Darkness was in every direction almost like a thick blanket encrusted everything. A glance down revealed its black silk caressing the cool mossy floor. Its dark seduction lifted up into the trees towering high above the ground. Looking up into the tall trees he couldn't find the moon or any twinkling stars. Even with clouds, there would surely be a few stars making their appearance in the night sky. A chilling silence filled the air as if a sickening calm before a devastating storm. An almost silent snap is heard as a small twig is found by an almost nimble foot. The vaguely familiar skin-tingling sensation began to fill Brayden as he looked around in a panic. He knew with this sensation only one person could be walking toward him but this was different. His senses were telling him it was time to take flight and leave this unknown place. To avoid the fight that was destined to come if he waited any longer. As much as he knew he needed to leave this place he could not leave without her.
At the thought of her being in this strange place, a string of questions kept running through his mind. How did he get here? Why is it so dark? Where is he anyway? Most importantly where are Lilly and Claire. It was his job to keep them safe even if Claire insisted that she was supposed to keep him safe. Another twig snapped much louder than the first only meaning one thing, they could only be yards away now. Brayden spun toward the sound seeing a figure coming forward as if looking for something in the dark. Finally, the moon decided to peek around a cloud allowing very little light on the darkened forest. He watched as her almost snow-like skin began to glow in the moon's pale light. He couldn't help but admire the beauty of the woman he had grown to love over the years even if she had mostly been a huge thorn in his side. He watched her red hair slowly move from her face with the light sudden breeze pushing around the tall forest trees. It was the slight gleam of the sword from the moonlight, that cleared Brayden's mind. The flash was almost like a slap in the face. All too quickly he was brought back to his questions and a sudden realization. It was happening, again another fight with Lilliana. All his thoughts fell to the side, that is all but one. They were to fight in this dream yet again, but for what reason this time?
Suddenly he felt his arm become extremely heavy as if it were being pulled down. He glanced to his right hand to see a sword appearing in his hand as Lillian came closer he could see the sickening red tint in her eyes. Her small frame came into the light. The wind picked up from a breeze to just strong enough to remove her auburn red hair and reveal her perfectly shaped oval face. As the moonlight bathed her skin completely she looked paler, almost sickly. The longer Brayden stared the more he understood, in this dream, he had been saved and she had finally been caught. He wanted so deeply to run to her and protect as he had obviously failed to do. With the look in her eyes, this could only mean one thing. Her grandfather had finally caught her and turned her into another mindless follower. Brayden had failed his one mission he was to be born before the savior and entrusted to protect her to the death. Now it looked as if he would be fighting her to the death instead.
'This isn't real.' Brayden told himself. 'It's just a dream. Look at everything where are you? What can you see in this endless darkness?'
Brayden tried to scan their surroundings but failed he couldn't remove his eyes from the beautiful woman in front of him. He felt the pit of failure in his stomach grow and his chest pinched as he thought of how he had failed her, yet again.
"Oh dear boy." This sound came from her but was in such a grave tone it took Brayden by surprise. "You are sadly mistaken this is not a dream but prophecy. Poetic isn't it? The one you are born to marry will be the one to kill you?" Lilliana almost growled out her words as her head tilted to the side as if to measure how weak her soon-to-be prey really was. "That's what happens when you can't do the one job you were literally created and born to do."
At these words, she flung her head back releasing a deep throaty laugh.
Brayden shivered at the words coming from her mouth, he didn't know the truth behind them but felt it deep down. The way she said them was almost with disgust he had only seen when they spoke of her almost-boyfriend of the previous year. He knew that guy was bad news but she insisted he had a good side until he tried going too far and Brayden happened to get home at the right time. Brayden was again pulled back to the dream as Lilliana's laugh suddenly seemed closer. The laugh was almost like a sinister growl, it almost pierced his heart knowing he had failed to prevent this. This dream would not be allowed to happen! He would die before he let his Lilly be taken by her grandfather and turned into a blood-thirsty monster.
Wait... His Lilly? Did he truly just think that? Brayden shook the thought from his mind.
"Okay, so you say born to marry? Are we not cousins? Isn't there some kind of law against that? And what makes you think this dream is a prophecy? I will not kill you in this dream nor in reality. Now demon tell me what you wish me to know so I can return to the waking world! To prove my cousin is safe and sleeping as I left her earlier in the night." Brayden now knew this was another dream. He still shivered at the thought of insulting this fragile little girl. As sickly as she looked she still looked like the Lilly he had grown up with.
A grotesque grin grew across Lilliana's face before she flung herself forward faster than Brayden had ever seen her move during any of their training sessions with Claire. Before he could process anything she was on him pressing her lips to his. He felt as if this was wrong, this is his cousin why is she kissing him? But at the same time, the warmth filled his body and he couldn't push her away. There was an uncontrollable pull to her he has always felt but suddenly stronger in a different way. His lips felt not just the tingling feeling he got from her presence but felt a fire burn throughout his entire body. He dropped his sword wrapping his left arm around her waist and the right cupping her face to the right angle deepening the kiss. He felt her push her body into his and tip toe giving herself better access to his own lips. One arm snaked its way to the back of his neck almost tickling the bottom of his hairline with her gentle touch from her fingertips. They slightly paused to breathe and look at each other.
