6 comments/ 31273 views/ 11 favorites Within Amie Ch. 01 By: Jayleen88 Hi!!! This is the FIRST installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. My close friend wants to edit this series badly so I hope you guys won't mind. I don't have the heart to say 'no' to her LOL – please be understanding if she missed out some mistakes – which might happen needless to say. This is the ONLY current series which my EDITOR – the talented ***STEVESWOMAN*** won't be editing. This SERIES is dedicated to: Roxy Yun Rafidah Amaliza Michelle Izabella Shane And especially to my READERS who have been supportive to me from the very start!! *** I can only spare time to write this LOL because it's been bugging on my mind, and I wanted so much to complete it. I will continue JUST BEING WOLFY (the sequel) after my exams is over but I'll tell you guys the title for it: JUST BEING WOLFY: THE EVOLUTION So, what do you guys think? There are two more new series waiting to be finished: - 1.BLOOD BRIDE 2.AND I LOVED YOU SO All of the 3 new series will hopefully be edited by ***STEVESWOMAN*** :D With love, Jayleen *** I ignored his penetrating stares. I won't budge. I won't hesitate. The room was eerily quiet; it was as if the room itself could feel the anger, the aura of inevitable ferocity. My heart thudded and pounded as I waited for the elders to decide upon my request. I locked my gaze to the three elders who were looking at me intently and yet, I knew that they were communicating in their minds, discussing my request together in their thoughts as one. Anxiety grew in my core as the time passed, tick, tock, tick, tock, will the suspense ever end? I closed my eyes. I mustn't let my decision to waver just because of Edmund's disapproving stares that seemed to burn in my core. This is insane, Amie... Startled with his sudden voice in my mind, I opened my eyes and glared at him. Amie, my sweet, this idea you concocted is just plain ridiculous. Edmund kept on, talking his view inside my head. Edmund! Stop talking in my head!! We're in the middle of a gathering here! I thought back, still shooting daggers at him. Edmund relaxed, he straightened up his silver robes and refused to look at me no more. I knew that he meant well, he didn't want me to get hurt, I could understand his worries but he should know on how much this meant to me. I need to go. The Elders were still staring at me intently; they were looking at my core, my inner true desires on why I want to go there. I shuddered instinctively; was I ready to go there and face whatever is waiting for me? I quickly resolved and shook my head; I knew that this was what I want. I need to do this, for my Dad's sake. I made a promise already, I should honour it. "Amelee Kirsten Bernaugh," the Elder in the middle started, the other two Elders by his side kept quiet and yet their eyes were glued to the girl sitting on the tall golden chair. "We have decided to grant you permission to go to the Mortal Dimension with these conditions which you must honour or face the grave consequences," The Elder on his left started, "One: You must be vigilant and keep your real identity a secret from the humans," "Two: Edmund Sylvern will join you, as an assigned Keeper," the Elder on his right added, his tone was indifferent and yet, I knew that the three Elders will kept an eye on me. "And finally, once you have accomplished your goal, you must return back to Ersta immediately," the Head Elder, the middle, looked at me intently. "Failure to follow these conditions will result in consequences which I am sure that you do not want to stumble upon, do you agree?" I had seconds to decide. I was miffed already with the fact that Edmund had to tag along with me. I managed to look at Edmund whose face was smug. I sighed. "Yes, I agree," I bowed my head in respect to the Head. I stood up and bowed at the White Elder, the one on the left and another bow at the Red Elder, the one on the right. With my answer of agreement, the Head hit his long silvery scepter on the cold stone floor. The deep red ruby on the top of the scepter glowed and emitted red light. He pointed the scepter to me and a silver-chained necklace with glowing oval-shaped pendant with intricate carvings formed from thin air. The pendant felt hot; as if it could sear my cold skin. The pendant dimmed and lost its glow, leaving behind a deep red colour that sparkled like a diamond. "Edmund Sylvern," the White Elder called. Edmund quickly approached the high table, his head bowed in respect when he reached them. "As a guardian, you already know your duties and what is to expect and to protect," He took a small silver box from the thin air. He handed it to Edmund who accepted it as he bowed. "Open the box," Edmund opened the box and took out a simple silver ring with symbols engraved in the inside band. It glowed for a moment. Without a word, he put it on his index finger; it felt strangely warm and the silvery colour seemed to combine with a hint of crimson, it was as if the ring was drawing blood from his finger. Indeed it was. The ring starved for blood continued to become more crimson; he grimaced as the ring put a seemingly permanent hold onto his finger. "Keep this ring safe," he said to Edmund with a knowing look. Edmund nodded wordlessly, he knew that the ring would act as a vital part of their identification as well as to help enhance his abilities. He looked at me with deep thoughts; I knew that he didn't like my decision – my abrupt immature decision, as he would call it to my face should he ever had the opporturnity to expel his feelings regarding this matter. I ignored his glances. "Do not let your excitement of going to the mortal world blind you, Amelee," the Head warned suddenly, "For hundreds of centuries, we have kept ourselves hidden from the mortal beings, our stories have been reduced nothing but a figment of imaginations, so let it be this way, Amelee, I have warned you, do not take things for granted," I knew that the Head meant well although I was feeling kind of miffed. What did he think of me? A little lowly child? "Indeed you are nothing but a young stubborn child, Amelee," the Head added. Drat, I forgot. He could read my thoughts. "I wish you a well journey and do not forget, your home is here, in Ersta," "How could I forget, Your Grace?" I replied back, my head bowed, I didn't want to look up into his cold reddish eyes; I knew I would feel intimidated right into my core. "I am pleased that you honoured your father's last wish but hear me, your quest may be futile, so do not let your hopes rise up high, else you would find yourself falling and broken," the Red Elder said, he had deep admiration to my father. "It's a shame that he didn't make it back home," I felt a twinge of sadness brewing inside me. It was a dark time for me. Father was leading his army back home to Ersta when an enemy clan had ambushed my father's army; they were unguarded, unaware – oh, what an absurd mistake to make – but they had just won a battle with another clan, their adrenaline rushed, their happiness on finally being able to go home and see their family after so many months had left them unaware. I gulped at the mere thought. I was only 12 years old when that happened. Barely old enough, barely even know how to handle a sword let alone an emotional blow; I remembered seeing them carrying my dad's practically lifeless body back to the Palace so that the Mershka – a group of special high-ranks monks assigned to purification of warriors' bodies and crimination. My father had called for me; he knew his time was almost up. One of the monks had taken me to see him for the final time. I remembered seeing him looking so weak, so pale. There were gashes and cuts here and there, an array of injuries on his body. I was crying. I knew I cried. How could I not? He was practically my only family member. I loved him dearly. How will I face the world without his guidance and love? "Amie my daughter, oh do not cry," he still wanted me to be strong, he hated seeing tears for it reminded him of our weaknesses in love, "When you are old enough, you need to go and find your mother, she is not one of us, you remember the stories I've told you? Yes, I believe so..." it seemed like he was both talking to me and to himself, the pain was starting to make him delusional. "Your mother...I love her so..." his hand limped in my arms. Tears flooded in my eyes as I held his cold hand to my face. I was alone, very much alone in a world I barely knew. I knew what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to go and find my mother. I forgot how she looked like. I knew that I sounded like an ungrateful daughter but I didn't know why we had to leave her in the mortal world. I remembered telling my father how convenient it would be if we had brought her with us here but he always shook his head, saying how this world wasn't meant for humans. I had demanded more explanations from him but he shook his head, telling me how the timing wasn't right. He believed that I was still too young to know the truth. Edmund had told me the truth on my eighteenth birthday last week. He told me that our dimensions were different. Oh we could crossover and come back to our dimension easily but there was a price to pay. Demons couldn't stay in mortal dimension for too long, the longest they could stay was a year but even then, the consequences were dire. My Dad was apparently the only one who had stayed for two years in the mortal dimension because of his forbidden love for my mother. My father was a very curious man. He wanted to explore the dimensions that were splayed in front of him and with the Elders' blessings, he went to the mortal dimension but he had never expected to fall in love with the vivacious human girl. He went behind the Elders and asked them if he could stay longer in the mortal world after his time in the mortal dimension had come to an end. He didn't tell them the truth but the Elders knew about it anyway just by looking inside his soul. My father went down on his knees and pleaded to the Elders to let him stay in the mortal dimension longer since he was expecting a child with his human lover. Shocked with the discovery, the Elders were furious and if it weren't for Edmund's father who had convinced them to let things be, I would probably had never seen the light of the world. The Elders had agreed that my father could stay in the mortal dimension as long as his body could withstand the pain. Oh the pain. I could still remember the stabbing pain that hit on my spine when I was a little girl. The pain worsened when I reached the age of two and I was only a half demon! I remembered seeing my father looking so pale and weak. I knew that he tried to put a brave and strong face when my mother pleaded to him to just go back to the demon dimension but his love for her was just too strong. It wasn't until the fateful day when I fell down on my knees and vomited blood that my father had to choose between the love of his life and the love he had for his only daughter – the proof of my parents' undying love together. My mother cried to him, begging for him to just go and save himself and their daughter. That was the last time I had ever seen her. My poor mother, 16 years had past just like that. The Elders didn't allow us to go back to the mortal dimension because of our dire situation, we had become so weak and fragile that it was a miracle that the Elders could save us in the first place. Edmund knew all of this because he was already a young lad of 11 years old that time. He understood what was happening around him and when he had seen me looking so weak and fragile that time. He promised to himself that he would look after and protect me. "Amie?" Edmund's voice broke my thoughts away. I looked at him, his hand stretched out to me. "The Elders are going to open the portal, come now." I accepted his hand and stood up by his side. I felt nervous. I didn't remember where my mother lived but Edmund had checked with the Elders and found out that she was still living in Grave Hill – the town where she had met my father eighteen years ago. The Elders descended down and grouped in front of us. They chanted a very quiet incantation, their eyes closed tight. A glowing ember appeared in the centre and it continued to grow gradually. I could see the cackles of fire around the edges of the newly open portal. I took a deep breath as Edmund stepped forward and entered the portal first. He vanished into thin air but I knew that he had arrived safely in the mortal dimension. The Elders had removed their head robes and I could see the scaly sand-papery skin and how their eyes burnt red. The Elders had reverted to their true demon forms whenever they had to use powerful incantations. I could feel the other demons watching me as I took off my robe and let it pooled under my feet, I stood with my skimpy black dress and took a step forward. This is it, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and stepped into the portal. I couldn't see anything. It felt cold. I flailed my arms but I couldn't reach anything. I tried to speak, I wanted to call Edmund but I found that I had apparently lost my voice. Panic overwhelmed my senses as I kicked and twisted and suddenly, something grabbed my arms, pulling me to stand up but I continued to kick and found purchase to a flesh. "AMIE!! OPEN YOUR EYES! IT'S ME!!" Edmund snapped angrily, groaning in pain when he let go of my arms. I blinked at my new surrounding. My eyes adjusted to the bright sunny day of Grave Hill. We were surrounded with thick trees and I wondered how would we ever get out? I bent down and helped Edmund up to his feet. "I'm sorry," I said, trying to apologize to him, "I forgot how it feels like going from one portal to another." Edmund rolled his eyes, "You had quite a kick there, Amie," he said, "Now, come on, let's go find your mother and then get the hell out of here." I smiled at him as he tugged at my hand and practically dragged me out to a clear path. "How do you know your way here?" I asked him as we went out and found ourselves standing just a few feet away from a local grocery store five minutes later. "I'm handsome and clever," he said playfully. I laughed at him, "What does handsome got to do with finding directions?" "It doesn't." he replied back, grinning. Anxiety overwhelmed me again as I saw humans passing by with their groceries. A number of cars drove by us. I wondered if the humans could detect that we were different. Don't be silly, Amie, he thought into my mind. "We look like humans," he pointed out with a naughty smile, "Except better and more good looking." I stuck my tongue out at him. He could be such a proud maniac sometimes. "Where should we go now?" "I thought you know why we're here in the first place," he pointed out, grinning at me. I punched him on his left shoulder playfully but he pretended that it hurt more than ever. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed his black coat and muttered, "Let's go and find my mom." *** "Are you sure this is the correct house?" I asked him when we stood right in front of the main door of the bungalow. The front porch was filled with beautiful colourful flowers in cute pots. There was even a two-seat swing by the door. Edmund sat on the swing and grinned mischievously at me. "Why don't you ring the bell and find out?" he suggested. It was a common thing to do. One would have to ring the bell if one wanted to see the person inside the house but fear started to creep into my spine. What if she couldn't recognize me? What could I say to her about why I was here? To my mother, I was probably just a figment of her imagination since I had been taken away from her at such a young age. I couldn't even remember how she looked like but I knew from what my father had said that I inherited her beautiful features. My eyes, he had told me a long time ago, had reminded him of my mother's except that my eyes were a colour of silvery-blue. I bit my lips as my finger hovered hesitantly to the doorbell, what would I say about father to her? The Elders couldn't allow any of us to come back and visit her, especially not when the previous war had happened and also the fact that I had been so weak that it took me a rather long time to become strong again. I knew that the Elders meant well but in my rush to come to the mortal dimension, I forgot to prepare a little speech of explanation worth for my mother's ears. "What are you waiting for?" Edmund mused at me, "Don't tell me that you're having second thoughts, Amelee." Hah! He called me by my full name! I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed at my childish response. I looked at the door again and bit my full lips again. I pressed the doorbell and I could hear the chime of chirpy sound of the bell travelling throughout the house. I waited for another few seconds and frowned. I pushed the doorbell once again, more confident this time but there was no answer. I looked at Edmund, pouting at him. He raised his left eyebrow at me, somehow I could hear a little groan escape from his mouth when he saw me pout. "We could wait here for a while," he said gently, trying to cheer me up, "We can stay here for a year if you want." He laughed. "Let's go find some place to stay for the night," I said, barely hiding my disappointment as I turned and walked down the three-steps down. He looked at the door again, probably thinking ways how to break in. "Come on, Edmund, you do have mortal world currencies right?" I asked him, again, in my rush, I forgot to stock up cash. What a fool I was. That snapped his attention back to me, "Gosh, Amie, I think we have to sleep under bridges like homeless people," he teased me, enjoying my