A True Lifestory: Part 2 A Demon’s Obsession

Chapter 41 A Web of Lies

[Flashback - 4 days ago]

When Stella woke up, she was met by Nathan’s gaze, as he was observing her.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Nathan asked, as Stella sat up in bed. She had a headache, and had no idea where she was.

“Nathan? What’s going on, where are we?” Stella asked, as she looked around.

“Don’t you worry, we are safe here. But you don’t remember what happened, do you?” He replied, as she shook her head slightly.

“What exactly do you remember?” He continued to ask, as she thought about it for a moment, before she looked at him.

“Uhm, I remember.. I was held captive by Armaros, but I can’t seem to recollect anything about getting away. How did that happen?” Stella continued to ask, as Nathan moved closer to her.

“We came to save you, but Armaros got angry and has now taken over the entire tribe, so that’s why we are hiding here for now.” Nathan stated, before he sat down next to her.

“Have you tried talking to him? Maybe it’s possible to..” she tried, but he cut her off.

“No, he killed my dad and Hunter, when they tried to, he clearly wants a war.” Nathan spoke, which shocked her. She did remember how he threatened her father; that if anyone dared to show up, he would kill them. And also how he beat her uncle when he showed up. But something seemed off, like something was missing, but she just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Anyway, I’m just glad to know you are alright. I missed you so much.” Nathan spoke as he gave her a hug, which she returned.

“I missed you too, and I’m sorry about your dad and Hunter. I know how close you were to them.” Stella spoke, as she brushed a hand down his back. He hugged her even tighter, as he started to cry. And for a long time, he just sat there, not willing to let go again.

When he finally loosened his hold a little, he looked at her.

“Could we maybe just lie down here for a moment, and just talk like we used to?” He asked.

She nodded her head, as he lied down, while he was still keeping an arm around her.

She was turning towards him, and she could see he wanted to say something, but it took quite some time before he managed to get enough courage to do so.

“Do you want to see him again?” Nathan finally asked Stella, as she observed him.

“Why would I want that? He held me captive and did all those horrible things to so many people I care about.” She asked, as he shrugged.

“I just needed to be certain, ‘cause I have something to ask of you..” He stated.

“We have no idea how long we will be able to hide from him, so I want you to promise me, that if he or any of his men ever get their hands on you, you’ll fight for your life. He’s going to do horrible things to you if he gets the chance, so don’t ever trust a word he says to you,” he warned her, as she nodded.

“Okay, I will.” She answered, as he gave her a smile.

“You trust me, right?” He asked, as she nodded once again.

“Of course, you are my best friend.” She replied, as something flashed over his eyes, but he quickly hid it.

“Right.. Friends.” He repeated, as he gave a forced smile, but Stella didn’t notice it.

----

Several hours later, he walked out of the room and closed the door before he locked it behind him.

“Why did you stay there for so long? It has been hours.” Riley asked, as they were all sitting in the kitchen, currently eating.

“She keeps waking up with nightmares, so it took some time before she finally fell in to a deep sleep, but it’s not much sleep she’s getting,” Nathan stated.

“Yeah, that’s probably my fault,” Rowan admitted, as he put some of his food in his mouth, as Nathan looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” He asked, as Rowan shrugged.

“I altered her memories like I was told, but I guess I overdid it a bit.” He stated as a chuckle left him.

“What do you mean overdid it?” Nathan asked again, as he walked up to the table.

“I just gave her a memory about her dear mate, I believe she won’t forget that easily,” he replied, as he seemed pretty satisfied with himself.

[3 days ago]

When Stella woke up from another nightmare, she quickly realized Nathan wasn’t there.

Even though the sun had almost risen, it was only 4:26 in the morning, but she knew she couldn’t possibly fall asleep again, so she proceeded to get up.

She headed to the door, but she soon found out it was locked. She wondered why they would keep it locked. She wanted to ask Nathan about it when he came back.

So, she decided to sit down on the bed and wait, though she couldn’t help but feel alone and scared.

----

As time passed by, there finally came a knock on the door, as Nathan came into the room with a plate in his hand.

“Good morning, I hope you have gotten some sleep. I have brought you something to eat!” Nathan spoke as he sat down on the bed next to Stella, and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” She spoke gratefully, as she began to eat it. When she was done, she decided to ask her question.

“Nathan, why was the door locked while you were gone?” She asked, as he looked a bit surprised by the question, but then cleared his throat before he replied.

“It’s for your own sake, we just wanna make sure that you are alright. Being held captive for so long as you were, can change a person, so we have to make sure you haven’t gotten Stockholm syndrome or something like that.” He grinned, as he flicked her forehead, making her frown.

