Searching for Ghosts--The Ro'meave Sister, Book 2 [MCD Fanfic] ✔︎

IV

It's like time has slowed. My heart skips a beat.

I point at the man standing in the hallway. "You're not real."

His face falls.

"You died," I continue. "You died in my arms! You're gone! So why are you here?!"

"My dear Cassie," he muses. "Stephan, Pavien, you are dismissed."

"As you wish, sire," Pavien, the smaller guard says. He and Stephan bow before Jasper's feet and exit the hallway.

Jasper turns to me. "Follow me," he says, although it sounds more like a question than a command.

Cautiously, I follow his lead. I have no idea where we're going, or if this is even the real Jasper. Flashbacks fly through my mind, replaying Jasper's final moments over and over in my head. My head says not to trust him, but my feet say otherwise.

He brings me into a study and closes the door. He sits down on his desk. Then, I realize he's not wearing his Jury of Nine uniform.

"Um..." I begin.

"You must have questions," he notes. "Ask away. But we have business to discuss."

Something about his speech is unfamiliar. He never talked this formal, even to Zane. I shake the thoughts from my mind. "How are you alive?"

He smiles. "I knew it. You see, officially, I'm not allowed to tell you, but Zane Ro'meave is a Shadow Knight."

I inhale sharply. "...so does that make you a Shadow Knight?"

He nods slowly.

"Then... you're not real," I say, my voice barely a whisper.

"I am real," he says. He takes my hand and wraps his fingers around it. I'm shaking. But his touch is familiar. He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses it gently. It brings me comfort, his lips. Just like they did all those years ago.

"You're a Shadow Knight," I say. "So what are you—"

Suddenly, I see a switchblade being pulled from behind his back. The blade draws blood from my forehead as he brings it across, and everything is black.
««»»
I wake up in a prison cell, a gash still on my forehead from the blade. The two guards, Stephan and Pavien, are guarding it.

I sit up. The gash isn't bleeding. Suddenly, I realize my hands are in chains, attached to the wall. They give me some room to move around, but not very much. My Jury uniform is gone, I have black leggings and nothing but a bra on my top.

"I wouldn't move around if I were you, miss," Pavien pipes up. "Sir Jasper needs to see you dead so he can regain his full potential as a servant of Shad the Destroyer."

"I don't get it," I exclaim. "He had his switchblade back in the study. Why didn't he just kill me then?"

"Emotional attachment, I believe," Pavien says. "He told us a week ago that you were his lover when he was human. Said he loved you more than the world. That it would be hard to kill you, but he had to do it."

Loved me more than the world... "So why is he doing it?"

"Like I said, miss. You were the one he treasured most, so you must die for him to be immortal."

"And Shad the Destroyer... you mentioned him," I say. "Who is he?"

Pavien's eyes go wide. Stephan answers the question. "Leader of t' Nether. More powerful than Sir Jasper."

"I see... so he would kill me to serve this Shad the Destroyer."

Stephan and Pavien nod in sync.

"Quite a predicament you're in, miss," Pavien says in a respectful tone.

I stare at my chained hands. "I guess you're right."
««»»
I wake up from a short nap, still in chains. I sigh, hoping this was all a dream. If I do get out of this, I'd have no choice but to kill Jasper and put his soul to rest. Just then, there's a knock on the door.

Stephan and Pavien jerk awake. Stephan rushes to the door.

"You took your time," Jasper muses.

"I is sorry! Please, comes in!" Stephan says, motioning to the open room and my cell.

"Mm. Stephan, please guard the outside. Pavien, whatever happens in here stays in here," Jasper says with and icy tone.

Pavien gulps and nods. Stephan proceeds out the door after a quiet sigh of relief.

Jasper glances at me, helpless, like an animal caught in chains. His expression morphs into a sly smirk. He takes a set of keys from his belt and unlocks the cell. My heart beats faster.

"Jasper," I say, trembling.

"Cassie," he acknowledges. He sits down next to me and says nothing. His hands graze mine.

I stare at the floor. Suddenly, I feel him flick my head.

"Look at me," he growls. "Listen. It's going to hurt me too. I loved you so much. But you were always gone on some assignment, always out of my grasp. And then that... that bastard of a guard," his face hardens, "who was always around you, Matthew, was it?"

My heart stops.

"Yes, Matthew. That was his name. I curse it. He was planning on taking me away from you."

"You... killed him?" I whisper. Maybe he didn't directly kill him, but he may have sent an assassin or something.

Jasper shakes his head. "No. Honestly, I didn't know he was dead until now. Tsk. Word travels slowly here."

I don't respond. He takes my hand and smiles. A warm, genuine smile. "Can I have, uh, a last hug?"

I don't have much of a choice, but... his voice feels like home. He wraps his arms around me and I do the same.

"Now then," he says, blushing a little. He takes out a familiar dagger, dipped in poison. "Because I love you, I'll make this quick."

I feel really bad leaving you at this point >:) if you care, I really love Sting Eucliffe.

xxx,
vylad