horrified look. He cupped my chin and gave me a little peck on the cheek. "Silly Amie," he breathed out, "Would I ever let you sleep on cold ground?" *** I closed my eyes as I threw myself onto the bed. I lay on my back and stared to the ceiling on top of me. Edmund took his coat off and hung it on the coat rack, he looked at me for a moment before taking off his shirt leaving him shirtless. He walked and lay on his side on the bed with me and chuckled softly. I popped open my eyes and turned my head to look at him. "What's so funny?" I asked him but he shook his head. I rolled my eyes and closed it shut, enjoying the feel of the silky duvet on my clothed body. I could feel his finger tracing the lines of my jaws but I ignored him anyway despite the fast thudding that rocked in my heart. "Edmund?" I whispered but he didn't answer me as I could feel he shifted his weight on the bed. I opened my eyes and saw him propped his left elbow to support his head and he looked at me intently. "What do you think of me?" he asked suddenly after a few minutes of silence and intense starring into one another eyes. "You're my Edmund," I said, pausing, frowning a bit when I noticed how my words could be misconstrued by him, "Like a brother." I added quickly. He sighed as he lay on his back by my side. "I'm such an old decrepit 29 years old temporary guardian." I turned to my side, frowning, "Oh c'mon Edmund, you're not that old." He turned to his side and traced the lines of my face with his right fingers, "Do you know how special you are?" he asked me. My eyes turned wide at his confession, I cleared my throat, feeling uncomfortable so I started to sit up straight but he held me on. He edged closer to me and somehow I felt frozen on the bed, "My Amie, my sweet Amie..." he dropped his voice into a husky whisper and before I knew it, he closed the gap between us and started kissing me on my lips. Within Amie Ch. 01 Something happened in my befuddled mind when he kissed me. My mind seemed to forget all reason as I responded to his unexpected kiss. My arms molded to the back of his head, bringing him closer to me. He groaned as I rolled on top of him, straddling him on the bed. I stared into his silvery-green eyes before descending down onto his lips. His hands climbed up to the back of my dress, my thighs exposed as my dress rode high. My hands held to his face, kissing him passionately. My mind fell into some sort of instinctual desires that burnt in my veins. He growled as he ripped the back of my dress, rolling me down onto the bed. I breathed out, closing my eyes as his lips went down to trail on my neck. "Amie..." I could hear his voice rasping heavily with intense need. His insistence kissing and caressing on my body suddenly woke me up to my senses. I struggled at him, trying to push him away, "EDMUND! GET OFF ME!!" My screams put him off guard as I managed to push him away, he staggered a few steps back and I quickly sat up straight. My breathing was ragged and I was still feeling the burn of the intense desires to be one. I could feel the warmth that had pooled in me. "Amie?" Edmund asked, confused and hurt filled his handsome face. I stood up, I covered my clothed chest with both of my arms. I knew my back was exposed regardless. Ugh, I couldn't believe that he had torn my only clothes here! "What the hell were you doing?" I snarled at him. He tried to approach me but I growled at him, my eyes burnt and I could feel my skin phasing into the same scaly skin like the Elders. He stopped in mid track. "Amie," he breathed out, my eyes fell down to his clothed hard-on. I swallowed a lump in my throat, "I lo-," I cut his words off, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" I ran to the bathroom and locked it. My back held to the door as I slid down on the floor. I could hear him knocking on the door but I couldn't handle this anymore. I could hear him sighed and then a few minutes later, our hotel room door banged open and then slammed shut, I could feel the vibration of the room to the bathroom. I breathed out in relief as I went to the sink and splashed cool water to my face. I looked at my reflection and groaned instantly. I looked deeply flushed and my normally pale skin was now scaly. My silvery-blue eyes were still burning from the intense making earlier. Hell! I was confused with myself. I could feel the power crackling within me as I splashed more and more water to my flushed face. I knew that I didn't have any particular feelings to him but why did I responded to his kiss? Perhaps I was growing to be a temptress, I laughed at that thought, was I going to be a succubus like some of my fellow demons who chose to devour on their sex hungers? I shook my head, no, I wasn't that type. We were a different type of demon than our allied friends. I could never be a succubus even if I desired to be so I looked at my reflection and touched the mirror, perhaps I was just being overwhelmed with the intense outburst of lust. I felt bad with Edmund. I shouldn't have yelled at him. I opened the bathroom door and saw that he was indeed gone. I bit my lips, I felt tired and the bed looked welcoming. I looked at myself for a moment and sighed. It seemed useless at scavenging what's left of my dress anyway so I tore the rest off and walked in my panties and bra to the bed. I went under the covers and before I could even ponder about him, sleep quickly overcame me. *** "Hey," Edmund's voice came into my mind as I popped open my eyes. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, properly clothed. I felt embarrassed with my lack of clothing so I held the duvet closer to me. "Good morning sleepyhead," he said again. I looked at the sunny streams of sunlight down the curtained window. I cursed myself silently, I had fallen asleep the whole day yesterday. "I'm sorry Edmund," I said, biting my lips, "I shouldn't have yelled at you." He shook his head, "Just forget it, Amie," he stood up and took an elegant looking bag from the cupboard and offered it to me, "I went to the hotel's boutique last night. Sorry about your dress," he pointed to the remains of my dress on the floor. I sat up straight, my back to the headboard but I held the duvet to my chest. I accepted the bag from him and looked at him. "Why did you stop?" he asked me after a few minutes of awkward silence. "Stop what?" I asked him, pretending to not understand what he meant. He made a weird disgruntled sound, "Our kiss." He stated quietly. I looked away from him. "I don't know," I answered him truthfully. He looked at me dubiously but whatever was in his mind, he didn't voice it out. "Go, get dressed," he told me, "I'll wait for you at the hotel restaurant for breakfast." He went out from the room without waiting for my answer. I blinked at his departure and sighed. I looked to my right and saw that the other side of the bed was made up. Where did he sleep last night? The bed was big enough for three people literally. I wondered as I opened the bag and took out a pair of blue jeans and a sleeveless white shirt. He had also bought me a pair of sandals to replace my painfully high heels. I felt instantly touched with his attention and care towards me. I didn't tell him how my feet were sore from walking and running in those killer heels. I didn't even realize until it was too late as a drop of tear rolled down my face and splashed on my palm... TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT – THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 02 Hi!!! This is the SECOND installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** Breakfast was eerily quiet. I stole a glance at Edmund but he was reading the newspaper devoutly. I pouted to myself as I ate my breakfast quietly. I couldn't think of what to say to him. I knew that he was angry and hurt by me but I just couldn't find my voice to say the perfect words to appease him. I stole another glance at him, this time, he looked directly at me. Startled, I accidentally flung my fork and it flew across the restaurant. He broke into a cheery laughter at my clumsiness. "Here, use mine," he said as he gave me his fork. "Try to not throw it this time. You're lucky if you don't stab someone with it." I stuck my tongue out at him again, forgetting for a moment how horribly guilty I was at him. I stabbed my chicken meat, pretending that it was him. He laughed at me again. "Glad I amused you, Edmund," I said. "Amie, you're priceless," he told me. "Yeah, that's why you can't afford me," Opps, that went horribly wrong and out of context. I looked at him, "Look I didn't mean it that way..." I sighed. He touched my cheek, I marveled at his soft touch on my skin. "Sorry." He shook his head, "I'm not that sensitive," he said, "Don't plague yourself with trying to please me to do things you don't want to do." I looked up at him. "We should go and find my mother after this." I said hurriedly, desperate to change the subject. "Of course Amie," he nodded, "Let's eat." He added with a little smile. He didn't speak to me afterwards. Breakfast was once again quiet and strangely, I welcomed the silence between us despite the incessant chatting from neighbouring tables in the restaurant. I looked around the restaurant after I had finished eating. We didn't look much different from the humans except for our eyes. I think if the humans stood long enough and stared right into our eyes, they would probably notice the silvery colour in them. Oh, we could retort back to our demonic side but seriously, who would want to walk around with their scaly skin, bloody red eyes and the occasional horns or even a tail for crying out loud! I thanked my lucky heritage stars that my demonic side was only scaly skin, a long thin tail and a bundle of crackling powers. I was also blessed with the power to read minds so that was a plus. I touched my necklace briefly, knowing that I would have to go home soon but funnily, I really liked the strange sun that emitted golden sunny rays and the feel of the warm heat on my skin. I was so used to Ersta's bloody red sun and cold surrounding that I forgot how good it felt of my other side of heritage. "Hey, are you going to ignore me the entire time we are here?" I asked him when he folded his newspaper half. He looked at me, "No, don't be silly Amie," he said and then he took a sip from his coffee, "Humans food do taste good." He added randomly as he broke his bread half and then dipped it into a dipper. I sighed, "This is probably why I stopped the kiss," I told him, pausing, "You're being awfully difficult." He stopped in mid track and looked at me, "I probably should tell you that I'm not good with rejections," he said, "But don't worry, I'm not going to give up. I will court you, Amelee Bernaugh." He said and then he stood up. I looked up at him. "Where are you going?" "Nowhere in particular, Amie," he said, pausing as he placed the white napkin on the table. "I'll just have a little sight-seeing." I watched him signaled the waitress for our breakfast bill. He looked at the bill for a moment and then took out his wallet and fished out a hundred dollar bill. "No change," he said with a smile, "Take the rest as tips." The waitress smiled widely. She thanked him and then gave me an envious look just as she turned. I sighed and put my napkin on the table. "I'll go with you," I said to him as I stood up. "You're my keeper, you shouldn't leave me alone." I teased him. "Don't tease me, Amie," he grumbled, "I'd drag you to bed." He said warningly. I laughed at him as I hooked my left arm to the crook of his right elbow. "You wouldn't dare," I said to him, "You're far too sweet." He gave me a mischievous smile. "Well, don't try to temp me." We walked out from the restaurant, my left arm still linked to the crook of his right elbow and a rather weird feeling coursed right into me. I unhooked my arm from his elbow when we reached the main door of the hotel. I felt uncomfortable with the thudding in my heart, I was strangely aware of his being a man which was silly because I knew that Edmund was a guy all along. "Maybe we should go to my mother's house again," I suggested to him. "And skip our sight-seeing?" he asked me with a smile. "Oh c'mon, we can do sight-seeing later, we have limited time in the mortal dimension remember?" I shook my head as I started to walk faster down the sidewalk. Edmund followed me wordlessly. He knew that I was right, we had only limited time in the mortal world before we would fall weak, ah yes, we might be able to tolerate for a year or two but I really didn't want to spend my time cooped up in my bedroom healing. I missed my father more than ever and I hoped that by doing his final wish, I would be able to honour his memory. I wondered how my mother looked like after all of these years. Edmund seemed to notice my silence since he quickened his pace and walked by my side. He didn't say anything but I knew what he wanted to say. People walked past us, deeply immersed with their daily lives. I knew that I should have requested to come to the mortal world years ago but I wasn't sure if I could handle it alone. I wasn't brave enough to swim through the ocean of uncertainty when I meet my estranged mother. Would she even recognized me? I was deeply in my thoughts that I didn't realize that we were finally standing in front of my mother's front door. I looked at Edmund and took a deep breath as I pressed the doorbell again but like yesterday, there was no answer. "Are you sure this is the correct house?" I asked him after the fifth ring. Edmund went to my side, "Of course, I'm sure, the Elders knows everything." He reminded me. I sighed and pressed the bell one last time before I finally gave up. "Maybe we could go walk around for a while and then come back." "Yeah, it's probably more worthwhile," I agreed with his suggestion. We were about to turn and then froze as a beautiful middle-aged woman with short curly blond hair dropped her grocery bag on the floor. She looked at us with shocked expression. "Amelee?" she croaked at me, determined to know the answer. I blinked at her. I looked at Edmund but before I could even say anything. The woman ran to me and enveloped me into a very warm loving embrace. She kissed my cheeks and she looked at me tearfully. "Sarah McEvoy?" Edmund asked coolly. Sarah looked up to the tall broad shouldered handsome man who was standing my side. "Y-yes, I'm Sarah," she nodded vigorously as she let me go. I was still in a state of shock. "How did you know me?" I asked her. "Your father sent me pictures of you over the years, we had never lost contact except sixteen years ago...I was so heartbroken when he didn't send me more news about you," she started to sound hysterical, "He – he told me that he would bring you to see me but he never did keep his promise but – but it's OK, you're here now, where is your father?" her unstoppable flow of statements made me dizzy with confusion. Edmund held me close to support me. "Easy, Sarah, you're going to make her faint," he warned her but he said it in a friendly way. "W-what do you mean?" I stammered at her. "Didn't he tell you?" my mother asked me, her green eyes shone, "We've been exchanging pictures and letters via dimensional portals. He – he gave me a box full of things to allow me open a simple portal. He never did reply any of my letters anymore." She looked at me brokenly. I bit my lips. I looked at Edmund. Whatever shall I do? I thought to him. He looked at me and mouthed, 'the truth'. "Sarah – um, Mom, Dad – well, Dad, Dad passed away sixteen years ago from a war, that's why he couldn't reply your letters or bring me to see you," I paused, regret flooded inside me as I saw her beautiful face contorted brokenly, fresh pearls of tears rolled down her cheeks. "I – I came here today because he wanted me to meet you." She embraced me once again, tightly. "I missed you so much, Amie!" She broke into heavy sobs and I had to struggle on my footage to keep myself from falling to the floor. "Are you going to stay here with me?" That question made me locked gaze with Edmund. He knew what was brewing in my mind. I looked at him desperately. He cleared his throat and touched my mother's left shoulder. "We can't stay here forever Sarah," he said gently at her. My mother turned to look at him as she released her embrace on me. "We can only stay here for a short period of time. You know what had happened before." He reminded her in a soft tone. She looked heartbroken. "I understand," she replied timidly and then her face contorted trying to look cheerful, she grabbed my arms and continued, "We should spend a quality mother and daughter time, I'll show you around and – and, where are you staying now?" I was still dumbfounded with the discovery of bumping into my mother that I couldn't answer her straight away. I did look like her except for our hair and eyes' colour. Hers was a short curly blond hair while mine was a deep auburn. I had inherited my father's hair and eyes' colour. "We're staying at The Crystal Hotel, Sarah," Edmund prompted. "Oh no, please, I have plenty of rooms inside my house," Sarah said, shaking her head, "Hotel bills are costly." "No, Sa- um, Mom, we couldn't intrude," I finally got my voice back. My mother looked at me, "Don't be silly, Amie," "Look, I'll leave the two of you alone, I'll go back to the hotel and cancel our stay there, Edmund said, trying to be polite. "Thank you, um -," Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "Edmund," he told her. "My name's Edmund." "Thank you Edmund," Sarah was grateful. She knew that he was only going to allow her and me to have a quality time together. I supposed that I ought to be grateful as well since this was probably the last time I could ever see her. Frequent comings to the mortal dimension in a short period of time would prove fatal. "See you later, Edmund," I waved him good bye. He smiled at me and then turned to walk down the path. "Is he your boyfriend?" my mother piped in after Edmund's back vanished to the corner of the road. I looked at her, startled with my mother's assumption. "No, he – he's just a friend," I answered, feeling a blush crept in. "Oh," she seemed to be thinking something but whatever it was, she didn't tell me. I didn't want to read her mind even though I could do it. It just felt weird to intrude into her mind and highly impolite! She went to the front door and unlocked it. She pushed it open and looked at me, "Come Amie, I'll show you around." Her house was small but it was homey. The front door opened to a narrow hallway that branched into a small contemporary furnished living room. The hallway was filled with smart organized frames of pictures of me when I was a little child. There were pictures of me when I was born, I touched the frame and felt amazed with how fragile I had looked. My mother looked at me, a little happy smile broke on her face as I continued to look at the rest of the pictures on the wall. There was about a few random pictures of me ranging from one year old to the last picture she had of me, when I was twelve. There was even a small family portrait of my parents and me where my mother had held me in her arms. "I missed him so much," my mother whispered, touching my father picture, "I was so surprised when he told me the truth about his nature. I thought he was lying, you know, I figured that maybe he didn't want to take responsible over me and you but oh, I couldn't believe my eyes when he turned into his demonic form." She looked like she was about to burst into tears so I went to her and held her in my arms. She calmed herself down and wiped her face with both of her hands, she chuckled lamely, "I'm sorry dear, I'm being silly." "It's OK Mom," I assured her gently. It was strange to finally hold my mother. I had never noticed it before but having her standing close by me finally made me realized of how REAL my mother was. She was warm and real, she was really standing here with me, she looked so fragile, her mortal physique made me wanted to protect her. