>>Leila
I think I felt too much pain all at once and since it was too hard to bear, my brain just decided to shut everything out.
And now, as I sit on barren lands with nowhere to go, I don’t feel anything.
It’s like there’s nothing inside me. Like all of me is dead, my soul, my heart, my thoughts. Nothing is there but a living body.
The only thing I could do was just walk away. I walked the whole night but found no refuge. Even the church didn’t let me stay in the sanctuary claiming that I have to be cleansed before I am allowed entry in a holy place.
But even then, I wasn’t just shut out, they waited for me to offer the
>>LeilaI shook my head.It seemed like a trap. If I make a deal with a devil, I’ll become a witch, won’t I? I’ll be that very thing that put me in so much trouble.I turned to leave.“Don’t!” It stopped me, “Don’t leave me.” He spoke softly, almost seeming like a human.I glanced back at him, “I don’t want a contract with you.” I looked away, “I don’t wish to be a real witch.”I began to walk away again when it spoke once more.“You already have a chil
>>Emilio (14 years old)I closed the book after I finished it and sighed internally.I understood why Leila made a deal with a demon but what she offered it in return is something very precious and heavy. The demon feeds on our misery, the worst kind of misery and we get to have all our luxuries.I stared at the book. I get a feeling it would have been different if Leila had accepted the demon’s initial offer.“Oh look who’s here~” I was startled by the sudden entrance of another person and flinched.I shot my head back at the person, “Uncle?” I stood up from the ground and greeted him.
There are things I wish to bring to an end.But I don’t know if I’m capable of doing any of that alone.I wish for no more pain, no more misery, and no more death because I believe my kind has gone through enough of it.I wish for happiness through normal means. I wish for those who come after me to have normal lives.I do not know if I can achieve it, but I still wish to try.****>>RoshniThe end of springThe end of high school.The weather was wo
>>RoshniImpossibleThis is impossible!!This can’t happen! I know it wasn’t possible!I looked at the letter of acceptance that came to me by email. It was my acceptance letter to the national university.“Impossible…” I kept staring at the letter on my laptop as if it was going to change the letters written on it.“Oh wow,” Mom was sitting beside me on one side while dad was on the other, “I guess we won’t be going anywhere I guess...” She glanced at dad who only nodded.The three of us were so stun
>>RoshniYou know what was even more odd? The oddest of all things?I didn’t get into any other college I applied to. Does that make any sense? I got into the best one but all the others rejected me? Of course it doesn’t make any sense!Now, I’m sure Emilio pulled something. But then again, he’s capable of doing that very easily.I took a deep breath as I stood in front of the huge university. I was no doubt a little afraid of going in. I feel like I shouldn't be here. Of course I’m happy I got in, but I also know it’s not because of my capabilities.I sighed and looked down as I prepared myself mentally.
>>RoshniWhy?I stood in front of my department after I was done for the day, staring at the crowd of people right across from me.Why?I stared at the person standing in the center.EmilioWhy?Just why is he here?He was surrounded by girls like usual and it pissed me off. They all were swarmed around him like flies to a fruit.Doesn’t he have classes to attend? Why is he standing directly in front of my department? Did he even leave?
>>RoshniI haven’t seen him.It’s been four days now and I haven’t seen or heard from Emilio at all.I was really bothered by his behavior. Like I felt too uneasy about this whole thing.This is so unlike him, he’s always around me, if not he always texts but this time it’s as if he’s disappeared.Where could he have gone to? I texted him yesterday but he didn’t even see the message. What is happening right now? Am I being too paranoid? This is too weird. It’s messing up my mind. He’s never ignored me like this!Never! Not even once! 
>>RoshniNo!Don’t overthink it! He would have shown some kind of sign if he was interested in me right?I thought about it hard.I mean, his actions are confusing, he treats me like I’m someone special but how special am I? In his mind what kind of person am I to him?Was it really about the age? But he never said anything about that! But then again he always stuck by my side too. But on that note, we lived together for eighteen years! In the same house! So we were bound to be together.Yet, our relationship isn’t like that of siblings. It’s something I’ve never quite been able to put my f
>>Roshni (4 years later) “You know.” I licked the ice cream from my ice cream cone as Emilio and I sat on the beach side at night, “I can tell you’ve been meaning to ask something for quite some time now.” He looked at me guiltily, “How long…?” He looked like a criminal who had got caught. “Honestly, for months at this point.” “Shit..” He looked defeated as buried his head in his free hand while the ice cream was melting in his other. “Finish that before it melts onto your hand,” I said and he raised his head to look at the starry sky. He sighed, “It’s nice,” He stared at something distant, “Isn’t it?” The soft sand was comfortable to sit on, the sound of ocean waves was extremely calming and the soft wind that followed just blew one's worries away. “Mmm,” I replied to affirm. Emilio quietly ate his ice cream as he kept looking at the clear black sky and I could tell there was something on his mind but I waited for him to say it first and ate my dessert quietly. The silence b
