Azrak

“Child,” Harvey responded, “I am the only one responsible for my desires. It’s not your duty to give me release when you are not even my mate.”

“But… You must be in pain…”

That gentle comment broke his heart. He was just hitting her. However, the first thing she had in her head once discovering his discomfort was trying to help.

Harvey sighed and cupped her face with his big hands, “Aikiz, sugar, I am not in pain. I am an adult. I know how to take care of such a thing.”

Aikiz’s face turned even redder. She shook her head, “But!”

“Shhh”

Harvey wiped her tears with his thumb and kissed her eyes to silence her, “I will be back in a minute. Wait for me.”

As Harvey got to the annex bathroom, Azrak mocked, “You’re gonna do it in a minute?! You’re that h*rny?!”

“You know I am not gonna m*sturbate. If I do, I will only think about her.”

“You are a fool.”

Harvey smirked, “I am.”

Harvey took his clothes off and ran a cold freezing shower. In a minute, his senses came back.

“Indeed, you are a fool,” Azrak repeated. “A noble fool.”

“A noble fool, you say?”

Gabreil prepared a hot bath and added some drops of lavender oil to it. He went back to Aikiz and brought her to the bathtub, holding her in his arms like a little princess.

“You have to take off your dress. It is too dirty.”

“Would you… look in the other direction?”

“Of course.”

Aikiz stripped and asked, “Is there any towel I can use to cover my body in water?”

“Get in the water to not catch a cold. I will ask Martha for towels.”

When he came back, with towels and a little box, Harvey found Aikiz almost asleep in the water. She looked so docile and fragile that he realised she couldn’t even bathe by herself.

“Aikiz.” He sighed “You are really a child.”

He sat by the tub and caressed her face gently.

She opened her eyes and murmured, “You didn’t only bring towels. What is inside that box?”

“Chocolate.”

Harvey fed her. He was gentle and soft, far away from the man who was spanking her so ruthlessly. Aikiz ignored the urge to think about his duality. She made the easy decision not to meet with his dark shadow again. Now, that shadow is her worst nightmare.

After bathing her and massaging her scalp with lavender shampoo, the girl relaxed. Harvey helped her to wear a warm nightgown and he put her in bed. Although she was sleepy as a sloth, she recognised the cloth, “Whose clothes are those?” The girl asked in a worried voice.

As he caressed her head to sleep, Harvey whispered, “It’s Mother’s.”

“That’s…”

“You left your clothes behind, I guess. In the future, I will buy you new clothes. For the moment, you can use Mother’s.”

“Thank you…”

Hypnotised by the safety his presence created, Aikiz closed her eyes and slept. Harvey kept watching her for sometime, asleep and serine. He kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear, “Be not afraid, child. Your master will take care of you. Your master will protect you.”

Aikiz had a nightmare. She was walking in a dark forest; “Is that a red cap that I am wearing? Am I… Red Riding Hood?”

Red Riding Hood wandered alone through the dark forest on her way to her grandmother's house. Suddenly, she heard a sinister howling sound that echoed through the trees. She tried to hurry along the path, but the howling grew louder and closer.

As she looked back, she saw two glowing blue eyes glaring at her from the shadows. It's the Big Bad Wolf, who has been stalking her all along. Red Riding Hood tried to run, but the blue wolf was too fast, and soon he was upon her.

The wolf grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into his lair, where she saw the remains of his previous victims strewn about. She realized too late that the sweet, caregiver figure she knew was actually the wolf in disguise, and she was trapped in his clutches.

Red Riding Hood tried to fight back, but the wolf was too strong. He revealed his sharp teeth and his intentions to devour her. She screamed for help, but there was no one around to hear her. In the end, she was devoured by the wolf.

It was morning when Aikiz woke up screaming, “I am no prey!”

The girl took a deep breath to calm down, then she looked around her to see a cup of milk and some butter biscuits by her bed. It must be Martha. 

“How sweet of her.”

When she was a child, Martha took care of Aikiz. She noticed that the girl always wakes up starving, so Martha had the habit of leaving a cup of honey milk and some biscuits by the child’s bed. Aikiz almost cried from happiness. She is back to her house, to the only place she can ever call home. Life may not get easier and probably, things will only get darker and more complicated. Yet, at least she is home! So it will be alright.

Aikiz took a deep breath. She felt a weight lifted off her shoulders and a sense of calm and ease replacing the tension and anxiety she was feeling before. She felt a sense of pride and accomplishment for having successfully defended her body in the difficult situation yesterday. In this moment of relief, she found her strength, again. 

“I may only have one match… but I can make an explosion!” Aikiz stretched happily and went to the balcony. Only to see Harvey hotly kissing Juliette in the garden… 

There, she realised that her happiness could only be an illusion.