The red in her eyes slowly faded as they cleared again showing her almost emerald green eyes. Brayden never could stare at her eyes for long. They were always so alluring he never dared really look at them longer than a few seconds. When they were younger he would feel like he was supposed to be by her forever no matter what. As kids, he thought they would be best friends forever but slowly realized they were actually a weapon of war. But could easily be used as a weapon of mass destruction if caught by the Dark One.
For a split second, he forgot he was in a dream and began panicking about them being family. They were cousins for crying out loud this was not okay!
"Lilly we can't..." Brayden tried to explain his feelings but was struck in the abdomen with a sudden sharp pain. He felt the warm blood pouring out to the mossy forest floor pooling at his feet. Lilly had never dropped her sword and her arm that had been trailing beautiful lines along the back of his neck was only there as a brace to hold him in place. He fell to his knees as Lilliana withdrew the sword. The red returned to her eyes as an evil smirk devoured her beautiful face. Had blood not been escaping his abdomen he would have blushed at the sudden closeness between them as Lilly leaned in to whisper in Brayden's ear.
"I will find you and those two little whores, you think you protect. Hiding in plain sight? Not the best move. I'm close enough to smell the betrayal of that traitorous slut. I will find her first forcing her to lead me to you and when I do I will personally kill you all."
It was not Lilly's voice it was a darker voice from his past. It was so close to the recognition that it brought Brayden away from the physical pain if only for a second. He hasn't heard that voice anywhere but in dreams in many years. As he thought of where the memory took place he felt Lilliana backing away from Brayden her figure began to blur and shift into the form of a tall man. Darkness pushed its way into the small clearing as the moon began to again hide behind a dark cloud. But Brayden could still see the glowing red eyes through the piercing darkness.
"Demon! What have you done? And where is my cousin?" Brayden tried to yell these words but they only came as a hushed mumble. He knew the voice he tried to give only made his words sound less than intimidating. This took most of his strength as he fell forward bracing himself with his hands. He tried crawling to a sword to use what strength he had left to finalize his attack.
The figure unfazed by the words or actions of the young man lunged toward Brayden grabbing his hair and jerking him to sit up straight. Brayden held in a groan from the discomfort to prevent the demon from seeing any victory. Their faces were only inches apart as the hot breath from the demon spat in his face, "Soon my boy you will find you are not my grandson as she is my granddaughter. But yet are literal soul mates, by finally pulling you two apart I will bring this pointless rebellion to its end and claim what is rightfully mine. The two of you will not escape me for the third time!"
The words slowly faded as darkness took over. The pain began to decrease as all the words the demon had spat in his face replayed in Brayden's mind. The pain he felt in the dream was now replaced with a smothering feeling and sweat. He could feel the restriction holding down his body. Brayden flung his blankets and almost flew out of his bed running to Lilliana's room before he even realized he was fully awake. His heart fluttered seeing she was perfectly safe and curled up and asleep in her little bed. He couldn't help but smile at the make-shift bed she had left next to her own bed. She had made his little second bed from an unexpectedly comfortable thrift shop sleeping bag and duvet. Brayden did a quick sweep of the small 2 bedroom apartment seeing Claire had not returned from work yet. He checked the windows to find them still locked, the protective enchantment barrier was still strong and untouched. Meaning everything he had just endured was in fact only a dream.
