Unforgiven

Aria awoke suddenly, ripping herself back to reality by pure terror. She sat up, shaking herself slightly, rubbing her arms and trying to actively rid herself of the images that still remained firmly in her mind.1

“Bad dream?” came a smooth, man’s voice from the other side of the room. Her eyes shot up to look at where the voice had come from and pulled the bed covers up around her body. In the half-light orange glow from the street lamp outside, she could just make out a slim and perfectly proportioned man, arms folded with dark hair streaming down over his shoulders and down his back, and eyes glittering with an almost…. Aria struggled to find the right word to describe to herself what she saw in his eyes, and eventually settled uneasily on daemonic. She knew that there was something else odd about him, but in her still half-asleep mind, she couldn’t quite tell herself what it was.2

“What are you doing here? She asked, “who are you, how did you get in?” The man smiled again, and this time, the word daemonic flashed through her mind of its own accord.3

“Full of questions tonight, aren’t we,” he said, completely at ease, with even a touch of amusement in his voice. “I’m here to see you, Aria,” he said quietly, but in the silent room, Aria had no trouble with hearing what he said, and the words sent a shiver down her spine. “I’ve missed you, you see, it’s been far too long since we last met…. As for who I am, that doesn’t matter for now, and as to how I got in, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”4

He watched Aria in silence for a few moments, as his answers sunk into her sleep-clouded mind. When she had finally digested what he said, she said slowly, “I have no idea who you are…”5

His eyes flashed over her, and he said near-silently, “ah,” a tone of annoyance in his voice. “I see it was foolish for me to have disturbed you at this time in the morning, and for this, my Lady, I apologize.” He bowed deeply, a serious expression on his face, but once he had straightened up, Aria saw that it had transformed into a grin.6

Without any kind of warning, he strode over to her bedside, and crouched down so that his face was on a level with hers.7

She began to back away from him, but then somewhere inside her, she felt a deep recognition, and the wariness that she had felt since waking up, melted away into an odd contentment.8

He smiled a brilliant smile at her, teeth flashing in the orange glow, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You should go to sleep now,” he said quietly, and pushed her gently back down to the bed. Even as he said it, Aria could feel the soft warm release of untroubled sleep sliding over her body. She could just about hear the man say, “I will speak to you at another time that will probably be more convenient for you, and so for now, I bid you adieu.” As his words faded into silence and she could feel tendrils of darkness claiming her once more, she knew that he had gone. Resignedly, she let herself fall back towards oblivion, but one last thought struggled to the surface before she could let go; ‘he had wings…’9