Malachi's pen scratched across the parchment, the sound echoing through the silent night like a cricket's soothing solo.
Two days of neglected work weighed heavily on his shoulders, the stack of papers towering like a monument to his procrastination. The dancing flames of the candles create shadows on the walls, giving the room a smaller, more cramped sensation.
A knock sounded on his door and before he could answer it, to either ask the person to leave or to stay, the door pushed open and whoever was at the door entered.
Malachi didn't need to take his eyes off the parchment in front of him to see who it was. It was the King's bratty daughter again. The next minute, anger washed over him, but as usual, he tried his best to control it. The King had asked him to stop acting rudely to his daughter. Even though he wasn't scared of the king, he felt the need to respect him, after all, he wouldn't take it easy with anyone disrespecting his lover.
"Hello Malachi?" Belladonna smiled as she came up to stand before Malachi.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, even without taking his eyes from the scroll in front of him.
"I wanted to come spend time with you, Malachi. Why are you pushing me away?" Belladonna asked in the softest voice that Malachi had heard from her.
"I'm not interested, go away," Malachi shunned her like a big brother chasing his younger sister away.
"Why are you always sending me away? Am I not beautiful enough? Am I not hot? Why are you always pushing me away, Malachi? Haven't you realized up till now that I love you?"
"I understand the fact that you have feelings for me, Miss Belladonna, but I'm sorry I can't reciprocate your love. You should find someone else,"
"Is it because of that mortal?" Belladonna asked through gritted teeth.
"She is more than that!" He answered.
"Of course not. She is a vampire hunter. If she eventually gets to discover your identity, trust me, you are gone. She will kill you, Malachi. She doesn't love you. She is a mortal and mortals die. We don't die. We don't age. We have heightened senses. We have heightened speed. Few years from now, she will age and she will cease to be beautiful, whereas you remain like the young man that you are. Can you bear the thought of seeing the woman you once loved looking like a grandma?"
Malachi stared at her for a brief moment before taking his eyes back to his parchment.
"You don't have to spell it out for me, Miss Vladimir. I have thought about all of that before deciding on what I want to do,"
Belladonna gritted her teeth in annoyance. She had thought that she would be able to make him change his mind.
If only she knows how much Chase and Tristan have been trying.
"With your silence now, I can tell that you no longer have any words to say and in the absence of none, I'll like to ask that you leave my house. I have got work to do," Malachi said to her in a dismissive tone.
Taking a deep breath, Belladonna walked out of his room.
Not long after Belladonna left his house, a soft chime announced an incoming message, the sound slicing through the silence. Malachi reached for the phone that was not far away from him. When saw that the message was from Sabrina, his heart skipped a beat. He opened the note, his fingers trembling slightly. He couldn't tell why he had a feeling that something was definitely wrong.
"Can you meet me in my room, like always? Please?" She asked, her words dripping with longing, her tone echoing through his mind like a gentle breeze.
Malachi's fingers flew across his phone, his typing swift and urgent. "Is there a problem, love?" He asked her, while waiting patiently for her response.
Not long after, her text came. "Yes. There is a problem. Please come right away,"
"On my way,"
Whatever made his lover to send him a message by this time, asking her to meet him, was really important. Else, she wouldn't have sent it.
He rose from his chair, the wooden floorboards creaking under his feet. Malachi didn't even care if it was late already. He was ready to go see her.
The night air was crisp, filled with the scent of blooming flowers and the distant tang of smoke from the village chimneys.
As usual, Malachi masked his scent with the potion that Chase prepared for him, the bitter taste lingering on his tongue, to ensure that his vampire scent remained concealed. He never risks going to meet her without applying the potion. He will keep using it until the ritual begins.
When he was done, he walked out of the house, while making sure that everywhere was locked. When he was done he turned around and walked away, headed to the border that separated the humans from the vampires.
Unbeknownst to him, Belladonna didn't return to her father's palace. Instead she hid around in the neighborhood. When she saw Malachi leaving his house, she walked behind him, while making sure to maintain distance from him. She did it in a way that he wouldn't suspect anything.