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of finally meeting my mother that I couldn't really focus on anything else. She straightened up and took out a couple of tissue from her purse and started to dab on her face. "He still loved you even when his time had come to an end." I continued, hoping that little fact would make her happier. "I loved your father too," she replied meekly. "I was devastated when he didn't contact me anymore, I – I thought that he had forgotten about me, I had never thought the possibility of him being dead..." her voice trailed off into a silent distance. She cleared her throat and pretended to look perky but I knew that her heart was bleeding profusely. She gave me a little tour of her three-bedroom bungalow. Her house had a big basement which was basically a place for her to paint and write stories during her free time. The basement was also furnished in a rather homey modern taste with cheerful colours. I didn't know that my mother, apart from running her own café, was quite an excellent painter and a successful author. She said that she could have moved to a bigger house but she couldn't have the heart to move away since the house was a gift given by my father for their first year anniversary. The three bedrooms, she told me, was obviously a master bedroom where she slept and when she opened the second door, I was amazed to see my old nursery. My mother still kept my little wooden crib and other baby things. I picked up a familiar looking old teddy bear which my mother had happily told me how inseparable I was with Mr. Beary – seriously, I christened my teddy bear as Beary – boring plain name for a bear! Was that me? A very boring kid? Seriously? I gaped at her. But my mother had laughed on. "You're over thinking, Amie, you were just a kid back then." It was nostalgic to stand in my old nursery. I couldn't really remember my time here but ironically, I remembered the stupid bear. I hugged the bear to my chest as she took me to the next room which was a guest bedroom. "Where would Edmund sleeps?" I asked her carefully as she pushed open the window to let the air circulate in the bedroom. "He's your boyfriend," my mother teased me, "I figured you two would want to spend the night together...." "Mom!!" I cut her words off. "He's NOT my boyfriend!" "I know, I know," my mother laughed, "I was just teasing you, Amie. Are you always this serious back in Ersta?" Great, I amused my mother. She kept on chuckling. I breathed my old teddy and remembered the soft silky feel of its fur. "I have a little resting place down in the basement with a bed, do you think he would be OK with it?" "He'll survive," I drawled out dryly. Seriously, she still found it an amusing idea of my being with Edmund! "How old is he anyway?" my mother asked. "Twenty-nine," I answered shortly as I looked out to the window. I was amazed to see a beach stretched out just a few meters away. "You have a beach?" I asked stupidly. I could see people walking in their bikinis and suntan lotions. My mother laughed, "Yes, I have a small house but fantastic backyard!" she paused, "Amie, don't you think he's too old for you?" she asked me, reverting back to Edmund. I looked at her with aghast, "Mom! I told you! There's nothing going on between me -," my mother held her hand up, stopping my little words in mid sentence. "I know what you said Amie but I'm not blind," she told me. "What do you mean, Mom?" I was curious this time. I turned and put the teddy bear on the bed. "I saw how he looked at you, so I thought that maybe -," I cut her words this time. "Mom, you thought wrong," I said grimly. "Ok, ok," my mom said, trying to bring light to our suddenly tensed conversation. I didn't know why I was so defensive about it. "How about we go and have a tour at my café? You should try my famous Chocolate Vanilla-filled cupcakes! Do you remember how you used to beg me to make them everyday?" I smiled at her. I remembered that particular memory clearly. "Sure Mom, let's go." "How about Mr. Beary?" she teased me. "Very funny, Mom." I said pouting at her as she burst into laughter. *** The café like my mother's little house had a feeling of home inside. I could see a number of people inside the cool air-conditioned café enjoying their coffee and an array of little muffins and bread. There were little tables with comfortable chairs outside the café with more people sitting and socializing with one another. My mother introduced me to her workers but she didn't tell them that I was her daughter. I could understand why she did that, it would be weird for them to know that their boss had an eighteen-year-old daughter whom they hadn't seen. Besides I wasn't going to stay here on a permanent basis so why complicate things for my mother? It was enough for me and her to know the truth about us. My mother had to leave me alone for a while to check on her café but it was all right, I could sit here and munch my mother's famous chocolate cupcakes. I sat down on one of the empty armchairs in the café and propped open a magazine. "Hey," a voice startled me and I accidentally flung my half-eaten cupcake to the air. The voice laughed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, Amelee." I looked at one of my mother's café workers. A handsome nineteen year old guy with jet black short spiky hair plopped down the armchair next to me and smiled, "Um, aren't you supposed to be working?" I asked, half annoyed and half embarrassed of my clumsiness. "I finished my shift," he replied coolly. I felt tremendously annoyed with his cool demeanour or perhaps I was just still embarrassed with him catching me unprepared. "What do you want?" I asked, half gritting my teeth. "I'm Rob – um Robert Sherman," he said, introducing himself. As we progressed into a much friendlier conversation, I became more comfortable with his presence. We continued to talk about random things and I found out that he was attending a local university on scholarship and he was working part time with my mother for extra source of income. "How about you?" he asked me. "Me?" I looked at him dubiously. "I heard Ms. McEvoy introducing you to the others, what? Are you her niece or something?" he asked me. I ignored his question as I surreptitiously changed the topic, "You know, the cupcakes here are awesome." "Yes, you should try the chicken lasagna and my secret concoction of Vanilla Sundae," he said grinning. I couldn't help but to feel awed with him. Here he was, all cute and broad-shouldered and definitely interesting. My mother suddenly came to my side and looked apologetic at me, "Amie, honey, look I'm really sorry, I have to go and handle something," "The coffee maker machine is causing havoc again?" Rob asked her, smiling. "Yes, and this time, the stupid coffee machine broke down for good. I have to go and find a replacement ASAP," she paused, looking at me now, "Hey, Rob, are you free later?" I didn't like where this conversation was going but I heard it anyway, "Yeah, I don't have any classes later. It's a whole free afternoon for me." Within Amie Ch. 02 "Great!" my mother enthused, "How about if you take Amie around town?" she asked him. "Mo – um, Sarah, how about Edmund?" I asked her. Rob arched his left eyebrow at me. "Edmund will be fine," she said nonchalantly, "He's at the hotel, remember? I left him a note at the front door saying to meet us at the café." "I don't mind taking you around, Amelee," Robert said to me warmly and flashed me this charming heart-stopping smile and at that moment, I forgot who I was and how limited the time I had in the mortal dimension. He held his hand out to me in a warm friendly gesture and I couldn't help but to accept his hand. He grasped my right hand and a sudden surge of tingling feeling crept over me. I shuddered and bit my lips as I took my hand back from his. He smiled at me as my mother pecked my forehead and then left us alone to deal with her broken coffee machine. Great, Mom, I thought dryly, way to show people how motherly you are with me. I flashed him a fake smile but I bet he knew I was faking it anyway since he stood up and said, "I don't want your boyfriend to get all angry with you so it's OK, I was planning to go home after work." Aw, now I felt guilty. "No," I said to him, "Edmund isn't my boyfriend." I noticed how he sparkled when he heard me said that Edmund wasn't my significant other. "Do you still want to give me a tour?" OK, I knew that I was taking risks here but Robert seemed like a very good guy and I couldn't help but to feel excited with the idea of spending more time with this interesting warm human. That was strange. *** "You're in luck, Amelee," he said to me as he gave me a corndog. The hawker thanked us and wished us a very happy time at the carnival. "Luck? Why?" I asked him as I took a bite from my first corndog. I squealed, "Ooh, it's so delicious! What is this thing?" We walked past more stalls. He looked at me strangely, "You've never eaten a corndog before?" "Dog?" ugh, I felt disgusted. I felt like gagging. "YOU ATE DOGS??" "N-nooo!" he shook his head off, "It's just a name! You know, just like hotdogs!" I was immensely horrified, "DOGS!! UGH!!" He stopped me, laughing, "Seriously Amie, where have you come from? Another dimension or something?" My eyes went wide at him. I bit my lips. He looked apologetic, he must have assumed that I felt hurt by his words, "Look, I'm sorry Amelee but honestly I've never seen a girl overreacted over sausages!" "So, um, what do you mean by 'luck'?" I asked him, changing the subject quickly. "The carnival is held only twice per year here in this town," he answered and then he paused as his hand traced the lines of my face, "I may be as bold to say this but I really liked you, Amelee," My eyes closed automatically as his fingers caressed the lines of my face, a sigh escaped from my mouth and I could sense that he was smiling. "Amelee?" he asked me, as if he was seeking permission. I opened my eyes and realized that both of his hands were caressing my face. I swallowed, feeling myself blushing red. "Rob?" I looked at him, right into those soulful green eyes of his. He didn't say anything as his lips descended down on mine and just as our lips met, all thoughts of who I was were gone. TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!! – THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 03 *** Hi!!! This is the THIRD installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** Edmund looked at me questioningly. I refused to meet his gaze as I pretended to be occupied with trimming my mother's roses. I put each trimmed roses in a transparent clear vase carefully. My mother seemed to know what was going on between Robert and me but she didn't say anything, in fact she seemed to be smirking with glee. If I hadn't known any better, I'd say that she was trying to set me up with the human boy which was ridiculous. I knew my mother wouldn't have thought of such things. Where did you go this afternoon? Edmund asked in my mind, I still refused to meet his gaze, Amie? He prompted again. I didn't know what to say to him. Heck, I couldn't understand why I felt like I was betraying him. I guessed my conscience was gaining on me about my intense make-out session with Robert. "I went to the carnival," I said to him. He grabbed my hand and looked for signs my mother's presence, she had apparently left us alone in the living room. "You've fulfilled your father's wish already," he whispered, "We should go home, just like what the Elders had told us before." This time, I looked at him straight into his eyes, "Go home?" He looked at me curiously, "Yes, you do know that we can't stay here for long, sooner or later, we'd fall ill," I sighed. There were so many reasons why I couldn't just get up and leave the mortal dimension. I couldn't possibly leave my mother so soon. I had just got here, why couldn't Edmund see that? Hah! You don't want to leave Robert too, admit it Amie! My conscience screamed at me victoriously. I bit my lips, blocking my thoughts from resurfacing. I couldn't let Edmund knew the truth that I was feeling something special for a mere human boy. I knew that the best thing to do would just pack up and leave before my feelings could grow but – but I looked at my mother who came into the living room with a big wooden spoon. She said something about dinner which was going to be ready soon and she asked Edmund to help her set the table. He looked at me but he didn't say anything as he stood up and followed my mother to the kitchen. Bless my mother. She knew how stuck I was, – well, not exactly knowing but still, I had to be grateful at her nonetheless. I felt confused with myself, you would think that I would have enough sense to stop myself from engaging into a relationship that basically had no future? I mean, look at my parents! Sure, they were happily in love at first but they had no choice but to separate when my father and I had fallen gravely ill but the taste of the forbidden was so alluring. Robert was alluring. He exuded certain charms that made me continuously hooked. My feelings set aside, I knew that I wanted to get to know him better. I took out a piece of paper from the pocket of my jeans and gazed at Robert's neat writing of his number. I bit my lips, knowing full well that I had minutes left to decide before Edmund would come back to the living room and question me again. I stood up and went to the phone. I stared at the numbers on the phone hesitantly and then looked at the piece of paper. I crumpled it and put it back into my pocket, I had memorized the number already so there was no need to look at the paper anymore. I looked around me just to see if Edmund or my mother had returned from the kitchen. I gripped the phone hard and walked quickly to the armchair. Should I call? I wondered to myself. I really wanted to know what could progress from this appealing temptation. Like a spell, my fingers started to punch the numbers and I held the phone to my ear. I could hear the ringing of the tone, waiting patiently and then, just at the last moment before my courage crumbled and I was about to end the line, a familiar voice answered the phone. "Um, Rob?" I asked timidly. "Amelee?! Is that you? Wow, hey, I'm glad you called me," he said happily. My heart seemed to plunge in deeper into forbidden waters. "Where are you?" I liked the feeling, so to speak. "Yeah, um, I'm staying at Sarah's..." my voice trailed down as panic started to grip on my throat. I couldn't think of anything to say to him, I wanted to impress him with my usual witty bubbly attitude but somehow I couldn't do it in front of him, I was just speechless! Rob didn't seem to notice my hesitance since he continued to speak on as if I hadn't sounded like an uncertain demon – uh, half demon, "Listen, I was thinking, there's going to be a big party at my friend's loft this Friday, would you like to go with me? I could show you around," he said warmly. This Friday? I thought to myself, why! That would be three days from now. I looked at the empty hallway again and wondered of my options. Edmund would certainly ask me to go home as soon as possible and it didn't seem like I could come back any time soon. "Amelee?" he called out. "Amie," I corrected him, "Just call me Amie." "Amy?" he asked me again in a flirty persuasive voice. "No," I chuckled, "Amie as in with I and E." "Sweet," I could practically see him grinning at the end of the