Supernatural Encounters

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sound of footsteps echo around her as Harper walks down the corridor. She isn't sure how she got here or even where here is. All she knows is that whatever is contained in this place is powerful.

"Harper..."

As she approaches the end of the hallway, the temperature warps and changes. The walls on the left begin to ice over as flakes of snow begin to trickle down. The right side, however, exudes an almost unbearable heat. Each step brings her closer to the flames that are writhing and snapping at the end of the journey.

"Harper..."

Harper knows that once she reaches the end of the pathway, she'll have to make a choice. But which choice is the right one? What was she even choosing?

"Harper? Harper?"

A hand gently stroking her hair slowly pulls Harper out of sleep's comforting embrace. As she pries her eyes open, she moans as the sunlight assaults her vision, sending waves of agony through her head.

"Shh, close your eyes once again and provide me a moment to banish the sunlight." A part of her relaxes at the sound of Aeron's voice echoing through her ear. Her eyes slip shut again until he returns to the bed with a soft declaration of "it should be safe now to once again open your eyes."

Harper slowly opens her eyes and feels her whole body relax as she takes in the sight of Aeron kneeling by her side. "Hey, you're back. How are things in Hell?"

"Things are adequate there," he replies softly. He reaches up and strokes the bruise on her cheek, a disturbed look crossing his face. "It seems your suspicions about a lurker were correct. I regret that my knowledge of this event came too late for me to prevent its occurrence."

"It's okay. I'm fine. A little banged up but I'll live." Harper raised a hand to trace the inch long cut near her hairline. "Honestly I thought I was hurt worse than I am. Thought this cut was at least two inches or so at first but now it doesn't seem that bad."

Aeron peers at the wound for a moment before he leans over and licks the length of the cut.

"Oh gross! Why did you do that? I don't even let Sherlock..."

"The wound on your forehead has been infused with magic," Misha interrupts with a look of puzzlement. He licks his lips as a brow furrows in confusion. "A healing spell of some type. I cannot identify the type of magic, but it is ancient and powerful."

Harper feels her throat close as the desire to panic starts to rise up. "Magic? But I don't know anyone who can do any magic besides you. Plus Misha is the one who saved me, and there is no way he has magic. Unless he actually does and that is another lie he told me. And he has a habit of lying to me. But I think I would have noticed him casting spells. Then again apparently his whole family hated me and I never noticed that so maybe I wouldn't have noticed him being all 'magically' anyways. And oh god," she moaned, hiding her face in her pillow. "I just ranted all about my ex to you. I suck. No one wants to hear about the ex."

Misha chuckles as he resumes stroking her hair. "Unless you somehow became a vampire overnight, I am most certain that you do not 'suck'." His fingers drift down towards the wound, and Harper feels a soothing warm seep into her skin, signaling that his magic is stitching the skin back together. "As for your 'ex', please remember that I am a demon that is older than most of humanity; therefore, I am not restricted by the same societal constructs as the males of your species. I do not judge or begrudge you for your past dalliances nor do I expect anything from you beyond that which I have earned."

A small smile crosses her face as Aeron's words wash away some of the insecurities she has been fighting against since he began spending most nights working to reconstruct Hell. She entangles her fingers with his then pulls gently until he slides into the space behind her, his other arm wrapping around her waist as he places his chin on her shoulder.