The Darkest Eternities

XXIII. Never forget

Warning :some mature content ahead.

Jasper

Absent-mindedly, I listened to the clock ticking, eagerly waiting for the hour hand to strike midnight so that this wretched day may over.

Tick

Tick

Tick

It was now half past eleven. Thirty minutes left of this agony.

The room was cold and empty. It was dark too. The only light that was on was the one on my desk, the one I was currently pretending to use.

The walls were thick, thick enough for me not to be able to hear past them. They were made that way on purpose as were the walls of all the chambers on the South and North wings of the castle.

The desk was filled with documents that I had to look at and papers I had to pass to Ivan. In the King's absence all his work fell on my shoulder, as his right hand man...practically even his own right hand. He was currently dealing with the hunt for Zoladie, a sorceress as old and as cruel as time.

The woman was...slippery. She left no tracks, using powerful, ancient, untraceable spells to mask her paths and ways. As far as we knew she could have been anywhere on the surface of the earth at this point, even below the surface was a possibility. Nothing was seemed impossible when it came to her.

Staring at the stack of papers, I thanked the Goddess that I had not been allocated that horrid task.

The chair groaned against the floor as I stood up from the desk. I went across the room to the box that sat lonely in the corner. Then I remembered that the key was in my desk drawer so I went back.

Today is her day..

With uncontrolled strength, I pulled the drawer open, accidentally - or perhaps purposefully - breaking the handle.

"Ah!" I exclaimed angrily, seeing what I had done. I did not get a chance to try and fix it as there was a knock on the door.

I knew who it was; I smelled her scent and I recognized it as easily as I would recognize my own image in the mirror. It was rosy with a hint of chemicals, like a hospital or a scientists lab. I liked it very much. It gave me some comfort, the only comfort I had known in a hundred years.

Something tugged at my chest. A sense of betrayal washed over me.

Placing the drawer knob on the desk, I went to open the door for my nighttime visitor.

"Merideth..." I breath out, taking her form in. She was truly a sight for sour eyes.

She was dressed in a black coat and high heels that accentuated her long shapely legs. She knew I liked her legs. Her coat was left a little open at the top, allowing my eyes a peek at her ample cleavage.

Temptress...

"Hale," she greeted, using her hand to flip her fiery hair over her shoulders. A growl left my lips as she softly, seductively said my name. "Still up I see."

"I have work to do," I respond. My tone was more bored than I wanted it to be. She frowned and I felt something odd settle in my stomach.

I wanted to turn her away. It just wasn't the right time or the right day. Seeing her today was about as equal as a Christian breaking all ten commandments on a Sunday.

"Not today..." Just as I finished speaking the clock loudly stroke midnight. Merideth glanced at the thin watch on her wrist and smiled at me.

"Today then... It's midnight and I believe you owe me something," she reached out to touch me and I let. She traced her fingers over my cheek. Her touch was soft.