a thousand instincts (#1)

Silly Girl (25)

Aeress

     Klein left her on her own a couple hours ago, leaving her to drown in the hundreds of ancient leather bound books. She felt like she was going insane, and soon the words flew into a ceaseless stream of gibberish. 

     When she finally decided to leave the rest of the books for another day, she sat back in disbelief. She had learned more about the creature inside of her. The tales and rules of this werewolf universe. In many ways, they were human in custom, but in others, completely alien to Aeress.

     "Disappointed? No more than I am, I suppose."

     Aeress looked up at the familiar voice. It was ancient and angelic at the same time. Her eyes widened at the woman, the creature, the one she was too cowardly to face. 

     Jumping up, she was getting ready to run until the woman spoke up, "don't run away like a child. You will stand there and you will speak to me." The authority of her voice was absolute and undeniable, it carried a gravity which could not be challenged. 

     Aeress turned to look at her as she lounged on the seat. Her body could not have been posed with more leisure yet the power which bled from her pores was overwhelming and hard to digest, being so close to. "How are you standing in front of me? I thought you were in here." She pointed to her own chest. This creature couldn't be the one which dwelled in Aeress's body.  

     The woman chuckled. She was dressed in a native brown cloth and her black locks were pulled back in beautiful thick braids. But what was her main attraction was the beautiful blue hue of her complexion, where scales were scattered, glossy and shining across her skin. "I am. Although, I am not really here. Only you can see me. I thought it would be better this way, if we were face to face."

     "You sound different. Like-"

      "A person? Yes, I've been taking the time to modernize myself through your memories. I realize I may have come off as barbaric before. It must be why you were so terrified." 

     Aeress laughed, only to refrain from yelling or screaming. Of course she was hallucinating! "I am terrified because you possessed my body and used it to murder people!"

     The woman stood up and her face transformed with fury. Aeress sat back down, feeling weak underneath her powerful aura. "I have not murdered anyone! I merely release the souls of the damned so that they may be redeemed in the fires of my sword and only through death can they find peace. You misunderstand my purpose, girl."

     "Why do you decide who is past saving?" There was a question unsaid: who are you to play god?

     Aeress looked around in apprehension as everything began to tremble. The chairs, the bookshelves, the tables. Everything. Her eyes brightened with a red that was just so luminous and gorgeous, but there was an anger that made her breathless. 

     "I see into the souls of the innocent and damned. A mortal such as yourself could not comprehend what powers I have, but you will soon enough. Soon enough, I will be tested. We will be tested. The time of separation between us can no longer exist. The time of fear can be no longer."

     Aeress swallowed. "Why me?" 

     She shook her head as a parent would to their child. "Silly girl. Though you may think this way, I am not a demon which seeks to control your body. Your body is my home, my temple. You are mine, just as much as I am yours. But let us not focus on that until you have become more accustomed with my active presence." 

     "You're so calm. I don't understand. Each time before you went on a killing frenzy."

     "I have been asleep for thousands of years, if not more. And for all that time I was in confinement, with nothing else but my own thoughts, contemplating my purpose... It can drive anyone into a frenzy, even you." 

     "Will you do it again?" Kill.

     "Perhaps, perhaps not. But if you choose to cooperate, it will expedite the transition." 

     "I don't want to kill anymore," Aeress whispered, feeling like she was almost begging in a way. 

     Godhead just watched her with reserve. "You have much to learn about us."

     "Then teach me." 

______________________________________
 

     Aeress woke up, with a few aches in her body as she sat up in the chair. She looked around frantically only to find the room empty once more. 

     This time though, the morning light bled through the library windows and lit the room up with a pure glow that was simply refreshing. Aeress rubbed at her eyes and stretched until she was satisfied. 

     A few minutes passed before she decided to rise from the seat. The pile of books in front of her made her dizzy, and it only worsened when she recalled the conversation she had with Godhead. 

     If there was anything that Aeress knew without a doubt was that this creature she she felt so much terror toward was the mother of all werewolves, she was Godhead. She wanted to deny this fact, but after last night, it was impossible. 

     Aeress would be a liar if she claimed to be rid of her paranoia of Godhead. In the back of her mind, she still feared possession and death caused by her body. 

     But the lengthy conversation which they shared did serve to comfort Aeress enough that this paranoia remained in the back of her mind. Although, the guilt she felt at killing another refused to wane, and in some ways, she didn't want it to, not even as Godhead explained left and right why it wasn't truly killing or murder. Guilt was something that made her feel most human-this she was desperate for most beside control. 

     She came out the door only to find the same guard. He was a broad man with a darker tinted complexion that could have propelled him straight to the cover of Vogue. "You haven't been here all night, have you?" 

     After giving a respectful nod, he responded with a voice absent of any possible exhaustion. "Yes, ma'am."

     She tensed with an awkward kind of shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't even think I'd be in there that long."

     His face was composed, though not cold as he succeeded in revealing nothing. He didn't respond, and she understood he was searching for something to say to a sentence he had probably never expected to hear from someone such as Aeress.  

      Saving him the trouble, she said, "I'm starving, how about breakfast?" 

     He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, this way to the breakfast room."