The Devil's Son: As Cold As Ice

Chapter Nineteen: Josephine

Night had fallen and the sky grew dark. Birds no longer sing and all that is left is the sound of the soft wave hitting against the rocks on the beach. I sat down on the sandy beach as I look up the sky. Is today going to get any worse than just now? First was Damian, then Lucian, now Dante. They all seem to want to make me feel pain again. They all seem to enjoy having me in pain.

I reached my hand to the sky as my body once again aching in pain as memories of her emerge in my mind. Her smile, her laugh, her kiss, her scent, everything about her is so clear. How I wish she could be in my arms now. Like before, she would let me kiss her forehead as she lay beside of me. She would let play with her beautiful hair and hug her tied in my arms until she hit me hard so that I would let her go.

As though by reaching up to the sky, I would be able to touch her. The feeling of her in my arms has long lost. ‘Josephine.’ I called out softly as I wished that she would reply me like how she always does it with her teasing tone. ‘Would I be there with you if I die now?’ I asked. Even though I knew that dying would be so much easier, I couldn’t. Not that I fear death, in fact, I long for my death. If I were to die, then I would be a selfish bastard. I know exactly how it feels like to lose a mate yet you cannot follow them to the after world. Lucian told me that there is a chance that she might still be alive. Knowing that, I can’t die. If I were to die, she would be all alone and in pain like I am now. I do not want that. ‘You’re always so reckless.’ I said to the skies. ‘Leaving me like that, you’re so selfish.’ I added.

‘You know talking to the sky makes you look weird.’ A feminine voice broke through my thoughts and instantly, I stood up. The girl that stood before my eyes is the same girl that intruded my house. Her long black hair tied up the same way as the way it was just now, but her eyes seems to shine more during the night. Those gold rings shine so beautifully in the night skies like stars. Once again, my body felt an enormous force of attraction towards her. It was as though I wanted to go closer to her.

‘It’s cold at night. I doubt you would want to lie down there.’ She said. She was supposed to have no more memories about me, so why is she here. ‘Mister?’ She called with her head cocked aside. I let out a sigh of relief. She doesn’t remember me. But what is she doing here? ‘The same goes to you.’ I said. ‘Why are you here?’

She let out a sigh. ‘I screwed up and got scolded by my father.’ She answered. ‘So I came out for some air.’ She said as though she was disappointed with herself. ‘How about you?’ She asked. I let myself fall back to the ground and stared up the sky. ‘Bad day?’ She asked again. I nodded. ‘Huh, I guess you and I have the same feeling.’ She said.

‘Feelings?’ I asked. ‘I am supposed to be numb. I am not supposed to feel anymore.’ I said as I stared up the sky. ‘Yet, every part of me is in pain.’ I clenched my fist and held it tight in the air.

‘Why must you be numb?’ She asked. I turned to face her as she speaks. ‘Why can’t you just face it?’ She asked again.

What supposed to be frozen and stuck beats within me, a beat in my chest. What is this?

‘It’s painful. It hurts whenever I try to face it.’ I said honestly. What is this? Why am I telling it to her? Why am I being so honest?

‘So you decided to run away from it?’ She asked. My eyes widen in shock. It was as though she hit right at the spot of my pain. I was running. I was running all this while. ‘You’re making yourself looking like a coward.’ She added. I stared at her, speechless. A coward, she just called me a coward. She have a lot of guts calling me that but what amuse me most is that, she hit me again, right at the spot where it hurts. How can a girl like her notice something like that to a stranger like me?

‘How odd…..’ I said. ‘How long has it been?’ I asked. She frowned at me in confusion. ‘Since someone dared to call me a coward.’ I said. ‘You’re a gutsy one, girly.’ I laughed. Instantly, she looked at me with a scornful face.

‘Don’t call me that!’ She spat. I frowned at her in confusion. Call her what? ‘You’re almost the same age as I am, so please don’t call me that.’ She said. ‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘I hate it when people look down on me!’ She spat.

Like an instance of familiarity, I felt as though I have heard these words before. Yes, it was when I first met Josephine. Like Josephine, this girl is as fierce and fiery as Josephine. I stared at her, shock and stunned that I cannot move. The way she glares at me, the way she speaks, it is all too familiar. There is no way it is her. She’s no longer here, alive.

‘What’s your name?’ That was what came out of my mouth when I actually intended to ask ‘Who are you?’. She stared at me as though I have just turned into an alien. ‘Nika.’ She answered. ‘Nika, don’t you have a surname?’ I asked. ‘Why should I give my full name to a stranger? Besides, you’re super weird. You ask for my name but you don’t give me yours.’ She said. ‘Sebastian.’ I answered. ‘Same to you, how about your surname?’ She asked.

The way she spoke amuse me so much that I actually smiled again. In fact, a laugh is begging to climb up from the bottom of my stomach.  Before I know it, I have lost to her charms. The moment it started I couldn’t stop. I have not laugh for so long that it hurts my stomach. Is this how it felt like? To laugh so hard that your stomach hurts. She stared at me with utter shock. ‘I guess we can just leave it in first name basis. If you don’t want to tell me, then I would not tell you mine as well.’ I said as I stop laughing.

‘Fine, Seb.’ She grunted. Once again, she manages to surprise me. ‘Seb?’ I asked. The only one that ever called me that was Lucian. She just met me and already she started to use nicknames on me. ‘Why? Don’t like it?’ She asked with her hands on her waist. I shook my head in amusement. ‘Only you, girly.’ I teased. ‘Only you shall be allowed to call me by that name.’ I said with a smile on my face. She squint her eyes at me with dislike on her face as she grunted. ‘Don’t call me that!’

Once again, I laughed. ‘You call me ‘Seb’ without my permission, so do I need your permission to call you ‘girly’?’ I asked with a smirk on my face. She sighed out aloud. ‘Fine, I guess that is fair.’ She said. ‘Only I can call you that.’ I said. What an absurd thing to say to a girl that I just met. Why am I so fond of her? ‘No one else would dare to call me that.’ She grunted.

I sat up and walked towards her with a smile that had not receded. Slowly, I move towards her as she stood there and watch me. ‘I would see you again.’ I said. She smirked and her eyes glitter against the moonlight. ‘Miss me already?’ She teased.

I wanted to reach out and touch her but I didn’t. Instead, I walked away with a smile on my face.