• Pain was my world. Pain beat in my heart like the flickering blaze of a bonfire with a blood red light that gave off agonizing heat, but it still enough to keep away death. It was for the purpose of pain that I’d been brought into this world, and I knew that if my soul became too calloused from the wounds it endured to feel anymore, my life would end. It was only for her that I continued to make myself feel pain. She was the flickering, broken light bulb over my head that could chase away the dark without fire, and I couldn’t allow it burn out.
    It was a day just like the other 20,000 I’d lived through, exactly the same and never-ceasing. The monotony of it all was enough to hammer a huge crack in my ever-slipping sanity. With my eyes only on the worn concrete beneath my blistered feet, I quickly took in my surroundings with scrutinizing eyes. A mysterious orange light danced across the pavement at an exact 30 degree angle from where it met the mortar on the wall. I barely noticed the pair of well-worn shoes next to mine or my guard’s tight grip on my arm. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw the vague outline of the 361,087 bricks in this hallway and cringed away from them.
    I could feel a sudden chill permeating through these walls, drowning the stale air in it. This building was evil. Each brick had been stained with the sacrifice of a suffering life: billions of bricks, billions of lives. It was like every inch of this horrible structure was watching us at all times, laughing at us. They chained us to our living hell, and I hated them for it.
    I never lifted my head again after that, especially once the screaming started as I knew it would. Some of us couldn’t handle the pain or overwhelming loneliness and cracked before long. They were pitiful really, writhing in the darkness of their tiny cells screaming, always screaming. They lay rotting with ratted hair and blood-shot eyes while they mourned for everything that they’d lost.
    I almost would’ve preferred to be one of them so I wouldn’t have to deal with my life or with the blood-shed that always seemed to follow me. In fact, that was where I came from at the moment. I’d just murdered a four foot tall girl with terrified pink eyes and an unusually high forehead, but her blood had been too delicious to let it pass and I had no choice anyway. My keepers had wanted us to fight, and whatever they wanted they always received. Maybe it was for their amusement, maybe they wanted to learn something, but regardless they’d been forcing me to fight for my own survival since I was only 13. Those kinds of wounds leave horrible scars that will never fade.
    I felt the grip on my arm tighten and those rough nails dig into my skin, and looked up at my unfamiliar guard, trying my best to avoid those desolate crimson eyes that looked so much like my own. He nodded abruptly without a word and glanced down the hallway to where I knew my cell waited for me. A deep kind of dread filled the pit of my stomach as well as a heart-pounding nervousness that I could hardly stand. After being stuck in a space the size of a closet for days on end, I appreciated the walk back to it as a chance to move and feel more alive than usual. However, since she’d started waiting for me, I’d found something to look forward to in my monotonous existence, and I just hoped that she’d returned.
    We rounded the corner and the wallowing hopelessness seemed to drown my breaths completely. Her cell was just an empty space filled with nothing but the occasional insect; she still hadn’t returned. I always worried about her whenever she was gone and it often kept me awake at night. Though her disappearances weren’t uncommon, she’d been gone longer this time and I couldn’t help but think of the worst: that maybe she was gone forever. I nearly stopped all function at that thought, but I still somehow managed to hide it from the demon beside me as he swung the creaking glass door open and pushed me in. I managed to choke down my emotions long after he’d disappeared down the hall, however since I simply couldn’t face it myself.
    If I had to endure life without her, then I’d likely join the psychotic masses in that hallway, screaming for her until the end of time. I couldn’t imagine something as horrible as that, even after all that I’d struggled through. I’d rather murder a thousand children or burn for all eternity than ever even think of an existence where she was not there to help me, where I couldn’t help her. At the point, death would be a blessing, but of course they wouldn’t let me die. I’d seen people try to take their own lives, only to be stopped and wrenched back into this nightmare with no regard for their wishes. The cameras watched us all the time, making sure we were always their obedient little pets and god-help anyone who claimed their minds for themselves.
    I took just one glance around my tiny room before my eyes rested on one figure. It was a sketch I’d carved into the brick long ago with my razor-like claw and I was now so glad that I had. I studied every detail of her likeness, and I felt myself fill with longing. I loved everything about her, from her crimson eyes that still had a touch of innocence about them to her long, mess of silvery blonde hair, but that was not what defined her. No, what I really loved was her accepting, true-to-herself personality that I’d watched develop since we were young. It held a kind of vulgar beauty about it that I was powerless to resist.
    With a sigh, I imagined that she was next to me, safe and unharmed as I hoped beyond hopes that she was before looking up at her picture again. “Ceres…Where are you?” I muttered and kept myself on these thoughts until I drifted into an uneasy dream.


