Page 40 of Dark Desire (Dark Souls Spin-off Short Story)

Chapter Eighteen

“ W hat is she doing here?” Beryl yelled the moment I stepped through her cottage door. Holding Zoran’s hand, I rested my head against his bicep and smiled at her sweetly. “Get your man-eating hands off my nephew and get out!”

“She’s welcome, Beryl, and she can eat me anytime,” Zoran replied, which made me snort.

His deeper voice, laced with Ambroz’s presence, made me glance up at him.

He was half-shifted — his demon horns, piercing black eyes, and fangs on show — but other than that, he still looked like Zoran.

My disbelieving eyes snapped back to Beryl, knowing she was either about to have a heart attack or scream.

Instead, she stood calmly in the middle of her living room, staring into his eyes with a dazed expression.

“Okay,” she replied immediately and I frowned.

What the… Ambroz’s influence retreated and Beryl blinked, casting her eyes back to me with a deep frown of disapproval, but she didn’t try to kick me out again.

Oh my gods! Could he hypnotise humans? That explained so much.

Why the police believed a wolf dug up the grave.

Why Beryl thought he was her human nephew and let him live under her roof.

Why he had everyone in this village wrapped around his finger.

He shot me a wink.

“I’ll be changing her memory of all of this in five minutes, so… if you’ve got something to say to her, now is your chance,” he said before climbing the stairs to get changed and leaving me alone with my nemesis. I smiled as she glared, walking towards the sofa and taking a seat.

“You know it’s rude not to offer a visitor a drink, Beryl. I’ll take a cup of coffee, please.”

“You are a guest of Zachary’s, not mine. He can make you a drink,” she argued, sitting down in her armchair but keeping her lethal glare on me. I scoffed, shaking my head. I admired her tenacity. She stuck to her guns, even when hypnotised.

“No bother.” I shrugged. “I’ll make myself one.

” Using my magic, I turned the kettle on in the kitchen without moving a muscle.

Her face scrunched up with confusion when she heard it.

And then her eyes widened and her hands trembled around her walking stick.

I smiled. “Yes, Beryl. You were right all along. I am a witch.”

Her mouth dropped open, and for the first time, I saw pure fear in the old woman’s eyes that made me soften towards her. Clearly, thinking I was and knowing I was aren’t the same. No matter how much she hated me, I didn’t actually want to frighten her.

“You don’t need to fear me, Beryl. I’ve never harmed a human in my life and I do not intend to start with you.”

“I knew it. Wh-what do you want from me and St Wythren? Why are you here?” she questioned, her voice still trembling.

I smiled sadly and exhaled. “Nothing. I want nothing from you. And I’m only here because of that man upstairs. I’ve been trying to find him for months, you see. And the history this village has with witches was my last chance at finding him. But... it turns out, he found me first.”

“Zachary? What do you want with my Zachary?” she panicked.

“Zoran,” his deep voice travelled down the stairs before he appeared at the bottom. Her gaze slammed into him with confusion. “Beryl, my name is Zoran and I’m not your cousin’s son. Nor am I human.”

“I-I don’t understand. What’s going on?” she hesitated and I started to feel sorry for her when I saw how much she was trembling.

“Zoran, she’s scared,” I whispered as he walked past me in his fresh outfit and dropped his packed rucksack on the floor at my feet.

“I know,” he said softly, lowering himself to one knee and taking her frail, wrinkly hand in his massive ones.

“Beryl,” he continued, a flicker of admiration and affection in his eyes, “you’re a tyrant.

And I mean that in the best way. I’ve never met such a fierce little human in my five centuries.

But you need to understand something, even though the world is crawling with monsters, darkness, and things you don’t understand, not all of them mean you harm.

Most of us are just trying to live our lives and need a little kindness and acceptance. ”

She swallowed. “What are you?”

“I drink blood and eat organs, Beryl. The definition of a monstrous darkness. Half vampire, half demon. And you helped me. So, thank you. But now, I’m going to make you forget I exist.”

Ambroz pushed to the surface once more, and Beryl gasped. To my surprise, though, she never released her hand from his, even as his talons extended around her wrists. As soon as their eyes met, her face relaxed under his hypnosis.

