Hellbound With You

”Tell me, where did you get this idea from?” Zeres asked. His expression was even more intense now, making Iryz feel more nervous. She could not help it. Even though she honestly could not believe that he was really a bad witch as he had claimed, his intensity was just a bit too much, he looked like he was dying to know the answer to that weird question of his.

”Uhm… I think the idea had just popped in my head one day…” she answered a little hesitantly, afraid that he would not like the answer. And true enough, his expression darkened, obviously not pleased at the answer she gave him. ”It’s true! I’m an artist and a writer as well. So that just happens sometimes. Sometimes… the ideas just pop out of nowhere…” she defended herself rather weakly, shrinking her shoulders a little.

He stilled and for a brief moment, Iryz suddenly felt danger emanating powerfully from him. Her answer had made him incredibly angry and now he looked like he was doing his best to calm himself. He had felt that the reason that she had given was so frivolous that it might as well not even be counted as one. His jaws and facial muscles were clenching as he shut his eyes tightly and took a step back from her. If he was too close to her, he could not be sure that his hand would not shoot out and clutch onto her neck and strangle it. So to avoid that accident, it was better that he stay just out of arms reach of her.

She could see his fists clenching so tight as if he could barely contain himself. Then he suddenly slammed his fist against the wall, creating a deep hole in it.

Zeres stared at the hole in the wall and his fist that was still sitting in it. He squeezed his eyes closed again and took a couple of deep breaths before he turned to look at the girl again.

But the moment he met her gaze, the fear in those gullible green eyes made him feel like something had hit him hard. And the realization that he had just scared the poor girl made him averted his gaze away. He ran his fingers through his hair and then tugged hard on it – the sharp pain in his scalp helping to knock some sense back into himself, before taking another deep breath to calm himself down.

He truly was running out of patience now and his anger issues was worsening as well as time went by. As he stood there, he saw his own reflection on the girl’s mirror and a small bitter smirk formed on his face for one brief moment. Somehow, he could not even recognize himself anymore… he was turning into someone that he did not know at all… or could it be that… he was just slowly turning into who he really was?

They say people do not actually change. They just gradually become who they truly are. Did this mean that he was this kind of man all along? And it had taken him all these long years to ’grow’ into himself?

”Are you… alright?” her voice pulled at his attention and when he looked at her, she no longer had that fearful and shaky look in her eyes now. He followed her line of sight and saw that she was staring at the drops of blood which were dripping from his fist.

Zeres immediately mumbled an inaudible word and Iryz’ mouth gaped at the sight of something silvery appearing around his fist. When the blood and wound disappeared, Zeres faced the wall and used magic again to fix the spot that he had damaged.

When Zeres returned his gaze to her, Zeres held back the words he was about to say. It was because the girl suddenly had a strange expression as she looked at him. Zeres could tell that she was looking at him like that not because of the magical thing he had just done right in front of her.

”What is it?” Zeres asked in a much calmer voice now.

”I… I think I just remembered something just now…” she answered. Her words returned the slight gleam that was in his eyes, but he reminded himself to hold back and did not dare expect too much this time. ”I think I have indeed read something like this previously… I mean this bringing back a spirit to its body spell when I was much younger.”

As soon as she said that last line, Zeres rushed forward and held onto both of her shoulders out of excitement. ”You have read it from a book, right?” he asked, his face a bit too close as he questioned her. His hands were squeezing her shoulders a little too tight now.

She did not point out that he was holding her too tight and only nodded. She could see how excited he was.

”Do you remember which book is it? Can you still remember more about the contents of that book?” Zeres bombarded her with questions.

Iryz creased her brows and she tried to recall more about it. What was the appearance or title of that book again? No matter how she tried to think about it, Iryz somehow could not remember.

”I’m sorry… I can’t quite remember any more details right now. It was way back when I was in primary school. But I think I remember hearing Diana telling me that she was surprised I’ve managed to see the real content of the book.”

Her last sentence made Zeres’s narrowed slightly. She had managed to see the real content of the book? Does that mean there was something special about this girl?

”And please… don’t worry because I believe that book is definitely somewhere around here still.” Iryz voice became enthusiastic again and was now looking at him as if she had already forgotten that he had just scared her a while ago. ”I know that this is a bookstore… but Diana had never sold the old books. She would only lend it out and everyone who borrowed any of these old books have returned everything so far even until now.. This, I am quite certain about.”