A MAZE OF GREED

Darius was watching out of his balcony at the row of mountains, that was at a far distance yet still visible. The cool night air soothed his skin and ruffled his dark curls. He rested his hands on the railings while leaning forward.

The dim light of the moonlight was enough to see the troughs and crests of his muscles. He was exhausted, not physically but mentally.

The vampires could not get tired physically as they did not have a heart. They could only be weak due to the lack of power, and their power came from the blood they drank. And if it was human blood- the more, the merrier!

These days were rough for him. The images that he was trying to bury deep in his mind kept resurfacing. He was agitated, restless. Edwin O'Dell was getting on his nerves, challenging his authority.

After Darius put a proposal of open war, which got rejected by the coven, their network of spies in three more towns had eradicated.

Darius was trying to pursue his father, but Ambrose Garfield was not a fool to fall into his trap. The overall situation was so frustrating that it kept Darius high on his hunger.

The only thing that kept him sane and prohibited him from drinking from every human in Kinsville was a girl.

He turned his head to look behind a girl who had sheets wrapped around her body underneath which she was stark naked.

Darius knew that she was in pain and probably cursing him to death, but he did not care. He did not care even when he stole her innocence without her consent. She fought, she pleaded, she even dared to threaten him.

But her every effort turned futile as this monster had no heart to understand human emotions. For him, she was only a medium of maintaining his patience. She was only a toy that he loved to play with. A thing that kept him entertained.

Her limbs stopped moving a long time ago, and after hours of sinful torture, even her tears had dried, abandoning her alone in the grotto of this monster.

Although her face was hidden behind the shadow, Darius knew her eyes were trained directly on him. He walked back into the room and stood near the foot of the large bed.

"You can throw profanities at me if you want."

He did not need to tell her that. He had not told that to any woman he had been with before. But with Lisa... everything was different, the very first.

She lifted her gaze to stare directly into his dark orbs. When he expected her to yell at him, he was taken aback by her dry chuckle. It then turned into a mocking laugh.

For a moment, he thought Lisa had slipped into trauma after how harshly he ripped away from her dignity. Looking closely, she looked nothing but very much sane. Or was it he who was turning into a mad man?

"Why are you laughing?" He finally asked, annoyed.

The smile vanished from her face, replaced by the previous cold look that was full of hatred.

"I do not want to throw any profanities at you." she simply told.

"Why?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

Lisa sat up in the bed, the sheets were still covering her body. But her bare shoulders displayed the biting marks and punctured marks that oozed droplets of blood. Her skin was covered in blue-purple patches.

"Because no matter how much I hate you, there is a small part in me that pity you."

Darius clenched his fists hearing that word- pity!

-"I pity you, Darius Garfield. How can someone be so foolish as to lose the most precious thing they could ever get in their entire existence?

In my eyes, you are the most unfortunate creature on the face of the earth. And that is why I pity you!"-

Edwin O'Dell's words still burned his ears as molten iron poured in them. That was the greatest blow to his ego that the damage made years ago was still nowhere near healing.

"LISA!" He growled in warning.

Another wicked smile appeared on her lips. "What? Did not like what I said? But is not it true Darius?" She cocked her brow in challenge. Asking him to disagree.

No matter how many times, he had punished her for calling him by his name and not using Lord before his name, the girl was so thick-headed that she never listened. At last, Darius let her have her way, for even he himself did not know how long she would be able to enjoy that privilege.

"Every time I look at you, I see a broken man who is running from something. Like a coward!"

Darius had her neck in his clutches the next moment she finished her sentence. But his actions did not intimidate her anymore, especially not after losing the only thing she feared of losing to this monster.

Now she had nothing to lose. Even if he killed her that very moment, she wanted to make sure that she scarred him deeply before that.

"One more word and your dead body will not even get a coffin." Darius hissed through his teeth.

"Does that matter anymore Darius? You were killing me slowly every moment. And tonight, you killed the remaining life out of me. I am already DEAD, Darius.

Look at me! Look into my eyes!"

Lisa rose her voice while demanding him to do as she said. Darius was unsure. He did not want to look into her eyes, for those eyes reminded him of the hopes he had crushed, the happiness he had burnt years ago.

"I said look into my eyes, you bastard! Do you see life in them? huh? Do you see any hope in them?

NO! Because you strangled that hope with your filthy hands tonight. I am a fucking CORPSE now, Darius. Congratulations that you successfully added another name to the long list of your hunts!"

Hot tears streamed down her eyes as she looked at him with such hatred that shook him to the core. They were not disappointed, not a bit as if they had no better expectations from him.

However, the eyes that were familiar to Lisa's held no hatred but only disappointment. And now that he thinks about it, he realised that he missed one more emotion in them- Hurt!

Darius did not know what to say. A strange concoction of emotions boiled inside him.

"I do not know what skeletons you have hidden in your closet. But trust me, you can never get rid of them. You were a monster, you are a monster, and you will always be a monster!

You have already stained me. I do not care what you do next to me. I was hoping that one day you would get bored and kill me, or before that, I would find a way and escape.

But now that all of my hopes have died, I am left here only with vengeance!"

Darius's tightened his hold on Lisa's throat. Her face turned red as she struggled to deal with the pain. She was yet to finish and continued looking into his dark eyes that had become red in anger.

"I will fight to survive. I will not leave your side. I will always be with you for witnessing the time when you will get on your knees. I will enjoy your misery and if I get a chance I will be the one putting the wood through your chest!"

Tears kept streaming down her eyes. Darius shook in anger. Little more pressure on her throat, and she would die. But Darius saw something for the first time in someone's eyes other than Edwin O'Dell.

And that thing was- no fear of death!

Lisa had surpassed that stage where she was a human with a lot of expectations and insecurities, fears. She had landed in a state where nothing could break her. The only thing that kept her alive other than the air was her greed for vengeance.

She had not forgotten the fear-stricken eyes of her friend. She had not forgotten the sight of her blood. She could not forget the things Darius had done with her, the humiliation he made her go through.

And the moment he first entered her holy insides, he had broken every limit that Lisa had put for a person.

They both stared at each other with hatred. Darius wondered why his hands were not applying a little more pressure and, finish this chapter once and for all. He could get another toy to play with. Then why?

"COWARD!"

Lisa spat on his face with heavy breaths. Darius closed his eyes only to open them in rage. When Lisa expected him to kill her right then and there, he surprised her by smashing his lips on hers.

She clenched shut her eyes, her hands pushing his chest, but he was too strong for her efforts. He did not budge and kept her head forcefully in place as he tasted her lips.

Darius was too mad at her to let her go that easily. She was in place of saying all those things to him. She was not in a place of calling him a coward.

And she definitely had no right of showing him pity!

When he left her lips, Lisa was gasping for air, her face reddened, and her lungs hurt due to lack of air. That was not her punishment, as it was just a beginning.

The rest of the night went Darius taking out his frustration on and in her body as she lay still letting him have his way. Her insides burned in the fire of vengeance!