Page 16 of The Human Element (The Human Element Collection #1)

Lorelei

It was a cold, rainy afternoon and Lorelei was walking with a few of her friends back home from their elementary school that was down the street from her house.

Having her school only a short distance from her home was so much fun,; she loved meeting her friends in the mornings and walking home with them in the afternoons.

After her friends finally hugged her goodbye, they headed down the road before her to their own homes; all she had to do now was cross the street and she’d be walking into her humble little house, to find her father cooking her favorite meal; sausage and potato soup.

He told her before she left for school that morning that he would because it's what she’d been begging him to make for a couple of weeks now.

When he told her it would be ready by the time she got home that afternoon, she jumped up and down and clung to his neck, kissing his cheek, before running off down the road to school.

Usually Lorelei looked both ways, just as her father taught her; but her mind was so preoccupied with dinner and how delicious it was going to be, that she stepped out into the street without doing so.

She only noticed what was happening seconds before it did; screeching noises and a horn blowing hard finally alerted her. But it was too late.

Headlights of a car were barreling toward her, and all she could hear was the sound of her own screaming. Closing her eyes tightly, she waited for the impact, her sweet father’s face flashing before her eyes.

Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the asphalt. The rain had intensified and a crack of lightning illuminated the sky above her, as well as the figure who kneeled beside her body.

“Don’t move.”

The voice was low, but she feared to disobey it. She turned her head to the side and even the slightest movement made her cry out in pain.

“I said not to move. Your spine is broken.”

Another strike of lightning above them finally allowed Lorelei to see the figure beside her. His silvery hair fell over most of his face, but as he wiped it away, the shine of his mesmerizing green eyes caught hers.

She was finding it tough to breathe, like she was working overtime for each breath, and yet no matter how deep of one she took, it didn’t feel like enough.

She was dying, and although she was too young to understand that concept in its entirety, she felt panic rise in her throat.

Tears fell from her eyes, her vision blurring in and out.

“Lorelei, you’re going to be alright. You’re not going to die. I have a way I can save you.”

Die? Am I really going to die? How does he know my name?

There was only one thing she could muster up enough of a breath to respond with.

“How can you do that?” Lorelei spoke feebly, words were hard to get out. Getting any amount of breath was becoming increasingly difficult. It felt like her chest was on fire, her throat swollen, hardly able to swallow; a single strained breath caused her body to convulse in pain.

Her vision was beginning to fade. Black spots flickered across her vision and she barely saw the man standing before her. Her body became colder with each passing second.

“I can give you a piece of my soul. It will heal you enough to keep you from dying. The only catch is you have to give me permission to do so.”

Lorelei managed to blink enough times to set her vision back to normal momentarily and look at the man who was hunched over her body. His eyes shone brightly and through them, she saw his desperation for her to give him permission.

“I don’t understand…I need my dad.. please will you get my dad? It hurts so much..”

The man shook his head.

“I promise, your dad will be with you soon and you will be okay. Will you give me permission to help the hurt go away?”

He paused, the look in his eyes confirmed to Lorelei that it was the only way, but she couldn’t form another word, only nodded in response.

Lorelei needed him, desperately. It was always just the two of them, and she needed to tell him she loved him more than anything.

She’d do anything to get back to her sweet dad’s arms, she didn’t want to die

The pain in her back now overwhelmed her.

She only saw out of the corner of her eye the man beside her, lifting his hands in the air inches from her chest, as a glowing white light was pouring out of them; she watched the light begin funneling through her chest. She felt it instantly.

The sensation was warm and comforting. She looked back to the face of the man, and he met her eyes once more with a wary look, and began to sing.

His voice was beautiful, the most beautiful thing in all the world.

But he sang no words she knew. They were odd and dream-like.

She couldn’t keep consciousness any longer, his words forcing her to drift off into darkness, carrying her away to a slumber unlike any she experienced before.

Unlike the fear she felt earlier, she felt nothing but peace and protection.

The darkness no longer frightened her. The man’s words turned into the most tranquil lullaby.

She swore, as she fell away, that she would never forget.

She would never forget the kind, mysterious man who saved her life that day.

But when she woke again, she lay in the hospital bed with doctors surrounding her, her father kneeling beside her, his hand clutching hers tightly; she only remembered being told she was hit by a car, and the fact she was alive was a miracle.

When Lorelei came out of the vision, she felt a surge toward Daemon she hadn’t felt before.

Anger.

She was furious that he’d indeed met her before now and continued to keep that fact from her.

Before Daemon could say a word, she was slinging the car door open and jumping out.

Not only did they meet before, but he gave her a piece of his soul to save her.

This must be the reason she felt the way she did around him; lost in his words, his subtleties, the way he looked at her and the aching, longing to be nearer to him.

It was this, and only this. There was no truth to the feelings other than that she owed him her life. Nothing more.

Lorelei started pacing along the grass that flickered, a breeze forming. Hearing Daemon’s own car door close, she knew he was standing there watching her, but her mind was reeling too much with every emotion imaginable, so she ignored him. She was battling herself internally now more than ever.

One side of her was saying: How could he keep this from me?

So this is the real reason I have felt such a pull towards him.

Not because he actually cared for me. Not because I actually cared for HIM.

It’s this damn soul bond thing that is the culprit.

None of what I thought I was seeing and feeling with him has been real.

While the other half was saying: He also saved my life. He sacrificed his entire existence to save mine. He saw something in me worth saving. He cared for me before I even knew who he was.

This second voice was far too irritating in her heightened state, so she did her best to try to shut out this second voice.

She was too angry, and too hurt to listen to its logic now.

She only came out of her own thoughts when she heard Daemon’s voice.

Lorelei knew that the energy around her was starting to feel too heavy, too much fear vibrated her body and she shook her head—it was starting to feel like that dark, lonely place she’d been in for the last year.

The place that held no solace for her, no peace of mind.

The way her thoughts seemed to manifest themselves in the very air surrounding her made it all the more dizzying, and all the harder to think properly.

A ringing sensation echoed in her ears, and she covered them; a panic attack began to overtake her.

Breaths became haggard, and she gripped her head, willing the emotions to subside, to break the tension that settled deeply rooted in her core.

The way it nearly took her before—the drowning effect of her own tumultuous thoughts.

The one person she trusted out of this insane endeavor, also lied.

He held back. The person who made her feel more at ease and more herself in so long, she now didn’t know if she could trust. Didn’t know if the feelings blossoming slowly within her could ever be real, or if they were merely a bi-product of the connection forged for the purpose of saving her life.

How could she know if he felt the same? Was he doing it out of obligation?

Were his feelings only ever out of some righteous pride that he saved her, and Daemon returned out of that same instinct as before?

A guilt that never resolved? Could the growing fondness between them be nothing other than a cruel, sick joke of the Universe?

Daemon’s voice barely made its way through the chaos of her mind.

“I know I should’ve told you, but I was scared to. I was afraid of what you’d think.”

This riled her up even more.

“What do I think? Really, Daemon. Well you know what I think, I think that I can’t trust you. I think that you kept something majorly important from me, and I think you're a massive dick!”

The words were out before she could stop them and as she turned, she saw they made their mark. Daemon’s shoulders dropped and pain washed over his face.

“Lorelei, I’m sorry. Really.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry Daemon? Well that’s rich.

You know, this whole time, I thought there was something familiar about you.

Something I couldn't place. I couldn’t help but feel connected to you.

I thought maybe it was because they were genuine feelings, but now I see that they aren’t.

Because they are only there because you had to give me a piece of your fucking soul! ”