Master of Fire

"Demetri," Ember called out.

The half-faded ghost turned around and smiled at the halfling. She looked slightly shy under his piercing gaze and she pulled the covers around herself almost timidly.

"What is it?"

"Demetri, what if another demon comes?"

"There hasn't been one since that first," he said reassuringly. "I don't think anyone else knows we're here."

"Still," she said, lowering her eyes slightly, "I think I'd feel better if you stayed."

The ghost stopped and took a step forwards, the rest of his body materialising.

"Would you honestly feel safe if I was here?"

Ember held his eyes as she considered his question: After all he had done to her, how could she really trust him?

"I think so," she said finally.

"Really?" Demetri's eyes lit up with a hint of mischief. "You would feel safe with me watching over you while you slept?"

He began to walk over to the girl, watching the way she instinctively drew back into the nest of pillows.

"You would feel safe knowing that I was watching you sleep?"

He was at the foot of the bed now.

"Watching your breasts rise and fall with every breath?"

And now he was leaning over, gently pulling her face towards his by the hair bunched behind her neck.

"I would haunt your dreams, Ember," he said, his lips almost touching hers.

"I don't think I would mind that," she whispered.

Demetri smiled slightly and kissed her, climbing into bed at the same time. He caught her up in his arms and pulled her into his chest. He held her tightly as their lips met again and again, their tongues touching and twisting together for a few seconds each time.

Suddenly Demetri pulled away from the halfling and got off the bed.

"Come here, Ember," he said.

The halfling hesitated but slowly did as he asked. When she was standing in front of him, he reached out and slipped his shirt off her slim frame. His eyes raked her body and he shivered in anticipation.

"You are so beautiful Ember," he said. "Your spirit is tinged with fire and I can see it in your eyes, in your skin, in your hair..."

Ember closed her eyes as Demetri gently pushed her onto her knees by a handful of her dark hair.

"Unbuckle my belt, Ember," the ghost growled lustily.

Ember's hands trembled slightly as she did what she was told.

"Undo the zipper."

Demetri smiled down at the halfling as she followed his instructions.

"Pull my pants down," the ghost rasped. "Can you see how much I want you, Ember?"

Ember's lips were parted and she looked up at Demetri, nodding slightly.

"I want to hear you say it," Demetri said, winding his fingers through her hair.

"Yes," Ember whispered.

"Do you remember what I told you?" Demetri asked, stroking his member with his other hand. "Not until you're on your knees begging for it."

The halfling licked her lips slightly and uttered one tantalising little word: "Please..."

Demetri held the halfling's eyes and stared deep into the fire there: Something seethed beneath the smouldering embers. Something that reminded him of a feeling he had once had, long ago. His hand went instinctively to his stomach as if he was expecting to feel butterflies there once again. His eyes widened as he realised that he could.

I am in love with her.

Her eyes burned into his and her parted lips called silently for his.

This was not the plan. I was not supposed to fall for her! I will not have my heart broken again!

His grip on her hair suddenly tightened and all at once Ember realised that Demetri's mood had shifted.

"Demetri, what are you doing?" she asked nervously. "Please, stop. You're hurting me!"

The ghost gripped her hair tighter, ignoring the pain etched across her face.

"Please don't do this!" Ember cried. "You promised you weren't going to hurt me again!"

Demetri leaned down and growled in her ear as he pulled his pants back on with his other hand: "People break their promises all the time. I learned that the hard way and I am never giving my heart to anyone again."

He turned around and headed to the door, pulling Ember behind him by her hair. His lips curled slightly in dark satisfaction as she cried out in pain with each step he took.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," he snarled as he wrenched her along, "I won't let the demons touch you."

"Stop it!" Ember yelled. "Demetri! Please!"

But the ghost was deaf to her.

I have already died once! This little bitch is trying to work her way into my heart and she will destroy me if she does.

"You are my revenge," he muttered, "nothing more."

He faded them both into thin air and dragged her along through the castle until they arrived at another large room. This one was dark: The wooden furniture was deep mahogany and the sheets and curtains were crimson. Most disturbing to Ember, however, was the series of shackles that dotted one of the walls, and a whip that looked lethal.

