Meridian Chronicles: Keepers & The Soul Key (#4)

Chapter 8 Pt.2

Meanwhile, across the dark realm, Astaroth didn't seem to have her hands near as full as Lahash did. She was busy with Aiden, but he was willfully and blindly overjoyed to be where he was sharing the company he believed to be in. Astaroth sat on the bed next to Aiden, who remained in his demon induced slumber. She brought her hands over his face and stroked his blonde hair away to get a better view. She leaned forward, closing in the distance between her and Aiden as she studied his face. Her eyes moved as she studied his peaceful face, stopping her eyes at his parted lips as he drew in his deep breaths. Astaroth placed her lips on his and held a quiet and intense kiss that Aiden began to wake from.

His eyes were sleepy, with just a slit to see through, while his lips remained pressed to Astaroth's, he smiled. He wrapped his arms around her and indulged in a long deep kiss. He continued by rolling her over onto her back and broke away for a short look into her eyes. For a moment, something appeared to cause him a longer pause when he pulled his head back further to examine her eyes. Aiden rolled off and away from the demoness, as he scratched his head and studied her once more as she moved to set herself upright.

Astaroth continued to adjust her seat, straightening her dress and exposing her breasts to get Aiden distracted from his own thoughts. She leaned in once more to kiss him, but he looked away.

"What is it? Are you still tired?" Astaroth said while she brushed her fingernail down the side of his neck. The flush of her cheeks barely a shade darker than her pale pink lips made her teeth appear bright as her sly grin returned.

Aiden jerked his head back around to look at Astaroth, he stared at her lips, followed by a careful study of her eyes. His mind began to shroud his conscious taking him away from his surroundings in exchange for memories from before his death. His memories played out in his mind at a rapid pace starting with his grandmother's face the last day he saw her, then to the day of his passing. another memory trailed, he saw his best friend Chris sitting at their favorite fishing spot, in a flash another memory hit and this one memory marked the spark of recognition. He saw Meridian the night at Stephanie's bar, then onto the day they kissed in his truck after their date where he studied her wrist. He remembered the tattoo of the infinity sign that ran across her wrist. The memory faded and then he could see from his mind's eye, his own self sitting on the edge of Meridian's bed at Tallulah's, the night he set her free from her Black Widow Curse.

Then the memories ceased, he found himself still seated in front of Astaroth. "Aiden? Are you all right?" she asked.

Aiden's eyes began blinking, he let out the air from his chest he had been holding. "Yes, I think so. I had a moment there. I could see things, memories, or something. It was strange for sure." Aiden broke his eye contact and stared down into his lap, cutting his eyes downward to see Astaroth's wrists that were turned over resting on her lap.

She brought one of her hands away from her lap to lie on Aiden's back, leaving her other wrist exposed. He could see that there was not a tattoo there anymore. He flinched a bit and continued to stare at the exposed wrist.

"Meridian, did you ever get a tattoo before we passed away to come here to Etheria?" Aiden asked, his voice quelled.

Astaroth snorted a bit. "No. Why would I ever get a tattoo? You know me better than that. I never liked them anyway." Astaroth said in a dismissive tone, while continued to rub Aiden's back.

Aiden's face furrowed, he looked up to the wall ahead of him while he tried to recall the other memories that just flooded his mind. He stood up from the bed and said, "You know I could never take you to that fishing spot I told you about. You know, the one with Chris? I could not go to the meetings. You know the ones where new guides gather? How come we are always here?"

Astaroth's expression lifted, in exchange for a look of surprise. She left her seated position on the edge of the bed and fidgeted with her dress, biting her pale pink lip. "Uh, well, you know they only do those times for certain guides." Astaroth struggled with her lie.

Aiden continued to stare at Astaroth as if in search of something that he wasn't sure he was searching for. After a few moments, he broke his stare, and his eyes carried surveyed the room, that in his mind was Meridian's.

The room was much the same as Meridian's, except the atmosphere. The bed cover was still the fluffy white down comforter he remembered, and the old dresser on the adjacent wall still sat in the place he recalled. When his eyes looked out of the window, a memory of he and Meridian appeared, the night he almost left her out of frustration.

Aiden looked back at Astaroth, but she was no longer there. He searched or her, but when he opened the front door, he saw nothing. Not a tree, a road, or the sidewalk that led away from the home he remembered. The same sidewalk he and Meridian walked to go to the market for Tallulah. Then he blacked out laying on the floor and unconscious.

After he collapsed, Astaroth stood in his place, looking down upon her new human obsession. With a snap of her finger, Aiden floated upward and crept back to the bedroom where she lay him down. As he lay there unaware, she leaned forward over his body and stared at him keeping her face just inches in front of his. She opened her mouth as if to give him a kiss, but she stopped herself just before her lips met his. A black liquid emerged from her lips, covering every square inch of her mouth, giving her once pink lips a dark grey tone. Once more she moved forward and pressed her lips to Aiden's. With the meeting of their lips, the grey hue from the liquid dissipated into a smoky apparition and dispersed into floating particles around Aiden's mouth and chin. Just as Astaroth broke her evil lips from his, the powdery substance swirled around entering his nose and mouth. She moved away from Aiden and gazed upon him for just a moment more, in satisfaction, she left him in his demon induced sleep.