Once It Gets Dark Ch. 04

~~~~~~ Please check out the previous chapters before reading this one. There is no sex in this chapter, and it contains descriptions of war and violence, that might be disturbing to some readers. Please take care of yourselves.~~~~~~~

Something was wrong. I woke up with a distinct feeling of dread, the cause of which I couldn't place. My room was completely dark and it took a second until I remembered what had happened. My heart was racing, as the details came rushing back at me. Had that been real?

Yes, it definitely had: Between my thighs, I could still feel a dull soreness and the stickiness of his seed.

And of course there was the other proof: The solid Veril soldier resting to my left, I could perceive the warmth of his presence at my side even though I didn't dare looking over to him.

My head was spinning and at that moment I realized what had woken me up: It was the sound of the elevator. A faint but distinctive hum, that would probably have been unnoticeable to me, had I not lived in my building for a while. How long had I been asleep? Probably not very long. The night outside of my window looked as deep and dark as before. The fact that the street lights had been switched of, indicating that it must be past midnight.

The elevator doors opened downstairs and I sensed the warrior next to me tensing up, the sheets underneath him rustling just slightly at his movement.

So he had heard it, too -- damn the Veril's sharp senses!

The humming grew louder, as the elevator was returning upstairs. Who dared to come home in the middle of the night, in times of the unofficial curfew under the Veril rule? Certainly not a woman. My heart dropped to my stomach.

'Please don't stop on this floor, please don't stop on this floor!' I repeated this mantra over and over in my mind, but to no avail as the humming stopped next to my apartment.

The soldier let out a low hiss of disapproval. It was barely audible but made ice cold dread run through my veins.

I turned towards him and placed my hand on the tense muscles of his arm, trying to placate him, the lines of his strange tattoo-like markings glowing very faintly under my fingers.

"Ren...," I started, but my tongue stumbled over his name and the strange feeling it was evoking in my heart. My eyes had gotten used to the darkness by now and I could make out the contours of the Veril's beautiful face. His eyes were shut close and his mouth was pressed into an angry line of frustration.

The elevator doors opened with a *pling*.

His voice was low but menacing with suppressed anger, as he opened his golden eyes and locked them with mine, "You said nobody would be here tonight."

It felt like the air in the room had shifted, growing charged with the danger of him. Like summer heat before a thunderstorm.

Hoping that I might be able to calm him down, I tried to explain, "My roommate was supposed to be visiting his parents over the weekend. I thought he wouldn't be back until Sunday."

I could feel myself instinctively recoiling from the burning anger behind his gaze, his eyes stayed fixed on mine as if he was trying to read me.

The sound of steps approached our apartment door, followed by the jingling of keys. Shit, shit, shit!

"Please wait!" I implored.

But he had already gotten up. It was an eerie movement that I had never seen him make before. My blood froze. It was too fast to be human, making it almost look like a glitch in a video game. I had not known the Veril were able to move with this kind of speed and seeing him do it filled me with a primal type of terror I had not known up until now.

It reminded me that he was utterly alien, and for the first time I really grasped, that I didn't have the faintest understanding of what powers he possessed, that these powers might be much bigger and more terrible than what I had suspected. I could practically feel the room crackling with them. Despite the moments of what had almost seemed like real intimacy, we had shared before, I knew virtually nothing about him and his kind, and I realized that I would be a fool to expect human morals or empathy to mean anything to him.

Without a sound Ren had taken his weapon belt from the back of my chair and put it on. At some moment he must have also dressed himself but I didn't know if he had done it just now or while I had been asleep. He was again in his uniform, the leather armor strapped around his broad chest and shoulders. The light of a passing car outside reflected on his short, jet black hair and on the golden embroidery of the red band around his arm. He had a calm and determined look on his noble features, deadly and beautiful, like the god of war himself. Had I really shared several orgasms with this man -- with this being? Was I really pregnant from him? The idea seemed unreal at the moment.

For a second it was like I was paralyzed -- but then I gathered all of my courage and jumped out of my bed stepping next to him.

If you lie, they die. I had not forgotten that he had warned me about somebody interrupting us and there was no doubt in my mind that he was capable of making his threat come true.

