F.E.A.R

Being a witch made life growing up, very difficult. People were constantly judging you, afraid of you and some even tried to kill you. Magic never came easy to me. Atleast not the type that my parents practiced. My father was an earth based warlock, or atleast that is what mother told me. She, however was more of a crystal witch. She used crystals to cast spells and create potions that healed others. She was liked by our village. I had never met my father, and only knew what my mother had told me about him. She always described him as a nice person. A gentle soul that liked to help others. And he would have helped me with my magic if he would have still been alive.

The thing about witches, or I should say witches who havent been categorized yet, is that they could be trained to learn a specific category of magic, or they could learn it all, which usually ended badly. And I was afraid that I would be one of those witches. 5 years old is when a witch is supposed to be put into a catagory. Here I was at eight. Almost nine and I still had no idea what kind of magic I could use. Mother was constantly forcing me to learn crystals and today was a particularly strange day. I felt something in me change. I normally had a care free feeling inside of me, but today I was irritated and wanted nothing more than to get away from the God forsaken crystals.

"Focus Elara," I could hear mother say in my ear.

"I'm trying to," I growled out at her.

"People are starting to talk sweetheart. You need to get these crystals to form together properly. " she stressed, her face inches away from me. I could feel anger building up inside of me. A darkness that wanted out. "You dont want to be an uncatorgorized witch do you? People will be afraid of you for the rest of your life, you'll be cast out. Hunted down like you're a demon" I couldnt control the anger anymore after she had said that sentence to me. "So then let them be afraid!" I screamed as I shot up from the table, my anger caused the crystals to shatter and stick in the walls of our cottage. "I dont care anymore! Fuck all of them. I hate being a witch and I hate being here!" I yelled, clenching my fists. Thunder started to rumble, louder than it ever had. Lightning cracked and the flames in our fireplace started to grow.

"Elara you need to calm down," my mother said, fear in her eyes. I stood there and glared at her for a moment longer before storming out of the house, anger still growing inside of me. I went to my favorite place to calm down when I was upset. It was a hill that overlooked my town and you could see for miles. I sat down in the grass and plucked an unbloomed rose. Looking up, I could see an army on it's way. My breath caught in my throat, I knew in that moment that our kingdom was being invaded and I had to find my mother as soon as possible.

Things had stopped phasing Azrael a long time ago, there was nothing that churned his stomach. Nothing that made the blood run cold through his veins. He remembered a time when he had been human, when he hadn't been possessed but that had simply been so long ago that what little humanity that remained was gone completely. He didn't know what it meant to be human, or alive for that matter. He didn't know the pain or the suffering that he regularly inflicted on other creatures. Sometimes for the simple pleasure, sometimes for other gains, or some combination of the two.

He'd heard word of a powerful, young witch that hadn't been sorted yet and the moment the information reached his ears, Azrael had been plotting and thinking. Thinking about what he would do to her when he finally had her in his grasp, how he would manipulate her on to being with him instead of against him. He was sure that it would be a lot of work and he considered for a moment simply beating her and torturing her until she had no other option but then, if she was as young as he had heard, Azrael saw no point. He could show her a whole new world, where he was able to manipulate her into caring for the same cause that he fought for. He smirked at the thought, excitement forming in the pit of his stomach.

It had only been a week or so since he'd first heard of Elara and along with a group of other demons, Azrael descended upon the town. He smirked, directing the others where to go while he headed straight for the home belonging to Elara's family.

Throwing open the door with a simple burst of energy, Azrael stepped into the home wordlessly. His eyes landed on Elara's mother first and he nearly laughed before turning to Elara herself. A faint smile formed on his features. "Elara?" He asked, moving to kneel in front of her. "I hear you're not so happy here," he paused, having heard the argument that took place only moments ago. "What if I promise to take you somewhere else? Somewhere where I can show you your true strength? Show you what all you're capable of, miss Elara?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin whenever our door was thrust open. First two men in black armour and red cloaks came in and stepped to the side to allow in the next person. I had no idea who he was or how he knew who I was. I took a few steps backward, until my back hit the wall behind me. He towered above me. I was only up to his waist, if that and It scared me even more. When he asked me if I wanted to go with him, I would have instantly said yes, had the rational side of me not questioned who he was.

"W-who are you?" I asked softly, as he kneeled down so that we were eye level. There was something mysterious about him, and I was almost curious to find out what. When he told me that his name was Azrael, I looked over at my mother. She was shaking her head no, as if she knew not to trust him. "I just want to fit in," I said quietly, my stomach churning as I stared at my hands. The darkness that i had felt inside of me earlier was drawn to him. Maybe he knew why i was like this. Fine one minute then the next a darkness was growing inside of me.

I jumped slightly whenever he reached up to brush a strand of my red hair away from my pale face. His touch was gentle and caring. When he promised that he would help me fit in, I decided to go against my mother's suggestion. "I-I'll go," I said softly, seeing the smile appear on his face I hesitated a moment but I grabbed his hand whenever he held it out to me. I looked back at my mother before looking up at him and then looking at the door as we walked toward it.

"Azrael," I was quick to answer the young girl's question, offering her as kind of a smile as I knew how to. It was hard because I wanted to laugh and celebrate. She seemed keen on at least getting to know who I was and that was more progress than I could have really hoped for. I had almost thought she would have been a bit more concerned, confused especially when her mother shook her head. I looked up to the woman with a raised eyebrow, tilting my head as I gave the slightest shakes of my head. It was all I needed to take the woman's voice, at least until we were gone.

