Malevolent

Chapter 20

Something was off. My fingers curled through soft grain— soil from the smell of it. Beside me came the soft sounds of earthworms, burrowing through the dirt and a gentle but crisp breeze kissed my skin.

Wasn't I just home with Sofia?

I opened my eyes, but instead of a ceiling there were dark gray clouds moving above a canopy of pine trees so tall, their height vanished into the sky.

I sat up swiftly, but froze when a man mimicked my movements not too far from me, his back to me.

I looked left, I looked right, and he did simultaneously, as if he'd predicted my moves without looking.

We both looked in tandem at the chaos. The ground below us was scorched, the shattered trees surrounding us made it seem as though we had crash landed here, but how?

It was as if we had simply fallen from the sky.

The strong smell of smoke drew my gaze to several of the burnt pines beside us, as if lightning had struck them. Yet the sky was quiet. What had happened? Why were we here?

Brusquely, my body was forced to a stand at the same time as the man and my heartbeat raced. He was naked, and when I looked down, I found I was too. I tried to conceal myself, feeling self-conscious. At least he wasn't facing me. Was he even aware I was behind him? Should I say something?

My foot moved with his pace again, forced to follow behind him. A canopy of shadow enveloped us as we walked further into the woods and away from the destruction we had awoken in. 

The air felt thicker here, eerie and foreboding. I shivered from the cold, wishing I could go back... or perhaps, wake up? This had to be a dream.

The man in front of me seemed my only way of escape. He walked as if he knew where he was going. As I quietly trailed behind him, I wondered who he was. His hair was a dark brown, skin a light shade of gold. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't place him.

The sound of moving traffic caught my attention and he hurried now. Forcing me to match his pace,  but I noticed that I was never allowed more than six feet from him. It felt like trying to run in water when I tried to get closer.

The tree-line began to thin, and brightness opened up before us again. Now he was running, grunting and huffing as he stepped into the rough concrete road barefoot. He crossed over the overpass, looking down at the oncoming traffic that flew by below. And then, he swung his legs over.

"STOP!" I pleaded in a scream, jolting forward toward him, when I felt the suffocating air burst away from me. Was I awake?

"Amra."

"STOP!" I cried out, feeling an overwhelming sadness. I wanted to go back and save him. I had too. "Why?"

"Why what?" Someone asked.

I felt my body wrapped in warmth. Gently, it soothed the turmoil wreaking havoc on my heart and I opened my eyes to meet Dante's fiery irises. 

"Are you crying?" He raised a brow.

I slowly pulled away from him, wiping beneath my eyes to find I had in fact been crying. I could feel Dante looking at me curiously, his head slightly tilted toward his shoulder.

"What were you dreaming of?" He asked, as if he'd never had a nightmare before.

Then again, what would Dante have to be afraid of? He was the nightmare in people's dreams.

I scoured my brain, trying hard to remember the dream that seemed to dissipate by the second. It was like trying to look through fogged up glass.

"I don't remember. Someone dying, I think. I just..." I couldn't place it.

"You what?" He pressed.

"I don't know, I just remember this feeling of dread." I still felt a slight hurt in my chest, but any remnants of that began to fade as I looked back at Dante.

Maybe I was still dreaming? I wanted to laugh and I think Dante could tell because he opened his mouth in a sharp toothed smile.

"Dante, what the fuck are you wearing?" I blurted out.

He leaned back, sitting at the edge of the bed. His hair was a tousled black mess, thick brows arched in mischief, and curse him for having such nice long curled lashes. 

I had never noticed his eyes in this soft light. They had always just looked red to me, but there, in the center were small black pupils, elongated into a vertically slit shape, like a cat. 

A cigarette dangled between his lips, yet to be lit. And for god's sake, as he leaned back, the muscles of his pale arms bulged, thick greenish veins ran across his skin as he shifted— a perfect canvas of strength except...oh, what a sight to behold. His pecs were just slightly visible through the white fabric of... an apron. 

"Get up." He instructed,  standing up and walking away from me.

"Hmm." I stretched out and decided to get up. What the hell was Dante up to? Although, my nose had an idea.

As I rounded the corner, Dante was there, pan and plate in hand. His cigarette now lit in his mouth as he poured what looked like cooked egg whites into a plate. He placed it on the table and slid it my way. 

"What's... this?" I eyed the food suspiciously. My stomach ached and grumbled. When was the last time I ate?

"Humans have to eat, right?" He placed the pan back onto the stove and stared at the pulled-out chair by the table with a look that said 'either sit or be sat.'

I half debated pissing him off.

Dante hadn't bothered to feed me once when he first kidnapped me. I'd survived purely off his demon blood, but I'd felt like shit after. And now, suddenly, he wanted to play 'feed the human.'

I crossed my arms defiantly, looking at what was surely a trap. "So what? I'm just supposed to start trusting you now? That's not how this works, Dante. For all I know, this is all a trap and that's just poiso—"

In two quick strides Dante reached my plate and took a bite of egg whites off the fork. Smiling smugly.

I groaned. Against my better judgment, I sank into the chair and forked the eggs into my mouth, feeling the ache in my stomach begin to ease. "Yummy, egg whites and cigarette smoke." I mocked between bites.

"Well, I have different eggs you can try but those might make you choke."

I practically spit my food out.

Dante had that devilish smirk back on his face. In my anger I thought about throwing my fork at him, but before I could pick it up, it suddenly flew through the air at Dante.  

He swiftly moved to the side, his hand catching the utensil by the hilt and setting it on the counter.

I blinked, meeting his eyes in bewilderment.

Dante's gaze was steady, his silence hiding something.

"Did I?"

"Yeah, we'll need to get it under control." He handed the fork back to me.

~

Authors Note:

HELLLLLLO, I'M BACK! I KNOW THIS WAS SORT OF A FILLER CHAPTER, BUT HEY MORE CHAPTERS ARE COMING, WE HAVEN'T REACHED THE END OF THE STORY YET!

I'M AIMING TO HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER TOMORROW.

DID YOU GUYS MISS DANTE?? ;)

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