Allure

Part One



Prologue - Knife of Lust

"Before the story begins, is it such a sin, for me to take what's mine, until the end of time."

- Avenged Sevenfold - A Little Piece of Heaven



He was grinning ear to ear. His plan felt so right but he knew it was wrong, cold. To hold the one he loved for an eternity in her preserved youth. Not having to feel the pain of rejection and not have to worry for her safety. Finally, he'd have her all to himself. It would be his perfect little piece of heaven. The knife in his hand held tight under his knuckles as he hid in the shadows. He didn't dare look around, fearing the sight that would be sure to diminish his sadistic pleasure. Fear, never letting it get to him, but it was fear, that had gotten him here in the first place.

Glancing down at his shoes he suppressed the thoughts that held him in this hesitant state. His prize was just around the corner, a leap through empty space. He was going to win. The light reflecting off hilt of his knife caught his eye, carved with such intricacy revealing its ancient age. The etched patterns flowed from the handle onto his hand as he became one with his weapon.

He waited. Alert of every movement around him, waiting for her to make her final step. For her to walk straight into his arms of death. He twisted the blade to reflect an image of her lying in a soundless slumber. This may take a little longer than I expected, he thought to himself but she stirred. Giving a careless toss of her head, unaware of the danger anticipating behind the door.

When he thought he could wait no longer, she tossed once more and her eyes jerked open. Sudden and quick, as if remembering something she had forgotten. He withdrew his hand back to his side and braced himself for the soft footsteps that lead the girl to her death. With deliberate force he pushed his legs out in front of him and met the girl with his knife at his side, where she wouldn't see it until it was too late.

She let out a tiny gasp when she saw his face and tried to stop herself from colliding with him, her face was surprised but welcoming. The man faked a smile in return. Her mouth formed an 'o' as her legs failed to stop her and she fell forward and onto him. Fell onto the knife in the hand of the one she trusted most. Catching her with one hand on the shoulder blade he pushed the knife further into her stomach. The thick black eyelashes reflecting in her glassy eyes held him before he struck again. Like the branches of a tree hanging over a window during the night. Casting shadows of great scary monsters that play tricks on a child's imagination. The eyelids blinked, and he saw himself in the reflection. He was the monster.

The knife slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. Her eyes watched him non-believing as he lowered her to the ground. A choking sound bubbled from her throat as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. His selfishness had created this monster inside of him, blinding him so he could not see, set on creating an everlasting love.

"I love you too much," he whispered kneeling over her bleeding body, "to ever let you leave me."

Her throat gurgled again and coughed up blood, splattering his shirt with red specks. Fingers fumbling for the blade by his side, he found it and brought it down again and again until she let out a final sigh. It wasn't until that moment he noticed her hands clutching her stomach. Her lifted one delicate hand and underneath he saw the small bulge of a child growing.



* * *



From beyond the grave, carrying her unborn child she rose. Her stiff limbs ice cold, the slightest touch felt like they would snap like icicles. The taste of revenge was fresh on her lips as she looked around the familiar room. She lay on the bed and next to her lay her murderer, the one she trusted and fathered the child she now carried. The corners of her lips turned up. Suddenly remembering, her hands fell to the bump on her stomach, it had grown since she last touched it. Since she last felt the soft bump against her hand when the baby kicked. There was a faint thrumming against her palm from the babies heart.

As silent as a predator hunting her prey, her toes touched the floor. The silk gown flowed around her ankles like the ripples of a river. Her step was graceful and sure. In her old memory, she knew where she wanted to go. Her undead body glided down the hall ways in search of a weapon that could right the wrong her murder had set. Ravened she went to kitchen, stuffing anything from the fridge into her mouth but nothing seemed to fill her appetite. Hunger continued to tear at her stomach and she trailed back to the bedroom.

Inside the room was a loud crash. She paused at the door, slightly open. The mirror on her old dresser was just visible in the crack. There he stood in the middle of the room, anger flooding his eyes. She grinned wicked and wide, but her stomach growled, giving her position away. The sight of his face changed as his head shot towards the door. Eyes squinting in suspicion he stalked towards it, a hand hesitating over the handle. In her mind, she shouted the word run but she could not control the urge to stand there awaiting his reaction.

The handle pointlessly turned as the door was already open, and swung inward revealing a frightened man. No longer the monster but the helpless victim. His eyes, like two luminous light bulbs bulging out his face as came to sudden realization.

'Lili?' He breathed reaching towards her.

She smiled, stepping backward, he wasn't going to touch her yet. The light flicked on and she realized that he reached for the switch and not for her. As the light flooded into the room he saw how much her belly had grown, how much older, but more beautiful she looked. He began to think that he had imagined the past few weeks as she lay dead next to him every night.

The eyebrows on her forehead lowered, creasing in between. A smile played on her lips as she thought up her own plan, 'Yes?'

His face was scared but for some reason his eyes held relief. He opened his mouth but nothing came out for a good minute as he considered his words. Lili watched him patiently, as he had when waiting for her to wake and fall into his knife.

'How are you here?' His head shook with bewilderment.

As he turned to the left, he spotted the knife on the dresser. Lili's eyes followed.

'What do you mean?' Her smile, mysterious and seductive attracted his green eyes.

Her stomach growled again, then she knew what she hungered for.

Gracefully, she stepped forward and their lips met. With reluctant movements, he kissed her back and they began to fall backward. Her arm reaching behind for the knife on the dresser. With it between her fingers she pulled back, forcing sadness in her eyes.

"Why?" She asked, plunging the knife into his chest.

As if he expected it, one corner of his mouth lifted, it wasn't a happy smile but a smile of regret. His eyes dropped to her stomach and he saw why she had continued to age, why she was here. The knife.