line, "So, Amie, what do you think? Or if you like, we could skip the party and head to the beach? The moonlight at the beach is awesome, you should see." "Why don't we do both?" I suggested with a flirty tone. OK, sue me, I couldn't help but to be attracted to the boy! I could see Edmund approaching me from the corner of my eye so I quickly straightened up and cleared my voice, "Look, I have to go, so I'll see you then." "Yeah, definitely! I'll pick you up around seven!" but before I could even protest about him picking me up. Edmund had already sat down on the sofa by my side, intently looking at me with those curious silvery-green eyes of his. I didn't say anything as I hung up the phone and placed it on the coffee table in front of me. "Who's that?" he asked me. I bit my lips, "Just a friend," I replied, trying to sound calm, "I met a few when Sarah took me to her café." I added quickly. I felt horribly guilty when Edmund looked at me, believing every little white lie that came out from my mouth. He took my hand and started caressing it gently, "I have to go home tomorrow," he paused, I looked at him, "I'm not as strong as your father," he gave a weak laugh, "I'm starting to feel the impact of this mortal dimension." "But I feel just fine," I said, protesting. "I just met my mother! You can't -," "Hush, Amie, my dear," he cut my words off, "I didn't say that I wanted you to come home straight away with me." I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression on my face, "What do you mean?" "I'll convince the Elders to give you more time to spend with your mother, the longest period of time I can give you is three weeks, OK? Do you understand Amie? After three weeks, you need to come back home," he said, still caressing my hand and then he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. I took my hand away quickly. He sighed. "You know how I feel towards you..." I cut his words off, "Don't," I shook my head at him, "This isn't the right place and time, Edmund." "Then when is the right time?" he asked me, demanding in a soft and yet firm voice. I stood up. He looked up at me, shocked at my sudden outburst. I couldn't take this any longer. My mind, not to mention, my heart was filled with utter confusion and strange feelings that I couldn't even fathom. I couldn't understand why I felt so guilty to Edmund and then, my utter attraction towards Robert overlapped with my guilt. "Amie?" he asked again. "Are you all right?" I sighed as I sank down on the seat, "I'm confused right now," I admitted to him. "Of what?" he frowned, his expression was as confused as I was. "I – I – a lot of things are in my head now," I stammered. He smiled faintly at me and then he went down on his knees and gathered my hands to his. He kissed each of my fingertips, I tried to take my hands away but he held on, firm like iron. "Take your time," he whispered, "Just promise to me that you'll think about us when I'm gone tomorrow." I closed my eyes. What had I gotten myself into? *** I lay on my bed, trying to persuade myself to fall asleep but my mind was too befuddled with my guilt and attraction. My eyes closed shut and yet, my mind replayed the scene where Robert had kissed me intensely. He started with a slow gentle kiss but I was having none of that as I pressed myself to him, my hands locked to his head, bringing him closer to me. His hands caressing my back as his lips trailed down my neck. It felt so real that I didn't even realize that a pair of lips was actually trailing down the nape of my neck! I gasped and turned around, turning my bedside lamp on. "EDMUND! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I hissed to him as quietly as I could. Edmund was lying on his side near me on the bed. He gave me a triumphant smug look. I noticed that my bedroom door was slightly ajar. "I felt so alone in the basement," he said in a smug-tone whisper, so that my mother wouldn't overhear us, "And I figured I'd give you a little visit. You looked so deliciously tempting when you sleep, Amie." "You horny bastard," I punched him playfully on his shoulder but he ended up grabbing both of my hands and rolled my back to the bed. He was, within a split second, hovered on top of me. I started to protest but he held me close and I could feel his warm strong body on me. "This is sexual harassment, do you know that?" I pointed out to him. "I don't hear you complaining," he replied, looking smug as he trailed his finger on my chest. My heart pounded in my chest and I think he could hear my heart rocketing. He smiled at me, revealing a row of perfect white teeth. His silvery-green eyes sparkled as he ran his hand to the lines of my nose bridge. "I thought you said you're giving me time to think," I said heatedly, still trying to get up but he held me on firmly on the bed by locking his left leg on top of mine. "Yes, I said I give you time but it didn't mean that I can make you see how perfect we are with one another," he said, grinning. He bent his head down and started to trail light kisses on my neck and I didn't know why but I just let him. He made little vibrating sounds that made my skin tingled. My arms snaked on its own to his back, bringing him closer to me. He made little nips on my neck as his fingers traced down to the hem of my clothes and started to pull at it. My back arched, making him easier to pull my shirt off me. Pure instincts rushed into our veins as the world surrounding us vanished just like that in our minds. He kissed down to my cleavage and ran his hand to the back of my silky bra to release its confines on me. My lips locked to his and then, I pulled his shirt off him while his hands unzipped my jeans and seductively pushed it down to my legs. He gave a little slap on my butt as desires ran course into me. I pushed him on his back as I straddled him. I didn't know when he had taken off his pants but I could feel his hard-on my covered pussy. Wordlessly, I ran my hands on his toned chest. I grazed my perfectly manicured nails lightly on his chest and he gave a little pleasurable moan. He ripped my thong off as I bent down to his lips. He gave a loud demon-like growl, his smooth pale skin started to shimmer and reverted to its scaly form. Small horns protruded in a line alone his spine. I gave a little yelp of surprise when he rolled me down on the bed and spread my legs wide to give him access. My skin shimmered in between human skin and demonic scaly form as pure instincts washed over us. I slung my legs to his shoulder as he licked my sensitive swollen clit. I trashed around on the bed as he inserted his finger into my virgin hole. Tight and wet, he continued to plunge in but careful enough to not damage the barrier. He wanted to do the honour for himself. I continued to trash around but his hands held my hips on place with his free hand. He growled at me, wanting me to behave and submit to him. My eyes burnt with intense desires as he inserted a second finger, massaging my insides, making me squirm with desires. At this point, he could just stab me and I wouldn't have noticed. That was how far I had gone. "Don't tease me..." I rasped when he refused to give me release. He chuckled as he gently bit on my swollen clit, sucking and licking my wet flowing hole. I pushed him down to the bed and swung my legs between his head, his hands held tightly to my hips as he brought my pussy down to his so talented tongue. Two can play the game, I mused seductively at him as I touched his raging hard-on that had reverted to its demonic form. It was obviously longer and thicker than the average human's so at that split second I wondered how it would fit into me. Would he tear me apart? But I couldn't think any longer when his tongue lapped on my dripping hole, he plunged in his tongue but not deep enough to break my purity. I kissed his beautiful demonic cock, I wanted to please him. I wanted him to know how pleasurable he would be with me. I kissed the head of his mushroom-y head and gave a little lick to taste. I could taste his salty pre-cum, triggering my sexual desires to a higher level. I moaned as I could feel him pulling my pussy closer and closer to his face, he arched his hips to me, wanting the same treatment from my mouth. I enveloped my mouth onto his cock, finding it a bit difficult at first due to his demonic thickness but I managed anyway even though I gagged halfway. I moaned on his cock, knowing the vibration that I had caused on his cock would drive him crazy with intense desires. He groaned, I could feel his vibration on my hole, making me burst like a broken dam but he continued to lick me clean. I sighed with pleasure. I continued to bob my head up and down on his amazing cock. I worshipped his cock. He held my thighs so hard that I knew he would leave finger bruises on me. My hand held tight to the base of his cock as my head bobbed up and down. I could feel him harden more inside my mouth that I knew he was close but before I could even make him cum. He pulled me to him and laid me on the bed. "I want you, now," he rasped as he positioned himself on top of me. My arms held to his back, my nails dug onto him. He kissed my neck, trailing up to my lips as he positioned his cock at my entrance. I sighed in pleasure, knowing that he wanted to claim me inside out, I spread my legs wider and then locked my legs onto his back. I could feel his cock at my entrance, I could almost feel it entering me - so warm and all mine, I sucked in my breath, my eyes closed tight and just as his cock was about to enter me. We heard a loud strong gasp of surprise, followed by a sound of a plate breaking into pieces and the clang of a tray. Our heads snapped and turned to the source. My eyes turned wide as all senses returned to me, I couldn't believe what had almost happened, what I had let Edmund did to me. Edmund scrambled off me, his hard-on pointing proudly as he rushed to put on his clothes. I, on the other hand, scrambled under the duvet. My cheeks blushing madly. My mother stared at us, shocked covered her face. Her plate of chocolate cupcakes fell scattered on the carpeted floor along with the thousand pieces of shattered platter. This was awkward. *** I felt like killing Edmund. More like strangling him. How could I let myself fall onto – onto ugh, I couldn't even let myself say it out loud. My mother was pouring me a cup of Earl Grey. Edmund had gone back to Ersta a few hours ago during dawn. Lucky him, I mused. I remembered him giving me a triumphed look before going into the portal. I couldn't even bring myself to remember the events last night after my mother had caught us in the heat of almost-making-love. My mother had found her feet and then ran out from the room and slammed the door of her bedroom, obviously embarrassed with what she had witnessed, or uh, almost witnessed anyway. Edmund had finished dressing up and looked at me, half apologetically and half amused, "Baby, that was just too embarrassing but a definite turn on, don't you think so?" I groaned at him as I covered my head with the duvet. He went towards me and pulled the duvet off my head and smiled at me, "Go away, Edmund." I groaned. He had chuckled and bent down to kiss on my forehead but I pushed him away, "Ok, ok, I'll leave you alone, all right? Get some sleep...or do you rather we continue what we had done before your mother interrupted us?" I glared at him, "You're positively annoying, Edmund," I groused at him, "I'm embarrassed all right?! I can't believe my mother saw us – ugh! And – and how could I let you – you, ugh!" I covered my head with the duvet. He chuckled anyway and then closed the door gently. I whipped open the duvet and saw that he had left me alone. I groaned and lay back on the bed, feeling a bit cold. My gaze fell down to my clothes on the floor. I sighed as I went out from the bed and started to put it on. I shook my head, wanting to erase the memories. I looked at my mother who sat down and was dipping a butter biscuit in her warm tea. "Mom, look, I'm sorry about last night," I said nervously. My mother blushed, "Amie, let's just forget about it," she said uncomfortably, "I really shouldn't expect that my daughter would still be a little girl," she looked up at me, "You're practically a grown-up now." She flashed me a little smile. "Sorry," I said quickly, knowing that I couldn't fully say a complete apology. She gave me a little naughty smile, "And you told me that he wasn't your boyfriend!" she said with a giggle, "Seriously Amie, I don't really like the wide age gap between you two but he'll do." "Mom!" I was aghast, "He's not my boyfriend!" "Whatever you say, Amie," I knew then that my mother didn't believe what I said. "Just so you know, I happen to have a date with Rob this Friday," I said heatedly. My mother frowned at me, "Rob?" clearly she was confused. How could she not? I mean, she had, after all, seen me naked with Edmund. Suddenly, I had this feeling as if I was a slut. I didn't like it. "Yes, Rob, your part time worker," I said defensively. "I don't think that it's such a good idea, Amie," my mother shook her head, "He's human, just like me, Amie." My silvery blue eyes flared, "Mom, I happen to like him very much!" "But what about Edmund?" she wanted to know, "Are you sure that you want a fate like your father and I had?" her voice was dropped into pure sadness. For once, I didn't have an answer for her question. I looked away from her, "Can we not talk about this?" I pleaded at her. "We can't always escape from making decisions, Amie," my mother said, "It's not a good to put things off at the last minute, other people might ended up getting hurt – you might get hurt." I knew that she was telling the truth. Her words were making sense but I didn't know what to do. I sighed, "Is it possible to love two people at the same time?" She smiled at me, "Actually, no," she said, "You can only love one person truly. What you feel now is probably a mixture of love and lust to two persons. You don't know how to differentiate which person you truly love but don't think much about it Amie, you're still young, you'll find the answer when you least expect it." "How can you be so sure, Mom?" I asked her. "Because the answers are usually right in front of your eyes, Amie, it's just that sometimes we missed it out," she answered back, she sounded more like a mother now. "So, what do you think I should do?" I asked her again, stirring my spoon inside my tea cup, "I guess I should stop things between Robert and me before things get serious?" Within Amie Ch. 03 "You know, that would be the common sense thing to do but don't do things based on what people wants you to do," she told me, "It's best if you do things based on what YOU want – that is how you can never regret and always be happy with your decisions no matter how bad or good it might turned out to be." I knew that she was right. She had to be, I mean, all mothers were supposed to help their children right? Maybe I was just calling in more trouble with Robert but I couldn't stop myself from wanting to try of what possibility could come between us. I remembered the sweet intense kiss which we had shared in the carnival. I wanted more, oh I craved for more than just a kiss. My thoughts went to Edmund, he was always there for me. He was there at every time that I needed him. He was there when my father had passed away. He was there to teach me to use my demonic powers and to control my ability to read other minds. "How long do you plan to stay here, Amie dear?" she asked me suddenly after a few minutes of silence, "You know, so I could prepare myself." I could hear the broken tone in her voice. "Edmund told me that I'm good to stay for another three weeks," I said, trying to cheer her up, "This won't be my last time coming here, Mom, I will come back to visit you, even if it's only once per year." "Or two...or even sixteen," she added dryly. "Mom, don't be like that, you do know what happens if I stay here longer than I should," I wished I could have more immunity here – I wished I could stay here with her, so that she would never feel alone but I was powerless in that section. Later that day, my mother and I went for a little mother and daughter time. We had never really had one so I figured it was better late than never. She took me window-shopping and it was kind of strange and fun to go shopping with my mother, ah, and also the fact that she had a limitless credit card. We had lunch in a pizza parlour and I had my first taste of a slice of pizza. Ooh, the delicious tangy taste when I sank my teeth into my slice. My mother was amused to see my expression. "What? Don't you guys have pizzas in Ersta?" she asked me, teasingly. I had stuck my tongue out at her in a childish manner and she burst out laughing. After lunch, we walked to more boutiques but I didn't buy anything since I don't need human clothes in Ersta. I just helped her pick which outfit made perfect for her. The only thing that I had bought was a silver platinum necklace with a heart shaped locket. We had taken an express picture together and I had stuck the picture inside the little frame of the locket. I had the jeweler engraved 'Mother's love till the end'. My mother had also bought a similar locket like mine except that hers was oval but she had put in our picture in. She had asked the jeweler to engrave in my nickname and birth date. It was touching to see my mother like that. After that, we went to a cinema – my first ever, which was kind of ironic since the movie that we watched was about vampires and demons infesting over human population. I felt kind of sad to see our mother-daughter-quality-time coming to an end as we went into the house because it felt like the time of my departure was