“Hey, that hurt!” She whimpered, while she rubbed her hand against the spot, while he just proceeded to chuckle, but then turned a little more serious again.

“I know you have been having nightmares, so if you wanna talk about it, just know I’m here for you,” he clarified, as she gave a small nod.

“I know, I’m just really not a fan of being alone in here,” she explained.

“I understand, it won’t be for long, I promise. But right now, we just have to make sure you’re safe.” He spoke, before his eyes caught something.

“Hey, you got some food stuck on the side of your mouth, here!” he added, as he grabbed a tissue, and removed the food from her face, as he smiled at her, which she returned.

But then he suddenly leaned closer and was about to kiss her, but she immediately pulled back.

“Please, don’t.” She spoke, as he paused.

“Why? What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing, but we already talked about this, I’m not into you like that, you’re more like a brother to me.” She clarified, as he looked at her, clearly hurt.

“Let me try to kiss you, and I’ll show you I can be more than that.” He spoke.

“Nathan, I can’t..” she tried to deny, but he immediately placed both hands on her cheeks, before he claimed her lips with his, making her unable to refuse it.

Stella clearly felt something was wrong, like something in her was telling her, that it shouldn’t be happening, so she quickly pushed him away.

“Stop it!” Stella demanded, as she got up from the bed and stepped away from him. And for a moment, he just stared at her without saying anything.

“I’m sorry, I just really love you Stella, why won’t you give me a chance to prove that?” He asked, as he walked up to her, but she continued to shake her head.

“Please Nathan, I can’t change how I feel, so don’t push me.” She begged, as it seemed like someone had hit him.

“Okay, I won’t, but if I give you time to get used to the thought, would you be willing to give me a chance?” he asked.

“Nathan I.. Why do you even want me? I’m not your mate. Shouldn’t it be your goal to find her?” Stella asked, as he stepped closer to her.

“That’s just it, I don’t want anyone else but you, Stella.” He spoke as he took her hand.

“I want you to be my chosen mate, isn’t a fated one a little overrated? Shouldn’t we be able to choose, for ourselves, who we wanna be with?” He asked, as he kissed her hand.

“Maybe, but it requires that once feelings are reciprocated, and in this case, I can say it isn’t, and I doubt it ever will.” Stella replied, as she gently pulled her hand away.

“It’s okay, I’ll give you all the time you need,” he replied, making her knit her eyebrows.

“You aren’t listening to me, Nathan, I can’t..” she tried to explain, as his watch began to beep.

“Shoot! I almost forgot, I got this for you.” He spoke, picking up a bottle of something looking like juice, as he completely ignored everything she had just said.

“You need to drink this,” he stated, as she looked at it.

“What is it?” Stella asked, as he opened it and placed it in her hand.

“Just orange juice, it’s good for you, you need some vitamins and something for your blood-sugar.” He replied.

She hesitated, but it didn’t smell like there was anything wrong with it, and she had no reason not to trust him, so she drank it anyway.

Thereafter, Nathan changed the subject like nothing had happened, and stayed there until Stella fell asleep again. But when Nathan stepped out of the room, Riley walked up to him and pushed him against the wall.

“You almost screwed everything up, you i***t!” Riley growled at him, but Dilan stepped in.

“Calm down, Riley! We do not go against each other here, but he is right, Nathan. You can’t let your feelings for her get in the way. We have no idea if Rowan’s magic will wear off if Stella gets her abilities back, so please don’t forget it again.

“I’m sorry, I just got caught up at the moment, that’s all. It won’t happen again, I promise.” He responded, as Dilan nodded.

“I know you are, and I forgive you, ‘cause I’m your friend, okay? But as your friend, I need to warn you.. What you’re trying to do is dangerous.”

“Right now she trusts you, ‘cause she remembers you as her friend, but if you keep this up you’ll end up pushing her away. Don’t jeopardize everything we have accomplished.”

“I won’t,” Nathan assured.

“Good, then let’s move on.” He smiled, as he clapped Nathan’s shoulder, before he stepped away. Riley kept glaring at him, before he stepped away as well.

[2 days ago]

It knocked at the front door, making Riley glance at the door, as he had just stepped back into the living room.

“Matt! Go check who’s at the door.” He spoke, as Matt nodded and walked up to the window, before he glanced through the curtains.

“It’s some guy with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, maybe around 18-19, if I should take a guess.” Matt spoke.

“Let him in, I know who it is.” Dilan spoke.

When Matt had let him in, all of them sat down on the sofa, as Dilan spoke up.

“For what reason do we owe the pleasure of Mr. Mortem’s favorite witch?” Dilan asked.

“Mr. Mortem, wanna know when you will fill out your part of the deal?” Ezra spoke, as he leaned back in the chair, and rested his head against his hand.