    My teeth clenched so hard against each other that I thought that they might shatter. Every muscle in my body was tensed beyond relief, braced for the impact that I knew was to come. I laid helplessly on the burning metal floor, a sob rising in my chest though I forced all of it down but a moaning whimper. I couldn’t show how much this was tormenting me or else he’d win just like always. I wouldn’t let them have me too.
    Finally it hit me and the moan grew louder, a repressed scream now that seemed to explode inside of me. It was amazing how much one small touch could give so much pain. It was agonizing and seemed to burrow into the core of my soul, down my spine like wild-fire.
    “That was so weak…” I gasped once it was finally over. I looked up at my superior challengingly, a hot-headed grin plastering my face instead of the agony that I felt inside.
    He seemed taken aback at my reaction, one neon blue eyebrow inching up his forehead into his similarly colored spikes of hair. “Don’t you know where you are?” he sneered, though I only smirked in response.
    “Noooo. Because I’ve never been here before.” The sarcasm was evident even to a demon’s weak sense of humor. I didn’t bother watching his furious reaction; it was bound to be just like every other. Instead I let my eyes wander along the blackened banks of a glowing river. It was a bubbling flow of condensed liquid fire, forever flowing beneath the foundations of the building and through its basement. Even from ten feet away, the heat of it singed the ends of my messy black hair and pricked at my darkened skin. If that damn demon hadn’t forced me to, I wouldn’t never come this close, but it was clear that he wanted to hurt me. I was about to pay a horrible price simply because I’d “mouthed off”.
    He snarled in an attempt to be menacing though I’d seen enough of this act for it to be wasted on me. “Then let me introduce you to it. The lava pits are where we break the more irritating wastes. The lava could-”
    “-easily melt off my skin and the walls are sound proof so no one will be bothered when I beg for death,” I finished easily, “Yeah. I heard that the last five times I was here. Glad to see you’re so original.”
    He didn’t bother arguing, but instead replied by pressing the glowing end of an iron red against my back. I stifled a hoarse scream. As always time stood still as he hurt me over and over again.
    I didn’t understand what made me so different from him, really, except for the fact that the laws that protected him condemned me. It was obvious that I could think and feel, but they refused to believe it because they needed someone to feel superior over. They had a family and a “pure” blood-line, while I hadn’t been born at all. It was the fact that they’d been the ones to unnaturally begin my existence that gave them the power to control it, and that gave them the right to do such horrible things as this torture if I so much as annoyed them. I was an artificially-created experimental hybrid and I was the property of these Hellish creatures.
    All things eventually come to an end, and three hours later I was finally heading back to the sanctuary of my cell. I’d been taken to the labs afterwards to prevent the oozing, green infections that sometimes came from my burns since they’d obviously learned my specific needs. They hadn’t taken away the pain or the scars, however, and I winced with every step.
    I rounded the corner and froze, chilled and unmoving as a bronze statue. I stared unwaveringly at a small form curled in the back of the cell across from mine. A hysterical choking sound was coming from behind the mass of damp hair that completely covered her face. The sight, so uncharacteristic of what I was used to, shocked me out of my feigned obedience and caused me to wrench my arm out of the demon’s grip to run until I was directly in front of her. I pressed my brown hand against the cool glass as if I could feel the touch of her ivory skin. My eyes were glued to her as if nothing else in the world existed. “Ceres…Oh god. What’d those bastards do to you?”
    I barely got the words out before I felt the smashing impact of knuckles against my cheek and an enraged growl. I flew back and my head slammed against the concrete causing bright colors to dance across my vision. Despite the pain, my eyes never left her.
    “No! Don’t hurt him you a*****e!” Ceres had finally come out of her comatose state and was now on her feet, shouting abuse at the demon. Her red-rimmed eyes were weighted down with misery, yet she still managed to look absolutely furious. For a moment I forgot that she was confined and entirely expected her to attack the guard as her expression clearly showed that she wanted to. He was too busy punishing me for my disrespect to notice her, something that I was entirely grateful for.
    He hauled me to my feet and pushed me in my cell before I could do anymore damage. “Will you ever learn?” he sneered angrily, and again I showed no signs of fear.
    “Never,” I answered with apparent disdain, though my attention wasn’t entirely on him, instead my eyes were fixed on her concerned gaze. We seemed to convey millions of emotions without a sound in that moment.
    “I’ll kill them if they hurt you,” I muttered to her as soon as we were alone. We’d become used to speaking in tones too low for the cameras to pick up in order to achieve some form of privacy.
    “No. Really, I’m fine,” she tried to whisper back in a casual way, but her voice shot up an octave higher in worry. She’d always been a terrible liar.
    I gave her a dark, disbelieving look and repeated it slower. “What did they do?”
    She stared at me for a moment, waiting for my gaze to break, but when it didn’t she slowly slid down the wall and sat with her head on her knees, looking utterly defeated. Within seconds she began sobbing.