My stomach twisted as I begged him, "He is not dangerous, Ren. Please don't hurt him! He has nothing to do with this."

I looked up at him, my fingers digging into the leather straps around his arm -- as if I could hold him back, as if he couldn't brush me away like I was a fly on his sleeve.

Tim, my roommate, must have heard my voice while he was taking his shoes off in the corridor.

In a low voice, trying not to stir me in case I was asleep, he asked in German, "Are you still awake?"

Ren gave me an exasperated look, that might have been comical in any other situation but at this moment only terrified me. With movement full of deadly grace, he drew his scimitar, holding it in one hand as if it was light like a feather.

"No!" I whispered desperately, trying to keep my voice as low as possible so I wouldn't draw more attention to us, even though I wanted to scream. I tugged on his arm, but he might as well have been a brick wall, as little did he budge.

"Anna?" Tim asked louder now, and I could see the door handle to my room move.

Of course my dresser was still blocking the entry so it only opened to a tiny slit, the light from the corridor brightening up my surroundings a little bit. I couldn't help but admire the military precision and foresight with which the Veril had secured my room.

"Are you fucking him?" Ren asked me out of nowhere. His eyes were clouded with anger and something else, as he looked down at me. He was so close our chests were almost touching and it was like I could feel the threat he posed prickling on my naked skin, as if it was physically palpable.

I was so taken aback by his sudden accusation, that I couldn't help but huff out an incredulous laugh, "What?"

He didn't respond and just kept fixating me with his intense stare, demanding an answer.

Very slowly, as to not infuriate him even more I said, "You just took my virginity."

Ren gave me a sharp look, "Do men have the habit of going in and out of your room in the middle of the night?"

Normally I would have gotten angry. This was ridiculous on so many levels, but I was too worried about what the Veril warrior could do to my friend.

"No Ren, Tim is just...," I started, but was unfortunately interrupted by my roommate calling out to me in German.

"Anna, what is going on? Are you ok? Why is the door blocked?" he pushed against the door again.

Ren closed his eyes in annoyance it seemed like he was praying, to whatever twisted gods the Veril worshipped, to grant him enough patience so he wouldn't cut Tim's head off right away. He gave the door a disgusted look and leaned down to me, the hand with his blade thankfully pointing away from my naked body, towards the corridor.

"Listen to me closely now, mishtz'in. If you value the life of this human," he spat the word out like it was the most disgusting of slurs. "You will, for once, obey me. When I open this door you will stay behind me. You will not move, unless I tell you to. You will not speak, unless I tell you to.

I do not intend killing your roommate, but rest assured that I will not hesitate to do so if I have to."

I was shaking my head in disbelief, "If you have to? You don't have to kill anybody!"

Ren's face was unmoved, as he responded. "I am not in a joking mood. You have broken your word, and the only reason that this," he gestured vaguely towards the door. "human is still alive, is because of my infinite benevolence. Do you understand, what is going to happen, if you disobey me?"

A warrior who is used to giving commands. I could practically feel the strength of his will pressing into me, urging me to comply.

"I understand," I answered, my voice was low and my hand was still resting lightly on his arm.

"Good," he replied. "Then the first thing you will do is tell your friend that you are fine, so he will shut the fuck up."

I cleared my throat, not daring to give the Veril the retorts that were running through my head, out of fear that he might take it out on my roommate.

Trying to keep my voice steady I spoke in German, "Tim? Everything is good, I'm doing fine, okay?"

My words seemed to have had the contrary effect of what I intended, convincing him that I was not doing fine at all, because I could hear the fear in Tim's voice, as he asked, "What the hell is going on, Anna? Why don't you open the door?"

Ren let out a long and impatient curse in Veril, the hissing sounds of his native language making ice cold fear run down my spine, and addressed my roommate, "Human, take five steps back from the door. Now." I had thought he had been stern when he spoke to me before but now his voice had taken a tone that I had not heard him use before, he sounded exactly like a military commander and it was terrifying and seemed to have the desired effect.

"Scheiße!" I heard Tim breathe out at hearing the Veril's voice, and soon there were sounds of him stepping away from the door.

