Lyra’s face burned; a combination of crushed pride and the soreness of the blow that she had received. Her eyes blurred as her brain dizzied. She forced herself up on her elbow and rubbed her throbbing cheek, trying to readjust her sight. Her head thrummed, yet she could hear Kane’s heavy, angry footsteps marching across the sand. The woman blinked and stroked her eyelids, blinked again and coughed. Her throat splintered with dryness from both her shouting and from Kane choking her.
Kane stopped at her feet; Lyra steadied herself by placing her free hand in the damp sand. She raised her body and turned to face him. Kane’s chest heaved with fury; the demon within had been fully unleashed and had not been satisfied. The monster caught her roughly by the ankle and began to drag her flailing body through the sand. Lyra thought quickly; she would try to calm him,
‘Kane, please let me go.’ There was no response; he did not even stop. Instead he yanked her roughly and dragged her up the dunes and over the porch of her own cabin. Lyra tried to crook her neck to avoid hitting her head on the wood, but the impact on her back caused her head to drop back down.
The cabin shuddered as the door was thrown open and slammed against the log wall. The monster dragged her to the centre of the floor and slammed the door shut behind her, bolting it. Lyra, still dizzy, crawled along the wooden boards away from the creature. Kane watched her struggle with a morbid satisfaction,
Where are you going to go? he taunted.
‘I told you, I am leaving. I’m leaving this place, this sick life, and I am definitely leaving you.’ Lyra bit back. The immortal blood in her veins expedited the easing of the pain, and the dizziness subsided with equal zest.
Lyra clambered to her feet and sprinted to the trapdoor. Kane waited motionless. Lyra pulled at the handle, nothing. She pulled harder, still the door did not move. With a cry of frustration, she rushed to the back door; the bolts had been secured with large, rusty padlocks. The shutters, she thought, the shutters were open. She dashed into her studio, half tripping over the corner of the table. She steadied herself, but as she did the shutters banged closed from the outside. Assuming it was the wind, Lyra pressed against them until her hands were raw. Finally, she relented and took off towards the bedroom, swinging around the door frame as she did. The shutters again slammed on her. Lyra listened; there was movement outside. A lock clicked.
‘Harlon, you miserable old bastard!’ she screamed, thumping at the wood until splinters spiked into her knuckles.
Lyra hurried out of the bedroom and into the front room; the shutters were already closed and being locked.
‘You can’t keep me here!’ she screamed at Kane. He was unmoved. Lyra’s eyes caught sight of the bolt on the front door; there was no padlock, just the huge deadbolt that Harlon had installed. Lyra took a run at Kane, but he caught her with ease, curving his arm around her waist.
There is nowhere for you to go, he informed her with an icy calm.
‘I’m not staying here, I could go anywhere, anywhere in the world,’ Lyra barked snidely, her lip curled with a painful contempt, ‘Away from you,’ she added. The words stuck in her own throat as she spoke. She had been away from Kane for so long, and suffered the daily emptiness triggered by his absence. That emptiness had mutated into a pain that she had released as an unbound, spite-filled fury.
Kane shoved her, so that she stood in front of him. His fingers exerted pressure on each temple as he read her thoughts; such an exquisite mixture of pain and confusion. His left eye twitched as he engulfed himself fully in the delight of her torment. As to whether she was being honest with regard to her desire to leave, he could not tell, such was the depth and confusion exhibited. None the less, he would not permit her departure. She was not in the world of men anymore and would be vulnerable alone as she was so fresh and new to his world.
You will not be leaving, Kane asserted. Lyra stepped slightly forward, but not as close to his face as she had dared. Even though her new body healed quickly she had no desire to suffer another blow.
‘I will do as I please!’ she exclaimed mechanically with a haughty air, whilst flicking her head so that her blond locks moved away from her eyes.
You lied to me, Kane continued, ignoring her attitude. One betrayal after another. Lyra bit her lip irritably until she drew blood,
‘No,’ she replied at length, ‘No, I did not!’
I forgave you for trying to thwart my kills, but you lied; you lied about obeying me, you lied about your own emotions. Kane paused. Now, I have heard your true feelings. Lyra thought back over her hurtful divulgences on the beach. If you hate me so and despise my face, then you have freely entered your own personal hell.
‘Hell?’ Lyra repeated.
Hell, Kane asserted, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking upon this repugnant face for eternity. As his thoughts filled her, he removed the mask and threw it aside. Eternity, he reiterated.
‘Eternity? You haven’t wanted me near you, and now I have to look at you for eternity.’ Lyra huffed, shaking her head. ‘I can’t cope with anymore!’
I tested you, Kane responded, grasping her shoulders tighter. I tested your obedience, his fingers glided from her shoulders to her neck, but I saw your love.
