Dangerous Illusions

Chapter 17

The thing c****d an eyebrow and tilted its head to one side like a curious dog. In a deep and grating voice, it said, "Why do you laugh at me, Leila?"

"Because I was so f*****g scared," she said, giggling, "but it's just a nightmare."

"Do you often have lucid nightmares, Leila?"

"More often than not. So what's your story, big guy? Here to steal my soul?"

It then did something Leila thought rather unbecoming of a demon. It rolled its eyes and sighed.

"Lucid dreamers," it said, "are as gods in their own dreams. If this is a dream, Leila, why don't you fly away? Or wish me out of existence? Go on, try. I will wait."

Leila often—usually—flew in her dreams, and controlling them was a skill she'd practiced since childhood. She closed her eyes and willed herself to rise from the bed.

Nothing happened.

The creature's predatory grin returned, and it said, "I do not want your soul, Leila. I am more interested in your body."

Panicking, Leila drew herself up to a sitting position and racked her brain for a way to fight off the creature. The creature did not move. Rather, it shook its head and muttered, "Every time. Every single time."

“What do you mean by that? What the hell do you mean Erabus? You are trying to tell me here that you have kidnapped me into some other plain and I am clearly here with a lunatic and still you think that I am not going to laugh at my own stupidity?” asked Leila as she glared at the demon. He was handsome beyond any of her dreams and she had never seen him. No man, earthly or mortal man could compare to what he was.

“I am trying to tell you the truth, Leila. I am trying to make you understand and believe that what I am telling you is not wrong and that you are in a different plane of existence altogether,” said Erabus as his dark eyes were now even darker and they looked as if they were smouldering.

“What? That the higher souls told you that I am the one that you had to choose and you will bring me here and I am going to accept your bullshit?” asked Leila equally fierce.

“You have got an attitude. I never thought that you would but you do. That is strange,” he said as the demon mused to himself.

“And why is that strange? You kidnap a woman against her will and then try to keep her imprisoned and then think that she will submit to each and every desire of your? What exactly is this place? A fool’s paradise?” asked Leila as Erabus started laughing.

It was a full throated deep bellied laughter like something which meant that he had found it really funny about what he had heard from her. When finally he stopped he still stared at Leila and found that she was glaring at him.

“You think that it is funny that you are laughing at my expense?” asked Leila.

“No. Nothing funny about that. It is funny thought how you think that this might be even close to paradise,” said Erabus.

“What is it that you want from me? I don’t know why you are telling all this nonsense and bullshit but I would like to go back home. And if you want to kill me then be open and upfront about it and then kill me. I know that serial killers like to play with the minds of their victims first. Give them a false sense of security and lull them into thinking that they will be free soon but then they are not even bodies. They are just trophies,” said Leila as she huffed.

“You have given quite some thought about serial killers and what they do it seems. Have you ever encountered one?” asked Erabus with his gleaming smile.

“There is one sitting right in front of me now. And I don’t think that there will be a lot of people alive after encountering a serial killer,” said Leila with defiance in her eyes.

“I am not a serial killer, Leila. You might choose to not believe that but there is nothing but truth in all that I have said. I don’t know why but I thought that you would be able to recall me. I have been with you since a long time and I have waited for you to be with me for a long time as well. You should have been able to recognize me and my signature as soon as I was close to you but that did not happen. And that is what is baffling me,” said the demon.

“Why would I recognize you? I have never seen you in my life before today and also more importantly what is this signature you are talking about? I am just a regular girl who is trying to make her ends meet and get to college and I was trying to just unwind and have some fun. Working three jobs every day with no prospects and just only thinking that maybe getting to college is the only way out for me. Trust me, this is not what I wanted in my life but I am also trying to get through,” said Leila as Erabus looked down at her darkly.

“Nothing about you is normal or common Leila. It never has been,” he said.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Leila with a shocked expression.

“I do not have the slightest clue about why you are pretending to not know anything about this but you are not who this is or who you are pretending to be Leila. I have been seeing you and protecting you since you turned thirteen and you are probably the most potent and strongest witch in existence at the moment,” said Erabus and Leila looked at him open mouthed for a while and then she gasped in outrage.

“Everything needs to have some kind of limit. I get the need for playing with my mind before you have me at the palm of your hands but this….this is simply too much,” said Leila. Her mocha coloured skin was now turning purple and the shade made her look even more enticing than before.

“How can you forget everything? Don’t you remember anything about all those people that you helped? Don’t you remember the girl named Bethany whose soul had been sold in her past lives and her entire family was killed. Even after you thought you saved her you actually could not….do you really not remember?” asked Erabus and Leila’s brows went up. She had no recollection of any of those things because something had been down to her. And Erabus knew that but he did not know what it was and who had done it.

“You think that calling me a witch is going to soften my heart towards you? Please, if you have nothing to do with me then please let me go. Look I am not going to tell anyone about you or what happened here,” said Leila.

“But I cannot let you go sweetheart. You have to understand, you are my mate and you have been in my proximity and I have not marked you. If I don’t claim you then you will be fair game to all other demons and I cannot even bear the thought of you being looked at by other men, or demons as such,” said Erabus.

“I don’t know what kind of psychological issue you are suffering from but you have got to see a doctor. I am honestly telling you this is something which can ultimately destroy you. Marking me? Claiming me? Demons will sense me to be fair game? What kind of fantasy are you obsessed with? What do you think I am that mortal men and demons are going to come after me?” asked Leila with astonishment.

“You have no idea who you are and what power you have inside you, Leila Hopkins. You have unlimited and untapped power in you and you have not even one iota of sense that what hell can you bring upon earth if you start thinking that you want to do that. And that is exactly what you will be learning to do here. From now on you have no life on earth until you are ready for it. I am going to show you what you can really do but before that there is something we need to do,” said Erabus as he came close to her and sat down on the bed.

“What is it?” asked Leila in a hushed voice as she could feel that her throat was dried up.

“We need to explore this mutual fascination that we have for each other and our bodies,” said Erabus with a blinding smile as his mouth dropped down and captured her lips in a plundering kiss.