They reappeared and Demetri threw the girl across the room. She stumbled and fell against the bed post and Demetri laughed as she used it to support herself as she stood: "Lady's choice," he grinned lustily as he pulled off his belt.

Before Ember even had the chance to fully stand up, Demetri was behind her. He turned her around roughly and pulled her wrists high above her head so that he could tie them to the bed post with his belt.

"Demetri! Let me go!" Ember cried, her heart beginning to ache with the weight of the ghost's betrayal.

He promised me... He promised!

"You promised me, Demetri," she whispered as he tightened the belt and fastened it.

"And your mother promised me her undying love," the ghost said bitterly. "We saw how sacred that promise was."

"Why are you doing this?" she cried.

"Because you made me forget why I brought you here in the first place," he glowered. "You made me love you, halfling, and I refuse to have my heart ripped to pieces a second time."

"L-love me?" Ember repeated incredulously.

"I should have just killed you," the ghost growled. "But I didn't and now I cannot bear to let you go, and I cannot bear to let you stay."

"Demetri, I-"

"Shut the fuck up," the ghost said and back-handed her across the face.

Ember cried out and her body sagged limply against the bed post. She stared at the ghost with heartbreak in her eyes.

"You are such an ignorant little bitch. Why didn't you fight me?" the ghost roared at her, his face inches from hers. "How could you want to be around me after what I've done to you? You might as well have fucking asked for this."

Tears began to leak from the halfling's eyes and she whispered: "I thought you'd changed."

"Yeah? Well you thought wrong!" Demetri growled. "The only promise I made to you that matters was that I would avenge myself."

"Please, Demetri, stop" Ember said with trembling lips. "We were happy together."

"I won't stop until I've done what I came here to do," he growled. "Your mother killed me and now you're trying to destroy me as well."

"I'm not!" Ember cried, flashes of anger replacing the sadness burning in her eyes. "You just keep trying to convince yourself I am!"

Demetri's grip tightened on her chin and he pressed his lips against her cheek as he growled: "Once bitten, twice shy."

He pushed her face away from his and began stalking towards the door.

"Why couldn't you just let yourself be happy with me?" Ember yelled at the retreating ghost. "What could I possibly do to you?"

"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I don't hurt, halfling," Demetri growled as he turned around to face her. "You can still break my heart, and you will if I give you the chance. You would leave me to die like she did."

"You have given me a million reasons not to stay!" Ember cried in exasperation. "You kidnapped me, raped me, beat me! You could have redeemed yourself, but you're too full of fucking self pity to move on. You're a fucking selfish bastard, you know that?"

Powerful feeling clouded Demetri's features for a moment, but they passed quickly and he stood staring at the halfling. She could see the calm before the storm in his eyes.

"I don't need this from you," he said grimly. "All I need is your body, and it is mine for the taking. There will be no more mercy. You are mine and I will use you as I see fit."

"Well then fuck you!" Ember screamed as the ghost disappeared into thin air. "Fuck you!"

She strained at the belt holding her back and screamed curses at the ghost until her throat was sore.

If he wants me to fight back, then he is going to be sorely disappointed.

She thought, allowing her body to go limp and hang against the bed post.

He wants the chase, but I am not going to run anymore. He wants my body? Then he can fucking have it. But my mind is my own and he is not going to get in it anymore.

A single, silver tear dripped down her cheek as she felt a final wave of pain break against her heart. And then, it was over: The fire in her eyes died, the trembling in her lips faded, and her racing heart slowed to a steady beat.

He is not going to get in my head anymore.

8

Demetri phased back into the room to find his captive hanging limply by her wrists.

"Sleeping, halfling?" he asked, walking over to lift her face.

He started at the lifelessness in her eyes: There was nothing there; her beautiful eyes were dead.

Don't worry.

He thought to himself.

All that fire needs is to be stoked...

"What happened little bloodsucker?" he sneered. "Huh? Have you finally lost your fight? Are you just going to let me do whatever I want to you?"