coming nearer and nearer. We had talked more over a bowl of ice cream and chocolate chip cookies as we watched a really late-in movie on the television. It was all random things, ranging from how she was doing, what was her favourite things in the world, did she has any kind of allergies...you know all the sort of random facts that would have been considered as unworthy of mentioning but I wanted to know more about my mother. I wanted to know more on who was this woman who had given birth to me eighteen years ago. And that, I believed was even worth doing than scrambling my head over a love triangle that I had put myself into... Edmund and Rob could just wait... I need to spend every minute available with my loving mother. TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!! – THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 04 *** Hi!!! This is the FOURTH installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** I looked out at the window. I had to admit that I was feeling anxious. My mother just shook her head in amusement. "You're acting as if this is your first date!" my mother drawled out. "It is my first date, Mom!" I replied back dryly, I felt hot in my pink sleeveless dress that reached to my thighs despite the cool air from the air-conditioner. My mother just laughed, naturally she thought that I was joking. I humoured her anyway as I plopped down the comfy sofa. "I just hope that you'll know what to do after this, Amie," my mother said gently, "I really like Rob and Edmund but personally, I think you're more suited with Edmund." "Why? Because he's a demon like me?" I asked, noticing the stern snap in my voice. My mother pretended to not hear the hostility in my voice since she continued, "That and also the fact that you two made love," Colour flooded in my cheeks, "Mom, we didn't make love," I said tightly, my lips pursed, "I thought we agreed to not mention this anymore." My cheeks flushed deep red, wishing that my mother hadn't witnessed the embarrassing moment. "I just don't want you to make a wrong decision and ended up getting hurt, Amie," she said, a hint of seriousness in her voice, just as the bell rang on the door. "So you don't want me to go out with him?" I asked her, walking towards her to the door. "I'm just saying that you just do what YOUR heart wants to do but a little common sense wouldn't hurt," she said again. I felt a sudden wave of frustration. Why couldn't my mother just say whatever she concocted in her mind directly? Why must she had the need to twist everything into complicated riddles? "Mom, I can't just cancel the date when he's here already!" I said, wanting her to understand. "A mess which you could have prevented if you had think about your true feelings about it," my mother replied back. "What if Edmund finds out about your -- uh, infidelity?" I was taken aback. "I'm not his girlfriend or even his wife, let alone a fiancée, how can you say that I'm being unfaithful to him?" But I never did get my answer from her since she pulled open the door and welcomed Robert with a cheery smile. He came in and flashed me a dazzling smile and my legs felt like jelly when I looked at him. "Have fun kids!" my mother said before going down to the basement to finish up her new novel. "Be back before midnight, Amie." Hah! My mother played her role like a pro. I smiled at her, feeling amused. "Ready, Amie?" he asked me, holding out his hand to me. I looked at him, my thoughts suddenly went back to Edmund and I froze for a while. What if I was making a wrong decision? I didn't want to hurt Edmund -- he was very important to me but then, as I locked gaze with Rob, his flashing smile seemed to melt me right into my core. My body seemed to have a life of its own as it accepted his outstretched hand and he took me into his car. I knew that I was taking a huge risk just by going out with Robert. The Elders would probably have a coronary if they found out about my being with Rob. They would probably think that I would repeat what my father had done. Why did I even agree to go out with him in the first place? My mind raced to find justified answers -- reasons that would enable me to at least have a good time. I mean, it wasn't like he said that it was a date. It was merely a friendly invite to enjoy a human-based party. But, my conscience argued, friends don't lip locked with one another. I shook my head vigorously as I was partially aware of the car moving at 100 km/hr. I could hear him making a friendly conversation with me but my mind was somewhere else, I couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying. He seemed to notice my lack of attention since he cleared his throat and asked, "Amie, are you all right?" "Um yes, sorry, I was thinking something earlier," I told him apologetically. "About what?" he asked me, his eyes on the road. I turned to look at him, panic crept into me, "Um, nothing much, just random things," I tried to make myself sound as normal as possible and he seemed to buy it. "What were you saying earlier?" He grasped my right hand as his left control the steering wheel. "Well, actually I forgot what I had said," he admitted sheepishly as his left hand played with my fingers. "I was talking about random things," he paused as the traffic light turned red and slowed down the car to a stop. The engine continued to run smoothly like baby oil. "I talked too much when I'm nervous." He admitted again with a chuckle. "You're nervous?" I looked at him again, "Why?" He chuckled even more, "I'm having a fabulous date with a beautiful chick," "This is a date?" I asked him, perhaps a bit too loudly since his handsome face contorted in a hurt manner. "Of course it is," he stated dignifiedly "Look, sorry, it's just that a lot of things is in my mind right now and -- and for the record, I did initially think that this was a date, I just thought that maybe you didn't think of it this way." I explained to him quickly. He smiled at me and then the traffic light turned green, he hit the gas pedal and the car motored on swiftly. "The party is going to start around 10, what do you think we should do for the extra 2 hours?" "Anywhere," I prompted cheerfully. "How about the beach?" he asked me. "There's a full moon tonight!" *** I could feel the sand sinking in my toes as we walked along the beach. I held my high heels on my left hand. The wind on my hair felt really cool. Robert was right, there was a big full moon on the sky. He was quiet at my side. He seemed like absorbed with the beauty and romantic-feeling of the full moon sky. He carefully grabbed my hand and we walked with our hands linked together. "What do you think about the supernatural?" I asked him suddenly, out of the blue. I wanted to know what he thought about it. I didn't know what made me say it but somehow I wanted to know what his opinions were. What would he think of me? He seemed to be taken aback with my ridiculous question but he chuckled anyway, he held my hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Like ghosts and vampires?" he asked me. I pulled him to a stop, gentle waves rolled down to our bare feet. He seemed to sense that this was important to me so he answered, "I like supernatural movies," he brought me closer to him, his left arm encircled to the back of my waist. His right hand traced down the lines of my face. "No, like real-life demons," I insisted, struggling off from him but he chuckled and held on. "Demons?" his eyes went wide. "Yes, demons complete with scaly skin, horns, tails and supernatural abilities," I said exasperatedly. He snuggled to my neck and breathed the sweet smelling scent of my smooth skin. I couldn't help but to moan a little as his hands ran down the back zipper of my dress, teasing it. "Why? Are you a demon?" he asked huskily, his lips lingered on my neck as he started to unzip my dress. "What if I am?" I asked him, my eyes closed as he gently pushed my dress off me, letting it pooled under my feet. I stood in front of him with just my black silk bra with matching thong. He groaned at the sight of me. "You're a beautiful sexy demon," he sighed breathlessly. "You can have my soul, Amelee baby." His eyes shone with pure lust as he pulled me to him and started kissing me passionately. My arms locked to his back. "You can have everything of me..." I forgot everything as his skilled lips made its way down to my cleavage, his hand fiddled at the back clasp of my bra but found a little difficulty when he couldn't find the clasp at first and then he tugged and practically tore my bra off me. I winced a little as the strap cut my shoulder but the pain vanished when his lips licked over the little blood that seeped out from my skin. It was so erotic that I groaned in response, I could feel myself getting wet. I tugged at his shirt, I could feel the muscled tone of his six-pack on his abdomen. I cooed appreciatively as he pulled his pants off him. He pulled my thong down while my hands linked to the back of his neck. My lips went to his. He moaned as his hands fondled my perky breasts, he gave it a little kiss and an appreciative lick to both of my nipples. It seemed like we were in a place of our own. We didn't even realize that we were stark naked in a public beach under the romantic light of the full moon on us. "I am a demon," I whispered to him seductively, "Do you want me?" He lifted me up to his arms and then laid me gently on the sand. The feel of the grainy sand on my back felt very erotic. It was as if there were tiny little hands massaging my back. "Where's your horn?" he chuckled as our hands tangled to one another. His lips grazed on my lips and then travelled down to my breasts. "I -- I don't have horns," I rasped breathlessly, my hands then tangled to his hair, pulling him closer to me. "But I have a tail..." "Baby girl, that's just so sexy," he whispered breathlessly as he went down to my pussy and started to plunge his tongue deep inside me. At a split second, I remembered how gentle Edmund was with me and how guilt started to fill within me but then those treacherous thoughts faded away as Rob lifted my hips high to his mouth as he knelt in front of me, giving him better access into my hole. He gripped tightly on my thighs, groaning verbally as his tongue piston in and out of me like a little baby cock. I moaned breathlessly, my hands high above my head, my legs rested on top of his shoulders as he continued his talented ministration on me. I could feel his hard cock at the small of my back. A small part of me was screaming at me, what the hell were you doing? My voice of conscience yelled at me but then before I could even ponder clearly on what I was about to embark into. Robert blew warm air on my swollen aroused clit, making me tingled all over. I was starting to feel a bit giddy from all the blood that rushed down to my head, he seemed to know that I was starting to feel squeamish since he lowered my hips down on the sand. My legs encircled on his waist. He quickly went on top of me, kissing me again fully on my lips. I tugged at his hair, wanting more and more. I was starting to lose control over myself. My body started to tremble and my skin was starting to transform back to my demonic scaly form. My eyes flared, burning with intense desires. I rolled him onto the sand, straddling him, his raging cock was just mere inches away from my wet virgin hole. His eyes closed tight, groaning and moaning. He tugged at my hard nipples. I gave a low guttural growl as my long tail protruded from my bottom. He whispered seductively on how he wanted me now, oh, how he wanted to bury himself into me. He groaned as how he wanted his seeds washed deep inside me. At this point, I truly forgot everything but my intense desires to be taken completely. He opened his eyes just as I was about to position myself on to his hard-on. My burning silvery-blue eyes gazed straight into his wide shocked eyes. Under the moonlight, my scaly skin was more obvious and shinny like crocodile skin. He could see the swish of my tail from my back. He screamed in utter horror as he pushed me off him. Startled, I fell onto my back on the sand. I sat up straight, panting, I looked at him, feeling hurt seeping into me. He continued to curse and swore. "WHAT ARE YOU??" "Rob?" my passion went down as I realized what was going on. I gathered my dress and started to put it on. I turned back into my human form and looked at him. Hurt filled me like water filling a jar as he scrambled to put on his clothes which had been strewn all over the sand. "I -- I thought you don't mind! You said you -," Rob cut my words, he screamed at me, "YOU DEMONIC FREAK!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST ROLE-PLAYING WITH ME!!!" tears started to flow down my beautiful face, I started to approach him but he threw a handful of sand to me, "STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!" The sand didn't hurt me but it did sting my eyes a bit. I froze for a moment. "I -- I told you that I'm a demon," I insisted at him, anger and humiliation started to pool up inside me, balling up together like a growing ember of fire. But Robert kept on muttering gibberish words, he ignored me. He randomly threw sand and little pebbles at me. Rage started to course inside me, how dare he treat me like this? My eyes burnt with power, cackling within me. He froze in mid track. My hand rose high and he levitated above the ground. He screamed in fear, I enjoyed hearing his cries of terror. "P-PUT ME DOWN, YOU MONSTER!" he demanded at me. I snorted, "The name is Amelee Bernaugh, human!" my voice broke at the end as I levitated him higher and then threw him to a row of perfectly organized surfboards. He hit the colourful surfboards like a bowling ball hitting the pins -- a perfect strike. He groaned in pain but I was certain that none of his bones were broken. Lucky for him... I was a good demon -- most of the time anyway... I pointed to the gentle waves and then it rose high and rolled fast towards the groaning Robert. My heart broke. I felt so humiliated than ever. Burning anger ran wild in my veins as the high wave hit him, he spluttered for air and he scrambled to higher land. I could kill him easily but I was still sane enough to stop myself. Tears ran down my pale face as I turned and ran along the beach back to my mother's house. Lightning struck in the dark moon-lighted sky just like how I felt right now. Murderous! *** "Amie?" my mother was shocked to see me home so early. I noticed the clock on her peach-painted wall was only 8.30 pm. She noticed the teary faced and my disheveled sand-filled hair. "Amie, what did he do to you?" she demanded to me, touching my hand but that concerned gestured made me automatically snapped at her. She took a step back, fear clouded in her eyes. Sense and control seeped into me. I sighed, "I'm sorry Mom," I bit my lips. I wiped my face with both of my hands but found it useless since my hands were dirty from the sand. My eyes stung a bit. "Here, let's wash your face first," she said gently to me as she guided me to the bathroom near the kitchen. The water felt good and refreshing on my skin. My mother handed me a clean white towel and I used it to dry my face and hands. I felt sticky and sandy all over my body but for now, I could handle it. Then, she took me to the kitchen and poured me a glass of cold chocolate milk and a plate of Oreos. I was touched immensely with this gesture since she remembered that when I was still a little girl, my mother would always give me a plate of Oreos to cheer me up whenever I was upset. That time, the only thing that upsets me was just little one-year-old boys teasing and pulling at my braids and take my dolls and lollipops away. "What happened, Amie?" she asked me gently, concern flooded in her middle-aged face. Could I tell her? I wondered, feeling slightly abashed at the thought of revealing to my own blood mother that I had almost given my virginity to a guy whom I had just known less than a week? And that guy happened to know the truth about me? But the genuine concerned look on her face made me want to tell her the honest truth even if the truth might be uncomfortable and mortifying to tell. "I -- I almost had s -- um sex with R -- Rob," I spluttered out, I could feel the heat coursing to my face. My mom's eyes turned wide at my unexpected confession. "Oh o -- okay," this time, it was my mother's turn to stammer and blush. "Did he force himself on you?" I shook my head, "No, Mom, didn't you hear what I said?" I asked her exasperatedly, "I did NOT have sex with him because I -- I showed him the real me." "The -- the real you?" my mother was confused for a moment and then realization fell on her face, "Oh my goodness, you didn't mean your demonic side, do you?" "I couldn't control it, Mom," I sighed, "W -- when I get um, well, you know, excited, I tend to lose control over myself and -- and - ," I couldn't bring myself to continue, it was just too much for me. "He pushed you away, didn't he?" my mother asked me softly. "He called me a freak!! A monster!! A demonic freak!!" I was starting to sound hysterical. I could feel myself snapping into my demonic form but my mother wasn't afraid of me. She hugged me tightly, wanting to comfort my broken humiliated heart. "There, there, Amie," she said softly, "It will turn out better at the end, he'll come around and realize that he loves you too." She released her hold on me. Love? My head snapped straight, feeling a sudden gush of disgust at the thought of loving Robert Sherman. I didn't know whether my feeling for Robert was just love or pure unadulterated lust. My thoughts flew back to Edmund, oh how guilty I felt towards him. The guilt seemed to have tripled in amount. I didn't know