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Unexpected visit
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Demetrius wasted away in his room. Days melted into nights then days again with the boy flat on his back staring up at the ceiling. It had been a while since he attended school and a while since he let himself out into the world. Even the most recent hunt was avoided. The boy couldn’t bear to eat; he could barely manage the occasional trip downstairs to assure his mother he was still breathing. His failures—despite the insistence of his mother—weighed on him like an anchor pulling him down into the deep ocean where he could be drowned by an overwhelming sense of guilt and inadequacy.
Everyone made it seem like such a small matter, something he should’ve been able to shrug off and keep moving. The fact that he couldn’t was yet another crippling blow and for each day he remained in bed, the feelings intensified.
It’d been over a week since he last laid eyes on Jamie. His sudden and unorthodox resignation meant he was no longer entitled to information. He couldn’t deman
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When he woke next, it was to sunlight bathing him in its warmth. Demetrius’ eyes fluttered open, even the lids feeling fatigued from the lack of energy. There was a particular source of warmth by his neck, soft fur pressing against him. The boy couldn’t say when Cassidy had arrived or why she’d done nothing more than curl up by him and go to sleep herself, but he was glad for the peace. There were already enough people who would lose their minds walking into the scene of Jamie lying shirtless next to him with a hand flung across his chest while she slumbered. The serenity of the early afternoon enticed him to remain in his state of lethargy. What he would give to capture the moment and set it into a perpetual loop. The world around him had begun to move quickly; moments like these helped to ground him and return the sense of well-being he’d lost somewhere in his misguided pursuit for power and recognition. Next to him, Jamie stirred. Her breathing grew
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Sarah sprinted, triggering Cassidy into defence. His sister shot to his side in what was ultimately a miscalculated move. Neither had read the situation correctly. The boy had never been her target. With his sister out of the way, it left a clear line to Jamie. In one swift motion, Sarah yanked her from the bed and tugged her close. “No unauthorised transformations, is that right?” “Sarah, w—what are you doing?” Jamie asked, struggling to free herself from her friend’s inexorable grasp. “He doesn’t get to keep you, too.” The girl’s response was barely a whisper. The fur along her arms and face receded and her eyes returned to their warm brown in show of her returning control but where those features diminished, her will to carry out her plan had not. Sarah looked to him. “If she becomes like me, you…you have to kill her or let her run away, right?” “It’s not that simple,” Demetrius said, struggling to get his words out. The little energy he h
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The prince’s guard received word of Jamie’s escape—no doubt directly from Lui in his attempt to ingratiate himself with the man. Suddenly, the interrogation room within the guard tower wasn’t enough. The entire family was summoned to the smaller conference room within Central Bureau to answer for the continued insubordination that had, in his opinion, been left unchecked for too long.His father’s face was full of chagrin, the man struggling to meet anyone’s gaze for all the shame that consumed him. His mother held no shame but resignation. As she sat there, her shoulders slumped low in defeat. The woman no longer knew how to protect her children and was reeling from that realisation.At the head of the table sat a panel of prosecutors. They were the usual suspects, Hawthorne and Yarrow in all their haughty glory, Carlton, even the prince managed to find himself sitting among them.Demetrius’ family was grouped at the ot
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The hand at his shoulder attempted to ground him. It yanked him back, shoving him to the floor and away from the girl that lay motionless on the table. “Apologies, Alexiel, but as we’ve mentioned, the girl is of some importance.” Carlton stepped over the boy he’d just thrown to the ground and moved to stand before Jamie. The man pressed two fingers just beneath her jaw, satisfied after a moment’s wait. “Good. Have the medics brought in, we may yet save her.” Demetrius remained on the floor, dumbstruck. His mind was beginning to catch up to the frenzy his body had fallen into, several thoughts bombarding him at once. While it was guilt and disgust that fought bitterly to be at the fore, it was confusion that held the position. He’d felt it, the moment her heart had given its final beat. The
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“Mommy—Mommy look, she’s waking up! Look!” Demetrius perked up at the little girl’s words, easing his head through the closet door to get a better look for himself. The girl’s mother lifted her head from her hands at once, frantically wiping at the tears that obscured her vision. Jamie pulled herself into a sitting position, looking around the room as if still in a daze. Her eyes were as empty as they’d been the day she snuck into his room. “Jamie…” her mother said, fresh tears rising no sooner than she’d gotten rid of the others. The girl paid little attention to her mother, turning instead to the younger girl sitting by her
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Jamie crossed the room to the balcony unfollowed. She leaned against the railing, looking out into the night and, for a moment, neither Demetrius nor or her mother knew what to say. There were too many things she’d said that didn’t sit well with him, things that weighed his eyebrows into a crease and sent his mind into a tizzy of its own insatiable curiosity. In the end, it was the girl who broke the silence. “If you won’t let me have a taste, I’d like to be taken hunting. That’s what you call it, right?” She looked over her shoulder at them. “Demetrius, will you take me?” “Maybe your mother should—” “It’s not necessary; she’s done enough.” Jamie turned to face him completely, searching his gaze with intrusive, eyes of silver. “You won’t?”