Even as the ghost began to slowly rip the clothes from her body, Ember did not flinch. She knew he was watching her eyes, waiting for the fire to rage up within them and give him the satisfaction he desired most... but he was not going to get it.

"What is wrong with you?" Demetri growled, his frustration beginning to grow. "Come on halfling, fight back!"

He backhanded her across the face and watched as she calmly returned her face towards his without even blinking.

"Fight back! Fight back you fucking bitch!"

Demetri tore her wrists from the belt holding them above her head and threw her across the room. He was over her in a moment, hoisting her up by her limp limbs to throw her onto the bed. She landed with a soft thump on the fabric, but she still did not move.

The ghost roared in frustration and leaped on top of her. He kissed her, grabbed her breasts and covered her unmoving lips in harsh, hard kisses. He pulled away from her motionless form and roared in frustration at the lifeless eyes staring at him.

"I will fucking kill you!" He cried. "I will kill you if you do not give me what I need, halfling. Fight back!"

But the flame did not flicker back to life at his threats; Ember's eyes remained void. Demetri let out a choked cry and opened his clenching hands, letting the halfling fall back into the covers. He slipped off the bed and faded away... but Ember knew he had not gone far and she did not let a glimmer of life shine through the smoky haze that clouded her eyes.

Eventually Demetri did get tired of waiting and he roared back into the room with all the ethereal fury he could muster.

"You will do as I tell you, you little whore," Demetri growled into her ear as he pulled her off the bed and strung her up on the bedpost once more.

He pulled the whip from its resting spot and snapped the air a few times. There was no fear in Ember's eyes, not even when he pulled the whip back and let it loose against her skin.

"You'll look like me by the time I'm finished with you," the ghost snarled. "You will be covered in fucking scars just like I am."

The barbs tore into her flesh, blood streaming down her breasts and legs.

"Come back to me!" Demetri screamed. "You fucking come back to me! Fight me, halfling!"

But it was no use: She had called his bluff. He had said that all he needed was her body, so that was all she had left for him... and it wasn't enough.

I need her spirit! I need her soul! I need that fire!

The whip fell from his clenched fingers and he just stood, staring at her.

Pain was the only feeling her body hinted at, but not even the physical agony she was enduring had crept into her eyes. Despite the tears spilling from them, her eyes remained lifeless and her trembling lips remained silent.

With slow, deliberate steps, Demetri walked towards her. Through the haze of tears that filled her eyes, Ember could see his boots before her. His fingers were beneath her chin then, lifting her eyes until he could stare into them.

Her eyes, devoid of fire and life, were the saddest sight he had ever seen. They made him sad, they made him angry, but most of all, they made him want to fall at her knees and beg for her forgiveness.

I wish I thought it would do any good for me to pour my heart at her feet.

Demetri grimaced as he ran a hand down her arm, blood from her torn skin covering his fingers.

I did this to her. Her blood is on my hands and I would have her forgive me, love me... I am a fucking fool.

Demetri undid the belt securing Ember to the bed post. The moment she was no longer held up by his belt, Ember crumpled to the floor in a bloody, tattered mess.

The ghost watched her chest rising and falling quickly, regretting every lash that covered her body. He stood over her for a short eternity, hating himself and her at the same time.

This is her fucking fault. I only did it because she provoked me. She made me do this.

"If you would just stop playing this game, halfling, I wouldn't have to do these things," he said breathlessly. "You brought this on yourself."

But even as he said it, he knew in his heart it was not true.

"Come back to me, halfling, and I won't hurt you anymore," he said. He knew he was lying through his gritted teeth, and he knew she knew it too.

He crouched down beside her and shook his head in his hands, looking wearily at her through his fingers.

"Where have you gone, halfling?" he asked quietly. "Will you ever come back to me? What will it take? Tell me and I will do it!"

The girl's dead eyes blinked out silvery tears, but offered him no answer.

"Do you want me to rape you again?" he said, his voice rising once again in anger. "Huh? Are you going to force me to break my promise?"

Demetri grabbed her arm and dragged her onto her knees. She stared up at him blankly, barely reacting when he slapped her.

"Beg me, halfling," he growled. "Beg me or I will take you by force."

