Chapter Seventeen pt 5

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The three landed in the same house Vrona had visited her brother a few months prior. Her brother took out tools within his cupboards and carefully bended away the metal clasps that were nailed to the elf's body, once attached to chains. With proper sanitation and aid, the elf's limbs were clean and wrapped. After a dose of pain relievers was injected into his skin, the siblings finally let out a breath and hugged each other in weariness and accomplishment.

In the elf's sleep, the two talked about the unexpected situation of the new found bond, and an interspecies one on top of that. What does that mean for the two? How does that work? What were they to do?

When the elf finally arose a couple days later, he was startled to see the new scenery, and even more startled with the clarity of his mind, devoid of the drugs forced into him. The demoness had only stayed briefly when the elf woke up, assuring him of a familiar face, and explaining what had happened. The elf remained unmoved, as if not understanding the reality or perhaps understanding too well.

Soon, the demoness left, leaving her brother to care for him while she set out to check on the aftermath of their escape. When she'd come back, her brother requested that he take care of the elf himself, his bashful yet solemn smile unescaped from the demoness's observance.

In the leisurely days that followed, she had built herself a small space, leaving the other two to live their own lives, letting the elf live on new found freedom. Her brother would come to visit her often and occasionally, she would return the gesture. For a while, the elf had stayed inside the house, concealing his presence as much as he could.

Unnervingly, the lab had stayed silent. Vrona had concluded it was because causing a commotion could risk the secrecy of their underground lab and their most prized experiment. And, probably, that the lab dogs were now aware of the extent to the elf's powers, and fear led them to be wary. Assuming so, Vrona had secretly delivered a letter to the lab, stating that if any harm was done to her, the elf was instructed to kill them. Of course, she hadn't actually instructed the elf to do such, but the lab wouldn't know.

In two months time, Vrona had heard intel of a document delivered by an anonymous source to other factions of research labs, exposing detailed transcriptions of the inhumane and immoral practices of the lab Vrona had once been a part of. The chaos forced the lab to shut down and disband.

Anonymous source, huh? Vrona smirked and looked in front of her at the friend who calmly sipped her tea.



"But the peace didn't last long," back in the present, Vrona voiced in a low tone, her nails digging into the soil below subconsciously. "Some of the fallen lab members grouped together to stalk the other two's actions from a distance. I heard from my brother that they suddenly tried to murder the elf. ...But they ended up getting murdered, instead."

The rain poured red on that dreadful life-devoured day, the puddles crimson, the grass was showered fresh. Abandoned, the house that had once shared memories stood empty.

A couple of months later, tight hugs and hurt were shared between the two demon siblings. He explained that he and his bond had started a new beginning in a part of the woods, their home undetectable by first glance, hidden in illusion by nature. Following special landmarks as key map points, their eyes then closed to follow counts of footsteps instead as her brother led her to their new home: A small cabin within trees.

The bonded mates lived in secrecy, with Vrona rarely paying visit. Her brother had still met her from time to time, gathering food stock before disappearing back within the forest.

Drokn watched as Vrona's eyes stayed distant, recalling her memories. "Our daily lives just stayed like that. Not ideal, but at least we made it work. That was, until one day, the elf—" Vrona's gaze fell upon Eial, whose eyes were still closed, unsure if sleep had caught him or not. As her body shivered, she uttered the next words: "—he killed my brother."

Vrona's vision hazed as memories took her mind. Her, walking up to their cabin in a rain filled night, seeing a blade made of water held by the elf pierced through into her brother's bloodied heart. I killed him, the elf's voice drifted through a sinister, toothy smile. She vividly recalled her heartbeats pounding in her ears, the bile piling in her throat, the heat that filled her with blinded rage, but unable to act upon with her defeated tears.

"I don't know why it happened or what happened next, but the next thing I heard was that the researchers had found the elf and killed him. But now I guess," Vrona scoffed painfully, shaking, her eyes slightly moist, "he never was dead."

Just then, a breeze passed by, the shuffling of the leaves providing company, hugging them and the story, carrying the burden along with the wind. Eial kept his face steady on his demon's arm, digesting his mother's words, her pain. However, despite the horrible deeds he had just heard, he couldn't help the flutter in his heart as he briefly thought, There is another elf like me.

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