The Demon’s Bride

In the middle of the night as Elise had fallen asleep, she woke up with her eyes drowsy. Turning her head, she looked at the window to see what time it was when she noticed the sky that was black turned orange as morning was about to arrive.

Elise got up from her bed, she noticed Hallow was sleeping with his small chest heaving up and down and she smiled before walking to get the jar and glass to drink. When her hand touched the surface of the cupboard she noticed the ripe brown color of the cupboard turned darker. In a surprise, Elise retracted her hand but it was too late.

A crack had appeared on the woods where it starts to spread wider all over the cupboards and the woods breaks into breaks into small cube-shaped bits while inside the wood had turn to small sharp wooden leads. The cupboard seemed as if it had turned hollow inside and shrinks from its original size that was very noticeable by naked eyes.

What happened? Elise asked herself in panic. She had only touched the cupboard for it to look as if it had rotted which was what happened. One more touch of her finger feels as if it could turn the wood to break and lose the foundation that could make the cupboard to collapse.

The jar and glass which was placed on the cupboard tilted and fell on the ground, creating a large crash to wake up Hallow whose sleeping bubble burst when hearing the sound of crash. Hallow stood up from his bed in a hurry, "What's wrong, Elly?!"

"I don't know what is happening," she replied in panic, a premonition of something not good happening filled her heart and it made her feel at unrest, "I touched the cupboard and I don't know it-" the cupboard breaks down to the ground before it turned to dry ash as she spoke and Elise left her mouth ajar in surprise.

"Elly, calm down," said Hallow who was about to jump toward Elise but the girl avoided. Hallow looked at her with his green eyes staring with a strange look, "What is it?"

"You can't touch me, I think I am the one who resulted this," Elise for sure could not understand what she did to turn the cupboard into ash but she would not risk touching Hallow and turn her grim reaper friend to become ash.

"You mean, you turned the cupboard to ash? That's not possible," Hallow continue to walk to her side, jumping from one table to another he tried to touch Elise who didn't want to be touch.

Elise was afraid of the result if she touch Hallow and he would turn to ash, "Please just don't touch me for now, Hallow. Believe me, I am the one who cause this to happen and if I touch you... I think this will happen." Just like the key she held on her hand last night which rusted and the glass she touch that breaks. She didn't know what her power was but when seeing the wooden cupboard to ash, she knew her power was not meant for good.

Hallow folded his wings to his hips, one of his brows was crunched while the other raised high, "Okay, okay, you know I believe you that you don't lie it's not as if you are a demon who always spill lies," walking away from the table, Hallow moved his leg when he felt a drop of water that was dropped by the time the jar fell and his body slipped down.

In alarm, Elise caught Hallow to belatedly realized with what she had caught him on.

"H... Hallow?" Elise's breaths hitched as she opened her eyes slowly. Hallow's green eyes looked at her. At first nothing happen which was what Elise like to believe until Hallow's expression turned painful.

"I..." Before he could continue his words, the chick's body disappeared to thin air, leaving only ashes which was cloudy and thick. Drops of water threatened to come to the rim of Elise's eyes who was surprised by what she saw.

"Hallow? Hallow?" Elise calleed his name on the dust, the dribbled tears came to her cheeks when the door opened and Ian came in. His red eyes first assessed what happened inside her room, noting the broken table and the ashes on Elise's hand.

"You did it," a certain hostility was laced on his voice and as if she had been woken up, Elise got up from her bed, her breaths were raspy and her face was drenched with sweats.

"Elly?" On her name being called, Elise shifted her eyes in speed to see Hallow. He was alive. The grim reaper look at the human girl oddly, "Was it a bad dream? Let me tell you Elly, Bad dream is just a projection of one-"

Elise interjected Hallow from continuing with his words but pulling his body to her hands. She touched Hallow's body for a few long moments, rubbing his cheeks, pushing his body, and feeling his wings, before placing her thumb on where his heart was to feel it beat slowly.

Hallow was in a state of stun that he let Elise's hand feeling his body all over. Only when Elise let him go did he ran away from the human girl to the back of her pillow. An expression of surprised and baffled came on his face, "What... Where were you touching me!"

"You are alive," Elise said to her relief. She thought everything had ended the moment Hallow turned to ashes when touching her hand. The touch felt real and the dream was surreal. She could remember everything going on in clarity as if the action was just taken seconds ago.

"Thank heavens," she whispered. She didn't kill anyone. It felt like she did but that was her nightmare, a bad dream, thought Elise to herself. She convinced herself that everything happened was just but her imagination that would never happen again.

"Well technically I am already dead so I can't die again unless my soul is destroyed. Enough about that, what's wrong with you! That was wrong to touch me all over! I maybe am a chick right now, my appearance that is. But I was also a human male previously when I was still alive and touching a man is not good, Elly," he advised as if Elise had not known better.

Elise only gave him a smile, "I didn't mean to touch you, there was just this dream where you might be dead because I touched you... and turn to ash so I was afraid," she replied, telling Hallow of what she saw but the chick scoffed.

"Nah, I can't never die by a single touch and to turn to ash? That will never happen," When a grim reaper died, what left would only be flowers of death, thought Hallow to himself. Like any other grim reapers, when he died there would be no ash left to proof that he had completely left the world. "I had seen grim reapers died before and they just disappear like air. Not even a dust," replied Hallow with his eyes downcast.

"Is that true?" asked Elise again for Hallow to respond with a confirmation hum. Feeling relieved, Elise gave herself a pat on her chest. She then remembered Ian's face and thinking of it she felt a sting in her heart.

"Don't worry Elly, that was just a dream, you know, a projection of your fear. Like when you are afraid you sweet cheesecake would be stolen by another and the fear is projected in your dream to be eaten by a monster just like that," and somewhere it made Hallow happy that one of Elise's fear was to lose him. "Elly, what do you think about me?"

Being asked suddenly brought Elise to question what Hallow meant. She was still in a puzzle with her dream, was it a dream to remind her of something? She stared at her own hand, where the palm was white and she wondered why would the things she touched turn to ash? It feared her to touch anything now for the dream to come true but she knew it was a dream as when she touched Hallow, the chick did not turn to ash like her dream.

She shifted her gaze to Hallow who asked her about himself and she cocked her head to the side, "You are my friend, aren't you?"

"Friend," repeated Hallow who then sank with his cheeks blushing red before he shook his head. What was he doing? He almost got attached to the human girl! Hallow looked at Elise before he crossed his hands, "I think of you as one too."

But if there comes a day where he had to abandon Elise for his survival, thought Hallow in silence. Would he have to abandon her? Would he do it?

But his survival came first as this was how a grim reaper live. They can not hold attachment to human as they have watch for their death.

Author: Hello dear readers, I really want to write two chapters, but I can't due to lack of sleep. So please bear with one chapter for a few days. I will update two chapter soon~~