    Pure horror racked my heart as I watched her in her weakest moments. I’d seen her cry before when we were younger, but never anything like this, and I couldn’t take it. I wanted to do something, but I was powerless against anything even though all I wanted to do was be her shoulder to cry on, to hold her until it was better. For maybe the thousandth time, I cursed the glass that stood between us.
    “I’m so sorry. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. It’s okay, I’ll be fine if you never talk about this again just please don’t cry,” my own voice was faster and higher than I could ever remember it being, verging on panic.
    She took a moment to respond, as if taking the time to really accept it herself. After a moment or two, when I thought she was going to take my advice, she started in a dark, low voice. “Tharin…I’m pregnant.”
    My entire universe changed in that one instant.



    Ceres was beautiful, every part of her flawless. How I’d ever become worthy of such a godly creature, I’ll never know. I watched the steady rise and fall of her sleeping breath perfect and smooth as an ocean wave. She looked so peaceful when she was unconscious and I knew that this was how it was meant to be. I could’ve watched her forever like this, knowing that for once she was perfectly content.
    By the weak smile on her pale face, I knew what she was dreaming of because I’d seen it too. I’d seen a life where we weren’t held apart by shimmering glass, where I could finally tell her I loved her without causing so much pain and longing. Our world was a place where light didn’t come from the hungry fire but instead shone from a thousand golden lamps.
    I frowned at the impossibility of this and let my eyes travel to the mysterious growth on her stomach that looked more like some grotesque cancer every day. I didn’t really know what it was or why it was necessary, but I knew that it was killing her. I’d watched as the parasitic form stole her food and energy and as she began to waste away, sleeping more than half of the time. Hunger had always been a part of our lives, never ceasing, but I knew whenever I saw her now that she was starving. Each day her bones became more pronounced and she seemed weaker, though she ate no less than before, and it was all because of that thing inside her. I wanted to rip it out, to save her before it took both their lives, but as always I was powerless to do anything. It killed me that all I was allowed to do was comfort her, never take action and never really help. She deserved so much more.
    The idea of watching that thing kill her was worse than being burned to death myself. While I was so used to death that it no longer fazed me, Ceres was different, so different. Ever since she was first moved across from me when we were barely old enough to have cells of our own, I’d given my life for her. Being four years older, I’d immediately taken on a brotherly protection and because of it, she’d never been punished. I always managed to take the blame myself before they had that chance.
    If this went on, not even I would be able to save her. Now my dreams were full of bloodshed and. My subconscious entertained ideas of killing that unborn tumor before it took away the only thing that I could call my own.
    Her eyes fluttered open slowly. She hauled herself to a sitting position and smiled weakly at me. “You’re back. You were gone for a while.”
    I nodded and rolled over from where I was sprawled on my side. I couldn’t hold back a wince when my new wounds scraped against the stone.
    Within seconds a growl rose from Ceres’s throat. Unfortunately she’d always been far too observant of everything that I did. “What did they do to you now?”
    My eyes went blank, guarded and I made sure not to twinge again. Though she’d never experienced it, Ceres had a vague idea of what happened when they took me away. I’d been forced to give her a vague explanation when I’d accidentally cut my hair short enough to reveal the back of my neck. She’d seen the scars that looked more like flesh-colored plaster than skin and had panicked. I didn’t blame her.
    I gave a shrug with the perfect semblance of uncaring and managed with faultless skill to keep my voice steady. “Nothing I can’t handle. I was just got a bit too open with my opinions again.” Her snarl grew louder and I saw the fierce look in her eyes, causing me to break our gaze. “I was just being stupid. I guess I don’t know when to stop.”
    I stared darkly at brick 274 as if it had personally wronged me, all because I wasn’t brave enough to watch her reaction. I couldn’t pretend not to hear the rage in her voice though. “You’re not stupid. It’s this place that’s ******** stupid.”
    “I guess…” I sighed, “I should’ve learned by now like you have. I’m just too damn stubborn.”
    Her voice grew quiet, though I heard every word as though it was played into a microphone. “Except that I didn’t learn from anything that they did to me. They hurt you because of me, remember?”
    “Yeah. I do…” I lowered my head until my hair completely hid my face so she wouldn’t see the pain there. Of course, if they’d hurt her every time I did something wrong, I’d behave too. I was touched that she felt the same way, but also felt entirely sickened by the ordeal. I shouldn’t have been so careless about my well-being because it was hurting her too. Her happiness was all that really mattered to me.
    I sighed and shifted slightly, drawing in a sharp intake of breath as my knee bumped against the floor. I’d forgotten about that wound.
    “Are you sure you’re okay?” I hated the worry in her voice, but answering too honestly would hurt her even more than I already had.