if I could face him with a straight honourable face. What if I crumbled in front of him? My feelings were a mixture of confusion and an array of emotions. All I knew was that I couldn't stay in the mortal dimension any longer. I had exposed myself to a mortal and what was worse, I had almost killed him. "I almost killed him," I whispered to her brokenly, hating myself for being so submissive to my demonic heritage. "Amie?" my mother asked me, "What did you do?" her voice became panic-stricken. I couldn't blame her for that. Mortals were for a fact, fragile in their core. "I was so mad," I admitted ferociously, "He was throwing sand and pebbles at me! I couldn't think straight! All I wanted at that time was just to crush his pathetic human bones!" "But you stopped," my mother concluded for me. "Yes, I did," I breathed out softly, calming myself down. "I'm proud of you Amie," she told me with a little smile. "Why?" I asked her, "Mom, I could have killed a human tonight!" I told her sternly. "And yet, you didn't," my mother pointed out, "That takes a lot of self control, Amie and I'm very proud of you for being able to hold yourself." I bit my lips again. I knew that what I would say next would probably hurt her but I had no choice. If the Elders found out about my breaching the conditions, the chances of me returning back here would be most likely none. They would be forced to kill Robert anyway and even though he had been spiteful to me, I didn't want his blood tainted on my name. I didn't think I could handle that knowledge for the rest of my immortal life -- well, if I could protect myself from getting ambushed from other demons and extreme exposures to the mortal dimension then, I would be fine without a doubt. "I have to go back to Ersta, Mom," I told her in a quiet voice. "I -- I have exposed myself and broke my promise to the Elders -- if -- if they found out about this, they wouldn't allow me to come back at all," I paused for a moment, looking at my mother's disappointed face, "I'm so sorry Mom but I have no choice but to return back to Ersta." She sighed. "I kind of thought that you would say this when you told me about your telling Robert the truth," she stood up from the stool. "Do you have what you need to go back home?" "Mom, this is also my home," I pointed out to her softly. She smiled at me. "But yes, I do have everything I need to go back to Ersta." "Edmund would be highly pleased to see you return so early but I'm certain that he will ask you about it," she told me. She didn't have to tell me. I already knew that Edmund would ask me about it without a doubt. I would have to make up a good perfect believable excuse on why I had come back so early than the assigned date. He would be -- like my mother had said before- extremely pleased on seeing me again and that thought only made me feel even guiltier than ever. Within Amie Ch. 04 Why was I feeling like this? Was it because of my knowing that Edmund was harbouring love feelings towards me and that knowledge made me more susceptible to feeling guilty? Or perhaps... I was in love with him too? And Rob happened to be the focus of my lust? This was strange. I had never considered myself being in love with the strapping twenty-nine year old demon but then the more I thought about it, the less likely it might be. Oh, my mind was filled with a lot of questions that I couldn't think straight. Maybe I did feel something special for him... But then, why at the same time, I wanted Robert all to myself? I noticed my mother was waiting for my response. I smiled to her faintly. "He'll be happy," I agreed with her. "Mom, should I tell him about my um, infidelity?" I asked her, using her own word on describing my 'betrayal'. "Well, what do you think Amie? Do you think he deserved to know the truth?" she asked me. I scowled at her, "Mom, why are you giving me more questions to think about?" I asked her with annoyance, "Why can't you just tell me what to do?" "Because, Amie, honey, this is your life," she replied to me, "I can't make the decisions for you, I can only give you advices," she touched my hair, "Only you know what is best for you." I groaned at her statement but she smiled on anyway. "Promise me that you'll come and visit me whenever you can, Amie," she pleaded at me, tears started to well in her eyes. I felt choked up too, "Mom, I promise," I stood up and embraced her tightly, trying to memorize her motherly scent and the warm feeling of her body. This was the woman who I had never seen for sixteen years and now, I was about to leave her again. I felt guilty to her but I couldn't do anything. I could only promise to come back and see her. A promise which I had vowed to keep... * TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!!! -- THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 05 *** Hi!!! This is the FIFTH installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** Darkness overwhelmed me as my arms and legs flailed uselessly in mid air. A sudden gush of cold wind blew me and thump! I could feel myself falling onto someone. The person groaned in pain. I muttered apologies as quickly as I could as I stood up and straightened my clean tight bloody red dress. "Sorry, Josephine," I said to the nineteen-year-old girl with long red curly hair. She seemed to be surprise to see me and then broke into a big girly smile. I couldn't pin-point on my exact landing but at least I was at the manor and apparently at the correct storey level. I had definitely improved my portal spells. "Amie!" she squealed happily and then flung both of her arms to my neck and hugged me. "I'm glad to see you too, Joey," I said to her, calling her nickname, patting her shoulder. "Oh wow," Josephine breathed out, "I thought you can read minds and move things only, Amie, I didn't know that you can see the future." I looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I -- I can't see the future, Joey, whatever do you mean?" But it seemed like she didn't hear my question as she twirled around like a ballerina, oh well, a ballerina with a pointy tail. "Edmund was planning to take you back home tomorrow," she said in a sing-song chirpy voice. "Now he doesn't have to waste any precious time!" she said cheerfully. I frowned at her. I was beginning to get more confused with every word that came out from her mouth. I felt like shaking her straight and demanded her to tell me what the heck was going on here but she continued to twirl around, leaving me alone. I didn't even get the chance to call her when she turned and disappeared into the corridor. "Hmm, that was odd," I said to myself as I walked quickly to my bedroom. I felt really tired from all the dimension-travelling that I knew that I needed a short little nap before I go out and find Edmund but with Josephine knowing my unannounced arrival, he would probably find me first with a blink of an eye. I hadn't exactly figured out on what to tell Edmund about my almost-having-sex with a mortal. It seemed easier to just not tell him and just let it pass away like a bad nightmare but it didn't feel right. My conscience just wouldn't let me be -- it won't let me off the hook! I knew that Edmund would probably react even worse than my mother. I imagined that he would revert to his demonic side and wreck havoc. He would most likely targeted Robert without a doubt and I knew that I would have to interfere before any innocent lives would be lost but then again, I highly doubt that Robert's soul was innocent in the first place. However that didn't mean that I want his blood on my name. My heart was still bleeding from the humiliation, I couldn't believe that he had rejected me. How could he call me a monster? How could he throw things at me as if I was some sort of a nuisance that needed to be removed? My bed was a heaven of comfort for me as I threw my high heels off my feet and went under the duvet. I sighed contently to myself as I snuggled in my bed and sleep started to creep into me. My mind was still racing with overlapping thoughts about Edmund, Robert and my near-infidelity but then, I didn't think anymore as I slowly submit myself to the ever-desperately needed sleep. Mom was right. I shouldn't postpone things that I should have done long ago... But for now, I need to sleep. *** "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" Josephine chirped, banging into my bedroom. I groaned at her but I didn't open my eyes as I rolled to my side and continued to sleep. She growled at me in a rather annoyed way but then, she had her revenge by pulling my duvet off me. "JOEY! WHAT THE HELL?" it seemed like I had just fallen asleep for mere minutes only but then, one look at the window told me that I had fallen asleep the entire night. The bloody red sunlight streamed into my glass-paned window, I looked at Josephine who perched on the edge of my bed with this mad excited look. I sighed as I sat up straight, my back to my bed's headboard. I didn't have the mood to talk yet, why couldn't she just leave me alone? But Josephine didn't seem like she was going to let me be alone since she grinned at me demonically and chirped, "Has he told you?" "Who told me what?" I was confused and I had to admit, a little crabby. "Edmund!" she said in a way that made me believe that she thought I was being stupid. "I can't believe the day has finally come!" her voice grew more excited with every passing word. Edmund hadn't told me anything, I thought to myself but then again, I hadn't meet him last night when I had arrived back home. I had steadfastly avoided the meeting since I wasn't particularly ready. "No, what are you so excited about?" I was getting impatient and irked with her bubbly attitude. Seriously, I didn't have the mood for girly gossips! "Oh, I won't spoil Edmund's surprise for you," she told me, her silvery-blue eyes sparkled. "You'll just have to wait..." Whatever, it wasn't like I care anyway, well, at least for now. I was morbidly curious but I needed some answers on my problem. I looked at Josephine for a moment, wondering to myself if I could tell her about my little adventure in the mortal dimension. "Joey, can you keep a secret?" I asked her. She squealed in excitement, "Oh, of course I do! I am keeping a secret from you this very moment!" she admitted. I rolled my eyes at her. "I met a human boy," I admitted in a soft voice. Her eyes went wide, "What??" her voice was loud and surprised, "What about Edmund?" she asked me again, wanting to know, just like my mother. I sighed at her, "Edmund didn't know the whole story," I paused as she sat down cross-legged at the end of my bed, "Now, please, don't interrupt me, or I won't tell you anything." I warned her. She nodded her head vigorously. "I'll be quiet!" she promised. I bit my lips, "I went on a date with him," I said in a whisper, "We went to the beach at first because the party that he wanted to take me to wasn't going to start until it's 10 so while we were walking at the beach -," Josephine cut my words off, like always, her eyes flared excitedly, "You stripped his soul?" I glared at her, "Do you want to hear the damned story or not?" "Sorry! Sorry Amie! I'll be real quiet!" she made a zipper gesture to her mouth. I breathed out, trying to calm myself, "We kissed and then, our passion heightened and even though we were at an open space where anyone could have practically seen us. We forgot everything or rather perhaps we didn't care," I paused, blush starting to creep onto me but I continued anyway, "We got undressed and he laid me on the sand, we kissed and kissed and then before he could even -- well, you know, made love to me, my body reverted to my demonic form and he screamed in horror," I groaned at the memory of him throwing sand at me, "He threw sand and rocks at me, calling me bad names, how I was a monster, a demon freak! I got so angry that I used my power on him. I threw him to the surfboards and sent a tidal wave on him but I knew if I didn't run away from there, I could have killed him so I ran." Josephine was quiet. Too quiet for comfort. I looked at her nervously, "Joey?" Her eyes flared at me, "How could you betray Edmund?" "I -- I didn't exactly betray him!" I said defensively, "At least I didn't make love with the mortal." "YOU ALMOST MADE LOVE WITH THE DAMNED MORTAL!" she hissed in a rather loud voice, I gasped and quickly covered her mouth with my hand. "Please don't yell," I pleaded at her. "This totally beats Edmund's surprise," she said to me. "What is Edmund's surprise anyway?" I asked her, wanting to know. She shook her head, "You'll just have to wait for him to tell you what it is," she paused, "You need to tell him the truth also, it wouldn't be fair you know." I groaned at her, "I thought you might say that, even my mother said the same thing." "Then, your mother is a very wise woman," she replied back, folding her hands to her chest. "Joey," I said to her desperately, "I don't know what to do, I kept on feeling this guilt and strange emotions to Edmund and then, whenever I do, Robert would come into my mind." I covered my face with both of my hands. "Ah, so the mortal's name is Robert, huh?" she asked me. I sighed dejectedly. Josephine couldn't even help ease my pain but instead she seemed to double it more. I knew that this whole thing was literally caused by me. I was too tempted with the forbidden that I had exposed myself to a mortal. The Elders would have punished me severely if they finds out about my little affair. I looked at Josephine again, she looked as if she was deep in thoughts of something but before I could even ask on what she was thinking. She snapped her fingers and then, looked at me with the same excited eyes that had woken me up in the first place. "Just wipe the damned Robert's memory off," she told me. "Huh?" I was confused. It seemed like confusion and me were inseparable these days. "Oh c'mon Amie!" she said with annoyance, "You know full well that the Elders would punish you if they finds out about this, they won't ever allow you set foot on the mortal dimension. Now what do you think your mother would feel about that?" "They would kill Robert too, don't they?" I asked her quietly. "Ugh, I don't give a freaking care at the stupid insignificant mortal, how dare he called you a monster and threw sand at you!" she said angrily, "If I saw him, I will suck his soul dry, hah! That would serve him right to spend his remaining life like a zombie, insipid fool!" "I can't just go to his front door and wipe his memory off, Joey," I told her, "And besides I really don't want to see him again." "But you exposed yourself," she reminded me, "What if he tells his mortal friends?" "I don't think they would believe him, Joey," I said, reasoning with her. "The mortals think that supernatural things are just meant for movies." I remembered what Robert had said to me initially about my asking him about his opinions on the supernatural. It was kind of hilarious for him to think about movies at that moment while I was standing there beside him, looking very real. Josephine was right though, there was still a chance of him telling his friends about me but honestly, what was the odd that they would believe him in the first place? He might demand to my mother to know about the truth but then again, he didn't know that she was my blood mother so my mother was literally protected from him. He might have little bits of doubt on her since he knew that I had been staying at her place during my time in the mortal dimension. Josephine stood up from my bed and went to stand by the window. She touched the glass-paned and said, "Edmund really loves you, Amie," "I -- I know, I mean...well, actually I hadn't been completely honest with you, Joey," I told her, she turned her head to me and waited for my continuation, so I gave a little sigh, "The first day when we had arrived in the mortal dimension, we stayed in a hotel first because we hadn't been able to find my mother at that time." "Yes, and then?" she prompted. "We kissed but before anything could progress more than that, I stopped the kiss," I told her. "WHAT?" her eyes went wide, "Are you serious? You guys kissed? For real?" I nodded, a lump started to form in my throat, "And -- and then, when we stayed at my mother's place..." I paused, unsure if I should tell her but her burning eyes were fixed on me, "We kissed again and you know, just like the case with Robert, we had almost made love, I mean, we would have done it if it weren't for my mother who had caught us by accident." Josephine squealed excitedly, "OH MY GOD! ARE YOU FOR REAL??" I laughed at her excitement, "Do I look like someone who would lie to you?" "That is such a freaking turn on, Amie!" she told me, "Wow, you have such kinky taste on how to lose your virginity," she paused, "First, getting caught by your mother and then in a public beach!" "I'm still a virgin, you moron," I laughed at her. "Well, not exactly," she told me, "I bet Edmund gave you a good orgasmic lick!" I blushed at her, "You know, this conversation is getting pretty awkward," "I'm not!" she told me, "Tell me every bit of detail!" she demanded. "Uh, there's no way that I'm going to tell you, Joey! It's private!" I told her. "Oh c'mon! Give Joey something excitingly kinky to fantasize about!" she pouted at me. "Why don't you go and have sex with your boyfriend instead?" I asked her with a laugh. "I will, right after you told me everything you guys did!" she sat on the bed, her eyes glowed, wanting to know more about my little adventure. I shook my head as I threw a pillow at her, "I'm not going to tell you anything, Joey!" She stuck her tongue out at me, "You're such a spoilsport Amie!" she laughed at me. "So, what are you going to do about this love triangle?" I