Turning back to Elara, I was pleased when she agreed to go with me. I raised to my full height, holding out a hand to take hers. I gave it a gentle squeeze, to reassure her that I wasn't going to hurt her. And I wasn't planning to, as long as she played along to what I was going to eventually demand from her.

"Our journey home will take a few days," I began, figuring it past not to transport us immediately before I didn't want to scare her any more than she already was. "So relax as much as you can, we won't begin any training until after we arrive home and you have settled in. Does that sound like a deal to you?"

I hadnt ever expected to go to Azrael's home. Things were good until recently. I was beginning to notice that he was a dark being. A demon and everyone knew that behind every demon's motive was intentions that only benefited themselves.he had been patient with me at first but the more advanced the spells he tried to teach me the more frustrated he got and the angrier I grew. I could see it in his eyes, when I got angry sometimes, fear would flash in his eyes, just before they were clouded with anger. He had only laid his hand on me once and that was when I lit him on fire for pushing me to hard.

Here I was, yet again, in the great hall, failing to master a tricky spell. He wasnt doing anything to help me other than repeat "do it again' and it was starting to piss me off. "You have to learn this spell!" He growled lowly. I narrowed my blue eyes in his direction "I know that," I snapped out at him.

"So then learn it!" He yelled at me. Without even thinking I lifted my left hand made a grabbing motion and in the blink of an eye, I threw him into the nearest wall. "Now shut up and let me practice," I yelled at him. I wiped my nose, feeling blood drip from it. Calming my anger I watched the fireplace die back down before looking at the dead wolf that was laying on the ground. He wanted me to bring it back to life, as if it was something I could do so easily. He was teaching me dark magic. The magic of a bone witch. It was deadly, cruel and cold magic. The type of magic my mother feared me using. I was learning it all though.

According to Azrael, I was one of the most powerful uncatorgorized witches in the world, and that once I learned how to control my powers, I would be nearly impossible to defeat. The darkness inside of me that was growing as I aged, loved that idea. As for the rest of me, i was afraid of it. I was terrified of being unstoppable. What if I hurt someone? What if I killed someone?

I was doing my best to be as kind to Elara as I knew how to. It was hard, it went against every fiber of my being but I knew that if I lashed out at her too early, that I risked losing her loyalty. If I lost it, it would mean that I would have to force her to work with me. I would have to beat her into submission and doing such a thing to a witch as powerful as she was... even I didn't want to run the risk of her realizing what all she was capable of and deciding to kill me. I was a prince of Hell, a formidable opponent to just about any being on Earth but when it came to Elara... I wasn't so sure that I would be able to defeat her if she turned on me.

Keeping my hands behind my back as I demanded that Elara try the spell yet again, it was all I could manage not to demand more from her. I knew that she was capable of doing it, if she simply focused and maybe tried a bit harder but it didn't seem like her mind was in the right place to be doing this right let. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I gave a disappointed shake of my head. Before I could even react or gather my thoughts, Elara had flung me into a nearby wall.

Grimacing as I raised back to my feet, I studied the young witch with a hard glare. I gave another shake before I turned, storming away from the room. I went down to my blacksmith, demanding some sort of talisman that would weaken Elara's powers. If she was powerful enough to throw me into a wall like it was a piece of cake, then I needed something to ease her off of her powers. I needed her to learn certain things, without having a desire to kill me.

The next day, I returned to the blacksmith and was impressed by what I was given. A thin bracelet that was delicate and feminine enough looking that I could pass it off as a simple gift, one that Elara would have no clue had a double meaning. I smirked to myself as I headed toward her quarters.

I yawned slightly as rolling over. Life had been pretty peaceful here at the castle with Azrael. Especially since he was a demon. They were know for being cruel and hateful. They despised the human race and loved to torture them. Azrael seemed different though. Or atleast with me he was. He was kind to me, he was patient and he showered me with gifts. I can still remember the first one he ever gave me. It was a bracelet. It was made of a thin black metal that sparkled when the light hit it just right. He had asked me to never take it off because it was important to him or something like that, and for some reason, I never did take it off. It was loose enough that it moved with my arm, but not so loose that it ever came off.

I slowly opened my eyes to see him laying on his back, one arm draped above his head, the other across his stomach. We had some form of a relationship, I wasn't sure what it was, but he had taken my virginity, and he was the only man that I had ever laid with. He was kind to me, and he was easy on the eyes, so why wouldn't I have sex with him? However, when I made the original decision to sleep with him, I had cast a spell on myself so that I couldn't have kids. It was a spell that I could easily undo. Even if we were to get married, I would never undo the spell because there was no way that I would bring a beast like that into this world. It could destroy it with a snap of its fingers and even if Azrael was good to me, I knew that if he had caused me to get pregnant, he would use that child for evil, and I wouldn't let that happen.

Stretching slightly, I moved closer to him, laying my head on his chest, I snuggled close to him. allowing my eyes to flutter shut, I began to doze off to the sound of his heartbeat, only to groan whenever there was a loud knock on the door. I could feel him stirring beside me and it caused me to whine slightly. "Tell them to go away," I mumbled softly. He was warm, and I was freezing, it was like that all the time, and I knew it was because he was a creature of hell, but I didn't care. He was the only one to ever show me kindness, other than my mother when I actually did what she wanted.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to shift my head up and look at his face, my long red hair spread out behind me like a blanket across the bed, a strand in my face. I watched as he slowly opened his eyes to look down at me. I wasn't ready to get up. I didn't need to practice anymore. I had been with him for almost twelve years, and the day that I left home, still played over and over in my mind.

@ castle.