    “I’ve been worse… I can handle it,” I said still without looking up.
    “I know you can handle it, but still…” I could almost hear her add “but still it shouldn’t be this way” and I nodded.
    “Yeah, I know…” I rolled over onto my stomach now, fruitlessly trying to find a comfortable way to rest. I was suddenly glad that she’d grown quiet. I needed some time to think, especially now with so much on my mind. I’d been so selfish to fight all this time. Why hadn’t I seen how much it must’ve been torturing her? At times like this, I really hated myself.
    “Uh…Tharin?” I blinked and looked up at her, immediately confused by the strange look on her face.
    “Yeah?”
    “I…I need to go to the lab…or something,” somehow her voice reminded me of the one she’d used that horrible day almost a year ago when she’d told me about the thing inside her. It was panicked and high-pitched like she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on herself. Instantly I was on edge and let my eyes bore into her with the power of my worry and concerns for her. Such a strange request sounded almost psychotic.
    “Why the hell would you want that?”
    She looked down at the bulge of her stomach before staring back at me, her eyes huge and shiny with desperate tears. “I…I think I’m having the baby.”
    The next few hours were a blur of bright lights and pained screams. In such a foreign situation, I felt lost in her hurricane of emotions. I wanted to do anything to help her, but I had no idea how to. I couldn’t stand it any more and looked away, trying to block it all out. There was no ignoring the screams. She sounded like she was dying, and no one came to help her. She was alone in her misery, though I would’ve done anything to help. I don’t know how long it was before it finally stopped only to be replaced with different, more high-pitched wails. I was curled in the back corner of my cell, too terrified to even see what had happened.
    “That was disgusting!” I moaned, my hands still clenched tightly over my eyes in an attempt to claw out the images that filled them.
    “I think they’re beautiful,” she retorted in a tired way, and for the first time in many hours I gathered the courage to glance over at her. There was blood everywhere though I had no idea where it had come from, and for the first time in a while the tumor was gone. Without it, she looked frail as though she would break at any time. Her stomach was sunken in a way that I’d never seen on her before. In her arms were two slimy forms resembling humanoid maggots and were about the last thing from beautiful in my opinion. They wailed loudly revealing the points of tiny razor teeth inside their gaping mouths. No, they were more like leeches.
    “I wish you luck in trying to get me to think those things are cute. I mean, they’re covered in…whatever that is.”
    She laughed faintly and rubbed some of the goop off with her shirt. “They won’t always be like that. Once they get cleaned up you’ll see.”
    I nodded hesitantly and watched as she continued grooming them, trying to let me see them how she did, though I knew it was worthless. They’d hurt her and there was no forgiving for that.
    After a few minutes she raised the child and showed him to me again with a smile. “What about now?”
    For a moment, all I could feel was a block of ice freezing the pits of my stomach and subconsciously my hands curled into tight fists. A snarl rose to my lips, startling the children into more alien wails, but I didn’t notice.
    All that I saw was that full head of spiky blue hair.


    Funny but over the next few weeks, I noticed that those little parasites were able to achieve what I’d never done. Ceres was happy. Though I loved seeing her with a smile on her face or happily obsessing over the yawning children, I couldn’t help but be a bit jealous. Okay, I was insanely jealous. What did those leeches do to help her anyway? All they could do was take up her time, energy, and worst of all, food, but she loved them anyway. When she stared at them, I saw something like complete devotion for them, and it worried me. We had no idea what the demons were planning to do with the naturally born children, and until we did it was dangerous to become to attached.
    Even worse, the more time she spent with them the less she could spend talking to me.
    “Aren’t they adorable?” she asked me for maybe the hundredth time that day.
    “Uh…yeah.” I didn’t even bother looking up from where I was absent-mindedly compressing my dark magic into different forms. When she wasn’t looking, I turned it into the perfect imitation of one of the identical children before smashing its head against a wall. I smirked.
    She was too busy cuddling with the tiny monsters to notice. “I wonder what they’ll look like when they’re older…” she went on without missing a beat.
    I scowled and darkly stared off at the wall again. I knew exactly what they’d look like when they were older: just like their satanic b*****d of a father. Of course I’d always wondered what had happened to her from the moment that I learned of her condition, but I never would have suspected this. I used to think that maybe it had been another sick experiment on hybrid pregnancy, but now I knew that I was wrong. He’d done this, and I knew that Ceres would rather die than sleep with him on her own free will. That blue-haired b*****d hadn’t shown his face since they were born, probably because he was too much of a coward to face me now that I knew what he’d done. Maybe he was smarter than he seemed.
    “I don’t know…” I answered in an uninterested way, and again she looked too preoccupied to care about what tone of voice I used.
