A young man dressed in a black suit, trousers, a black long sleeve, and a black hat above his head stands in the middle of the bustling local market.
Beside him was a young woman dressed in a white bodycon gown that accentuated her shape and made her exceedingly gorgeous as the night light beamed on her.
Her blonde hair was long and fell to her back, flowing by the wind.
The young man exuded a cold aura, and his tall stature stood out over the small marketers that passed by.
The two people walking closely together appeared to be on a fatal mission.
Others saw the lady as an angel eager to redeem someone, whilst the young man strolling beside her appeared to be a devil ready to kill whoever stood in her way.
Together, they projected a curious balance between light and shadow.
"Master, why do we have to come over to this local market?" The lady asked the young man who was walking beside her.
It had been a year since she had visited such a small market, and the only reason she was here was to accompany her master.
The young handsome tall man said nothing and continued walking robotically.
Sensing that her master did not wish to speak, she remained silent and allowed herself to trail after him.
He soon came to a standstill opposite a butcher's shop. "I need lamb meat." He uttered, his cold voice cut through the night air as he spoke to the lady in charge of the shop.
She smiled brightly and, with a knife in hand and apron on, began questioning the man who wished to buy lamb meat.
"What size would you like my lovely couples?" She questioned, her gaze moving from the young man to the young lady.
"That size." He uttered, pointing to a large amount of lamb meat, ignoring the lady's prior statements in which she addressed him and his partner as a couple.
With a wide brode forming the seller's lips, she grabbed the portion that the young man had shown her.
"Don't slice it." He uttered his words firmly.
The woman bit her lower lips as she didn't slice the meat but instead, she packaged it in a leather bag and handed it over to the young man.
Without uttering any word, the young man walked away, leaving his companion to pay for the bills.
As he elegantly strode in the busy market, he walked freely, allowing the night moon to groom above him, but then, he felt the strong grip of someone who forcefully made him turn around.
"Yo… You!" Lilith spat, pointing her index finger at him.
He smirked, his lips slyly curving towards the side. "Hello, mortal." He uttered, his deep renaissance voice ringing through the air, giving Lilith goosebumps.
"You… you are the man of my dreams." She uttered even more because she couldn't forget his face.
He was the rude man who she had bumped into earlier today.
And then… realizations started striking her, as she noticed that she could speak.
She wasn't using her phone but instead, she was speaking with her lips.
He smiled, leaning his back towards the short Lilith. "Stop crossing paths with me, young mortal." He spat, his words were cold as his firm gaze bored deeply into her causing Lilith to instinctively take a step back.
She knew that his words were a warning, but why was he warning her?
"I can speak now, but couldn't before. Is my mind playing tricks on me from the expired medicine? Why does this illusion feel so real, even though I know it can't be? It's as if..."
"Behind you mortal." He uttered leaning away from her as he cut her off from her statement because he was surprised by the fact that she talks a lot.
Hearing the man's statement, Lilith turned around to see what was behind her, but it was nothing.
She turned back to stare at the young man, but to her surprise, he was gone. Almost as if he had disappeared into thin air.
Sighing!
"Yooorrrrrr!"
Lilith took a few seconds to quickly close her mouth as she pondered. "Why can't I speak any more?" She asked herself because she could recall that she had spoken to the man but currently, as she opened her mouth to say something, no words were able to escape her lips.
'This is freaking strange.' She pondered to herself as she shook her head sideways. 'Perhaps this is an effect of consuming expired sleeping drugs.' She thought while nodding her head as she clouded herself with the thought that she was hallucinating.
Turning around, she decided to focus on the task at hand which warranted that she find the stranger to whom she had sold her picture.
She continued walking deep into the market where she felt the eyes of someone on her.
Turning towards her left, Lilith saw the guy to whom she had sold her portraits to, and he was staring at her intensely almost as if he had been waiting for her.
With a sense of urgency, Lilith brought out her phone and typed a message. "I'm not sure what compelled me to give you my portrait, but I'd like it back. I'll return your money in exchange." She held out the phone, allowing him to read the words that expressed her desperation to retrieve the image that had inexplicably ended up in his possession.
The young man smirked beneath his nose mask. "It seems that my magic charms have faded off." He uttered teasingly, his words confusing Lilith.
"Here's your money." She typed as she quickly wanted to get things over with.
The mysterious stranger inhaled deeply, placing his hands inside his pocket. "Do you see your portrait with me?" He asked, his cold bold voice tingling with delight as he awaited Lilith's reply.
She nervously shook her head sideways in reply to his statement.
"Your portrait has been offered to the dead," he whispered, the words chilling in their simplicity.
Despite the hushed tone, his statement echoed in Lilith's ears, filling her with confusion and unease.
Her brow furrowed as she stared into his eyes, silently demanding a more thorough explanation.
"What did you say? I think I don't quite understand." She typed, questioning him.
"Don't play coy, Lilith," he responded, his tone unyielding. "You heard me. You're simply refusing to accept the harsh truth that's staring at you in the face." He spat.
This time around, hearing him call her name, Lilith felt disgusted to the pit of her stomach.
'Why did I give this arrogant brat my portrait for the first time?' She inwardly questioned herself.
"We met at a company building today, and I know your name is Merlin," Lilith typed, a smile playing on her lips as she showed him the message.
"And what of it, Lilith Raziel?" he asked, a glimmer of amusement in his gaze. "Are you planning to exploit my name for your gain?"
Forcing down her saliva, she shook her head sideways. "Merlin. I'm aware that it was stupid of me to have given you a framed portrait of myself but…"
She paused for a while and after showing him the text, she went on to continue typing. "But I want to promise you that whatever spell you had cast on me has now disappeared, and now, you would know why crazy bitches like me hunt guys like you." She typed, her coldness radiated through the text and with that a sly smirk formed on her lips.
"I'll enjoy hunting down an arrogant brat like you," Lilith added, her smirk intensifying as she leaned in closer to Merlin.
With a bold and unexpected gesture, she patted his buttocks before turning to walk away, leaving Merlin momentarily speechless.
'No human has ever challenged me with such audacity,' Merlin mused to himself, a mixture of surprise and grudging respect coloring his thoughts.
It was clear that Lilith was no ordinary human, and their game of cat and mouse had only just begun.
Unbeknownst to Merlin, Lilith had subtly slipped her phone into his suit pocket during the time she leaned closer to him.