had asked myself the exact same question and honestly, I hadn't got any slightest idea on what to do. Maybe my mother was right, the answer was there all along, right in front of my eyes but why couldn't I see it? Was there something that I had missed altogether? "What do you honestly feel about them?" Josephine asked me again when I didn't reply to her earlier question. I looked at her as I hugged my knees to my chest, "You know what Joey? I don't know how to answer that question," I paused, "I'm confused actually." I admitted to her. "Why are you confused? Don't you think, the answer is already right in front of you?" she asked me, arching her right eyebrow. "Why do you say that?" I asked her exasperatedly, "My mother! You! All of you said the same thing! If you know the answer, why can't you just tell me?" Joey clicked her tongue disapprovingly, "Because you need to find the answer on your own," she said as a matter-of-factly, "We can't make the decisions for you, we can only advice you on which seems to be a better option for you." "And that option is?" I prompted. She smiled at me, "Don't think too hard, Amie, you'll see what you REALLY want." She patted my head as if I was a little girl. "Can you at least tell me what Edmund's surprise is about?" I asked her. She grinned at me, "I think when he gives you his surprise, you will know what you want." I didn't like how cryptic she sounded. "OK I give up," I said to her, "I'm going to go and have a long nice relaxing bath and then eat." She laughed. "Do you want me to call Edmund for you? I think he'd love giving you a hand in the shower." I stuck my tongue at her as I leaped down the four-poster king-sized bed and went to the bathroom, seriously, Josephine was going to drive me insane someday. I knew that I would have to face Edmund sooner or later and he probably could guess that I had been up to no good. I knew that I wasn't technically his girlfriend, I mean, yes, sure, we shared an intense kiss and a hot make-out session but did that mean anything more significant? I was starting to realize that I sounded like a selfish brat. Edmund was far older than me, a total 11 years of gap, he could have chosen any girl to love and yet he chose me. I knew that he had previous past relationships here and there but it wasn't as serious as he had felt with me -- well, he claimed it to be anyway. I remembered when I was about fifteen, I had being envious whenever I see beautiful demons with curvy figure and long sleek hair that had linked arm in arm with him. I had never realized it until before that perhaps my jealousy wasn't entirely based on the demoness's physical appearance but a growing feeling that I had denied myself all of this time? Was it even remotely possible? Was I in love with Edmund Sylvern? Would this explain the guilt that rose in my gut and the desperate need to see him even though I couldn't look him straight in the eye? Had I, Amelee Bernaugh, lived in denial? And I had just realized that I had made more unanswerable questions to myself. Great... *** When I had finished taking my bath, Josephine was gone from my bedroom. It was kind of a relief to not have her around at the moment. I loved her to bits like a sister but sometimes, she could be positively annoying -- just like a real sister! I had put on a dark blue sheath dress that hugged to every curve around my body. I let my hair fell down on my shoulders in gentle waves. My stomach welcomed the smell of delicious food that wafted as I entered the kitchen and then took whatever food I wanted there before going to the dinning room alone. I couldn't help but to notice the other demons flashing me a secret smile that oddly looked just like Josephine's. I ignored them, my stomach had grumbled and churned. I sat down and quickly eat whatever was on my plate. I washed my food away down my throat with a glass of cold blue-coloured liquid that tasted in between of milk, mint and a hint of vanilla. I couldn't help the feeling that I was being watched and true to my thoughts, I could see a number of demons looking at me from the corner of my eye. What was up with them? I wondered. I tried to ignore it but then, I found out that I couldn't. I felt constricted and trapped, it was as if every move I made was being watched. And in truth, it was. But I couldn't figure out why. Was this related to Edmund's surprise for me? If it was indeed so, I would definitely thank Edmund with a big kick on his groin. Feeling uncomfortable in the pit of my stomach, I stood up and hurried out from the dinning room. I bit my lips as I went down the stairs and then the guards at the front door, nodded at me before opening the door for me. I went out through the door wordlessly, I didn't need to look back to know that the two guards were looking at me. A horrified thought of what if the Elders had found out about my breach? But then, I shook the thought away, it couldn't be because of that, if it was true, then the guards would have thrown me into the dungeon and not let me go out whenever I pleased. I knew that I had missed Ersta, as ironically as it sounded like, I did miss the feel of the cool air around me as well as the sight of the bloody red sun and the occasional mists that gathered up in tall trees. I froze when I saw a familiar figure sitting cross-legged just by the lake, throwing random pebbles to the cold reddish water. Oh come on, Amie! My conscience muttered in my head, quit being a chicken! I took a deep breath, my legs felt like jelly as I approached the unsuspecting figure. I bent down and touched his shoulder. Edmund looked up to his right and smiled at me widely, "Welcome back home!" he enthused happily as I sat down by his side. "Thanks," I replied back, not as excited as he had sounded. "What's up with you today, Miss Crabby Face?" he teased me. "What's this surprise that Joey kept on saying about?" I asked him as I threw a pebble, "Do you know how many stares and snickers I got today?" I asked him, not bothering to wait for his reply, I continued, "It's like I'm funny to them." He grinned as he grabbed my hand and stood up, making me to stand up too, "Let's go for a little walk, eh Amie?" I frowned at him but I let him walked with me anyway. I wondered when should I tell him about my uh -- apparently to Mom and Josephine -- infamous infidelity. "Aren't you curious to why I came home early?" I asked him suddenly. "No, I'm happy that you decided to come home, it saves me the time to get back to the mortal dimension and get you," he chuckled. Within Amie Ch. 05 This was getting even more curious. I stopped walking and made him stop as well. "Joey said the exact same thing! What are you playing at here?" I said, a hint of accusation rung in my voice. "Baby, you ask too much questions sometimes, just relax and enjoy the view," he pointed to the lake. I arched my left eyebrow at him, "What's so special about a cold lake anyway?" I couldn't help but to feel annoyed with him. What was going on here? "The Elders have decided on something while we had gone to the mortal dimension," he started, his voice hung a little odd. "On what?" I prompted. He smiled at me, "I was about to ask them about it anyway but apparently, the Elders have beaten me to it." "Beat you to what?" I was getting frustrated with his apparent need of being mysterious with me. He started to walk again, ignoring my question. I sighed as I followed him and then, suddenly without any warning, he bent down on one knee and held my right hand. I was so astounded with him that my eyes went wide. He gave my right hand a little kiss and looked up to me, "The Elders have decided but I wanted to ask your thoughts about it," he whispered. Dread and coldness started to sweep into me as I realized what he had meant about but before I could even protest, he continued, "Amelee Bernaugh, I have lived a life of uncertainty. My life before you had been bland and empty, my life knowing you had been special and -- and you know how I feel towards you. What my heart beats every second for you," he paused, smiling my favourite smile of him, my heart pounded strangely in my chest as he said the magical words that seemed to make me want to collapse in his arms, "Would you, Amie, my sweet, marry me?" * TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!! -- THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 06 *** Hi!!! This is the SIXTH installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** He was waiting for my answer. I knew that his heart was breaking even though I couldn't form a single word. He gave a little sigh as he let my hand go and stood up. His gesture broke my seemingly paralyzed joints. I grasped both of his hands and he looked at me questioningly. "Amie?" he asked gently. I felt like the horrible monster that Robert had accused me of, here I was breaking Edmund's heart and yet he was still gentle with me. Tears started to roll down my face, "I -- I did a very bad thing," I confessed to him, my heart breaking with every word that came out from my mouth. My heart filled with undeniable regret. "That's why I came home early, I -- I just had to come back home." My voice rose high as he brought me down to sit on a fallen log by the lake. The view would have been romantic if it weren't for my unstoppable crying. "What did you do, baby?" he asked me, wiping my tears away with his thumbs. "I betrayed you," I said, looking straight into his eyes. He looked startled at my revelation but he still didn't let me go as he enveloped me in his strong warm arms. "I betrayed the Elders..." At the mention of the Elders, his head snapped back and his eyes had a hint of red instead of the usual silvery-green, he finally let me go. He waited for my explanation, I was certain of that. "What did you do, Amelee?" my heart sank when he called me by my full name, he had never done that, the only time he ever called me like that was when he was truly angry. I cupped his face for a moment and looked at him apologetically as I let him go, "Amie baby?" his voice softened. I wished he wouldn't soften his voice like that. "I almost had -- had sex with a mortal but -- but we didn't do it. He -- he saw my demonic form," I stammered frightfully. His eyes went wide. It was as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He stood up. "You broke the code," he said, his voice was hard and cold. I looked up at him as I stood up in front of him. I tried to touch his arm but he took a step back, "I'm sorry," I whispered at him. "How could you?" he asked me, betrayal and sadness rung in his voice. "I left you in the mortal world less than a week and you already exposed yourself and made out with a human?!" he sounded disgusted with me, well - his voice was more broken to be exact. I couldn't answer his question. I looked down on my feet, closing my eyes momentarily. "I'm sorry, Edmund," I repeated to him again but when I looked up to see why he didn't answer me. He was already gone. I sighed brokenly as I sat down on the log again. Tears flow down my face like pearls. I held my hands to my face, sobbing hard. I knew that it was worthless to feel regretful and although I had told Edmund the truth, the guilt was still inside of me. In fact, it seemed to have expanded in size, making me hard to breathe. My mother and Josephine were wrong. I still couldn't see the answers that they claimed that I would be able to see with time. I didn't remember how but I vaguely realized my feet walking back towards the manor where all of us lived like one big happy community. It was as if I was in a trance as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom and then lay on my bed. I closed my eyes and curled up on my bed like a fetus and for once, I wished that the Elders could just tear my limbs apart. *** Someone knocked on my door but I refused to answer it so I rolled over in my duvet and tried to bury myself in my sorrow. I could feel the tingle in the air and I knew that someone had entered my room using their powers to open the locked door. "Go away," I said stiffly. "Amie, you've been curled up in bed for hours!" Josephine said to me, concern flooded her voice as she sat on the edge of my bed. "What's the matter? I saw Edmund and uh, let's just say that the chamber he trashed won't be the same ever again," she chuckled lamely at me. I threw the duvet off me and sat up straight, "I told him the truth right after he proposed to me," I said to her and then threw myself under the safety of the covers. "You did what?" I could hear Josephine's bewildered voice. "Did I just hear you said that you told him the truth right after he proposed?" "Yes, I told him everything," I said quietly. "Um, I don't know how to say this but the wedding's supposed to happen in two days time," she told me as she gently pulled the duvet from my head. "What did Edmund say to you?" "He hates me," I told her, point blank. "Don't be silly, Amie," she said, shaking her head, "I know that he loves you and I think that you do love him." "I'm not," I shook my head quickly. "Then, why are you moping in bed?" she asked me as if she wanted to point out how stupid I was in my denial. "Because I feel guilty," I snapped at her, "Can't you leave me alone in my sorrow?" I was fully aware that Josephine had only meant well and that she was just worried about me. I could see her gave a big sigh and then she stood up. "I'm sorry, Joey," I apologized to her, "I think I screwed up big time." She sat down again and touched my forehead, "Trust me, he'll come around." "Robert or Edmund?" I asked her, half teasing. She gave a little snort, "If I ever see Robert, he'll be sorry that he dared to step over my path," she promised, she stood up and went to the glass-paned balcony double-door and pulled the curtains to let the moonlight shone into the room. She pushed open the door and then turned to smile at me, "Cheer up Amie, everything will be fine." Oh I wished I could believe her but I didn't want to tell her my doubt so I flashed her a little smile and said, "Thanks, Joey!" "You know what? I have tons of things to do," she told me after a while, "I need to check if I could help with the wedding..." her voice trailed of into a distance. "Sorry, Amie." She said to me. I shook my head, "I don't think there's going to be any wedding between me and Edmund, Joey," I told her with absolute certainty. "But the Elders have decreed upon it," Josephine pointed out. "And it's up to Edmund and me to accept it or not," I replied back. "Are you really going to spend your entire life cooped up in your room?" she asked me, arching her perfect eyebrow. "Last time I checked, this can be considered as mopping." She pointed out. "I don't think that I can face Edmund right now, Joey," I admitted to her, flinging the duvet off me once again. "Can you at least understand that?" She sighed. "You like to complicate things, Amie, do you realize that?" she wanted to know, her tone was a bit frustrated. I couldn't blame her for feeling that way. I was upset with myself as well! She bit her lips, "Look, I don't want to make you feel any more depressed but you've got to let all of this mopping go. You should talk with Edmund, if you love him, you need to assure him that what you did with the mortal was just a simple mistake." "He wouldn't listen to me, Joey," I paused for a minute, considering my words carefully, "And I don't love Edmund." I didn't know why I was feeling so defensive about the matter about my loving Edmund Sylvern or not. She shook her head, "You're so stubborn, Amie, I can't help you any more," she said, giving up, "Only you can help yourself out from this mess. I'm sorry Amie if I sounded very harsh but you are too much in denial to realize the damned truth." And then, with a flick of her hair, she turned and left me alone in my confinement. I closed my eyes, trying to block her words from replaying in my mind over and over again. Josephine had the tendency to get brutal sometimes, well, often, whenever she wanted to get her point delivered out. I wondered what Edmund was doing right now. Was he still wrecking havoc, destroying the things in one of the thousands rooms in the big manor? Or worse, had the Elders found out about why Edmund was so furious? Either way, I was a dead demon anyway -- well, half demoness but hey, who's counting? Go figure! *** It wasn't until a few hours later that I realized that I had to stop mopping around. My world shouldn't be just centralized on my feeling guilty towards Edmund and my broken heart as well as humiliation towards Robert. I had just met Robert less than a week, surely what I felt wasn't love. I felt disgusted with myself, I had been so easily turned on nowadays. I had probably got some succubus ancestry in me, hah! That would possibly explain my slutty treacherous behaviour! I had this sinking feeling that I had found my long-awaited answer and that it was a little too late to amend my mistakes. I went to the balcony and breathed in the cool air. Edmund's room was just two storeys above me, surely, if I wanted, I could go and see him but pride and fear of his rejection prevented me from approaching him. I leaned on the balcony rail and just enjoyed the silence that surrounded me. The fiery red moon had small little planets that encircled the moon like rings on Venus. I knew that I had destroyed any chance of having a life with Edmund, sadly speaking, I was such a young fool that was led purely on my lusty hormones. He would probably think that I was still an immature demoness that best be considered twice on marrying. But at least, I was thankful to my rare lucky stars that I didn't make love with Robert. Edmund won't have in his heart to forgive me for this betrayal, well, he wasn't technically