    I glanced over to see that she was staring again, and sighed. As always when I felt too agonized to let her know, I lowered my head and let the matted strands of hair fall in front of my eyes. Once she’d been able to sense how I felt at all times and always tried to help, but now she hardly seemed to care. For half a decade Ceres had been the point of staying alive, but what if this was the new her? What if those brats had replaced me? Every day the darkness in the pit of my heart grew.
    I closed my eyes, feeling a sadness that I’d never had before. “We’re going to die in here…” I whispered to myself, and thankfully she didn’t hear me. I hardly knew what the point of life was anymore when nothing would ever change but for the worse. Ceres had once said that though our lives were awful, they were still our own. Now I realized that she’d been wrong. We were theirs in body and mind and no amount of fighting would ever change that. I used to think that I at least had our love to myself, but it was obvious now that she didn’t feel the same way. After all, how much could she care for me if two helpless, whining leeches had effectively caused for me to no longer exist in her eyes?
    I froze and tensed as the booming sound of many footsteps shattered the silence. I glanced over at Ceres fearfully to see that she was finally noticing me, her expression mimicking mine. There shouldn’t have been more than one or two at most, and it sounded like there had to be at least four. What had we done to anger them this much?
    It turned out that it wasn’t four demons, but instead an entire horde of them. When they stopped in front of us, I could barely see her over the flamboyantly colored hair and it terrified me. I at least would’ve understood if I’d done something so unforgiving that I’d attracted so many, but they were facing Ceres instead. She’d never done anything wrong in her life.
    There was complete silence for a moment except for the slight snuffling of the infants before the horde’s leader spoke out with deep commanding tones. “Restrain the mother.”
    “What?!’ The confused scream rose to both of our throats at the same time, and I rose to my feet menacingly. If they so much as touched her…
    They ignored us both however, and swung open the door. Ceres backed into a corner, her lips pulled back in a vicious snarl as if daring them to come closer. Of course they paid no attention to her obvious threats and kept approaching as if she’d done nothing. Giving a sound that I’d never heard before, she flung herself at them, flailing her claws with such fury that I can’t even place. Blood splattered the walls by the time she was through, but she was no match for their overwhelming numbers and it wasn’t long before they had her secure. She writhed and flailed like a wild animal, the whites of her eyes shining over with red from her psychotic rage, but it had no effect. I barely had control of the abuse and threats I shouted at them.
    The babies were crying now with terrified wails. As if spurred on by this, her efforts became harsher, more violent. She tossed her head like she was absolutely insane while attempting to throw herself out of their grasps in massive spasms. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
    The leader bent down and picked up the crying infants, holding one in each arm and looking down at them with a smirk. Ceres was screaming now, mostly profanities and suggestions of what he should do to himself and I found myself joining in. He left her cell and I got a clear view of him for the first time. The familiar rage boiled through my heart and steamed my blood as I growled into his smug face.
    “So you came to corrupt your spawn, huh? I hope they kill you while you’re sleeping.”
    The blue-haired b*****d smirked and looked down at the children again in disgust. “I don’t know what you’re ranting about. These filthy hybrids are going to the cages where they belong. I would never be related to something this repulsive.”
    “******** you!” I was beyond rational debate, and I felt myself entirely losing control. Out of the corner of my reddening vision, I saw swirling shadows in the corners of my cell. My black magic was becoming impatient for his blood.
    He left with his illegitimate children before I had that wonderful chance, however, and my hopes were dashed. The other drones let go of Ceres as if on simultaneous command and finally left her alone. I thought that given the chance, she would’ve stabbed them from behind as they headed for the door, but she made no movement to do so. In fact, she laid there, sprawled on the ground where they’d left her with her face hidden in her arms. She looked utterly defeated and hopeless as if everything in her life had been destroyed in that one instant. I saw her shudder with a stifled sob.
    I suddenly feared for her, wondering just how hard the removal of her children had cost her, but I didn’t dare speak up. She obviously needed her time alone and looked like she wasn’t going to be capable of conversation at the moment anyway.
    Why had I ever hated the twins in the first place? The idea struck me as stupid now. They’d made her happy, and that’s what I’d wanted all along, wasn’t it? I’d always thought that my own well-being was insignificant in comparison to hers, and yet I’d wished a horrible fate on the only creatures to have ever made her smile so purely.
    But now I had my wish. The leeches had been taken away, and now I was left to deal with the consequences. Ceres was quite possibly having a breakdown. Would she hate me for thinking so little of the infants while they were here? Would she want me to leave too, to join their fate because I’d wanted this to happen? I wouldn’t have blamed her if she never forgave me for what I’d done.
    Even worse, I couldn’t help but feel a kind of sick satisfaction now that I had her to myself. Maybe the demons were right. Maybe I didn’t have a soul after all.
