Running feet made her jump and she whipped around as she stumbled to her feet. She felt relief wash over her when she saw Balor enter the clearing. She ran into his arms and nearly knocked him over. "Genovefa, what is wrong? What happened?"

It took her a moment to form the words on the tip of her tongue. "My parents! They have forbidden me from seeing you again!" she sobbed as she looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. He frowned, knowing that they had recognized him somehow. I was hoping they wouldn't with this form, he thought with dread. He scooped her up and kissed her forehead. "Do not worry, my love. I grant you my power so that we may always see each other no matter where we are."

She sniffled as she gazed into his eyes for a moment, feeling happy that he had done such a thing. They kissed for a few seconds. "Let us go somewhere that they will not bother you or I for a while."

Her father burst into her room after unlocking it. She hadn't answered him after he knocked and called her name. "She's gone!" he gasped as his wife entered behind him. He spotted the broken window and ran over to it. He leaned out the window and saw some flattened grass where she had landed. "No, she ran away!" he said as he turned to his wife. "I'll go get the men!" he shouted as he ran out.

Genovefa looked around at the darkness eating the forest as the moon was covered by clouds. She looked up at him, wondering why she suddenly felt weightless. The air turned warm and she realized that the forest was changing into what looked like mountains of shadow. She looked around, trying to see what it was the forest was becoming. She wished she had a torch to light the area up. Where are we? she thought, a bit scared. He sat beside the pool as it began to glow and change to a bright neon blood red. She stared at the water in shock. She looked back at him and saw that his pupils were mere slits as he gazed back at her. "Are you scared?" he asked quietly.

She wasn't sure whether or not to tell the truth. Yes, she was a bit scared but at the same time she was also awed by it all. 

Suddenly light burst down from above and covered the now shadow forest with a pale gray light. She looked up in surprise and saw the full moon. It was darker than before. She squeaked in surprise when he suddenly stood and jumped up into the air, going high above the tree tops. He floated in the air as she slowly opened her tightly closed eyes to look around. She looked down and saw they were in the air; she immediately held onto him tighter. 

"Don't worry. I won't drop you." 

She looked up at him and saw him smiling. Her heart pounding away in her chest, she looked around. She could see strange creatures with long bodies flying through the air under the moon, their bodies reflecting the light and looking as if they were shining. One caught her attention as it released a long trail of fire from its mouth, the bright orange dancing flames enveloping another strange long-bodied creature. It was bigger and longer. It had what looked like to be a white cropped mane going down its long body. Horns were jagged and long, reaching into the sky and backwards towards its tail. Some went forward down its snout. Sharp teeth gleamed in the strange gray light as it blocked the fire with its own blue heat. 

The two snapped at each other as they tried to kill the other. Blood as bright as the sun fell from the smaller of the two as the larger avoided each attack, easily harming it. She watched as the larger creature finally managed to kill the smaller by biting on the neck and crushing it completely. The head fell towards the trees and disappeared into the shadows as more bright blood fell with it. 

She shook with fear after it was over. She watched the now glowing creature fly away, covered in the blood of the other. She couldn't help but want to vomit from the scene. 
"Genovefa?" she heard from far away. She was panicking as her breath became quick. The sky disappeared behind the trees as he slowly lowered to the ground. He gently set her down on the ground and held her. "I'm sorry you had to witness that. I didn't think they would fight." 
She shook in his arms as she began to cry. This place is awful! she thought.

Her father led the village men into the forest to hunt her down. He felt nothing but fear as he prayed that Balor hadn't killed her. She had been blinded by love and by his seduction. He should have noticed by the way he looked. With a sword in hand, he arrived at the waterfall, sensing that was where she would have gone to meet him. He looked around but didn't see either of them. Where were they? "Genovefa!" he called into the darkness, the moonlight illuminating him. He looked over at the men standing beside him. "Spread out and search for her!" he ordered.