Beloved

Reminiscence

Astrea watched her mother from the door frame, packing her bags for her in a hurry.

'Why do you hate me so much?' She asked, feeling scared and angry, while she followed her mother around the room with her eyes. She sighed, already knowing the answer.

'I don't hate you sweet pea, and you know it' Her mother smiled at her after she folded one of Astrea's dresses into a bag 'You're just upset because I didn't let you choose your husband' She said while she walked towards her daughter, she looked at her with an affection Astrea knew was fake, and caressed her cheek

'Maybe if you stopped being so spoiled and selfish you could see that I'm only doing what's best for you' She pinched her cheek, and Astrea looked back at her mother showing her nothing more than a cold indifference although she was quite impressed of how her mother could make an act of love and care such as pinching your daughter's check feel so threatening and... Wrong.

'If I'm such a burden to you' Astrea grabbed her mother's wrist and pushed her hand away from her face 'you should just let me go live with dad' Her voice was weak.

She loved her dad and she knew her life would be a lot better if she was to go live with him.

This comment made her mother lose all affection she could've had in her face 'Astrea, we've discussed this before. You are getting married' She said as a matter of fact.

'I am fifteen!' Astrea raised her voice, desperate.

'Yes and that's exactly why me, as your mother, chose what's best for you' Lillith said while she resumed the packing of Astrea's belongings 'You should be happy! You're finally doing something good with your life. It was about time for you to start being somewhat thankful for all I've done for you!' Astrea frowned, just how did her mother managed to say such hurtful things in such a cheerful, matter-of-fact tone? She was going to say something else when she heard a knock on the front door, her whole body growing still, cold sweat rolling down her back, terror in her green eyes.

Lillith smiled excitedly and rushed past her to go open the door. Astrea started to follow her mother, feeling the movements of her body as if it was someone else's body that she was looking at.

By the time she reached the door she had recovered all of her senses and heard her mother welcoming someone with a rather happy mannerism.

Standing in the door was a man in his mid-twenties with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, porcelain-like skin that complemented his greek features; he was quite tall with broad shoulders and a healthy looking physique overall, dressed with very expensive looking clothing that was adorned in intricate patterns. She looked at him from the corner of the hallway, half hiding half staring at the most beautiful man she had ever seen, not only that but he seemed quite polite and nice. Maybe this whole situation wouldn't be as bad as she had imagined.

She dared to walk closer. Feeling confident, her back straight, shoulders pushed back. That was her first mistake. The feeling of relief she had felt just seconds ago vanished completely as soon as he laid eyes upon her.

His pupils became slits, almost feline. Predatory.

The look he gave her didn't have any trace of the kindness she had seen just moments before, shattering any ideas she created for mutual fondness. His smile was filled with with lust, greed and something else her 15 year old self couldn't quite pinpoint just yet. It sent a shiver down her spine.

He took a step closer making her take a step back. She felt the wall behind her after a few steps and saw how he just closed the distance between them, caressing her wavy auburn hair all the way to the ends by her chest.

'Hello, dear, my name is Mikhail' he said, studying her with his eyes 'it is a pleasure to finally meet you'

She looked up at him and felt the strong almost painful grip he had on her shoulder.

'Come on now, dear' He said as he pulled her by that shoulder towards the door.

Astrea woke up in cold sweat, her hair a mess, she let out a sigh when she looked out the window and saw it was still dark outside, probably around 2am.

'This is bloody ridiculous!' She cried out in frustration while looking back at the ceiling of her room 'I am a very powerful demon who can defend herself and I- I'm having nightmares about a man knocking on my door' She took a moment to calm her agitated mind down.

'It happened six years ago!!' She breathed in deeply and when she exhaled she whispered, scolding herself 'Pathetic'.

She sat up at the edge of her bed, her feet almost touching the floor. She covered her face, rubbing her eyes with her hands, upset. She remembered the man's face on her dream, she now knew what that smile meant, he had smiled as if he had just purchased a very expensive object that he could brag about, she had been his new toy, nothing more than a mere possession for him to entertain himself until he got bored and started to see how long it would take him to break her. A smile that portrayed ownership. She let her arms fall down, slowly, her hands on the mattress at each side of her.

She sighed once more.

At least she was better than what she was a year and half ago when she had escaped. Hell, she was better than six months ago... Now, that was pathetic.

Knowing all too well she wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night, she got up, covering her silk apricot coloured sleeping gown with a matching robe and walked over to her desk grabbing her favourite novel, always there to ease her during the sleepless nights, and walked over her cushioned window seat ready to read the hours away.

She started to feel better as soon as she started to read but all of the sounds in the house were making her paranoia grow bigger each passing minute. Astrea put the book down and closed her eyes, going over her escape plan for the hundredth time in her mind.

If he was to come she had placed enough traps, incantations and summoning circles all around her house that by the time he got to her room she would be long gone with everything that she needed to disappear once more, getting another year or so of peaceful living... Somewhere. She still needed to polish that part but she figured that if she didn't know where she was going he wouldn't know either. She breathed in and out slowly a couple of times before opening her eyes and looking to the stars, thinking of how different her life could be if her mother hadn't sold her to that man. 

And then she heard a knock on her door and her body went stiff with a momentary panic that was quickly washed away by her rational side reminding her about her sister's visit today. At least she would stop being afraid for a while. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to look presentable as she went downstairs to open the door for her sister, Charlotte.