One, two, three, four ... five. I realized I was still naked and quickly grabbed an oversized shirt that I had left lying on the floor the morning before, it seemed like an eternity ago.

Ren looked at me, his eyes wandering slowly down my abused body and up again.

The sight of me seemed to brighten his mood a little bit, as he said with a suggestive smile playing around the corners of his lips, "Let us see if your roommate enjoys seeing the state I have left you in, as much as I do."

Despite my annoyance at his remark, I could not help but feel a slight tingle between my legs as I admired his beauty, the attractiveness of his symmetrical features somehow enhanced by the contrast of the long scar on the left side of his face. I glared at him.

He took my chin in his hand forcing me to face him and said with a calm voice, "You can give me that look all you want, mishtz'in, you can think me a demon or a monster, but you will obey me now, if you value your friend's life.

I will not have the woman carrying my child put in danger, and therefore you will do as I say without question, or else I will have to eliminate the threat -- am I understood?"

I looked at him incredulously, "In danger? From Tim? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You have no idea what I have seen human men do to women when they think their honor has been tainted, mishtz'in. So am I understood?"

"Yes," I answered while I kept glaring at him.

He gave me a short nod and let go of my chin, my knees were shaky and I didn't know if it was out of fear or because, for some inexplicable reason, I still felt drawn to him.

"Tim!" Ren shouted, doing a particularly bad job at pronouncing the name, which I supposed was on purpose considering his otherwise remarkable English. "Stay put and raise your hands, I will open the door now." He maneuvered me behind his broad back in one smooth movement.

"Okay," My roommate's voice was a little higher than usual.

His scimitar still drawn, Ren pushed the dresser away, as if the solid wood was nothing but cardboard and opened the door.

As he stepped into the light of the corridor, my roommate let out a short blood curdling scream. It was a primordial sound of pure panic.

Glancing around Ren's silhouette I could see that Tim was stumbling backwards until his back hit the wall behind him. His face was as pale as a ghost and his blue eyes stared wide open and without blinking at the warrior. Even his dark blonde hair looked disheveled. He pressed his back against the wall behind him and raised his arms. But before he did so, I saw how he quickly shoved something in the back pocket of his jeans -- it looked like a black beanie. For a moment I wondered what he had needed that for -- it was the end of June, and the asphalt of the city stored the summer heat, so the temperatures only sank slightly at night, definitely no weather for a wooly hat.

"Where are you coming from, human?" the Veril demanded. He was in a fighting stance, his feet slightly parted and the blade pointing at my roommate. The air was dense with threat of his magic and his powerful build was dwarfing Tim's slender figure.

My friend was shaking all over his body and I couldn't help but feeling a little proud of myself, for not having lost my nerves like him, when I had seen the Veril for the first time.

"Let her go," my roommates voice was trembling like the rest of him and I my heart filled with warm affection for Tim, who was asking for me, even though he was literally scared to death.

Ren did not seem to be moved like I was. I could see his muscles tensing up, then he took a quick step forward, the blade now only a few centimeters away from Tim's face. My friend whimpered.

"Answer my question, human, or I will take you to the Base and interrogate you myself," Ren hissed.

"I was at my parent's house," Tim answered quickly. "I wanted to stay the whole weekend, but I had a fight with my father and left early." He seemed to have composed himself a tiny bit and added, "Let Anna go, she's innocent."

Ren chuckled. "Not anymore. I made sure of that," his voice was ringing with cruel amusement and I felt my face heating up in anger and embarrassment.

"Please let me see her to check if she needs help," Tim's voice was almost a whisper.

The Veril seemed to consider this for a moment then he said, "Keep your arms up if you want them to stay attached to your body." And gestured for me to come closer.

I stepped into the hallway, giving Tim an awkward wave and smile, trying to reassure him that I was okay, without breaking Ren's order to stay silent. We just needed to get this over with, without any incident and then, hopefully the soldier would leave, like the Treaty demanded.

My roommate's eyes widened, when he took me in, and I realized that I must look terrible.