    I closed my eyes and bent my head low, wishing that everything would just go back to how it had been. That life had at least been ours, but now it was gone, and we were left with only the agonizing remnants.
    “It’ll be okay, Ceres…” I muttered softly, “We still have each other. Everything’ll be fine as long as we have each other.”
    She didn’t answer. It was foolish of me to think that I deserved one.



    Over the next few days, she didn’t say a word. She was so deep in depression, that I was scared for her well-being. The girl across from me hardly seemed like Ceres anymore, in mind or appearance. No matter what I did, I couldn’t persuade her to eat and she looked more deathly each day. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the end. Had she become too damaged that she was numb to the world? She was withering away in front of my eyes and I was helpless to stop her.
    I found that the more I watched, the worse I felt. On the second day, I began questioning life as well and on the third I found my food very unappetizing. Maybe I was just lonely from not having anyone to talk to anymore, or maybe I’d become sensitive enough to her moods that I could feel them myself. By the fourth day, I was beginning to lose the essence of myself and finally broke.
    “Nothing will ever change, will it?”
    She didn’t look at me but instead stared at her knees. “Things did change, but now…”
    I nodded. As always I could finish her sentences with ease.
    “I don’t like change, Tharin. We’re not meant to be happy. I’m done trying.” For the first time since the incident, she looked over at me and what I saw horrified me. I saw an empty darkness in her ruby eyes that made me duck my head again.
    I didn’t want for her to feel like this. These thoughts, these emotions were for me to feel for her. Everything was so wrong now. I was supposed to be pained and agonized so that she wouldn’t have to be. Somehow along the way, I’d failed miserably.
    I didn’t know what to say to that. I could’ve been honest and agreed, but I knew that that wasn’t what she needed. She needed something to assure her even though I wasn’t reassured myself. But what could I possibly say to her after something so horrible? There weren’t any words to describe how much I cared for her or how worried I was, though all I had was words, emotionless and impersonal.
    I thought for a moment before a childhood memory came to me. I threaded strings of dark magic between my fingers before forming it into a perfect sphere. After several minutes of molding it, I held a shimmering black rose in my palm. I gave it a weak smile before pushing it through the fist-sized holes in the top of my cell. With my assistance, it floated on a breath of air before finally spiraling down to her. She blinked as it landed on her lap.
    “My magic is really just the essence of me,” I told her, “So now you can keep a piece of me with you.”
    I saw a faint tear appear in the corner of her eyes as her palm closed around the black rose. She shook her head. “I’m not sure if I deserve a piece of you.”
    I tensed and stared at her. Had she really gone so insane? How could she think of herself as below me when she was so radiant and I was worth nothing? “What do you mean?”
    Her fist tightened around the flower now and she finally looked over at me. I saw a kind of hysterical anger in her eyes. “What do you think I mean?”
    “Ceres…” My voice was softer now. I lightly touched the cool glass and stared into her eyes. “Don’t say that. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I..I think I-…”
    “Oh shut up!” I jumped as a new, harsher voice cut in, “I don’t want to be exposed to your idiotic talk. It might be contagious.” I’d been too eager in sharing my deepest secret to notice the footsteps until those familiar blue spikes were in view. Why did he always have to ruin everything? Was he a stalker or had he just been put in charge of this floor? Either way, it seriously annoyed me that I’d have to spend the rest of my life with the one person I hated most in this world.
    I stiffened and looked away so he wouldn’t see my glowing eyes. He had to just keep walking; there was no way I could be so unlucky that he’d stop here again. But of course that was just wishful thinking. Everything in our lives went wrong.
    It was impossible to hide my hatred when he swung open her door. I knew that she couldn’t handle this so soon after her loss, but he didn’t care. How anyone could possibly be so heartless was beyond my understanding, and I couldn’t help but want to ignore it. I didn’t want to see that tortured look on her face when I couldn’t do anything about it.
    It would’ve been better if I’d closed my eyes, I know that now. Maybe if I had, then I wouldn’t have noticed the hungry look in his eyes as he approached her. Maybe I wouldn’t have seen him wrap his arm around the small of her back or his hand slowly creeping down…
    “Don’t touch her!” I was on my feet in seconds, a rabid snarl spreading across my lips. I knew that I was powerless to stop him, and deep down I knew that there was nothing to gain from fighting back now. It was uncontrollable instinct at its height.
    He barely glanced over at me, but that look he gave me suggested that he thought I was insane; I probably was. “Since I’m in a good mood,” he sneered over her shoulder, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
    “Let her go, you perverted rapist!” Okay, I was definitely out of my mind.
    He looked annoyed now, or maybe amused; I couldn’t really tell which. With an arrogant smirk, he grabbed her wrists and brought her out into the hallway only a foot away from me. Oh god…What was he doing? “And what right do you have to tell me what to do?”