“When we get control over the tribe, then he can have her.” Dilan clarified as Ezra nodded.

“Well, I need to see her first,” Ezra stated, which made Riley take a step forward.

“Forget it! We are not letting ourselves get screwed over by demons again.” Riley growled, while his eyes started shifting, but then Dilan raised his hand in the air to stop his outburst.

“I unfortunately can’t accept those terms,” Dilan replied, as he shook his head slightly.

“But how do you expect me to go back and tell Mr. Mortem that you have her, if I haven’t even seen her? Maybe I’ll just go back and tell him that it’s you who are trying to screw him over.” Ezra stated as he raised from his seat and walked towards the door.

“Wait a minute!” Dilan called, as he sighed in frustration, but Ezra turned around and stared at him unfazed.

“Fine, we do it your way, but you keep your distance and under no circumstances do you talk to her.” He demanded, as Ezra agreed.

“Fine by me, I only need to verify she is here, that’s all.” He shrugged.

Then they headed towards the room as Dilan started to explain a few things.

“We only have a few people communicating with her, and we're giving her the mixture that’s blocking her abilities, to make sure she won’t try anything.” He spoke, while Ezra listened to every word he said.

“How often?” He asked.

“Every twelve hours, we mix it with juice. It seems to hide the taste and smell of it.” He replied, making him nod. As they reached the door, Dilan grabbed the doorknob and turned it, as he made a wave with his hand to ask him to step in.

Nathan was already there, as he looked confused at Ezra and Dilan when they stepped in. But he didn’t say anything.

“Hi Stella, how are you feeling? Dilan spoke in a gentle voice, while a smile covered his lips.

Ezra knew a fake smile when he saw one, and Dilan was clearly a master manipulator in that field.

“Oh, hi Dilan, I’m okay, just a little dizzy, that’s all.” She replied, as Dilan walked up to her and handed her a bottle of water.

“Here, take this, and please be sure to tell us if it continues, we only want what is best for you.” Dilan spoke, as she gave him a small nod.

“I will, and thank you.” she spoke, as she shortly looked at Ezra, but he found it weird ‘cause she didn’t seem to recognize him.

“OK, we’ll head off again, we just wanted to check up on you.” He added before they walked out, and the warm expression on his face quickly turned cold, as the door closed.

“Happy now?” Dilan spoke as Ezra tried to seem unaffected.

“I guess, but I’m curious about one thing. Why doesn’t she seem to recognize me? She met me before you know, and yet even though it’s you, who are the ones who keep her captive, she seems completely blind to that fact.” He asked, as Dilan shrugged lightly.

“That’s none of your business, you can go tell your boss that we have her, and he just needs to be patient.” Dilan clarified.

“You’re right, it’s not my business. My curiosity, just, tends to get the best of me sometimes.” Ezra spoke nonchalant, as he walked to the door.

“I’ll be in touch!” He spoke before he walked out.

----

When Ezra had left, Nathan came over to Dilan, as he looked at him utterly confused.

“Who was he, and why did you bring him to see Stella?” Nathan asked, as Dilan just put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine, he is the nature witch who provided us with the stone and the mixture. He just needed prove that we had kept our part of the deal.” He explained, before retracting his hand.

“What kind of deal? ” He asked.

“Listen, Nathan, you know we can’t keep her here forever, right? Our goal is getting control over the tribe.” Dilan spoke.

“Right, but we are supposed to return her to her parents.” Nathan stated, as Dilan sighed.

“You want Armaros to suffer, right?” Dilan asked, but Nathan wasn’t sure where he was heading.

“Of course I do,” he replied.

“Then what better revenge is there, than handing her over to the last person he wants near her,” he replied, making Nathan’s eyes widen, when he finally realized what he was referring to.

“Are you telling me you’re planning to hand her over to Armaros’ father?!” He asked, shocked.

“Don’t take it so personal, Nathan, it’s better for you like that. You’re clearly suffering from those feelings you have for her, feelings which she clearly doesn’t have for you. So, why not just accept the fact, and I’ll find some nice girl for you to have fun with instead.” Dilan stated as he slapped his back, before he walked away from him, leaving him completely speechless.

[1 day ago]

Nathan used all day to figure out what he had to do, to make sure Stella wouldn’t end up in Damon’s grip.

But he knew it would be almost impossible to get her out of there without someone noticing.

He also knew if he did manage to get her out, that it would be the final nail in the coffin. He would finally end up with no pack, a roughe on the run, and it scared him.

But maybe just having Stella would be enough? And just maybe with time, she would feel something for him too? He had made up his mind.

He would try to flee as soon, as the night was fallen upon them, but before he got the chance, he heard someone yell.

“Everyone, get out of here, they have found us!”

[End of flashback]