Bind Me To You

Chapter Five

Avery wasn't exactly sure why she had awoken but the thundering of her heart and cold sweat rolling down her spine made it clear that it wasn't for any pleasant reason. With quivering hands she covered her face and turned to tuck her head into her knees, slowly trying to ease her laboured breaths.

Icy cold air whispered between her lips as she gasped for breath, numb digits pressing tightly against her frozen cheeks. Had she left the window open? There was no way that her room should be as cold as it was. With trembling hands she curled her self tighter into a ball, staring at the shadowed wall next to her and trying to make sense of her sudden panic.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned over to face the open expanse of her room. The cream walls seemed caverness in the darkness, stretching on for eons as shadows consumed them. Her eyes slowly scanned the dark room, breath catching over shapes in the darkness before rational thought reasoned that it was simply a jacket hung over a chair or a forgotten teddy.

It wasn't until her eyes found a small red light near her desk that her eyes stopped their search. It couldn't be her computer or TV since she always turned her electronics off before bed. She stared at the foreign light before gasping when it suddenly shifted and moved.

Horrified she watched as the shape, unfurled itself. Shifting and growing taller in the darkness until the red light turned into the eye of a shadowed figure.

Her throat was dry and her eyes welled up in terrified tears as she attempted to make a sound, any sound at all as the long figure began towards her. Soft puffs of air escaped her mouth in place of screams, in place of cries for help as the imposing figure stood in the darkness.

She blinked, wondering if this could just be a dream, all just a dark part of her imagination. It wasn't until he spoke that she realised that there was, in fact, someone standing in her room.

"You don't need to be afraid, Avery" His voice was low and calm.

His words only made panic rise within her, yet she couldn't scream, she couldn't move. The dim light from the moon shining through the curtains outline his silhouette. His hands were clasped at his waist in front of him, he wore a dark suit, a pendant with a large black rock dangling from a thick chain in front of his tie. His eyes shone a crimson red in the darkness.

"I know this must be strange for you, but I'm not here to hurt you. I can help you".

At his sentence, the messages she had received earlier that night had came back to her; 'I can help you', 'I can protect you', 'all you would need to do, is make a deal with the devil'.

The shadow man took another step forward, moonlight from the window washing over his face and exposing him, "I'm glad that you have calmed down. I'm Azrael" He states, his hands moving from his waist to his pockets as he relaxes into a comfortable stance, looking at the frightened young girl before him.

Avery couldn't believe what she was seeing. The strangers dark curls hooded his left eye, the other peaking through a bright crimson red. The sides of his hair were short, displaying the small stretchers in each of his ear lobes. This was the first time Avery was seeing him up close. She hadn't noticed the small metal piercing hooked through the end of his eyebrow from afar, or the small mole that dotted his cheek just below his eye. Nor did she notice how incredibly sharp his jaw was, and how dangerously plush his lips looked.

Avery let out a short breath as her eyes travelled down his body. The tattoos breaching the top of his collar looked like vines that weaved up his neck, disappearing behind his ears. What looked like black flames peeked from the cuffs of his suit. She recognised these features immediately - it was him, the person she had subconscious sketched at lunch. The guy who smiled at her and brought a sense of calm to her horrible day.