Post originally by Character_Jezika

The nightmare finally ended and Jezika woke with a labored gasp. Her back reared off the bed and she gripped her hands tightly in the sheets. Over the past week, she had woken up every day the same way. Like her body wasn't used to breathing and she panicked. The sun was high in the sky and she finally began to relax bit by bit as she stared blindly at the ceiling. The room was quiet, quieter than usual and she looked toward the door and there taped to the surface was a note. Bela probably went out to get some food.

How long had Jezika been out?

It took her a moment to be able to move -- or even have the willpower to get out of bed. Finally sliding from the thrashed sheets, Jezika padded barefoot over to the door as she wrapped the silk robe around her frame. Reaching up, she grasped the note from the door and ran her fingers through her hair touseling the fiery curls as she read the letter.

"Dev,

Went to find some food. Please think about what I said.. You're not a monster, so quit thinking you are. You need your sleep, I didn't want to wake you. I'll be back soon.

Love, Bela."

Her sister was the only thing she had left in the world, but even she didn't know the whole story. To Bela, she was still Devinn, the older sister she never really knew growing up but always wanted to be like. Jezika swore that she wouldn't let her innocent sister follow in her footsteps. It was her one goal in life. To keep her out of trouble. That's why the pair came to Aleris. Heading to the bathroom, Jezika thought back to the previous night and the talk she had with her sister. Jezika was a fighter, she always had been. A good soldier and a good warrior. Things had happened that strayed her path, but she did what she could to get back in the right direction.

The letter was set on the vanity as Jezika sighed. Stepping into the dark room, a candle was lit and she stared at herself in the mirror. The scar across her left eye was a reminder of her past. Among other things, it was sign of things that were to be revealed in time. Something wasn't right, and Jezika could feel it.

But ehat exactly the feeling was, Jezika couldn't put her finger on and that disturbed her more than anything. History seemed to repeat itself, and that was a vicious circle that Jezika wanted no part of.

Post originally by Character_Jezika

-The night before-

"Bela, I think I sold my soul to the devil to get back to the beginning.."

"Devinn, no talking like that. You know better..."

"It's true, B. I don't feel right. I have to wonder if I even had a soul to begin with. Something's wrong.. Something's.... missing." Devinn was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed and Bela was laying on the bed itself. Much to Devinn's surprise, down came a petite hand and smacked her with a sizable amount of force right ontop of her head.

"There will be none of that! You know as well as I do that you have a soul. You're not a monster."

Devinn cringed, if Bela only knew. Devil or Demon, the two were one in the same to her. And Devinn didn't know what would be worse. "You have too much faith in me, I'm afraid. And my ex-husband may dispute the monster thing with yuo. I burned him pretty badly." Ducking down instinctively, Devinn curled her knees to her chest and rested her chin ontop. The thought of Morlis brought back the familiar pang of hurt to her heart. It was a pain that never would go away, and her eyes squeezed shut momentarily.

There was something dark roiling to life inside of Devinn. She had no name for it, but it was just as real as anything else. That's what scared her the most.

"You're a good person, Dev. I can feel it, and you know as well as I do that I very much doubt that he thinks you monster. You're just a bit...off. You know you are, you just have some ghosts to fight to make you see clearer. I know everything will be okay. You came home for me, did you not?"

A sigh racked Devinn's body as she looked up. "I'm really not that good, Bells..and thanks for the reassurance." She paused. " Yes, I did. But I had to..."

"No, you didn't have to. You chose to. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." Bela cut Devinn off with a wave of her hand, even though her sister couldn't see it. Bela wasn't Devinn's biological sister. More like they were found together and Devinn had no one else to bond to, so they became inseperable. Devinn took it upon herself to make sure that no harm ever came to Bela, which is why she left when she got older. Trouble followed Devinn, and she didn't want that trouble to befall on Bela. "Choices are ours to make. There is no such thing as a mistake. There are things you do and things you don't do...how many times have I told you that?"

"Too many." Devinn grumbled under her breath.

The chestnut haired girl leaned over the edge of the bed so she could look at Devinn upside down. "Cheer up, will you? You're depressing me.Besides, who knows what the future has in store for you. Maybe you'll talk to him again." A crooked grin curled upon the girl's features as she kissed Devinn on the forehead. Bela knew about the whole breakup, Devinn was blubbering about it when she found her. It had broken her heart, and that kind of thing doesn't go away easily.