“You let a stranger who needed help stay in your house, offering shelter and food, and now he’s leaving grateful, but you will never see him again.

You’ll only remember him by his name, Zachary, and his presence made you realise that you’ve been lonely and want to reach out to the people you love.

Ring your sister. Join the dominoes club so you don’t sit here every night playing them alone.

Live what’s left of your life to the fullest, Beryl.

Be content. Witches, vampires, demons–they don’t exist. They’re silly stories that people tell to pass the time, and when people mention them, you’ll laugh.

Oh, and don’t bake carrot cake. It’s truly abysmal.

Try baking something without vegetables.

” She blinked as Ambroz withdrew. He lifted the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Thanks for having me, Beryl.” He stood up, grabbed his rucksack, and held his hand out for me to take.

We approached the door but stopped when she called out from her chair.

“Zachary! Wait.” She hauled herself up with effort and then vanished into the kitchen.

Zoran and I looked at each other in confusion before she reappeared, holding a tin full of carrot cake.

“Could you get rid of this on your way out? Vegetables in cake? What was I thinking? I’m going to make an apple crumble instead, and maybe I’ll take it to the dominoes club tonight. ”

I grinned as he took the tin from her with a small smile. “With pleasure. That sounds like a great plan, Beryl. You enjoy yourself.”

“I think I will,” she replied, wiping her hands on her apron. She glanced at me with a smile. “Have a great day, Darcie.”

“You too, Beryl.”

I laughed as we walked down her front path and I grabbed a piece of the carrot cake before Zoran dumped it in the bin.

The driest, blandest thing I’d ever put in my mouth choked in my throat as I coughed to dislodge it.

I glanced up at Zoran, who was already smirking at me.

“You are a hero. Not only did you make that woman like me but you just saved her from herself. That is the worst cake I’ve ever tasted. ”

“If I can make that happen, The Fates have no chance against me,” he said, slinging his arm around me and turning us towards the sea.

My smile dropped. Once he’d taken his initial rage out on the paper, Zoran had been oddly calm about it all.

Knowing they were coming tonight must have given him focus, but it only heightened my worry.

He was in complete denial, believing that he could change my fate, and I worried about what it meant for him.

As soon as we reached the rocks on the quieter side of the harbour, Zoran sat down and pulled me onto his lap.

I giggled as he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder, gazing out at the vast ocean before us.

The sun was setting over the horizon, casting a stunning glow of deep oranges and reds.

I picked up my camera that was hanging around my neck and turned it on us, capturing the first and last photograph of us together.

“For you to keep,” I said, turning slightly to look at his face.

“And when you look at it, just know that you made my last day the best day I’ve ever had just by being here with me.

” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Zoran. For everything. You’ve suffered through so much and now you have to suffer my death on top of it.

But I want you to try, okay? Try to live and find happiness and love in this life.

I’ve seen how much of it you have to give today. Don’t let it go to waste. Promise me.”

He lifted his head and peered into my eyes, sweeping my black curls from my face.

“I promise. From this day, I will live a blissful life full of happiness and love with you by my side. We will travel the world together, do whatever we want, rebuild my family’s cottage in Serbia and live with contentment until this one is over, and then we’ll spend eternity together in the Underworld. We will have each other forever.”

A tear escaped the corner of my eye and he watched it glide down my cheek before he kissed it away.

“That sounds like a beautiful life. One I could only dream of.”

“You don’t have to dream it. It’s ours.”

“Zoran–” I paused when I felt a ripple of warning course through me from my magic. My back straightened and Zoran instantly tensed beneath me.

“What is it?”

“Someone’s in the church.”

His green eyes dilated, filled with anxiety yet determination. He stood up, lifting me with him and setting me back on my feet. My heart lurched, and I suddenly felt horribly afraid. This was it. The Fates had come. My time was up. And… I wasn’t ready.

Zoran tried to walk forward over the rocks, holding my hand, but when I didn’t move, he looked back. Concern replaced his determination when he saw my lips trembling and the fear in my eyes. He grabbed my face with his hands, forcing me to look at him.

“Hey. Do you trust me?” he asked. I nodded. “Then trust me when I say I will not let them take you from me. You are not going to die today, Darcelle Raine. You saved my life. Now it is my turn to save yours.”