BROKEN BEASTS | COMPLETED

02

                  

It had been six months since she had met Raphael in that huge gymnasium. Six months since Raphael had been accompanying her everywhere. They said that a war was brewing. This was the calm before the storm. She was living during the calm, before the storm that would eventually swallow up her father's kingdom. That's what they said anyway.

She tried to ignore them. Tried to hear past the hushed whispers and to assume that it was simply the wind howling. She tried her best to ignore the number of people switching positions at scheduled times of the day. Even though they were meant to be keeping her company, she rarely saw her father and sisters.

Issie didn't mind. She expected her sisters to disappear, after all, their job was to serve as a distraction for other people, not her. She was more annoyed with the fact that Raphael had come with her everywhere. Her father introduced her to him as a friend, but she knew better. She knew he was meant to be her bodyguard, even though she consistently refused his help.

She always argued that he should, and could, be doing a lot more than just simply babysitting her. Raphael always replied that he didn't care about the time he was 'wasting' babysitting her, but she always knew that he did.

"I know he said to watch over me, but surely this is a bit too far." She said, her voice wavered as she winced.

Raphael stared down at her eyes, before switching his gaze to the needle that was carving a black, thick outline in her skin. The outline of the single rose was almost complete, and Raphael knew from experience, that the pain had only just begun.

"I just wanted to see you squirm." He said with a smirk. "Plus, I needed to see whether the ink was poisoned. It's safe now."

She threw her middle finger up at him, the one finger that she swore was reserved just for him. The regret hit her like a sack of bricks, once her arm was in the air. Immediately, she screwed up her fist into a tight ball, hoping that this would at least release some of the pain inflicted on her.

"Darlin', you're gonna have to relax your muscles." The American southern drawl came out of the tattoo artist's mouth, hanging especially on the end of the sentence.

Issie smiled and obeyed her instructions. It's better to smile through the pain, even though she was sure that her mouth was twitching as the needle dug its way into her skin.

"You get three free punches if you get through this." Raphael muttered casually, looking at his new tattoo in the mirror. "Anywhere you like. Even my balls, if you wanna test your morals."

On the right side of his ribs was a glass case covered with vines. The vines themselves were intricate and shaded with a dark green. There even was this small inconspicuous crack on the glass, where the case had been squeezed so tightly by the vines. Issie watched as the vines ran the side of his torso, taking note of the fresh bruise beside it. She knew that there was no point of asking him what had happen, since she'd probably turn to dust before she got a straight answer out of him.

As the tears started to fall, she bit her lip. Ignoring the dull of ache of thorns piercing her skin was one thing, but trying to ignore the needle carving its way through, what felt like, an open wound was another thing.

"How long have we got left?" She managed to whimper out.

"Jus' got the shading on the stem to do so... not long. You're doin' great."

She wanted to turn back, but she knew that watching the needle draw blood from her skin, would make her woozy.

"Yeah, honey. You're doing so good." Raphael mocked her, still holding a part of his shirt as he turned around to face her.