The Devil's Temptation!

Euphrasia

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Walking past the quiet street of Draekharm village, Annalise let her eyes wander to the houses and huts that were still familiar to her gaze, she could vividly recall every creek and cranny of the place since nothing has changed pretty much since then.

The vision of little children chasing one another with their happy screams and their mothers worried yelling as they begged them to be careful all played out in front of Annalise. Farmers were getting ready to head to the farm and every stall was active, either making tea or baking something savory, the usual life of Draekharm village and it all still feels like yesterday.

There was an abandoned stall at the side of the road and a smile adorned Anna’s lips as a warm recollection crossed her mind.

“Roshan! You see that stall,” she quickly pointed at it, letting Roshan’s eyes fall on the abandoned stall that was closed up, “the owner of that stall, Mr Edgar used to make the best grape juice in our village, I fell in love with it after one taste and even forced my mother to learn how to make them. He was a nice man and never failed to give me a free cup each time I paid his stall a visit” She was smiling as the good old times were still fresh in her head and just being here after so long rekindled her feelings for this place.

She didn’t want to cry and just squeezed Roshan’s hand to comfort herself. They were one of the happy memories she had and looking at Roshan, a faint smile appeared on his lips as he locked their fingers even tighter, Anna returned his smile before looking at the scanty passerby that just hurried past them.

So far the people she had spotted were unfamiliar faces and even they had to look at her with a quizzical stare, having no idea who she was. The houses of people she knew were now occupied with new faces. It’s been many years so it’s possible most of them had emigrated from Draekharm, but what she couldn’t understand was why the place grew so empty in the morning. Draekharm has always been a busy place during morning time.

.....

“Why is it so quiet though?” She asked the glacier who just stared ahead as he walked, his other hand resting in his pocket.

“The King has assembled for an important gathering with his people, my guess would be everyone has gone to see what the sudden gathering is all about.”

“Strange,” Anna’s brows creased, “his majesty only makes this kind of urgent gathering when he has something important to disclose.”

“Let’s visit your parents grave first, then we’ll attend the gathering.” Squeezing her hand affectionately in his, the two young couples wandered deeper into Draekharm village.

Annalise was back to being a chatterbox as she told Roshan everything about what happens in Draekharm, their events, their tradition, the funny experiences she had in the farm while picking herbs with her mother, the river where she’d come to take a swim before the fear of water got the better of her. She told him everything without even realizing she was inviting the being into her personal life and surprisingly to her, Roshan took interest in every word she said.

With their fingers still interlaced, Anna felt the mischievous demon rub his thumb intimately through the skin of her palm and the effect of it made her heart skip through her chest.

She looked at the being who just kept walking and thinking he wouldn’t do it again, he repeated the same nerve-racking effect on her sensitive palm.

“Roshan..” She wanted to free her hand but he refused to let go. That crooked smile he had been hiding finally displayed itself on his sinful lips and he bit his lower lip to stop the smile from spreading even more.

“Roshan..” She wasn’t liking the way he teased her and wanted him to free her hand but he didn’t give her that chance, holding it even tighter and pulling the flustered woman closer to his side.

“Red suits you,” his velvety deep voice rolled out from his tongue and when he looked at Anna, his smile broadened, “....on your face.”

“You..!!” The color on her cheeks reddened and her insides fluttered uncontrollably when he complimented her flustered reaction, but a part of her told her he was deliberately messing with her, leading her to curse him silently in her head since he’d definitely have a comeback if she said her curses out loud.

Since Draekharm was actually a small village, Annalise still remembered the route to her home and so, she followed it, leading the path for Roshan who followed behind.

As they progressed deeper through a bushy path, it didn’t take too long for the both of them to sight an abandoned house that was located deep in the desolated area of the village. Anna’s feet came to a stop after stopping in front of it, her eyes traveled to the condition of the house and it wasn’t surprising that it was almost crashing, the village hoodlums wouldn’t waste any time to invade an empty home, grabbing whatever they could find useful inside of it.

“Are you alright?” The pleasing deep voice beside her broke her from her train of thoughts and she nodded with a nervous smile returning to her lips.

“Yes, it’s been so long and I’m just overwhelmed by everything,” she responded before turning to look at him with a requesting gaze.

“Can you do something for me?”

“What?”

“It’s nothing serious but I need a little time to myself.... with them... I’m hoping you understand.” She stammered a bit but suddenly Roshan cupped her cheeks gently, making her look into his care-free eyes and it relieved her that he didn’t take her words offensive.

“Go.” His approval was all she needed and she smiled gratefully, showing how much his words had eased her before turning and quickly heading to the back of her house.

After she left, Roshan’s gaze lingered on the house and it took a few minutes of pondering before letting himself take a step into the house.

Tiny specks of light penetrated into the house through the opened windows, aiding him with their light. There were broken glasses and almost all the furniture were gone, but yet he could still vision little Annalise running around the house with her tiny feet. A soft giggling escaped her lips as she made it to the kitchen.

Following the vision, he found little Annalise sitting on the countertop, her cinnamon-brown hair flowing freely to her back, her big chocolate-brown eyes looking bright and pure as they sparkled with mirth.

She was arduously pounding some flower herbs in a small mortar like her whole life depended on it. She wiped the sweat from her forehead before letting out a ‘phew’ sound from her little lips.

“When mother returns tonight, she’ll be happy to see I finished pounding all the herbs for her.”

Roshan leaned against the side of the wall with his arms folded, watching the little Annalise converse happily with herself despite looking tired and all of a sudden, she vanished, only to here her giggling behind him and when he turned around, the little girl was twirling in her night dress that looked obviously big on her, so big that she looked adorably small inside of it, yet she was happy.

She hopped from one corner of the room to another before jumping up a table and staring out the window, obviously expecting someone.

Was it her mother? Roshan thought to himself and when the little girl finally moved away from the window, she ended up missing her feet due to her clumsy movement and fell from the table with a tiny scream.

Roshan’s eyes widened in alarm as the next thing in his mind was to catch her but thankfully, there were piles of clothes laying on the ground which aided her fall. The little girl quickly sat up, obviously stunned herself and Roshan couldn’t hold back a chuckle seeing the funny look on her face.

She hasn’t changed.

Just like before, the vision vanished and once again appeared in another corner as she went up the stairs with hasty feets. She never slows down when walking, even as a child.

Shaking his head, he followed the little girl that went up the stairs, she ran into one of the rooms and when Roshan stepped in, the little girl was gone, which wasn’t a surprise to him anymore.

Taking further steps into the room, the wardrobes were open and different story books were lying on the table.

“This must be her room.” He concluded after seeing the funny drawings on the wall and the storybooks only added to his analysis.

With a smile, he reached for the table and stared at the story books with an interested gaze. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that she was a lover of storybooks, no wonder she keeps preaching to him about morals, she’s read too many books.

Looking away from the table, Roshan reached for the wooden drawer at her bedside. Crouching before it, he wanted to pull it open when a small chain locket that rested on the top of the drawer caught his attention. His eyes glimmered at the sight and before he realized it himself, he was already holding the locket in his hand.

“What is this?” As far as he knows, lockets are more of a personal jewelry that has a special meaning to its owner.

Curious about what was special on the inside, he opened it and everything around him stopped moving, his pupils instantly constricted and it felt like an explosion just took place in his head as he stared at the name written boldly and beautifully on the inside.

“Aveline??!”