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The hand at his cheek was mirrored by the other. In a powerful moment of silence, the pair gazed into each other’s eyes, both searching for answers, both making pleas even they weren’t aware of. Jamie wished for acceptance; she craved the assurance he would still be there for her and help her regain her life. Demetrius craved the assurance she was still the girl he’d taken to following around, the one who’d been able to stir such strong emotions in him that he risked and ultimately surrendered his once rising prestige amongst his fellow guardians. Neither noticed the subtle drifting, oblivious to the hidden force that drew them closer until the tips of their lips brushed elusively against each other. Demetrius pulled back, not wanting to overstep in this new unknown but Jamie pushed forward, pressing her lips against his with a firmness that caught him off guard.&nbs
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The sun had begun to break free of the horizon when the pair returned to the house. Following the hunt, Demetrius had allowed Jamie to remain in the plains for no other reason than her desire to stay a while longer to enjoy the feeling of the wind on her cheeks and the grass beneath her toes. The boy came to the unsettling realisation that he would arrest the very stars in the heavens if it would make her smile. It was dangerous business being so endeared to someone; it had already proven itself problematic. His superiors had caught on to the effect she had on him and were not opposed to exploiting that weakness for their own gains. The pair found her mother sitting on the chair she’d moved to the bed; she hadn’t moved since they left. Her eyes, once laced with worry, filled themselves with relief as they walked in from the b
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“Hurry up or we’ll miss it!” Megan pulled Jamie through the crowd of students that gathered near the football field. “He’ll be in detention until he graduates, I know it.”Megan shoved and elbowed the pair up into the bleachers where several other students had also managed to climb their way up. All eyes were cast toward the recently manicured lawn—the one the principal had paid landscapers to prepare for the upcoming track events to be held at the school.The entire student body had been abuzz from the moment the rumours first began spreading and those rumours had endured long enough to draw the crowd that they had.In the centre, sitting atop one of the school’s riding mowers was none other than Demetrius Nicholai Finley. He wore the widest Cheshire grin, overly pleased with the work of his hands and the crowd he’d managed to draw. The boy climbed atop the machine he’d stolen from the old shed, facing
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“You didn’t tell me you’d be coming over.” Demetrius watched Jamie scale her way onto the roof, taking great care with her footing before she made her way over to him. The boy’s gaze followed her as she took the spot next to him laced with questions he decided against asking. “I’d have come get you; we could’ve walked together.”Despite his extreme vigilance, the boy hadn’t found dangers lurking around each corner. That, however, did little to assuage his anxieties where she, or anyone else in his family was concerned. The boy had allowed himself to drop his guard and that was when disaster had struck.He wouldn’t be making that mistake again any time soon. Jamie shrugged. “It was spur of the moment. I didn’t wanna stare at my ceiling anymore or listen to my mother ask me how I’m feeling for the millionth time.” She looked out at the guard house, its figure silhouett
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“We’re leaving.” His mother’s words were sharp, final; they brokered no room for argument or negotiation. She’d barely gotten done listening to Demetrius’ account of the night when the women made the executive decision that they were all done with the follies of court and wouldn’t suffer another moment of it.“I need to find him first,” Demetrius said.“You’ll do no such thing,” she said, dismissing the idea the moment it left his lips. The woman turned to her husband. “Get my daughter or I will, but none of us is spending a single night beneath this roof.”His father’s face was drawn, worn thin by the events of the earlier evening and the truths he was forced to face. Demetrius hadn’t, at first, understood why the man wasn’t back in the banquet hall kissing the asses of all present while he begged their forgiveness for his son’s youthful obstinacy. It was
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He’d suffered all he could. Demetrius had tried and had made concessions; he’d held his tongue when they screamed hard enough; he played along when they insisted forcefully enough.He was done.Demetrius offered his hand to Jamie, allowing her as much time as she needed to talk it. The girl clung to his hand, drawing close as she sought to shield herself from the piercing gazes that followed the boy from the stage. With her secured, the boy walked across the room to the table set for his family. He momentarily released Jamie’s hand to hoist Phoenix up from the table. He placed her in Cassidy’s arm before taking her free hand and reclaiming Jamie’s.The path to the main door was clear for him, despite the many guests and guards that sat or stood in his way. They simply didn’t matter.“Where are you going?” The presenter called to him from the stage, encouraging back to receive the prestigious award made speci
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Applause rang out from within the banquet hall, some guests rising to their feet in exuberance when Demetrius’ name was called. Those seated around him on the stage reached out to give him congratulatory pats on his shoulders or back and a few even hooted in encouragement.The presenter in charge of handing him his reward played up the work the boy had done in the last few months and the impact it had had on the Avendale Tower and wider mythical realm. The man was intentionally vague about his contributions at Central Bureau, but it left the audience no less impressed with what they did get to hear.It was everything Demetrius had ever dreamed of from the moment he first walked into the guard tower with his father all those years ago. The boy aspired for greatness, knowing he would someday be on that very stage by his father’s side. Back then, he knew he would hold his head high and feign modesty while he thanked everyone for their acknowledgements.
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The palace was beautifully decorated for what would be four nights of ceremonies and celebrations before the prince’s wedding. The halls were filled with guests being ushered to one wing or the other. Those who’d received special invitation to remain within the royal halls for any—let alone all—the days were the most envied.Demetrius thought differently.The moment his family entered the palace, he felt his nerves begin to fry. The boy was openly on edge, looking around every corner for the danger he’d convinced himself would be coming. The servants smiled warmly, welcoming them with platitudes that were no doubt rehearsed weeks in advance. His family returned their smiles with varying degrees of ease, but Demetrius could scarcely coax the corners of his lips to rise. His muscles hurt from the constant tension that ran through them and he could feel the joints of his jaw tightening from the unrestrained teeth clenching, but
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