Under My Skin Ch. 06

Aksana squeezed her eyes shut tight against the memory of watching from within her prison as Fabian stepped into his circle and started the chant to begin the ritual that would tap into the magical forces that made her who and what she was.

She shivered as she remembered the room they had been in growing colder as Fabian tapped into his necromancer power. As he did a dark purplish mist began to grow at his feet and slowly crawl over to where she was bound. The mist inched its way to her until it soon touched her feet. Aksana whimpered at the memory of how her body had spasmed and her muscles had grown taut. The cold fire that had spread through her body as the mist rose higher was still palpable in her mind's eye.

Everywhere it touched her skin turned cold and her body went numb. As the spell stole her essence from her body and replaced it with emptiness. Aksana felt a cold within that she had never felt before. It was endless, fathomless nothingness inside her. So cold... the chill gnawing at her demanding to be sated though she feared it never could.

Fabian's chanting grew louder and changed in flow. The dark mist changed direction taking with it a large piece of Aksana's soul with it. The mist crept back toward Fabian and then as slowly as it did her it engulfed him. However, unlike her Fabian cried out in exultation. His body quivering with the power of her soul. He focused the mist until it traveled down his arms to his hands where it became a concentrated sphere of energy.

Fabian ended the containment spell that held Aksana in the circle. Bereft of much of her life force, she collapsed to the floor. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was the sight of Fabian channeling her soul...her essence and his into the mask he'd chosen as his phylactery.

Aksana's rest was short lived. Her eyes were soon forced open by Fabian's binding spell as he commanded her to go with him on another nightly hunt with him. That night as they hunted Fabian heard the giggle of children and followed the sound. He spied a family gypsies lost in the forest around his stronghold.

The leader of the group having heard legend of a man who controlled the dead knew what his family faced so he pleaded for Fabian to show mercy. Cruel as he was, Fabian heard none of the man's pleas and commanded her to feast upon every last man, woman, and child. A prisoner of his dark magic, she had no choice but to obey.

Cold tears streamed down her face as she ripped and tore into each one of them as her puppet master had ordered. Feeding upon their wounded bodies until all of them lay lifeless on the ground. She could hear Fabian's cries of praise as he watched her slaughter them all.

When they returned to Fabian's stronghold, Aksana prayed to the Night Mother from within her mind to end her life and spare her a moment more enslaved by the depraved necromancer. Aksana waited, but only silence answered. As many more murderous nights blended all together, she gave up hope that anyone had heard her prayers and resigned herself to her fate.

Then something happened.

When Aksana rose from her sleep one night, she felt different. Her body was not burdened with Fabian's control. She could move freely about. Her mind was no longer her prison! She cried tears of joy as she used her first free steps to run out of the fortress and into the cold night. Had something broken Fabian's control? She was not sure. All that mattered to her in that moment was that she was free, and she would use her freedom to get as far away from that place and Fabian as quickly as she could.

During those first few days of running, she traveled under the cover of night and slept in graves or holes she dug herself.

Aksana was careful to avoid humans for she feared running into another like Fabian or one of his disciples. She followed in the wake of caravans and travelers, always staying on the outskirts of any colony or settlement.

Aksana heard rumors of a supposed necromancer wearing a leather mask had been betrayed by one of his followers and arrested by church authorities. After many cautious inquiries she learned he had been sentenced to death and burned at the stake in the small town of Salem.

Aksana wanted desperately to believe he was dead, but she remembered the mask and did not believe death would stop someone like Fabian. Every night she expected to see Fabian riding through the darkness to come claim her again, to force her once more into submission and command her to do every corrupt and depraved thing his monstrous mind could imagine just because he had the power to do so, but he never did. Nights turned into months which turned into years until finally, she came to believe that the nightmare was finally over.

With her clan destroyed and no support from the towns she was near, Aksana chose to go underground and sleep until the world became a better place for her kind. When she finally awoke decades had turned the small town she had slept under to a city full of concrete pathways, electric carriages and giant man made structures that reached toward the heavens. It took her many years to adjust to the advances man had made, but slowly she once again created a life for herself.

The fire crackled and snapped her from her reverie. That had been at least fifty years ago. She shivered and rose from where she sat. Things were much different now. Especially since she'd learned to thrive in the new age with humans. She lived among them practically a princess, especially now that she had come upon her own pet in Dustin.

Aksana shuddered and frowned deeply at the reminder of having to send him away. His innocence and submission had for a time kept her emptiness at bay. However, now with what she felt was surely Fabian's resurgence, she could not risk Dustin getting caught in the web of her past. She hoped that her pet would be alright.