    Why was it that I couldn’t ignore the things he did to her, but now I was looking anywhere but at that pleading look she was giving me? She wanted me to shut up. She thought that she could handle it, but I couldn’t stop myself. Why did I insist on protecting her when she didn’t want me to? It wasn’t a thought out process anymore, but instead an addiction. “A moral one maybe? I’m not letting you do this. Not again.”
    “Letting me? I have news for you, hybrid. You’re locked up and I’m not. You’re lucky that I’m letting you live after this.” He paused for a moment before pulling Ceres closer to him again. She shuddered and stared intently at the floor. I felt my blood boil. “Because I’m not doing anything wrong. She has to do anything I tell her, doesn’t she? I don’t see why it could be wrong if there’s no rule against it.”
    Despite all my best efforts, my control broke at that sight, or maybe it was from the images that it filled my head with. My vision clouded completely with the shade of his blood and I felt my sane mind leave me. I watched myself as if I was only an idle spectator to the madness that had come over me. His scent over-whelmed my senses and the gentle pulse in his neck looked so appealing. His shallow breathes seemed to be amplified a hundred times in my head, and I found that the sound was killing me inside. I just wanted it to stop.
    But he didn’t know when to stop. He seemed to be amusing himself with my apparent rage and just kept going long after I’d stopped countering. “After all…” he went on with a hiss of breath, “How could I resist someone so…good?”
    Even thoughts of protecting my own survival left me in that second. I no longer knew who I was or why I was fighting, but instead gave myself to the desire for bloodshed. As my soul itched to reach him, my dark magic spilled out of my fingers and swirled around me. It probed the glass with long tendrils, looking for any chance of escape without feeling the shock of the magical protection set upon it. I was no longer in my body, but instead existed only in the darkened cloud. Unlike others, my magic wasn’t called upon from the deepest wells of evil, but instead was simply the power of my soul. It was me.
    Finding no escape, it slammed against the shimmering wall with all of its power, and still more was erupting from every inch of me to join it. Faintly, I heard the sound of my target’s mocking laughter as I failed to cause any damage. I found that it only strengthened my force and I tried again. I refused to ever let myself be looked down on again.
    With a massive crash, my cell exploded. Shards of glass the size of window panes flew from the blast, though with my guidance none of them dared to go near Ceres. Now free, my magic rushed at him and nearly crushed his frail body as he was lifted into the air. With another tendril, I managed to easily remove a sizable shard of jagged glass from where it has pierced the concrete floor. I barely had time to truly appreciate the screaming before the two collided and he burst into a mass of flying gore and severed organs.
    He was dead, mutilated even, but I didn’t feel satisfied. I wanted something more, though I couldn’t pinpoint what. How many deaths would it take to sate my hunger? I felt myself moving on…
    “Tharin…”
    Something soft wrapped around my hand, and I stopped. Something about it seemed so familiar. My vision cleared and I glanced down to see that someone had gently put their hand in mine. “Ceres…?”
    “Yeah…yeah I’m here, Tharin…” Her voice quivered in shock or maybe fear, but she kept close to me. I stared at her unblinkingly, afraid to miss anything. She was beautiful, more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before. Without the glass between us, it was as though every part of her had become more perfect than before. She took my breath away.
    “Tharin…Are you okay?”
    I smiled at her with an emotion that I could only describe as happiness. “I’m wonderful.” I brought her close to me, and embraced her tightly as though she’d disappear if I loosened my grip. She tensed for a moment, before nestling into my chest. For once, everything felt right in the world.
    “Ceres…” she felt so wonderful in my arms, that I couldn’t let go. She was so warm and gentle and soft…I subconsciously stroked her hair and rested my head on her shoulder. A sweet scent filled my nose, intoxicating me. I felt pure bliss.
    Without the glass between us, I suddenly felt my secrets spilling out. Before I knew what I was doing, a whisper came to my lips. “My life is for you, it’s always been for you. You’re the only thing I’ve ever loved. I’ll never let you go.”
    My heart dropped when she pulled away from me, and I almost wanted to tighten my grip and keep her there forever. She looked up into my eyes and I saw that they were glazing over with tears. Had I said the wrong thing?
    Without another word, she reached up on tip-toe and lightly pressed her lips against mine. I didn’t know what she was doing, but it hardly seemed to matter. In that moment, the world melted away and all that existed was her. She was all that mattered.
    She blushed a bit and looked down in embarrassment. “Sorry…I couldn’t help myself…”
    I shook my head and gently pushed her chin up so I could see her eyes again. “Don’t be.” My heart pounded so hard that I thought it might burst, but I moved closer to her anyway. Anything that could give me that feeling again was worth risking death. I kissed her once, twice, three times. Our lips were lips were locked for the longest time, and I held on. Even as I began to feel dizzy, I refused to let this go. It felt like everything in my life had been building up to this moment: amazing, exhilarating, perfect.
