The night it happened, the air was thick with a storm that hadn't yet broken. The wind howled through the trees outside my window, but it wasn't the storm that kept me awake. It was the voice.
They say the devil doesn't ask for your soul. You offer it to him willingly, blinded by desire, power, or the one thing you can't live without.
I was no different.
Low. Velvet. Dangerous.
"Lucia."
I bolted upright in bed, my heart pounding in my chest. The room was dark, save for the flicker of the dying fire, but I knew I wasn't alone. He was here. The man who had haunted my dreams for weeks, creeping into my thoughts until I couldn't escape him.
"Who are you?" I whispered into the shadows, my voice shaking. "What do you want from me?"
There was no answer, but I felt him. The weight of his presence pressing down on me, like a predator watching its prey. My mouth went dry. I should have been terrified, and part of me was. But there was another part, a darker part that had been waiting for this. Craving it.
"Come to me, Lucia."
His voice was a command, not a request, and my body responded before my mind could catch up. I slid out of bed, my bare feet cold against the stone floor as I crossed the room. The closer I got to the door, the stronger the pull became, as if invisible threads were dragging me toward him.
When I opened the door, I wasn't surprised to find him standing there, bathed in shadow. His eyes, black as night, locked onto mine with an intensity that stole my breath. He was beautiful in a way that made no sense, like something that wasn't meant to exist in this world.
"You've been calling me," he said, his lips curling into a slow smile. "Haven't you?"
I shook my head, but I knew it was a lie. From the moment I had first heard his voice, first felt his presence, I had been drawn to him. Pulled into the darkness he offered, even as I tried to resist.
"What do you want?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He stepped closer, the scent of smoke and something darker clinging to him. "I want what's mine."
I swallowed hard. "And what is that?"
His smile deepened, and my pulse quickened as he reached out, tracing a finger along the curve of my jaw. "You, Lucia. You belong to me."
My breath caught in my throat as his finger traced my skin. Every nerve in my body screamed to pull away, but I couldn't move. There was a force, stronger than anything I'd ever felt, binding me to the spot, locking me in place under his gaze.
"You're wrong," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I don't belong to anyone."
Damian chuckled softly, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine. "Not yet."
His hand dropped, and for a moment, the weight lifted, allowing me to breathe again. I stepped back, desperate for distance, for space to think. But there was no escaping him, not now. Not ever.
"You've been running from this," he said, his voice low and seductive, "but you can't run from what you are."
I stared at him, my pulse racing. "And what am I?"
He tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with something dangerous. "Damned."
The word hit me like a blow, and I stumbled back, my mind reeling. Damned? I wasn't religious. I hadn't made any deals with demons or gods, yet something about his words felt like the truth. Like he wasn't just describing my fate but revealing something I had always known deep down.
"I'm not yours," I repeated, though the certainty was slipping from my voice.
He smiled again, a slow, predatory grin that made my heart skip a beat. "You will be. The moment you called me, you sealed your fate."
"I never called you," I said, though the words felt hollow.
Damian's eyes darkened. "You did. Every thought, every secret desire, your soul reached out long before your mind knew what it wanted. And now, here I am."
I shook my head, stepping further back until I hit the wall. "You're wrong."
"Am I?" He was in front of me now, so close I could feel the heat radiating from him, like fire smoldering just beneath his skin. His hand rose, this time not to touch me but to hover over my chest, right above my heart. "Your heart knows, Lucia. It's always known."
I could feel the pull of him, the gravity of his presence wrapping around me, tightening its grip. His hand was so close, inches from my skin, and all I could think was how badly I wanted him to close the distance. To touch me. To claim me.
"No," I whispered, more to myself than to him.
His eyes flickered with something dark and ancient, something that scared me even as it drew me in. "There's no need to be afraid. I will never hurt you, unless you ask me to."
The words hung between us, heavy and full of meaning, as if he knew the things I hadn't dared admit even to myself.
"You can fight it," he continued, his voice soft but firm, "but the truth is, you've been waiting for me all your life."
I swallowed hard, my body trembling. "What do you want from me?"
His smile faded, and for the first time, I saw something deeper in his eyes, something beyond the seduction and power. "I want you to choose."
"Choose what?"
"Me," he said simply. "All of me."
My heart pounded in my chest, the weight of his words sinking into me like stones. Choose him? What did that even mean? My mind screamed at me to run, to fight, to do anything but surrender. But my heart... my heart had already started to answer.
"And if I say no?" I asked, though the word felt wrong on my lips.
Damian leaned in closer, his breath warm against my skin. "Then I'll leave you. But not before I show you everything you've ever wanted."
His words filled the air with promises I didn't understand. Promises that stirred something deep within me, something dark and ancient. I should have felt afraid, but instead, a wave of curiosity washed over me. What did he mean by showing me everything I'd ever wanted? How could he know what I wanted when I barely knew it myself?
"I don't understand," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
"You will," Damian replied, stepping back just enough to let me breathe, though the tension between us only grew stronger. "There's a part of you that's always known this day would come. That you were destined for more than an ordinary life."
I shook my head, confusion swirling in my mind. I had lived a quiet life, a life filled with routines, with days that bled into each other, all leading to nowhere. But what he was offering, what he was hinting at, felt like something dangerous. Something I wasn't prepared for.
"You expect me to just… choose?" I asked, my voice rising with frustration. "Choose you, when I don't even know who, what, you are?"
He smiled, and it was a smile that chilled me to the bone. "You know exactly who I am, Lucia. I've been in your thoughts, your dreams. I've been waiting for you."
I opened my mouth to argue, to deny him again, but the words died on my lips. Because deep down, in the part of me I kept hidden from the world, I knew he was right. I had felt his presence for years, an invisible pull, a shadow that never quite left me alone.
"Damian…" I whispered, the name falling from my lips like a confession.
He stepped closer again, and this time, he reached for my hand. His touch was warm, almost too warm, as his fingers closed around mine. "Come with me," he said softly. "Let me show you the truth of who you are."
I hesitated. Every instinct in my body screamed for me to pull away, to run, but something held me there. His eyes locked onto mine, and in that moment, it felt as if the world around us had faded, leaving only the two of us in the stillness.
"What if I don't like what I find?" I asked, my voice trembling with the weight of the question.
His gaze softened, though there was still an edge of danger in his smile. "Then you'll have a choice. But once you see the truth, Lucia, there's no going back."
The room was silent, save for the crackling of the last embers in the fireplace. My heart raced in my chest, and the tension between us hung heavy in the air. This was it. The moment everything would change. The moment my life would no longer be my own.
"I'm not ready," I whispered, though my hand remained in his.
"No one ever is," Damian replied, his grip tightening just enough to let me know there was no turning back now. "But fate doesn't wait."
With those words, he turned, leading me toward the door. My mind screamed for me to stop, to let go, to turn back. But my feet moved of their own accord, following him into the darkness beyond the threshold. The moment I crossed the line, I knew there was no return.