"I'm tryin, B. I really am." Devinn smiled sheepishly and closed her eyes. Maybe she was just being over dramatic. Her lips parted for the sigh to seep from her throat. The tips of her canines were still pointed. A forever reminder of what she once was. A vampire. A demon.. something not normal. She wasn't any of those things anymore. Just a simple pyromancer. Mortal, but just barely.

"Keep it up. Now get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us in this new land."

"Uh huh. At least one of us know where we're at..." Devinn was dragged here by her sister. Pulling herself up off the floor, she climbed in the bed and sighed and curled herself in the covers. Though, it would be a long time until sleep stole her away. But she could feel Bela's arms curling around her like Devinn was a giant stuffed animal.

Maybe tonight, she could be..

Post originally by Character_Jezika

They had been on the road for so long that Jezika wasn't used to staying still. But Bela wanted to make this place her home, and Jezika would do what she had to to make it reality. Bela knew that Jezika didn't go by Devinn anymore, but she doesn't feel comfortable calling her anything else. So she let her continue on. It wasn't hurting anyone, and besides... Jezika didn't know anyone here that she knew before -- at least that she could see. They had only been here a day. So anyone finding out her birth name was slim to none. Not that she really cared, but that wuold just be one link to her only weakness that she just didn't want out in the open. Jezika had too many enemies to risk that kind of exposure.

Cleaning up, Jezika heard a sound as someone entered the room they had rented. "Bells?" She called out as she wrapped the towel around herself. Crimson tresses were plastered to her forehead from the bath she had just taken.

There was no responce.

"Bela?"

Nothing.

The air in the room got thick. Like something was taking up all the oxygen and leaving nothing behind. The feeling of doom and sadness lingered like something palpable. There was a faint pulse, a roil of energy. Shadows coiling on themselves like a pit of snakes. Jezika couldn't see them -- not yet. But she could feel them. Red pulsed behind her eyes and she knew something wasn't right.

Furrowing her brows, Jezika turned and headed out of the room, and before she even hit the door the sharp coppery smell of blood hit her nose and Jezika threw herself into motion and the scene that played before her eyes was something out of her nightmare. There was a figure on the bed, sprawled out spread eagle. Clothes torn to shreds and there was blood. So much blood. Her hand flew to her mouth to stop the bile from rising in her throat and her knees felt like they would collapse if she moved.

Her sister. Her perfect -- innocent sister laid dead and the sob caught in Jezika's throat as she looked around. "BELA!" She finally screamed and with all the courage she could muster, she moved shakily toward the bed and crawled upon the bloodied surface. Pulling the lifeless body onto her lap, she checked for any signs of life when she heard laughter in the shadows. Trying to hear where the sound came from, Jezika's sobs silenced.

Looking up, there was pain and fury in Jezika's honey eyes. "Who's there?!"

There was more laughing before the voice entered the air. It sounded like metal grating on metal, but with a slight teasing tone to it. "I told you.. We told you.." The voice hissed.

Jezika's back stiffened as she narrowed her tear filled eyes. The tears burned down her cheeks and caused a low growl to rumble in her throat. "You told me I had time! This is not time!" She hugged the body to her chest, knowing well that her sister was gone.

"We lied."

"I should have known...You piece of shit."

"Didn't anyone tell you not to trust a demon?"

"You gave me your word that I would have at least a year.. A year to do what you wanted me to and you would spare her!"

"Well, we've decided that you were too much of a flight risk and came to collect early. We gave you your life back. All nice and perfect like it was before. Something you would have never gotten back on your own. But we can see what's in your heart. You were running -- you were taking her away. We told you not to try anything stupid.." The figure didn't show itself, its voice just swirled around the shadows of the bloodstained room.

"Bastard. I'll kill you all.."

"We're all around you. Good luck with that. Maybe now you'll know not to mess with fate. You should know all about fate."

"Fuck you."

"You wish." The voice laughed again and the shadows pulsed like a heartbeat. "We'll be seeing you. Believe me, we're not done with you yet.."

As soon as the demons came, they were gone and Jezika was left alone in the room with her now dead sister. A couple of labored breaths and Jezika looked around with tears in her eyes. Her lips parted and she sounded as if she was going to hyperventalate before the heart-wrenching sound of the sob broke the silence. Brushing her hand over Bela's matted hair, as she rocked them both on the bed. Eyes squeezed shut she murmured over and over, "What have I done? Oh Gods, what have I done?"