Finally, Brayden could breathe he returned to Lillian's room to see her shivering. He picked up the duvet, knowing it was her favorite, and quickly covered her. As the shivering subsided he made himself comfortable on the floor with the sleeping bag. Even if he were only on the floor he had always slept better being in the same room as Lilly. He assumed it was like comfort for him. Like normal people have their comfort foods, he was stuck in old memories from better times. He remembered when they were first on the run Claire kept them in a studio apartment to ensure they were safe at all times. She was able to sleep knowing they were safe. He assumed that's where he learned his over protectiveness from but also knew that wasn't fully the truth. There was always a pull to Lilly to protect her even when they were little. Brayden knew where she was and asked what she was doing at all times. Of course, he never told her because she would freak out but because of this, he had saved her mor
Lillian laid back down and whined, "It's Saturday and the sun isn't even up yet. It has to be pretty bad for her to be up so early. Also, you being here brings me to believe the two are connected yet again. So can I just go back to sleep and delay this day a bit longer?" Lilly knew it was impossible but had hoped. "You know your mother will be in here any second now so just get up." Brayden was only 8 months older than her and being raised as siblings they were just as close. "Also..." Brayden slowly made his way to the door before grabbing the knob and quickly saying. "I gotta take a dump. So I call dibs on the bathroom." He was gone and in the bathroom before Lilly could even throw a freeze spell at him. She may not believe there was as much magic in the world as Claire claimed but that didn’t change the fact that she used what she had. Lilly blamed it on Brayden, just like an annoying big brother he did everything in his power to make her life a living hell. From preventing boy
Lilly watched as her mother walked through the dream with Brayden. She hated being left out of what was going on but knew there had to be a reason. Often times Brayden would show her his dreams of them killing each other. They were always weird though as if in different times, or like they had actually lived through it to some extent. Once she even felt like a different universe, she knew there was a deep meaning behind all the dreams and Brayden kept a dream journal in hopes to understand them. He usually just got frustrated and would throw it across the room. Lilly had tried to read it multiple times but since it was a blood journal she couldn't access it. Her mother invented them so only the people that have input their blood can open the book. Lilly had looked into it more if you are close enough in the family you should be able to open their journal. She tested her theory on her mother's journal but for some reason couldn’t get it to open. Using some of her magic she was able to
The man smiled and nodded in agreement taking another step back. He hoped they would hurry time really is not on their side right now. Only then did Brayden let Lilly pass to go out the door. He watched as the man slowly closed the door locking it as if he planned on returning later in the day. Lilly started to descend the stairs but could feel the mixed vibes of amusement and annoyance from behind her. 'Brayden is going to get us all killed if he keeps acting like this. I can't believe my mom just left us with some strange guy without saying anything. What the hell!' Lilly was grumbling to herself in her mind about the whole situation when she heard Brayden laugh. Lilly quickly turned to see his face red from trying to hold on to his laughs but failed, the utter look of confusion on her face only caused him to laugh harder. She glanced at the man named Ivan who looked just as confused. Before Lilly was able to ask what Brayden problem was she heard his voice in a soft whisper, 'She
Instead of speaking Lilly decided to stretch placing her legs across Brayden’s lap. She was sure to remove her shoes before doing so and then said, “Since you were such a dick this morning why don’t you make it up by giving me a foot massage.”“Lilliana!” Claire said out of total shock from Lilly’s language.“Claire, until I know what’s going on I would prefer you not use the name my parents gave me. I don’t really like that name please call me Lilly.” Lilly said with a small smile before she felt Brayden actually start rubbing her feet, she looked over to him before she half smiled.“You told me to.” Brayden said with a small shrug before adding only for her. ‘You really think I’m going to turn down touching you after what you just put me through?’‘You deserved it!’ Lilly said trying to fight back a moan from the pleasure she was receiving from a simple foot rub.“Claire.” James said from the driver’s seat, to which Claire only hummed. “You said they lost their memory.”“Yes?” Clair
Claire had to hold back a smile, the kid was too mature for his age. When he acted all macho like this she couldn't help but laugh at his innocence. Shaking her head and holding up her hand as if to silence him she just began speaking casually before he was able to start. "As always my dear you have all the questions. But as always I can only answer a few as I do not know all. However, your father and my mate Ivan may have answers I do not." Claire's smile beamed speaking of Ivan and then she blushed and smacked Ivan's arm.Well, that was kind of easy, some answers down. Brayden thought of where to go from here. Obviously, Claire was not Lilly's mother maybe start there? He looked over to Lilly as she stirred in the seat shifting so her head was now on the back of the seat. She slowly started to fall until he finally grabbed her and placed her across the seat with her head in his lap. This reminded him of her attempt to torture him earlier causing the blood to quickly flow back down t
The sleep filling in Lilly’s eyes finally subsided along with the panic from the abrupt awakening and she nodded her head. Lilly looked around seeing they were at a beautiful cabin by a lake deep inside a heavily wooded forest. Her eyes widened as she realized they were alone and Brayden was still holding her wrists. A weird feeling filled her stomach as warm sensations pulsed from where Brayden was touching her. He followed her gaze to his hands and then quickly released her mumbling an apology. As much as he wanted to touch her they needed to talk, and he doubted she expected to wake to them being alone. With the sudden release of her wrists Lilly’s stomach returned to normal but her skin suddenly felt like it had been touched with ice for too long. Brayden outstretched his hand to her while saying, "Come on let's go check this place out. My dad said it's heavily protected so you're good to actually practice your magic or freak out and not worry about attracting attention." He adde
Lilly looked up to see him staring at her almost with a look of adoration and her face flushed with panic so she quickly asked. "Okay, so what about Claire and my mom?""Right! So Claire is mated or married to Ivan. Ivan is apparently some big shot warrior who is cousins with my dad, and adopted siblings with my mom? So technically not related to you at all. In all reality, Claire is actually only 7 years older than us. Explains why she looks so young for being your mother! Do you remember from before my parents dropped me off with you and Claire?"Lilly chose not to speak and just shook her head signaling for Brayden to continue. "Well you actually lived with Claire and your mom until there was an... um... 'accident'. We were only 5 at the time or well that time around, so telling you that Claire was really your mom you didn't question it. But I remembered having a different mom than you so Claire said we were cousins." Brayden paused looking to Lilly to make sure she was following b