Wicked Obsession

32.

Thursday, August 1

I am in the darkness once again. There is never any sound here which makes it even more menacing. I always feel his eyes on me, watching and waiting to make his move. He mocks me as I call out Harry's name the sound doesn't register in my ears but I hope he can hear it so that this will be the time the cycle ends. After that fails, I begin to run but no matter how hard or fast, I never escape him. He always catches me, a dark figure that makes me feel lifeless and cold.  Then right as I begin to lose hope, I wake up. I have had this dream every night since we left Seattle and no matter how much I try, I can't figure out why. All I know is that it shakes me to my core every time.

Tonight is different and it makes me feel uneasy. My breath rushes in and out of my chest and all I can hear is the pounding of my heart. The hairs on my arms rise, as if sensing there is danger ahead. My eyes scan the dark abyss, trying to hear or see anything beyond my own panic, but the air remains still. The anticipation is killing me and for a second I miss the silence.

A sudden gust of wind rushes at me from behind, chilling my bones and makes me shiver. I turn towards the direction it came from but all I see is black.

"Aurora." His voice slices through the air eerily. A finger traces down my arm, nails biting gently into my skin leaving gooseflesh in its wake. I jump away from the touch but there is still nothing there.

"My dear, sweet, Aurora..." He purrs into my ear.

I jerk my head to the right and, for once, he is there standing across from me. His tall figure cuts into the darkness, somehow making him visible. I don't know what I expected the ruler of Hell (excuse me Abbadon) to wear but it definitely wasn't a suit and tie. He is about a foot taller than me and even though he is just a few feet away, I can't make out his face except for a pair of familiar grey eyes. Unlike Harry, I know Lucifer can read my thoughts. He does it often and he uses them against me.

He grins slyly at me, "You have my eyes."

"No." I shake my head, knowing the truth but not willing to accept it. "How... my mother would have never loved someone like you." I spit but my voice is quiet, not at all as confident as my words would suggest I am.

His smile instantly fades, turning into a twisted snarl. "Someone like me?" He spits back, taking a menacing step forward. "I can see into your heart Aurora, your soul wreaks of demon stench and you helplessly call out for him each night I bring you here. Have you not allowed yourself to fall in love with a demon? As if you are something more to him that a means for him to rise to power." He scoffs, shaking his head as if in pity.

I cover my ears, trying to block out his poisonous words. I can't go back to that place. I have lived in that world where I trusted no one; alone and keeping people at a distance. Harry has fought to earn that trust and I have worked too hard to let him in. Lucifer knows this, he sees into the darkest parts of myself, unlocking my fears to use them against me. I trust Harry and he cares for me. I just know it. I repeat the mantra in my head, trying to keep Lucifer's seed of doubt from planting itself in my mind.

"Harry is different." I defend, my voice finally gaining some strength. "He was once human, there is goodness in him—"

"Was I not an angel once?" He booms, cutting me off. "Beloved by all of Heaven and God's favorite son. I was the best of them and my only crime was that I loved my Father too much. For that I was cast from my home, forced to live in darkness all for one thing that you humans idolize and spend your worthless existence chasing after. Then He replaced me by creating humanity in His image, giving them the one thing I had desired: to be like Him."