Post originally by Character_Jezika

Time ticked by. Minutes seemed like hours and Jezika didn't know what to do. The body, she was hoping for some sign of life. Maybe the demons were playing with her. They liked to toy with people. But she knew the truth. She told Bela that she was no good. That something was wrong. Why wouldn't her sister believe her?

It was all her fault.

Trying to get her sister to safety had turned into her demise and that was something Jezika would never forgive of herself. Of all the people she had killed, all the people she hurt. This one hurt her the most -- well, that wasn't entirely true. Being severed from Morlis hurt the worst.. She never bargained for Bela's life -- she would never put that on the line. She bargained for her own and the demon used Bela as collateral. Something Jezika should have seen. Her sister's safety blinded her. If she were stronger, she could have saved her.

If she weren't such a fuck up, none of this would have happened. "Stupid! I'm so stupid.." Jezika growled through gritted teeth.

It really was all Jezika's fault. The sobs quieted as she was lost in the thoughts. Her eyes closed as she went over in her mind. Everyone she had screwed over. Karma really was a bitch, and maybe this was payback. Trying to protect something so bad went so wrong. And this time, she had no one to ask for help. No one to make the pain go away. She was all alone -- Again.

It was the reason she had abandoned Bela in the first place. She didn't want anything to happen to her. She knew that it was for the best that she wasn't a part of her life. But fate had the way to bring the two together in the most unconventional of ways. After she left her life behind, she was lost and scared. It was Bela who found her nearly dead in the ruins of an old temple. How Bela recgonized her was something Jezika didn't quite understand being that Jezika had undergone so many changes since she last saw her. But Bela knew, and she nursed her back to health and told her of a new place where they could settle and find new lives. Jezika stupidly kept her past from Bela.. and it got her killed for it.

She strived so hard to be normal, and finding that she lost her only link to the 'normal' world.

Sitting in the pooling blood, Jezika finally saw how her sister had been killed. Her heart ripped violently from her chest as were her eyes. The demons collected the eyes to get the souls, she knew that much. The sorow slowly boiled to rage and that rage was going to blind her if she didn't calm down soon. Never having to have suffer alone in this kind of pain, it was almost unbarable. And she only had herself to blame. If Jezika could go back, she would have never left the life she had. And in that, she wouldn't be looking at her dead sister. For once she had been happy, an emotion that was long gone now.

With wobbly arms, she scooped up Bela's body and placed her on the blanket that had covered the bed, and she wrapped her up carefully, trying not to hurt her even in death. Crouching on the floor, the towel was soaked in blood as was most of her body. No help was coming, she had no one to call for, no one to turn to. And it was no one's fault but her own.

Closing her eyes, she looked up and out the window as the sun nearly blinded her, but right now it was something Jezika would welcome. Eternal darkness.

Post originally by Character_Jezika

Jezika had been the victim for so long and it was about to change. There was something bubbling up inside of her as she calmly went back to the bathroom to slip some clothes on. To her, she had to do something to stop this, to make it right. No matter what, these creatures had to be stopped. Before all the changes, and all the transformations, Jezika had a rather large power base. She could summon things and control things she once thought was impossible. Everyone in her life contributed to what she could do, the doors that were opened to opportunities.

It was one good thing she could thank the people in her past for.

Not bothering to clean the blood off just yet, she wanted to get Bela somewhere safe so she could bury her properly. Besides, moving the body would result in more blood. Her only regret in life was severing the tie that bound her to Morlis. She could use the help direly, especially since she didn't have to be near him. That and she kind of missed him. But, that ship had sailed and she had been stupid and brainwashed. She figured he hated her and never tried to contact him. Though she did keep what she could that he had given her. Maybe someday the bridges could be mended. Maybe. Though given Jezika's luck, she didn't think so. She'd acted brashly and very stupidly. It was something she regretted with every fiber of her being. The only thing in her life she's ever regretted.

At least she admitted to her downfalls.. sometimes.

"I'm sorry, Bells.." She whispered as she kissed her sister's forehead and covered the body up and stood to pull her hair back away from her face. With the scarlet tresses away from her features, the scar was clearly noticable. It stretched from above the center of her left brow, down over her eye and half way down her cheek. It was a wound that had a story -- a story she'd never told. But it was the one wound she couldn't glamour away. So she didn't even waste the effort.

Remembering that they just had the horses, Jezika sighed and decided that being out in public like this would raise too many eyebrows. Taking the time to clean up again, she was soon on her way out of the room and asked the stablehand for her horse. When recieved, she mounted the steed and rode the way Bela showed her that more people would be. She needed information, and she needed it now.