>>Roshni I knew I had to give him an answer. I couldn’t stall it anymore. Not for him, not for me. I knew it wasn’t possible. I knew the words of rejection won’t ever come out of my mouth since I’m madly in love with him too. The feelings that were exploding like a volcano in my heart would say only one thing now. Just looking at him and just thinking about him makes me happy. And perhaps, I should think about what makes me happy. I’m fretting over the world I lived in for centuries but never got to experience these feelings there. But here, it’s different. My life here has been short but I’ve loved every single day. I wish to stay here more than anything, I wish to stay with this person in front of me. “Fine,” I gripped his finger tightly as my own heart pounded violently in my chest, “I’ll stay with you.” I felt so shy it was hard to look at him, “I surrender.” I smiled, “To you.” “Really?” He couldn’t believe it at first. He was even bewildered and stared at me with his eyes
>>Roshni I ran back home. As soon as Lio was done singing, I dashed towards the exit, took the bus, and ran into the mansion, straight to my room Why? Because I was overwhelmed. I ran away because I felt like my feelings would explode. My heart felt so full I had no idea what to do. I crashed on my bed as the sound of my heart pounding drummed in my ears. God! What is this? I’m supposed to be a demon! My heart shouldn’t be trembling like this! I placed my hand on my chest. I guess I’m getting like this because he’s being straightforward now. Before he was avoiding the subject and didn’t respond that well but now, it’s like he’s taken the sword and is charging full speed ahead on the battlefield. My face was hot, my cheeks flushed, and my thoughts a mess. I want him. I want him so much but what about my life in the demon realm? Do I just abandon it? Do I just forsake centuries of life there? I picked the pillow from the bed and hugged it tightly but still the tightness in
>>Roshni A few days have passed and Lio didn’t come to visit me. We went to college separately too and to be honest. I had all the time to think for myself. The half of me that was here is already madly in love with him and now that we’ve combined into a whole again, those feelings are affecting me too. I wasn’t expecting I’d fall for this guy and so much that just the thought of him gets me all excited. Now that I think about it, he’s done everything to make me fall for him over the years. He’s fulfilled my wish of living as a human and experiencing all that I’ve ever wanted. He’s been the sweetest most caring person in my life. I rolled on my bed in my room and a soft flush appeared on my cheeks. I know I love him, I was only able to tackle his words that day because my two halves had combined and everything hadn’t merged completely but now, after a few days, everything is in order yet this human heart of mine is in agony. The agony of love. I thought the feeling would neutr
>>Roshni “You don’t love me,” I told him. “Oh!” He smiled, “But I do,” He seemed quite confident. “No, you don’t,” I shook my head at him “I most definitely do,” He stood his ground, “I always have.” “No,” I shook my head as I felt a little annoyed, “If you did, you would have loved me as Roshni too.” “What makes you think I don’t?” His immediate reply left me baffled. !!! “I- , What?” I shook my head, “You’ve never responded to anything I ever did!” I was feeling furious, “You never made a move.” “It’s because you don’t understand,” His voice got a little serious “I do,” I glared at him, “Your love, your confession of love, it's all fake.” My words made his expression turn grim yet he answered me in a normal voice. “No, you don’t,” He moved to close the space between us and I began to move back. He looked at me with so much longing in his eyes it made me feel things, weird things, “I’ve held myself back for years.” I stopped at the edge of the summoning circle and he close
>>Emilio (4 years old)“I want you.” I said, “Can’t you come with me?”“Hmmm~” The demon wasn’t sure what to say to me, “You want me?” It looked at me quite fondly, “Why?”“I like you,” I said but my confession alarmed it.“You like me?” It looked at me as if I had said the most unusual thing in the world, “You,” It pointed at me, “A human,” Then it pointed at myself, “Like me?” It looked like it didn’t believe me.I nodded at the question, “Yes.”
>>RoshniI didn’t notice it at first, but there were some weird markings there written in different places around the circle and the star. It was a language that felt awfully familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it because I had never really seen it before.So why did it feel so familiar? I had no idea.I quietly made my way into the middle of the blood-red drawing and stood there in the center. My emotions and my thoughts were all mixed up.The sight on the scene was too hard to see but with Lio insisting on so much I just decided to through with it.I had an impending sense of danger around me. It made me feel like if I went th
>>Emilio“Thanks,” I took the box from Aries who came to visit me late at night.“Well,” He shook my hand, “I’m leaving for home now.” He smiled at me and I gave him one back in return, “Are you done with everything?”I nodded, “Yea, everything’s in place,” I looked at the box, “This is the last thing.”“Well,” He stepped back from the porch, “Good luck.” He smiled, “Hope no one dies.”I snickered, “Me too.” I waved at him, “I doubt we’ll be meeting anytime soon.”“Considering how we both live on two different sides of the country.” He shook his head, “No,” He then took a few other steps back, “And clean yourself up before you go to her.” He smirked.I snickered, “The bath’s already running.” I need to get the blood off of me.
>>RoshniEmilio has traveled a lot, to many places but each time he said he was going to look for something and it wasn’t for the sake of leisure.There’s always been something mysterious about him. It’s like he’s searching for something. I have seen it in his eyes, his passion and obsession towards a goal I’m unaware of.There have been times he brought back some weird things with him when he came back from overseas trips but most of the time, it was just weird ritual books. It was a weird hobby of his to read all that stuff but since it was just a reading hobby, no one said anything about it.It was a cloudy day, the atmosphere was dark and I stood outside the cafe looking