The Demon’s Bride

They passed to the green path, hiking up to the small hill made out of a blanket of weeds. It had been more than a few kilometers after they exited the mansion and at the spot from where she stood, the mansion's shadow had become fainter making an uneasy feeling creeping to her heart. "If we go any far than this, I will forget the way back to the mansion."

"You don't have to remember. " Aryl whispered faintly so the girl couldn't hear what she had just said. Pulling Elise's long sleeve to lead her into the small forest beside the green path. "Come here, a little bit more walk and we'll arrive." Elise felt a little relief hearing Aryl's words if she had to walk a little further and arrived at the place where Aaryl wanted, she could go home faster. 

Mila, Cynthia, and Austin would be very worried that she didn't come back home and to her, they are very kind people who played with her. She had been very careful about managing her good behavior and followed whatever they told her as she didn't want to make them disappointed. She had done good things in her previous houses but they still threw her out of the house. 

Just by imagining Master Ian's or the other people's in the house disappointed expression made her heart break. 

"You could walk pretty far. Don't you feel tired, Elise?" She heard Aryl talked and brought her back from her reverie. 

"I often walked." Aryl replied with a long interested oh. She had walked even further than the distance they walked. The furthest she ever walked was when she needed to walk over from one village to another three villages, it was the hardest walk for her as she couldn't eat or drink anything other than the water in the river that she passed on the way. The day on the slave building she couldn't walk due to her fever, but now she could walk even further than before.

"We arrived." Aryl flew over her eyes to hide the view and greeted. "Welcome to the Sulix's Lake." she stepped over to the side to reveal the beautiful place they arrived at. 

The place she stood at was in the middle of the forest, although the path which she walked before was dark, the silver moon sparkling right above the lake brought a very bright light on the place. As though the stars from the night sky landed on the bushes and trees, Elise's eyes were stuck at the glittering golden sparkles scattering over the surface of the Lake. 

Other Sulix with pale-colored skin flapped their feathery colorful wings over and crowded around Elise's head with cheerful giggles. "This is she?" they sprung up to her eyes. 

"She smells good!" the other one laid on Elise's red hair to sniff. "So sweet!" another one commented.

Aryl snapped her finger to allocate every other Sulix's attention, "Let's stop here, shouldn't we? We have to go now, or else that De-" Aryl cleared her throat knowing that she shouldn't call Ian with his usual name and corrected. "-Lord Ian came back."

Elise cocked her head to the side, showing her clueless look at the Sulixs around her. "What are you talking about?" Aryl didn't reply at her words and instead cued her friends to pull Elise's nightgown sleeve toward a gate that was made out of living branches from the ground. Elise tore her gaze from Aryl to the lake's surface that had begun to produce bright light as though it was beckoning her to enter. 

Feeling a bad hunch on her heart, Elise stopped her movement making the Sulixs surprised ber her abrupt stall. "I think I need to go now." Elise's turned her body to the back and walked but hear Aryl spoke. "Where are you going? Elise, come with us to the lake. If you enter now, we could come to the Sulixs' land. Our bright, fun, and exciting land that would never make you sad."

"I can't go with you, I have to go home now." Elise took more steps behind but Aryl and the other Sulixs didn't back down easily. Their voice changed into a seducing tone, giving a sweet approach to little Elise. 

But now, their sweetness plunged down to a chilling cold tone. "Even though you don't have a home?" 

Hearing that, Elise's feet stopped immediately and Aryl noticed she had probed the right words. "Rather than living in sadness where everyone always hurt you, while waiting for their love. Why don't you come with us? To the place where happiness would always bath you in. We will always be your friend, having fun together isn't that what you wished for all along, Elise?"

Aryl's words were right on the money. Her blue eyes lost its light making it grew dull as she walked over to the gate to see Aryl reaching out her hand for her. She lifted her hand to take her hand, but a moment when her fingers were about to graze Aryl's hand, she stopped. The light on her eyes that dissolved in the darkness grew alight again. "What are you doing, Elise? Come with us now."

Elise shook her head holding her arm over another. "I will not go. Everyone is waiting for me. I have to go back home."

"But that isn't your house and there's no family with you there." Aryl's face shadowed by the darkness gave a chilling look as she spoke. 

"Master Ian let me have a place to stay. Cy, Mila, and Austin are also very good to me. They're my friend."

Sadness always hovered around her and Aryl's words were true. All this time she had been wanting a place to call home, parents to share warmness and a house where she would belong. She hasn't yet get acquainted with Ian, but he had never once beaten her or starve her to hunger. Instead, he saved her from the slave place, he never forced her to work and told her to play, the food in the house was delicious and she didn't have to sleep while bearing with a hungry stomach in the cold. The people she knew always treated her well and always prepared her warm bed to sleep.

Elise looked at her fiddling hand and glanced up with a smile and sloping eyebrows. "Until they throw me out, I will stay there. Thank you for your worry, Aryl."

They had been very kind to her, unlike her aunts and uncles. The little girl knew that paying their gratitude would be difficult for her, the least that she could do is to stay at the mansion and helped around the place. 

Aryl didn't expect the girl would reply to her in such a way and looked down in sympathy. "Elise-"

A raven flew over to Elise's shoulder, marking the arrival of Ian who suddenly appeared out of thin air, pulling Elise to the back with his red eyes fixed greatly on the Sulixs who took his puppy. "May I know what business you have with her?" Elise looked over her shoulder and saw traces of red mist hovering on his arm that laid over her shoulder. Feeling guilty that she had breached his order, Elise hung her head low.

Aryl took a step behind, her adorable peculiar face turned sour with detest voice she exclaimed, "Demon!".

He tore away his eyes that were examining any wound from the little girl to the Sulix and grinned coldly. "That's me." Ian agreed rather quickly making the Sulix to be taken aback by him for a moment. To him, he couldn't be arsed about such a little opinion from the Sulix.

"Curse you! How do you know about this place?" Aryl raged, looking at him with a tone of disgust.

"She's my puppy and do you think I would let her go that easily?" His hand pulled a red strand of Elise's hair that connected to the middle finger of his left hand. "My puppy here has a connection with me. She's my property, you could go home now." He ordered coldly, sending shivers to the people who heard his voice.

All the Sulixs could never like a mythical being such as Ian who they deemed to be imbecile and disgusting. Every air around him brought the smell of rustic iron, the scent of blood, and the fragrance of death. They couldn't stand back, eyes still glaring, Aryl hissed. "Do you think we would let go of you this easily? That girl is the sweet child, she's not someone a being like you should ever dream to touch of! Take your hands off the girl!" 

A chuckle came out of Ian's lips, bending his back toward the Sulix, his red eyes grew brighter in color warning how blood-thirsty he was feeling at the moment. "Since I'm feeling quite generous tonight, I will forgive you this time. However, there's no next time. Turn around or you'll be Cerberus's dinner menu tonight." 

Hearing the name of Hell's dog with three heads in one body that would love nothing more than to eat a living fresh faerie as their menu, chill ran down to their blood. All the other faeries had an expression as though they could see the Cerberus's hungry saliva drolling out of its three mouths while glaring at them. Walking over to a dead end, Aryl humped loudly, throwing her fist to the air. "Tch!" She clicked loudly and turned around to enter the gate where Elise identified as the gate to the Faerie Land. 

Her face turned gentle again to wish the little girl who was currently feeling a little anxious. "I'll be going now, Elise. Let's play again next time. Good night." Aryl broke her gentle gaze from Elise and scowled to Ian. "Remember, even if we go now that doesn't mean that we approve you Demon!" 

With that, Aryl flew to the lake with all her friends and disappeared along with the bright light.