FROST and FLAMES

EVA's POV

My legs were turned into jelly. I wanted to scream but my lips were sealed. My limbs shook like a leaf in the storm. My clothes stuck to my body drenched in sweat.

I wanted to shut my eyes but the horrifying scene rendered my eyelids motionless. I tried in vain to calm my heartbeat lest it drew the hooded creature’s attention towards me.

No words in the world could describe the horror my eyes witnessed. Dead bodies were strewn on the ground, blood oozed out of tiny holes in their neck.

The hooded creature grabbed another man standing close by and lowered its mouth. The man let out a piercing scream as the sharp teeth of the hooded creature pierced through the sensitive skin on his neck.

After a few moments, the man dropped down dead on the floor. What happened next defied logic. The hooded creature threw up all the blood it had drunk and dropped on the floor amidst all the dead bodies.

“Bah! That was no fun at all. I wish the vampires were around. I would die of boredom without them.” A sickly evil voice was heard from the darkness but I couldn’t find its source.

“I need to come up with something more creative! Ha! Ha! Ha!........” His monstrous laugh echoed making my heart accelerate further.

His laugh sent shivers down my spine. I gripped the stone in my hand harder and a trickle of blood dripped on the ground below. Gosh! No! I wished I could stem the flow of blood but I couldn’t even loosen my hands.

I heard a whistle and then a voice boomed, “I guess I missed out a toy!” When I sensed a stare on me, my whole body got covered in goosebumps. The inevitable had happened. The hooded man had spotted me. Now he would kill me too.

“NO…….” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Eva…..Eva…..Eva….” Alex called out to me while rubbing my back. It took a few more moments for me to realize that it was a dream. I shook my head in an attempt to get the vision out of my head.

Alex handed me a glass of water and asked, “Was it the same nightmare?”

My lips felt dry, so I just nodded my head.

Alex hugged me and kept repeating in a soothing voice, “It’s okay honey. It was just a dream. Everything is alright.”

I found myself melting in those arms. He always knew how to make me feel better.

“Why don’t you sleep again? It's only 2:00 am ” He asked once I felt better.

“No problem, We can talk to each other all night but first lie down.” He said with a wide smile patting his thighs. I knew his trick but I couldn’t pass an invitation like that, could I?

He started massaging my temples once I had laid my head in his lap. He did this every time I had a bad dream, which was quite often. His trick worked every time and I was lulled into a deep slumber.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t fall asleep today. I wanted to spend the night looking into his eyes, basking in his love. I am not sure if heaven exists in reality but this was heaven for me.

The sweet twittering of birds was like honey to my ears. The sunlight streamed in through the window directly and fell directly on my face. I wanted to ignore it and sleep but its intensity was a bit too much to bear.

Finally, I had to give in. I sat up and stretched my arms. A yawn escaped my mouth. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and looked at the clock. It was 11:00. What! It was already 11 o’clock.

These days I had gotten into the habit of getting up late. It was as if my body was compensating for the 500 years I had not slept.

A heavenly aroma wafted through the air making my stomach rumble. I recognized the smell. Alex must be cooking his wonderful omelet recipe. Over time his cooking had become close to perfection. Mine, not so much, given that Alex cooked most of the time. It was edible but nothing out of the ordinary.

I looked at the nightstand. As usual, there was a note and a red rose for me. A wide smile spread on my face, a girl could get used to this. Alex pampered me to a level that I had started feeling guilty about not being able to return his love.

My stomach rumbled once again reminding me that it was not interested, in my contemplation. I showered and got dressed up quickly in a pair of jeans and a top. I have to say that my fashion sense had gone for a toss too. I looked like a country girl rather than a rich heiress now.

It's not that I had forgotten how to dress up rather I never felt the need to. I trotted down the stairs to find Alex laying the table. His face lit up, on seeing me and he said, “Good morning, You are already here. I was just going to wake you up.”

Seeing me pout he asked in a concerned voice, “What is the matter, honey?”

“Where is my good morning kiss?” I said puffing up my cheeks.

He laughed and held my face in his hands. Then he said in a husky voice, “Every morning I thank God for bringing you into my life. I love you more than anything else in this world.”

Then, he lowered his head and gave me a chaste kiss on my forehead. Though I craved his passionate kisses, Kisses like these made me feel cherished.

“The breakfast is waiting for you, my highness,” Alex said ushering me towards the table.

He pulled a chair for me to sit and served me some omelets. Then he sat opposite to me and filled his plate too.

I moaned in pleasure as I took the first bite. The omelet tasted heavenly. I wolfed down all of them in five minutes flat.

My face turned beet red when I saw Alex watching me.

“What? I was just hungry.” I said indignantly.

“Ha…ha….ha… I wasn’t watching that. I just loved the way your eyes lit up with the reflection of water in the glass. Wait let me show you” He said and clicked a picture. Then he showed it to me.

I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Love is truly blind. It makes even the most ordinary things appear magical.

My eyes met his and I got lost in them. This was the best version of life I had dreamt of and It was going to get better, much better. I smiled at that thought.

I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward. Maybe it was the right time to tell him the good news.

“Alex…..”

“Hmmmm……”

“I wanted to share something with you.”

“Hmmm…..” He said sitting up straight and taking my hands in his.

I licked my lips a bit unsure as to how I should break the news to him. Just then his phone buzzed and the screen flashed Susie’s name. I knew he would be distracted if the phone kept buzzing. So I said, “ Pick up the call, Alex. We can talk later.”

He hesitated only slightly before he picked the call. His face contorted in worry and he heard what was said on the other side.

“Susie……” He whispered as the phone dropped from his hand and the screen cracked in the pattern of a web.