Exhilarating.
That’s what Marcus first thought of when his eager lips met Ysabelle’s. He had almost convinced himself that he was already devouring the lunch table’s dessert as she tasted of sweet honeyed strawberries and the curve of her lips were moist and velvety like a chocolate cake. With all the willpower he could muster up, he didn’t use it to stop this moment. Instead, when he found her unsteady, trying to push him lightly away with both of her hands, he snaked a hand in the small of her back and pressed her closer to his body. His back was against the balustrade to stabilize them at least for any possible imbalance. A fall down to the base of the stairs would be unlucky indeed, not to mention painful.
There was still some tiny pang of guilt a priest like him was expected to feel when treading on restricted boundaries, but true enough, it didn’t rack his mind. His logical reasoning was already clouded in
Dinner started at the stroke of seven with all of the usual attendees present, but there was a new addition to them now and it was the youngest member of the family.Father Marcus and Father Julien were in their same seats and so were Sir Alfon, Madame Regina, and Ysabelle. Mehak, who just arrived from an art class, decided to sit beside her Auntie on the left.“I would like to make a toast, ” Madame Regina suddenly announced before their meal began. All of their attention was now on her. She stood up, took her glass of champagne, and raised it in the air. “To Father Marcus, for saving my son’s life.”Alfon somehow looked troubled, thinking whether to take his glass or not, but in the end, he did after Regina added, “And to my son, André, for staying strong and for his good health.”Cheers!All of them chorused happily but mostly,
Ysabelle stepped backward, stirred by his daring words. “Ple-please take the envelope. It contains your picture, ” she blurted out, her cheeks in a maddening blush. Good thing the light was red, otherwise, he would have seen how red her face was.“You are escaping again, Ysabelle, ” Marcus, on impulse, remarked grimly, but that didn’t hide how her name flowed smoothly in his tongue. Although he wasn’t irritated by her swift avoidance of the topic, he was unhappy about it. He thought that they had an equal understanding of the Question and Answer portion of their conversation and for her to keep evading it definitely was the opposite.“I am what?” Ysabelle clarified, unconsciously lifting her chin more.“You are intentionally dodging yourself on my questions. They are not interrogations lovely lady and yet you act very hostile about it, ” Marcus answered. He move
Father Marcus retreated to his chamber as quickly as he could. The whole course of it wasn’t simple though for his mind was in a whirlwind. The scenes inside Ysabelle’s room just kept popping out of his thoughts like a countdown.5—The kiss on her forehead...He slapped a palm on his face as he sat on a stool near his bed.4—Her seeming dislike on his touch...He cringed upon remembering it.3—The lightning-like slip of his cool and calm disposition...He clenched his teeth in disapproval.2—His impatience, the sudden surge of anger, and the burning feeling of his arm and eyes...He forced a long, deep sigh and tightened his balled-up fists.AndAnd
Marcus saw the look of alarm in Ysabelle’s face. He had been grilling her with questions last night and he knew that she wouldn’t want to be in that same position again. The last thing he would want to do to her was to ask about her family tree history, but her slip-of-the-tongue really did increase his curiosity. If indeed she was not Mehak’s aunt, then how was she related to the Rogratiatto Family?“Uhmm, you didn’t take your photo, Father. Aunt Regina handed it back to me in my room this morning, ” Ysabelle stated, seemingly trying to drop the subject and divert his focus.And it did, successfully.‘Goodness! Of all the memories she could revive, she had to pick that one?!’ his mind shouted.Marcus gently nodded and crossed his arms on his chest. “Yes, I can always get it when I come back to the mansion. During that time, I want you to give it
What looked like mere seconds of stay inside the caretaker’s bedroom was actually an unbearable hour of struggle for Marcus; a struggle for supremacy and the battleground was his body.He found himself in the same black environment, standing in front of a massive boulder where on top it was the demon leech itself, in a confident crouch and grinning at him from ear to ear. It wore a trench coat, in the same color of death. The collar of it was fixed upright making the cotton and its silky black locks seemingly merging into one.“H, ” Marcus bit out, spinning a few dozens of ways on how to tackle the parasite out of the imposing black boulder just so he could wipe the clever grin off its face.“Ahh, you act as if we are acquainted already when in fact this is our first time meeting, ” H grounded, looking amused at Marcus — his apparent landlord.“I know you eno
Although Ysabelle was worried sick about Father Marcus’ welfare, she was still able to doze off the moment she hit her bed. Fatigue and exhaustion is always the drawback of having to chaperone her niece and take pictures of the class tour all day long, and sleeping is always the best cure for it, especially when it is uninterrupted the whole night. Ysabelle was hoping to experience that, but her uninvited visitor had other plans.The bedroom door opened and closed without making a sound. No footsteps were heard too as the room’s carpet muffled it. But Marcus was present and was inching his way closer to the sleeping woman.Her face and chest were gently illuminated by the moon’s light passing through the half-open window. A bed sheet covered her warmly, but under it, she was wearing a loose-fitting, cropped tank top and a flimsy sleep short — the most comfortable sleeping garments she had ever worn. Gone were the thic
Northeastern RegionAncient City of SamariaBlood, blood, and more blood painted the rocky ground. Dead bodies of different genders and ages were scattered all over the area. It was a full moon and aside from it, the only thing that showed the grotesque sight in the middle of the night was the large fire burning in the houses, barns, and plants.Not one soul was seen because not one soul was spared. Even animals - pets or livestock - weren’t given a chance to live. There was one man however that seemed to enlighten the lifelessness of the place. He was walking around the dead bodies, scanning them through his golden-like hazel eyes until he found one body he was looking for.It was of a woman bathed in blood. Her knee and elbows had gashes resulting from crawling in a panic to escape her captors. Her chest had a long blade slash alon
Was it two days or more?Marcus wasn’t sure anymore how much time had passed since he was locked inside the barren place. If anything, he thought the demon, H, had transported him into another dimension or maybe in the entity’s own state of prison. H was a transporter demon anyway; it can always do that using its powers. They were both connected with each other still though since it was Marcus’ body that H was using. He could feel the demon’s blackened emotions, but couldn’t see through its mind. It was the same with H too towards him.Marcus had tried and tried to call for H, trying his best to catch its attention so that he’d be able to take back his body. However, the demon had been giving him a silent treatment or was playing the Invisible God mode. Thoughts of how the dark entity was faring in the real world made him shiver, especially when the possibilities cross with Ysabelle and what the demon migh