My demons (book 1)

Do you want to be mine?

Claire left the house in a rush after a particularly vivid nightmare made the urge to empty her stomach all too powerful. She knew she had to stay hidden but she was also fairly certain there would be no one waiting on her just yet. She stuck to the shadows, only stopping when she felt she was far enough from her childhood home to actually breathe again.

Her body betrayed her then, her own weakness attacking her at the knees. It took all she had to stay standing, but then one final thought of the hurt behind her brown eyes cut her balance out from beneath her.

With a thud, she hit the floor.

"Claire?" silky voice she hadn't heard in fifty years made her gasp for air but she knew it must have been a part of her imagination. Woman the voice belonged to had died right in front of her eyes, battered and beaten for being loved by her. "Claire?" the voice again, right behind her.

She couldn't move. She had tried, she really had, but her arms felt like they were chained to her sides and her legs were frozen by whatever invisible force was having her trapped in its' hold, making it impossible to move. And to breathe. Because it felt like drowning. Her heart was beating faster, louder than it ever had and she had no force to tell herself it was just a dream, just a fantasy. She couldn't just turn around because she had no strength. No, she couldn't because she couldn't imagine the devastation she'd feel when she realised she had reached that breaking point where her mind would slowly go into madness, such an abyss where her touch would feel so real and her voice would be all too close, but it wouldn't be real. She was afraid to open her eyes because she knew she'd be alone out on the empty street, with tears spilling down her cheeks and her heart slowing, dying once again.

"Claire!" the silent call turned into a panicked scream and the voice suddenly didn't sound like her dead lovers, but rather Aisha's. Claire bolted up at once, seeing a man charging towards her from the shadows. She pulled her knife out swiftly before he could make any moves on her, stabbing him between his ribs.

For the first time, Aisha found herself truly afraid of her. It wasn't the fact that she had spatters of blood on her shoes and fingertips. It wasn't even the fact that she was utterly stationery. It was the cold, dead emptiness that settled a natural film over her stare. She looked clinically at the knife sticking awkwardly out of the man's ribs, waiting, it seemed, for him to finally pass. After a few moments she leaned down, retrieving her knife. "He has their mark," she murmured, turning towards Aisha who was still frozen in shock. "We need to leave."

"We could stay at uncles' place for a few days, no one knows where he lived," Lucas suggested after they returned and woke them all up.

"And he won't be there to greet us?" Claire raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrow up at him, making him chuckle.

"I buried him, silly. I also cleaned the mess animals made after they found his corpse. I always clean your messes," he replied. "Someone has to," Claire shrugged with a smirk.

"Wait so you killed your uncle?" Alina asked, shock evident both in her voice and on her features.

"And our father, but that's not what's important now, is it?" Lucas asked rhetorically.

"Why?" she didn't relent.

"What why?"

"Why did you kill them?"

"Well father turned you lot and he had to be stopped before he could do it again. Uncle was a serial killer," Claire explained calmly, finalising her packing.

"What a great family," Alina sighed, clearly done with her interrogation.

"One to be proud of," Lucas nodded solemnly.

"Your father did what?" Jay yelled out as he caught on to what Claire had said.

"Oh you didn't tell them?" Lucas turned to Aisha who just shrugged uselessly.

"Your father turned us?" Jay kept on screaming, making Claire roll her eyes.

"Well yeah he turned me first; Claire and him were born with it. But after that he turned the three of you, yes," Lucas explained calmly, unable to see what the big deal was.

"And you still trust them?" Jay cried out, looking at Aisha.

"Yes I do. They saved your sorry ass tonight, didn't they? And Claire could easily just accept Jess' order and kill you if she wanted to. But she didn't, did she? Now shut up or leave, you are drawing attention to us and we really can't afford not trusting each other right now," the brunette cut him off, annoyed at him because he was being so irrational.

Furious, he got up and slammed the door behind him.

"He just left..." Alina whispered after a beat. "Do you think he is coming back?" Aisha asked, turning towards Claire.

"He just needs to clear his head, don't worry," she said, embracing her. "Well we can't protect him now," Aisha sighed, resting her head on Claire's shoulder. She just rubbed soothing circles across the small of her back, humming in agreement.

"Why don't we go after him?" Alina asked quietly.

"He needs to be alone." Aisha said softly while Lucas still gaped at the door in disbelief before exclaiming, "Am I the only one shocked that the door didn't collapse?"

Two sets of "Lucas!" sounded around them as both, Aisha and Alina, chastised him, trying not to laugh at the innocent "what?" accompanied with the most innocent face he could muster up.

"Well we will have to leave soon so if he doesn't show in like an hour, we leave without him," Claire declared. "What?" Alina whined, while Aisha just hoped that he would come to his senses.

"We are a sitting target," Lucas said calmly, hugging Alina who leaned in to his touch, resting her forehead against his chest. "So we will just leave him behind?" she asked, her voice holding a tremor.

"He made a choice," Lucas replied, caressing Alina's hair gently, scratching her scalp gently every now and then, making her purr in contentment.

Meanwhile, Claire took Aisha's hand and locked their gazes together. "Walk with me," she requested. After a nod, the brunette followed her outside and along the empty streets that were once her home.

"Do you think he is coming back?" Aisha asked, unable to hide hope and desperation from her tone, as they stopped near a building that had to be a bakery once.

"Honestly, I couldn't care less. But I know you do, so I hope he comes to his senses, for your sake," Claire responded, her voice tired and pained. Aisha could feel her ache with each word.

"You told him you have no reason to be jealous, but your tone..." she started, not knowing how to explain that her worry for Jay had nothing to do with her feelings for him.

"I have no right to be jealous," Claire dismissed it at once, looking at the ground for a few moments before her eyes find Aisha's again. "We are not dating so technically you can do whatever you want with whoever you want."

"But?" Aisha probed, sensing there was indeed a 'but' coming.

"But I'd like to change that."

"Change what?" Aisha asked, not daring to hope for what she thought Claire had meant. It sounded too good to be true.

"Would you be my girlfriend?"

"Wait, you want to be mine?" Aisha blurted out, unable to stop the goofy grin from spreading, making her smile ear to ear.

Claire smiled softly at the sight before nodding. "Do you want to be mine?"

"Of course," Aisha replied, cupping her girlfriend's face and bringing their lips together. It felt like that was their first kiss. The way their lips fit perfectly together, the way their bodies pressed together as tightly as possible. Aisha couldn't help but smile against her lips. Claire was finally hers.