His threat was met with silence.

"Fine," he said, wrenching the halfling up and onto the bed.

Demetri's muscles rippled as he pulled off his pants. His blue eyes gleamed with lust and anger as he stared at the motionless girl. He wanted her to run those pale hands down his taut chest, over his scarred abdomen and down to his waiting member. He wanted her to wrap her raw, red lips around his cock and swallow every drop of his cum. He wanted her to scream out his name as she came, her pussy clenching tightly around his dick. But she would do none of those things... she was as good as dead to him.

And that made him angry.

The ghost lunged at the girl, covering her with furious, burning kisses. He clawed at her bleeding breasts, grabbing handfuls of her flesh as if he wanted to tear her apart even further.

Finally, he plunged his dick inside her. No ceremony, no harsh words or taunts; he just thrust his cock inside her and began to fuck her harder than he had ever fucked her before.

His hands slowly wrapped around her throat as he pounded her, squeezing tighter and tighter.

He did not notice the fear creep into her otherwise lifeless eyes just before they closed, or how her heaving chest suddenly stopped moving. It was only when he pulled his cock out to shoot his cum all over her that he realised she was unconscious. He stumbled backwards off the bed, his dick going limp as he stared at her body.

She was alive, he could sense that. But it did not really matter that her heart still beat, because it did not belong to him and probably never would.

Demetri uttered a low moan as he looked down at his torso and saw Ember's blood covering his skin. The ghost slowly pulled his clothes back on. He pulled a sheet off the bed and wrapped the bleeding girl in it. She looked so pale against the scarlet silk. Demetri shuddered as he picked her up and faded them both to the steaming pool.

He dripped water and cool, herbal tea between her parched lips, bathed her with the warm water, dried her glistening skin, cleansed her wounds with healing herbs, and wrapped them in bandages with hands so delicate they could have captured a butterfly without harming it.

Deep inside herself, Ember felt the gentleness of his touch and fought the urge to unleash the fire smouldering in her soul.

Why is it that, even after he has beat me within an inch of my life, a gentle touch from those hands still makes my heart flutter?

Stockholm syndrome.

She concluded grimly.

He rescues me from every torment he forces me to endure. I would be dead if he didn't feel something for me. We both know it.

The halfling's soul shuddered and began to sink slowly back into the numbing embrace of internal slumber, but not before Demetri pulled her onto his lap and dropped his guard completely. On the brink of oblivion, Ember's soul stopped and waited for the ghost to speak.

Tears began to stream down Demetri's face and fall onto her ashen cheeks. She felt them inside, like echoes of a distant memory.

"I love you, Ember," the ghost said, his voice reverberating off the stone walls. "I love you with a passion I cannot control."

Emotions welled in the halfling's heart at the sound of Demetri saying her name once again. Even after all he had done to her, she could hardly stand to hear his heart breaking.

"I would kill to see that fire return to your eyes, even if they looked at me with hatred. I wouldn't blame you," he said, his voice breaking slightly.

"How can I expect you to love me when even I hate myself for what I have done to you?" He whispered. "You are the only thing in my whole life that has been good and pure and right, and I stamped out the light in you and I hate myself for it. That's why... that's why I need you to hate me too. Every time you showed me the slightest bit of kindness it made me angry because you would give it even though I don't deserve it. I am a soul filled with hate and you would offer me love anyway."

Ember's eyes did not hint that her soul was awake, but when the ghost pressed his face into her neck, she let her tears flow down her face, allowing them to mix with tears that had already fallen.

She did not think that the ghost would notice, but he did. A single tear dripped from her face to his and he immediately sat up. His lips trembled slightly as he ran his thumbs beneath her lifeless eyes, feeling the warm tears that were flowing from them.

"Oh, Ember," he choked. "P-please don't cry. Please don't cry. I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry. I have never done anything to deserve you. Please, please, don't cry for me. Stay where I cannot hurt you. No matter what I may say later, just keep your heart out of my reach. I will only hurt you again. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve any of this."

The ghost rocked back and forth with the silent girl in his lap until they both fell asleep and the candles were snuffed by a cold draft.