    She took a breath first, panting and gasping for air, but still with a smile on her face. She was happy. I’d finally made her happy. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against my chest once more, looking peaceful and safe. I stroked her hair and sighed.
    “I’ll have to go soon…”
    She stiffened and I saw her eyes go wide. “Why? You…You said you’d never leave me. Please don’t leave me.”
    I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought. “I’ll never leave you, Ceres. I’ll always be there…just maybe not as you see me now.”
    “I don’t understand…”
    Something caught in my throat and stung at my eyes, but I forced myself to keep going. “I killed a guard, Ceres. We both know the punishment for that.”
    “Oh god…” I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see her face, but I’ll never forget the sick terror in her voice. “No…they won’t…They can’t. I won’t let them!”
    I took a deep breathe and tried to dislodge my own fears. I had to be strong for her now more than ever. “No. I’m the only one that…that needs to go. You haven’t done anything yet. Don’t give them a reason to.”
    She jumped back and stared at me with disbelief verging on hysteria. “You expect me to just stand back and…and watch while they…while they kill you?! I won’t let them take you from me!”
    “Ceres…” I approached her calmly and took her hand in mine again. I wouldn’t let this ruin our one moment together. “They can’t take me from you. It’s impossible.”
    “Don’t kid yourself!” she shouted through her tears, “They’re probably coming now! The cameras saw everything! They know what you did!”
    I waited patiently for her to be done before lightly placing one finger against her lips and letting my eyes speak more to her than I ever could. “That’s not what I meant. They can do anything they want to me; we both know that, but nothing can stop me from being with you. I love you, and that’ll never change. I’ll always be there. You just won’t see me.”
    She shook her head slightly and stared up at me, pleading. “Don’t do this to me. Please…please don’t do this to me. Stay…please…”
    I tenderly wiped away a tear that had run down her cheek. “I would if I could, but you know that I don’t have a choice. They’ll be here any minute and I’ll have to go with them. But please…don’t cry. Your life still isn’t over.”
    “How can you say that? I can’t just…just go on when you’re not here. Let them take me too. Please…”
    “No!” the intensity of my own voice surprised me, “No…You can’t. Live. Do something with your life. Do it for me while you still have that chance.”
    She was silent for a moment before she nodded slowly. Something seemed to change inside her, and suddenly her fury was gone. With a sigh, she nestled into my arms. “Wait for me…”
    “Always…” I stroked her hair comfortingly and let rest my head on her shoulder again, memorizing her scent. “You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted, Ceres. There’s nothing more that this life can offer me. I’ll die happy…”
    Something about my words shook her out of her newly found peace and I felt her shoulders shudder with uncontrolled sobs. I held her comfortingly and felt that for once there wasn’t a need for words.
    The pounding of footsteps broke us out of our dream-like state, and I felt my hold tighten protectively around her. She stiffened and looked up at me desperately. “I love you.”
    The words seemed to heal my wounds, and I smiled back at her. “I always have loved you and I’ll never stop.”
    She kissed me again, though now it was almost violent in her need to become closer to me in the time we had left. Almost immediately, my dread was replaced by a kind of pure bliss as all of my dreams came true. We moved together as one in an almost animal frenzy, thoughtless and instinctual but still entirely necessary for survival. I couldn’t breathe or maybe I refused to because I wouldn’t dare do anything that could end that moment.
    I didn’t pull away until forceful hands jerked us apart. I didn’t struggle, though their grip on my arms was painful. For once, I was silent and obedient just like they’d always wanted me to be. One wrong move and things could get ugly. If a fight started, I knew Ceres would lose it and likely be joining me in my fate.
    Not that she wasn’t trying to do as much damage as possibly anyway. As soon as I’d been pulled away, she’d begun screaming profanities at the demons as loudly as she could. True to her word, she never fought them, but instead struggled against their hold on her in her attempt to reach me. An icy sickness his my stomach, and I found it hard to breath. This was the last time I’d get to see her on earth. It was my last chance to appreciate her unrivaled beauty.
    I took one long gaze, selfishly drinking in her presence, before I finally looked away and followed my demon guard. She shouted my name with a painful wail, but I forced myself not to turn back again. That would only make this harder.
    With no regrets, I willingly went to my death for her, and I would do it all again if I was given the chance. I knew that compared to my life, death wouldn’t be so horrible as it was played up to be. I welcomed a painless existence where I could finally be free, and if I was lucky, maybe this way I’d finally be able to help her. It would only be a matter of time before she joined me and we could finally be together eternally. It had all been for her, and now I’d die for that chance: for Ceres, my friend, my love, my world.