Anger washed over Belladonna as she saw where Malachi was headed to. She has been hearing rumors that he has plans to become human and when she asked her father about it, he lied to her, telling her that it was just rumors, but now that she saw him in the land of human's, she was pissed.
Now that he was outside the border, Malachi weaved through the shadows. He didn't stop until he got to Sabrina's family estate.
A swift disappearance into her room would arouse suspicion, therefore he texted Sabrina, announcing his arrival outside her house.
Her room was lit up, and when she came to her window, he saw her.
"Climb up the window, can you?" She texted him. He knows that the reason why she told him to climb up the window was because he had told her that he enjoyed climbing heights. Since their house wasn't high, it wouldn't be a problem for him.
Malachi obliged, his movements fluid and silent as a ghost. The window creaked open, and Sabrina's arms enveloped him, but tears streamed down her face, her body shuddering with sobs.
Malachi's face was contorted into a frown as he saw the tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong, Darling? Why are you crying?"
"My father is planning to force me into marrying the Prime Minister's son," she whispered, her voice cracking.
Malachi's heart twists, his chest aching with empathy.
"Please, Malachi, save me. I don't want to get married to Lucas. I hate him." she pleaded, her eyes locked onto his, shining with desperation.
Malachi lied, his voice laced with conviction, the words burning his tongue. "I'll ask for your hand in marriage as soon as I can."
The next minute, Sabrina stopped crying and the sadness on her face was replaced with a smile, her eyes shining with hope, her face radiant in the bulb in her room.
"Really?" She asked him. She wanted to be sure that she heard him clearly.
Malachi palmed her face in his hands and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Yes, love. I'll come ask for your hand in marriage as soon as possible. I hope your father doesn't turn me down,"
"We can always elope to where we want to be. We don't have to wait for my father's acceptance and his blessings over our relationship,"
"If that's what you want, then I don't mind fulfilling it,"
She threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much, Malachi. I'm so happy that I have you. You are the one whom I want to end up with. I want to bear your kids, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want it to be anyone else," she whispered.
"You have no idea how much I want to make you mine and trust me, sooner or later, you'll be mine,"
Sabrina giggled like a girl in front of her crush. "You have no idea how much you've made me happy, Malachi. I can't wait to see what the future has to offer for us," She said as she stifled a yawn and at once Malachi knew that she was feeling sleepy.
"Feeling sleepy already?" He asked her, to make sure she was and she nodded her head.
"Come, I'll tuck you in," Malachi whispered as he led her to her queen sized bed. He made her lie down on it and in no time, she drifted off to sleep.
"Please be here when I wake up. I love you," Sabrina muttered under her breath.
As Sabrina drifted off to sleep, Malachi tucked her in, his chest heavy with the weight of his deception. The softness of her bed and the warmth of her body tempted him to stay, but he didn't dare to give in. Not when duty and danger beckoned.
Malachi didn't leave yet. He just continued to stare at Sabrina. Suddenly, footsteps approached, heavy and deliberate, echoing through the hallway. Within a blink of an eye, he vanished, hiding behind the window, his heart pounding in his chest. That was so close. If whoever was coming had caught him, then he was dead.
The door opened and Sabrina's father strode in. He stared at the gentle rise and fall of his daughter's chest and confirmed that she was fast asleep.
Her window which was wide open caught his attention and he sighed before walking towards it to close it. He couldn't tell why his daughter enjoyed sleeping with her windows open,".
Once Malachi was sure that the coast was clear, he disappeared, Chase's house being his next destination Urgency drove him. He didn't want to wait anymore for the ritual. He wanted it to start right away.
Weaving through the shadows, he got to Chase's house in no time. One thing that caught his attention was the door that was ajar. It was late already, why would Chase choose to keep the door open? He wondered as he made his way inside the room, hoping to see Chase, but he was nowhere to be found.
Malachi's phone rang all of a sudden and he saw that it was Tristan. "What's wrong?"
"Where have you been, Malachi? Haven't you heard the rumors circulating around the town?
Malachi's brows rose in confusion. "What rumors?"
"It's about Chase. The King has ordered his death,"