When reading and collecting these pieces to organize and share, there's a lot of instances where, as I read something, the context or reason for why I've written it or what the concept was that inspired it to begin with slowly becomes clear. Especially with one-offs it takes a good deal of thought because most of the time I'm not familiar with their characters or story anymore. But usually it'll come back to me and I'll be able to explain to you who these characters are, why they're doing what they're doing, why I never returned to their story.
...I have no clue what this story is. I have no recollection of writing it, nor why it was written or even if there's any more of it to be found!
So, I present it to you mostly without comment. Titled initially as Never Better, it appears at face value to be a story of demons and past lives? But who's to say for sure. Interpret it as you will.
"Do not run, you are to be saved."
The voice, smooth yet rough, light despite its dark tones, rolled over the man, making him wish that he could accept what was being offered. There was no way, he couldn't be saved, he had done so much wrong, hurt so many people, not even all those people that he had managed to save could balance all the horrible things he’d done. So he did what he had come to do every time the white light reappeared, he ran.
"Rhys, please."
...Connor…
Two voices, two names, each pleading with him, each begging a different side of him to come out. His body felt torn into two as the voice continued to speak to him, even as he sprinted, running as far and as fast as he could, not wanting to be caught by the pure light that came for him every year.
...Rhys...
"Connor."
The man's voice was fading, taking the small comfort with it as well, though the second voice, that of a woman's, stayed, calling to him like everything else. The pitch black soon shifted to shadows, then to bright orange colors, making him groan in pain at the abrupt adjusting of his eyes.
"Connor! Wake up!" Snapped an irritated voice, one that the redhead knew far too well, one that he wished would just leave him alone this early in the morning. But he knew that he would have to get up soon, school would start and he would have to deal with another day of living in a world ruled by demons. Which really, really sucked. Connor quickly hopped out of bed and looked around his German home, making sure that everything was in the place that he had left it the night before. He tended to be slightly obsessive about where his stuff was, he could tell in a second if there was something out of place, and he was never happy about it.
When he glanced at the time, though, he realized how early it actually was, way earlier than he ever normally would, which bothered him because he barely got enough sleep as it was.
"Mom!" He called, looking around for the one who had just woken him up, curious as to why his parental figure would do something so cruel to him, only to find the entire house nearly empty. The only thing he found in his search was his guard dog Caissy, sniffing and growling at a closed doorway making Connor back away in surprise. Even though she was a guard dog, there weren't many things that made her snap and growl like that... only one thing actually. "Demons..." He whispered, amber eyes wide with fear, having never actually seen one before, he only knew of them and would prefer to keep it that way, in all honesty.
Something made him push open the door though, look through the small opening at the two men that had cornered his mother in the minute it had taken the redhead to get up. Amber eyes were wide as they watched, knuckles white as they gripped the snarling doberman's collar with everything he had and some he didn't even realize he possessed.
"Are you afraid~?" One of the men, one with spiky blonde hair and a wicked smile, asked as he leaned close to her, his voice cheery despite the obvious threat. She made no move, no emotion showing on her face, being the single, indepent woman she was, it would have injured her pride beyond repair for her to concede in that moment. "Well then, just answer me one thing, where is your son? Tell me and we can leave you to your life, without your son though of course."
Looking like she was actually considering the offer, she paused a second before spitting in the man's eyes, steeling herself for whatever the punishment for such a rebellion would be. She found out seconds later when her neck was snapped with the gentle wave of a hand, the blonde sighing in disappointment, seeming to wish that there was some kind of cooperation, "Find the boy, we can't have him leaving this house alive."
Connor was shaking on the other side of the door, eyes unable to believe what had just happened, right in front of him. His mother was dead, gone now, because she had been protecting him from whatever these creatures wanted, which was obvious actually. They wanted him to be dead as well, to be out of the way for some reason. Not that he would know, before that day he had never seen a demon live and in person before, but everyone knew of the seven princes and king. There was no one that didn't.
For a few seconds the teenage boy thought of just staying there and letting them kill him, at least then he would have been with his mother, but Cassie began to whine and growl, pulling at the hand he still had clutching her collar. It was his decision then that he would follow her and find someway out of this mess, the mess that he had no clue how he'd made. He'd just have to figure that out, in time, but, for now, he was on the run from one of the most powerfully connected creatures on earth.
That was the day that his life changed forever. Whether it was for the worst or better, he still isn't quite sure about that.