‘No,’ Lyra barked, ‘You saw someone alone, confused and hurt, that’s what you saw.’ She took a courageous breath and lowered her tone to a whisper, ‘Because you don’t know what love is.’
You lie, again, Kane observed. About a great many things!
‘Such as?’ Lyra muttered defensively.
I don’t think you want to leave, Kane ventured.
‘I’m better off alone, I cope better. I can shut out the world and live in solitude, like I always have. Am I lying?’ she asked, opening her mind to the creature. Kane shook his head, and the hint of sorrow returned to his eyes. ‘And,’ she perked up, ‘I don’t want to live in hell.’ Kane’s hands instantly sprang to his own face. She did not want to live in hell, seeing his hideous form day after day.
Lyra squinted curiously and realised at once that Kane had misinterpreted her meaning. Her hell was being alone, rejected and set aside. It was quite one thing to live in isolation, but quite another to be physically loved and then discarded. Hurt still consumed her, and she decided to let him believe she hated him, for then he might free her, and she could live alone; apart from the danger of rejection. Kane glanced down at the mask on the floor; he thought of Brian’s reaction to his appearance and curled his lip, sneering at the woman; the woman who he thought had been his woman. He moved his head, so that his face was as close to hers as possible without touching,
You’re right, Lyra, so right! A malicious intonation hung in the air, making the woman uncomfortable enough to respond as he had anticipated.
‘Right about what?’ Lyra whispered meekly, after some hesitation.
I am a sadist; the kill is more than survival; it is a hunt and the degradation of watching the prey beg for its life. Lyra tried to back away from the creature, but he dug his sharp talons into her neck, holding her brutally in place. For years I indulged in the hapless begging of young women as they fell by my hand. Punished those who found me abhorrent. Fed on their blood and flesh with great rapture, but my own flesh needed more. Lyra tried to drop her chin and escape his eyeline; his nails bit deeper into her skin. Then, I found you. An ideal victim; alone, dark, hiding away from the world of man. Lyra gulped nervously; he had manipulated her from the start, and she had allowed a monster to manipulate her so cruelly. You serve the needs of my flesh that killing does not, nothing more.
‘Why send me away then?’ Lyra whispered.
There are many ways to watch you suffer, Kane viciously responded, and there will be many more ways, and I have eternity to use you.
She had been correct; he was unable to love. Her blood slowed and thickened as the razor’s edge of his soul sliced into hers.
‘You have lost already, Kane,’ she asserted. The monster tilted his head but did not break eye contact. ‘I don’t love you; you can do whatever you want to do to me, but I will never be your victim.’
You promised yourself to me, that was the price of your immortality. Lyra allowed her body to go limp, so that securing her would prove more difficult.
‘I did, when I thought I loved you, and now I am breaking that promise…’
I don’t believe you! Kane released her throat and Lyra took a step back. I can prove your lies.
‘It doesn’t matter either way,’ Lyra muttered despondently, moving further away from him. ‘If you want me to stay against my will, I shall, but you will always know that I don’t want you.’ Lyra turned her back to him and proceeded to leave the front room, heading into her bedroom to be alone. ‘And that will be your private hell.’ Once in her room, Lyra slammed the door unnecessarily hard as if to make her point. She slumped down on the edge of the bed and unzipped her boots before peeling them off and dropping them to the floor. Her scabbard was loosened, and her trousers dropped in a heap, followed by her shirt. The darkness of the room was heightened by the closed and locked shutters. Lyra crawled under her duvet and sobbed, unsure as to whether it hurt more to be with him, or without him. Either way she truly was alone and unloved; an object of lust for an immortal titan, nothing more.
Lyra’s legs curled up under her, and she brought the corner of the duvet to her mouth as a form of comfort. In the next room she could hear Kane moving about. Her eyes closed. Sleep started to fall over her when the door opened with a thump. Lyra remained curled up; with a crack the door was slammed shut.
I can prove your lies, Kane reiterated. The woman did not answer; her fingers looped about the duvet, and she placed a wisp of fabric in her mouth. The clink of the machete being drawn rang across the room; it flew past her head and burrowed itself into the floorboards on the other side of the bed. Your body will tell me how you feel, and you cannot fight that. Lyra remained still and curled in her ball.
You are wrong, Lyra, I can take so much from you, and make you want more. Her lip swelled, and she bit hard into the duvet, hoping to control her own urges and anxiety. You forget so quickly, you enjoy my punishments as much as I. Lyra’s face burned with shame. You can never shut me out completely, my blood flows through you. Blood you so easily, and pleasurably took. In the darkness Lyra could feel her cheeks reddening, and her legs pressed together in a poor attempt to try and quell the growing ache. She could attack him physically or verbally, she could be as spiteful as she wanted, but her true feelings would always be betrayed by her own body. Shall we find the truth now? the monster taunted; shall we see if this halfling girl can hide herself away from an Immortalis?
