CHAPTER 55: THE DEVIL IN HUMAN FORM

"Of course, just pull it out and you can walk out that gate and you’ll never have to see my face again,"

"Your Ugly face," she murmured under her breath in mockery, knowing very well that he could hear her, "And I don’t believe you. Promise me that you will set me free after this,"

"I give you my words, Siren. You’ll never see me again after this,"

Never see him again? It hurt. It hurt so much, to think about never seeing him again. Even though he was a cruel heartless man. Everything had been fake, and she was left to think some part of it had been real.

For the first time, he had shown her a different side of life.

The beautiful side. The fun side. The peaceful side. Even...the horrible side.

Yuan was right. She shouldn’t have trusted anything about him. Aaliyah had failed to protect her heart, and now it was on the floor, scattered into pieces that could not be put back together.

The worst thing about the whole situation was that she couldn’t even cry!

She reached in with both hands, gradually enclosing the distance between her fingers and the Maqbath. Her eyes were glued to the dark handle that had golden symbols embedded all over the body, glowing more as her fingers covered the distance as if reacting to her presence.

To her agreement that she could see it clearly.

From the very first time she had seen him standing outside the church, she had seen the Maqbath stuck inside his chest. She has always been able to see it.

Thunder rumbled outside again, and lightning flashed in through the window. It was getting louder and louder by the second as if the sky was reacting to him.

To this moment.

Alastair could now see the reflection of the Maqbath in her blue eyes. He was bubbling with excitement like he was about to explode. To finally reach this point after such a long time.

After centuries of sitting in the dark alone, waiting for the Pureblood who could pull out the Maqbath. After uncountable nights of the Full Moon, trying to pull it out on his own with no result.

After so many tries...the time had come.

Her two hands wrapped around the length of the handle, and Aaliyah gasped at how heavy it felt. She could feel the ridges, and waves of writing in Gold...and a string of electricity shot through her finger, shaking her badly.

Her eyes rolled, and she grew weak instantly.

She wanted to pull away from the handle, seeing that it was jolting her body this much, and setting her body on fire.

"Pull, Aaliyah. Pull!" Alastair’s deep groan brought her back to the present, and she gritted her teeth and did as she was told with all her strength.

The second she started to pull, Alastair almost fainted. All these while he thought the explosive pain he usually felt whenever he tried to pull it out himself was second to none, but this was even worse.

The veins on his face popped out and his irises transformed into the darkest shade of red. To say that he was feeling unparalleled pain would be an underestimate of the sufferness that was shaking his very core, and his whole existence.

His hands shot out and grabbed her shoulder to tear them out, helpless. He could only think of making the soul-curling pain stop, and the fastest way was to attack the person responsible for it.

He wasn’t in his right senses anymore, and Aaliyah could see the incorrigible horror growing in his eyes, screaming at her to let go and save herself but it was already too late as he had already taken a hold of her shoulder.

Just as she was about to let go, an inch of the handle came out of his chest and her attention was snatched by the movement. A little more effort she would be able to pull it out and be free from him forever, but he was about to kill her.

Tears were leaking from his eyes, and his mouth was wide open with saliva pouring out of them.

Taking the risk, she mustered the strength to pull even harder. She could feel his fingers digging into her shoulders, ready to rip them apart.

Aaliyah screamed in pain, "You’re hurting me!!!"

He wasn’t listening. His mind was not here.

"I’m going to let go. Alastair!!!" Another earth shuddering thunder shook and lightning also hit the ground.

Another two inches came out, and now she could see the smooth silver body of the dagger that had come out of his chest.

The sound of snapping bone echoed through the room and Aaliyah screamed very loudly, tears gushing down from her eyes from her shoulders that had just been dislocated.

It was strange to see that he hadn’t done the deed and ripped her shoulder out completely by now with the seconds ticking with unbearable tension.

Something was holding him back from killing her.

The tiny bit of sanity that was still somewhere inside of him. A sanity as small as an atom, keeping him from going out of control.

"It’s almost out!"

A strangled cry tore from her lips as she yanked the whole thing was his chest. She pulled so hard her back was thrown and she slammed herself on the wall behind her, hurting her head badly.

Alastair had let go of her shoulder, and her back slipped down the wall with the dagger leaving her fingers and falling to the ground. It clanked and stumbled as it hit the floor, before coming to a stop.

Aaliyah was catching her breath, groaning from the severe pain she had suffered. There was a trail of blood following the path she had slammed her head on the wall, and she could barely force her eyes up to look at the man who was still standing.

He was still on his feet after all that, his body calming down from the pandemonium that had just gone down.

The pain in his chest had vanished completely, but his quick breaths and the fire in his eyes came from the unexceptionable feeling that was swelling inside of him.

He was beyond exhilarated.

The moment they locked eyes, Aaliyah saw an unappeased hunger overflowing from them.

She dashed for the door, for the look in those eyes only informed that he was not yet done with her.

He didn’t move for a while, and she was able to unlock the door and race down the stairs, fully aware that her sanity and her being were on the line.

That look in his eyes...He might just be the definition of the Devil in human form.

A sharp pain in her chest made her hit the brakes, and there he was standing in front of her. His lifeless eyes were in their darkest form, and his iris had completely disappeared.

His skin was pale, making him resemble a ghost.

Blood ran down her neck, coming from her mouth as she slowly looked down, only to find the same dagger she had gone through hell to pull from his chest, now stabbed into her chest.

Straight through her heart.

"I need your heart, Little Siren,"