My grey oversized t-shirt barely covering my ass, was doing little to hide the bruises the Veril soldier had left on my legs and wrists. The insides of my thighs were still sticky with his seed and my blood. Tim gaped at my face, the glowing mark on my cheek proving with all certainty what had happened.

"Scheiße," he muttered again. And asked me in German, "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head no, feeling like I was playing the dumbest game of charade, because not speaking made everything seem even worse than it already was. Tim definitely seemed to be very alarmed, and his worry for me had apparently given him some courage.

He glared at Ren. "What did you do to her?" he said in English.

The Veril gave a low laugh, "What I do or not do with my prize, is none of your concern, human." Ren spit the last word out like it repulsed him to hold it on his tongue.

Tim's lips curled in disgust, "Do you even care what this will mean for her? What people will do when they find out?" He shook his head in disbelieve, his blue eyes were shooting daggers and I was relieved to see that he had recovered from his shock.

"But I guess this is the least of the things that you have on your conscience. I bet that half of Hamburg is being forced to birth your spawn already. I really hope nobody here saw you with her!"

I inhaled sharply -- had he lost his mind? Why was he provoking the mad soldier, who was just centimeters away from cutting his throat? I thought I could feel the room crackle with his anger. But I also couldn't help but wonder why Tim thought that it mattered if somebody had seen us? The mark on my face would make it clear to everybody what had happened anyways.

I kept feeling like there was some aspect of their exchange, that I didn't grasp, some information I wasn't picking up on.

My thoughts were interrupted by Ren.

"Watch your tongue, human, and remember who you are speaking to."

The Veril had closed the distance between Tim and him with one of those inhumanly fast movements. I covered my mouth in horror and confusion, afraid to make the smallest sound, that might instigate Ren to hurt my roommate. I felt like all air had left the apartment. The point of the blade now lay lightly against my roommate's throat. There was not the slightest tremble in the warrior's controlled movements and I had no doubt, that, if he wished to, he could end all of us in seconds. My stomach twisted, as I started to question if we were still going to get out of this.

I had to do something, but what? I wanted to scream but I was afraid, that this would just provoke the soldier even more.

So instead I decided to whisper. Just a hint of a sound so faint that no human ear could have heard it, but the Veril's ears could.

It was just this one word, "Kuchun." -- 'Please' in Veril.

Ren stiffened, and then -- to my surprise -- took a step back and looked at me. The arm with his scimitar still stretched out towards Tim's throat. I couldn't read the expression on the Veril's face, as he studied me, like he was debating something in his head.

"Kuchun," I mouthed the word again, my heart was racing.

After what seemed like an eternity, even though it had probably only been seconds, he gave me a stern nod, his face full of calm resolve now. Ren stepped back even further, and lowered his blade.

I couldn't believe it, and apparently Tim couldn't either.

My roommate breathed out the air he had been holding in the whole time, and in relieve, he murmured, "Who would have thought, that General Tsul Vo'ren has a heart after all."

It took a while for his words to register, their meaning sinking in slowly, as if my brain was wrapped in fog.

General Tsul Vo'ren -- the Butcher of Hamburg who, in one night, had eliminated all the men of an entire city, including a large portion of the Bundeswehr, our army. The following morning, the only humans that had been left alive in Hamburg, were the women and children. My head started spinning out of control.

Like every German, I had seen the horrible video that had been broadcasted on every news channel and every social media platform after the doomed night of the Twelfth of January.

The recording had started with a message from Suchil Tem, the Veril Head Counselor,

"People of Germany, Hamburg has fallen. Surrender now, or we will send General Tsul Vo'ren and the Kirtim Shenk to Berlin."

The video then switched over to a recording of the Rathausmarkt, the square in front of Hamburg's city hall -- it was completely filled with the bodies of the men and soldiers who had been killed that night. Piled on top of one another in the square and floating in the river. Thousands of them. And upon this carnage, more terrible than any nightmare, stood General Tsul Vo'ren, like the devil himself who had risen straight out of hell to bring about the apocalypse. He was covered in blood, old and new, a horrible open gash running down one side of his face. But the worst part were his eyes: Solid black and completely devoid of humanity. To the General's feet kneeled our Minister of Defense.