Aksana promised herself she would come for him soon, but for now she needed to gain knowledge to either put her fears to rest or to prepare for the worst. Inwardly, she vowed to never be Fabian's slave again.

Quietly , she moved through the corridors under the house, coming to a secret exit only she knew about. She needed to find out more about what was going on around town. There had to be a connection between what she'd felt in her chambers and the ghoul she'd rescued Dustin from. The crisp autumn air greeted her as she drifted from shadow to shadow hiding from the midday sun as she went through town.

* Megeara had just about given up for the day. She had been to the library, two grocery stores and even the local comic shop trying to find anything of Dustin's whereabouts and come up with nothing. Her heart sank as she thought about their last time together.

Dustin had spent the night over her place for dinner. They had ended up cuddling on the couch together and talked about what they wanted in life and the future.

That night seemed like a lifetime ago now that he had gone missing and all her attempts to locate him so far had failed. She sighed and leaned back in her seat as her car sat mired in afternoon traffic. The sun's glare angled into the window forcing her to pull down the visor on the driver side so she could see. Traffic seemed very bad that day. Vehicles moved inch by inch.

"Oh! Come on!" she hissed in frustration. A car behind her honked on its horn. What is causing everyone to go so slowly? Megeara leaned out her driver side window to try and see ahead. She could barely see much over the tops of the cars, but it was clear something had everyone stopped in their tracks. Horns from different cars blared in disdain.

She was just about to honk her own horn just to have something to do when she saw someone up ahead walking across the lane. It was a male dressed in light blue denim jacket and jeans. He was walking very slowly, like he was sleeping or something.

She growled, "Figures some nut thinks its ok to cross midday traffic. Wait! Didn't Dustin dress something like that?" She thought. Her heart skipped a beat as she leaned out to get another look at the guy, but he was too far away to see clearly. She bit her lip trying to decide what to do. What if it was him?

Much to the disgruntlement of those drivers behind her, she got out quickly and ran up towards the man walking across the traffic. As she ran by more people honked thinking she the reason for the delay. She ignored them and continued on until she was a few feet from him. Her heart fluttered as she saw the familiar hair, the jacket, his skinny arms and his familiar gait. She found him!

Not thinking, she rushed over to him crying out his name and hugging Dustin tightly around the neck and held him there. He stopped walking as she held. She squeezed him tightly and was so delighted to find him that it did not at first register that he had not responded to her. She frowned.

"Dustin? It's me, Meg!" she said as she released her stranglehold on him and looked into his eyes. He just seemed to be staring straight ahead with a blank look on his face. It was if he did not see her or hear her at all. What was going on? Was he ignoring her?

"Dustin! It's me, Megeara. Where have you been? I have been looking all over for you!" she said, getting worried when he still did not respond. Cars all around them honked their horns, but even that did not break him from his stupor. She frowned deeply and bit her lip.

"What's wrong with you? Are you mad at me?" she pleaded, beginning to feel hurt by how he was acting. He just stared off into space like there was no one home in his head. Her lip quivered as she felt tears beginning to burn behind her eyes.

"Dustin! Damn it! I love you! Please say... something!" her voice now warbled with tears as she shook him lightly by the arms.

She began sobbing in earnest as her outburst still did nothing. What was going on? This was not like him at all. Something was wrong. He was like a zombie.

Megeara bit her lip trying to get her emotions under control. A car horn honked and someone shouted for them to move. A part of her was so happy to have found him, but he was acting as if she wasn't even there. What was she supposed to do?

It hurt her to see him act this way. He was her best friend and more. She wanted him to acknowledge her... to do something... to say something. She loved him but he was not even recognizing her.

She was running out of ideas and patience and they were keeping dozens of cars idle. She needed to get him moving. God! She loved him so much. She begged, "Please say something!"

Nevertheless, he just stood there staring blankly. On impulse she leaned in and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. His eyes blinked and came into focus. She felt his hands grasp her wrists as she pulled away.

"Megeara... What? Where did you come from? Why are we in traffic?" he blinked in confusion as he snapped out of it.

Her answer came in the form of another kiss, harder than the first. She melted against him ignoring everything around them for several moments. When she finally broke the kiss both of them were breathless. Her cheeks were flushed red.

She grabbed his hand and tugged him back to her car. "Come on. We need to get you someplace safe. You can explain to me then where you have been and what happened to you."

Her tone was firm, no nonsense. He followed her back to her car and he got in. She shut her door then put the car in reverse and turned out of the lane and sped towards her apartment.

To be continued...