Bride To His Darkness

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"I– I can wash myself." Samantha quietly protested when Ivan grabbed the towel and moved to the edge of the tent where the basin was kept. Lucy had been thoughtful enough to place the wide basin at the farthest corner of the dome structure, away from the thick, wide cotton fabric spread she assumed was going to be their temporary sleeping bag.

"Come here." Ivan extended both his hands, his voice a soothing melody that she couldn’t bring herself to resist. She approached where he stood, receiving his hand and allowing him pull her effortlessly into his embrace. Just that one simple, affectionate gesture nearly brought tears to her eyes again, and it wasn’t because he was hugging her– she was afraid of what would happen to her mental health if she suddenly woke up and realized his presence was nothing more than a dream again.

"I’m here now, allow me to take care of you from here onwards." He murmured, and Samantha said nothing against it.

Helping her undress, Samantha knelt on the rug and gazed at the basin in front of her. The water inside shimmered in the lantern light, and she could vividly see the blood that stained her face, including her hands. She wasn’t oblivious to the dried blood on her skin, but seeing her own unrecognizable reflection, memories of how she had killed those men flooded her mind, but she gave herself a mental shake, refusing to let the scene traumatize her as it did in her past life.

Her heart sped when she looked at her bloody hands, and images of how she had used them to attack Ivan resurfaced vividly, but the traumatizing event was cut short when Ivan wiped off the bloodstain from her hands. For a moment, she felt a surge of relief having gazed at the natural glow of her skin beneath, but it didn’t last long as more devastating moments kept filling her head, and she couldn’t stop herself from saying.

"I wish you hadn’t come."

Those words slipped out of her mouth before she could decide to bite her tongue, and she felt Ivan pause in his cleaning, as if her statement had shocked him to the bones, but then again, Samantha knew she was speaking her mind. When she lifted her head to look into the crimson eyes of Ivan, there was a surge of guilt that took over, as if convincing herself that she was the reason behind the hidden sadness in his eyes.

"You shouldn’t have come for me." She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "look at me, all I do is bring harm to everything and everyone around me. Alistair is no more because of me, Alain’s life was in danger because of me. Viney is in a deep coma because of me. You had to leave GreenHollow to come find me, risking the lives of your people and I... I don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger anymore. It’s too much for me to deal with and I don’t know how much of it I can bear!"