speaking to me now but at least, there was a remote chance that he might listen to me but for now, I decided to give him a little space. I had already figured it all out. I would avoid crossing paths with him for the time being. I had already mastered my skills on opening portals so, with the Elders' blessing -- well, that was if they hadn't find out about my rendezvous with a human -- I would visit my mother in the mortal dimension as long as my body could handle it. If I could, I would stay there more than a year or two, I should be able to do so since my body could handle the pain 2 years after my birth. Josephine would probably like seeing the mortal sun once in a while. I would tell her about my idea when I see her again. "Amie?" ah, just the voice I wanted to hear. I turned around and smiled at Josephine whose facial expression was befuddled and nervous-stricken. I frowned at her. "Joey, is everything all right?" I went towards her and then I gave a loud gasp. I took a step back as Robert Sherman came into the moonlight. I hadn't notice before that he was standing behind Josephine. "Amie," he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry." I took another step back, finding my back hit the rail of the balcony. "What are you doing here, Rob?" I asked him, refusing to believe that he was there. Was I imagining things? Was I too depressed that I had start seeing things that weren't supposed to be there? "H -- how did you come here?" I looked at Josephine accusingly, "Joey! You didn't!" I glared at her. Josephine had the decency to look confused, "What did I do?" she asked me. "I told you! I didn't want to see Rob again and yet you brought him from the mortal dimension?!" I asked her heatedly, "Do you know how much danger you have put him into? I am in danger too!" Josephine's eyes burnt with sudden rage and the unmistakable hurt, it was as if she had thought that I had offended her by accusing her of something that she hadn't do, I sighed, looking at her apologetically. She seemed to want to say something when Robert cut in quickly in a stern serious voice, "No," he shook his head, approaching me. I hissed at him. He froze on the floor, his hands went down to his sides, "I came here myself." "W -- what?!" my head snapped back at him. "I thought you're human!" "I am human," he confirmed with me in a soothing voice, approaching me again, ignoring my hissing at him, "I went to your mother's house and -- and she opened a portal for me and she told me that I had limited time in this dimension," he paused, for a minute for continuing, "Somehow when I arrived here, I fell straight on your best friend." "Pretty lucky of him to fall onto me, Amie, I was on my way to the hall," Josephine said, half gritting her teeth, "I was all ready to suck his soul out but I have to admit, he managed to convince me to bring him to you." My eyes dimmed when I heard him mentioned about my mother. "H -- how did you know about my mother?" I asked him brokenly. "She told me the truth, Amie," he said to me, still using that soothing voice, "I was so shocked when you -- you showed me your demonic side -," I flinched when he said that but he continued anyway, "I -- I wasn't thinking straight! I'm sorry that I had thrown sand and rocks at you, Amie, please forgive me." "Why are you here, Rob?" I asked him, my voice breaking with both annoyance and confusion. Josephine went out to the balcony, purely because she wanted to give us a little privacy to talk. I was thankful for that. He grabbed my hands and grasped it tightly, "Let my hands go, Rob." I hissed at him, my eyes burnt at him. He flinched but he refused to let go. "I love you," he told me passionately, kissing both of my hands. I tried to wrench my hands away from him but he refused to let them go, "I've been so lost without you, Amie, come back to the mortal dimension with me." "I can't come back with you, I'm a half demon," I told him. "We can manage Amie, I refuse to live a life without you!" he sounded so passionate and so sure. I sighed, "You got this all wrong, Rob, you're not in love with me!" I said to him, "You just met me for crying out loud!" I told him, trying to convince him that he wasn't in love with me. It wasn't possible! He had just met me! "I am in love with you," he told me passionately, "Love knows no time and boundary, I know that we met for a reason," he said, holding me close to him, he didn't even care when I reverted to my demonic form by instincts, "We're meant to be together..." But before I could even pull myself off him, we could hear a knock on my door. Our heads automatically snapped to the door. "Amie, baby, please open this door," Edmund said from behind the closed door. Josephine went towards me in an instant, "Edmund!" she whispered urgently. We looked at Robert whose eyes went wide in confusion. My problems had just escalated to its highest peak. *** I wrenched myself from his arms with newfound strength. "Amie?" Robert asked me in a shocked broken voice. "Rob! You must promise me that you won't show yourself! Hide! OK?!" I said to him in a hysteric whisper, "Edmund would kill you if he finds you here." I told him, I didn't think that it was worth mentioning to him that if Edmund found him there, the chances of me gaining Edmund's trust would be nil. I pushed him to the balcony and locked the door from inside. He knocked on the glass-paned door but I shook my head at him, "Please Rob, if you value your life, please be quiet and stay hidden!" I closed the transparent-looking creamy-white curtains harshly, leaving little gaps at the centre and at the ends of the curtains. I would have straightened the curtain properly but I didn't get enough time as Josephine opened the door and flashed Edmund a cheery tight-panic-stricken smile. He entered my room and looked at me. "See you later, Amie, Edmund," Josephine said quickly and then with a flash, she went out from my bedroom and shut the door. I looked at her with surprise, my mouth hanging open, how could she leave me alone with him? Well, technically, Robert was there but Edmund wasn't supposed to know about it and I planned to keep it that way. He stood at the closed door. "Amie," he said softly, looking at me. He went towards me and touched both of my hands. I seemed to have buckets of spare tears since it seemed to fall so easily nowadays. I flung my hands to his neck, embracing him very tightly, never wanting to let him go. How could I have been so blind before? How could I miss out the answer that was all along in front of me? "I'm sorry Edmund," I cried on his chest, he was much taller than me. "I love you, I realized that a little too late." He held me close, his hands caressing the back of my dress. His chin on the top of my head, "I'm sorry," he whispered to me, "I love you very much too," he cupped my chin and then looked into my silvery-blue eyes, "And I still want to marry you, Amie, I love you more than anything in this world. We're not perfect creatures, baby, we're bound to make mistakes sooner or later and for that, we ought to be given a chance to be forgiven and forget." All thoughts faded away as he bent down and kissed my forehead. His hands ran down on the sides of my arms, tangling our hands together as our lips met. It was as if the glowing ember inside us exploded and burnt high inside our demonic souls. He groaned softly as our lips separated and then entwined together in a passionate lip lock. Our tongues danced together as our hands let go from one another and started to explore each other bodies. His left hand followed the lines of my face as his right hand raised the hem of my dress and started to caress my bare thighs. I lifted my left leg to give him better access. I flung both of my hands to his neck and lifted myself to him, locking my legs to the back of his waist. His hands supported me by holding on my hips. Our lips met once again in a seductive dance. I moaned, wanting more of him as he carried me to the bed, he laid me down on m back, tracing the centre of my cleavage down to my abdomen and then he claimed my mouth again. He left my lips for a second to take his shirt off. I marveled at the sight of his broad chest as I sat up straight to unbuckle the unjustified belt that separated me from worshipping his raging hard-on. His hands crept to my back, lifting up my dress as I tore my flimsy panties off, leaving me naked in front of his hungry eyes. "Baby, we'll play nice later, I promise..." he rasped huskily, deep longing in his voice as he went on top of me. I gave a little uncomfortable giggle, remembering how our long and hot little foreplay had made my mother stumbled upon us. That was embarrassing and like he had said, it was a turn on but it wasn't something that I would like to repeat in the future. His intense desires of claiming me was making me turned on than ever. He positioned himself on top of me, somehow I could hear a rasping and knocking on the door behind us but we were far gone in our passionate dance of seduction, the manor could burn in flames and we wouldn't have noticed it. Our skin rippled and reverted to our demonic scaly forms. I pulled him to me, kissing him hungrily, wanting every piece of him. I traced the small horns that protruded along the line of his spine. His skin felt hot against mine. He growled a bit, wanting me to know that I belonged to him, only him. I whined when he positioned his raging hard-on at my entrance, teasing me, tempting me to raise my hips to meet his. He groaned, whispering a rough, "I love you, baby," as he plunged deep within me. I whimpered in pain as he tore past my innocence. He had finally claimed me inside out. He held on, wanting me to get adjust to his demonic size. My long perfectly manicured nails buried deep into his back, I could smell the iron of his blue-purplish blood. He kissed the lines of my jaw and then trailed down to the nape of my neck. It wasn't until I responded and pulled him to kiss his lips that he started to move within me. He was gentle at first, slow deliberate strokes that seemed to make me go insane with desires. I grazed at his back, wanting more, a deeper and faster stroke. Within Amie Ch. 06 I could hear at the back of my mind of a sound of someone shouting a definite, "No!" followed by a hit on the door again and I thought through my dazed eyes that I could see Edmund smiled triumphantly as he increased his speed of sliding his hard-on inside me. My legs locked tight to his, I gripped his back tightly, wanting more. "Harder..." I moaned at him. He rolled me over on top of him, his cock never leaving mine. I grazed his broad chest with my nails seductively as he lifted my hips to meet his insatiable cock. I moaned louder as I buried myself up and down onto him. He sat up straight, cupping my chin to him, kissing my lips. His hands then travelled down to tug at my nipples before rolling me on my back, increasing his pace on me. I could feel him stiffen inside me, I held him closer as we both groaned in orgasmic pleasure. His warm seeds washed within me like rocky waves on a stormy beach. We lay together into each other arms for a moment, trying to catch our breath. He smiled lovingly at me, holding me tight. He laid gentle kisses all over me as he pulled himself off my body gently. He held me closer to him, snuggling and feeling the warmth of one another as he pulled the duvet on our cold sated bodies. Our skins slowly reverted back to our human forms, his left hand made little circles on my right shoulder. Sleep started to creep by us and as my eyelids drooped to a peaceful sleep, I remembered that I had left Robert alone in the cold outside the balcony and he would have, without a doubt, seen my passionate lovemaking with Edmund. I started to blush in my sleep but Edmund cuddled me closer to him, I love you, my sweet Amie, he thought lovingly to me. I could feel his hard strong body against me and as his lips traced the top of my head, all thoughts about Robert Sherman left me in an instant... *** I woke up with a start when I heard an incessant rapping on the glass-paned double door. I turned to my left and saw that Edmund was fast asleep. I pushed his hand from my waist as carefully and as gently as I could so that he wouldn't wake up. I got out from the bed and put on my silky robes to cover my sore and ravished naked body. I crept on my toes to the glass-paned door and unlocked it. Robert shivered and he looked deathly pale, I knew that Ersta was affecting his well-being and also the fact that I had him locked out in the cold for five hours. "How could you?!" he hissed at me brokenly. He pulled me to him and kissed me on the lips angrily, I struggled and pushed him away. I winced when I saw Edmund stirred but he didn't wake up. "We're not meant to be," I said to him gently, "Please, you must get out from here, go to Josephine's room, ask her to open a portal for you," I said to him, pulling him to the door and opened it. I stuck my head out and checked for any demons walking about. Fortunately, there was none. "You'll die if you stay here any longer." I told him, my voice pleaded at him as I pushed him out from my bedroom. He looked at me, his handsome face shone with betrayal and hurt, "If I hadn't pushed you away that night, you would have been mine." I shook my head, "It won't work between us, Rob, please understand that," I whispered to him, "Now please go! Hurry! If you want to see daylight in your life, you must get back home!" I paused for a moment, scanning his handsome face. I knew that I had hurt him but this was how it was supposed to be. He belonged to the mortal dimension and I belonged to Edmund Sylvern. Robert might think of me as being selfish but someday, he would realize that this was for the best. When I was certain that he went to the correct direction to Josephine's bedroom, I quickly closed and locked the door. I turned and looked at Edmund who was still fast asleep on the bed. It seemed unbelievable that Edmund would have in his heart to forgive me but I supposed Josephine was right -- she was always right! I forgot how she could see the lines of the future. I would have to find a way to come back to the mortal dimension alone and work things out with Robert but for now, my heart ached for Edmund... I let my silky robe fell on my feet. I walked to him in my naked glory and then I went on top of him. I threw my leg to the other side of him and straddled him. He stirred a bit but he still was fast asleep. I smiled at him, amused with his apparent ability to sleep like the dead. I bent down and started to kiss his forehead, trailing down on the bridge of his nose and then, suddenly, his hands shot up to my arms. "Hi there," I said to him, smiling, "Are you up for another second round, darling?" he pulled me to him, our lips met and our tongues danced another song. I gave a little yelp of surprise when he suddenly rolled me on my back. "All night long, baby, if you want," he breathed out as he bent down and kissed me again. "The wedding is tomorrow," I reminded him when his lips left mine. He grinned, "Are you getting cold feet, my Amie?" he teased me, his fingers traced down my tingling skin. "Why don't you help make it toasty warm?" I teased him back, smiling seductively at him. He groaned as he went on top of me and started to claim me as his all over again. And this time, he did it mischievously slow and sensuous... * TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!! -- THANK YOU!!! Within Amie Ch. 07 *** Hi!!! This is the SEVENTH installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** Was it a dream? I thought to myself with a little smile of happiness that almost made me dizzy. I opened up my eyes and stared to the ceiling above me. I was slightly aware of Edmund's arm that encircled on my waist, holding me close to his warm toned body. I was beginning to feel the soreness all over my body, it was as if the joints in my bones had misplaced from its socket and rattled under my skin. "Hey," Edmund whispered to me, a little hint of smile in his voice. I turned my head and looked at him, "It's almost dawn, Amie baby. I have to go soon sadly speaking." He caressed my hair and smiled at me, "I wish I don't have to leave you but I think if I don't, the others might be --," he paused, chuckling as he nuzzled on my neck and then he looked up straight into my silvery-blue eyes, "shocked." He grinned at me. I knew that he was right. Josephine and perhaps a few more demoness would come knocking on the door about three hours later, just to wake me up and prepare me for our wedding. A wedding that I didn't orchestra and planned for to be exact, the Elders apparently had thought that we would make an ideal married couple. And for once, they thought right. "Yeah," I agreed with him. It wouldn't look nice if they found us naked in bed together. I could imagine the titters and laughter of their gossiping. A girl in bed with her husband-to-be just hours before marriage would provide them the ultimate source of gossip-galore. Although, I had to say that Josephine might find the discovery a definite turn on. "I have to admit something though," he said suddenly, his hand circled my skin making me tingled all over. "I did tell the Elders about my desire to marry you and then they told me how perfect it was. How synchronized our minds had become." I arched my eyebrow at him, sensing a little of devilish planning, "You planned to have this marriage, all along, didn't you?" I accused him in a happy-sort of way. He laughed, giving me a little kiss on the forehead before getting out from the bed and putting back his clothes on the floor. "Yes but I didn't expect the Elders would set it this week," he bent his head down and kissed the top of my head, "I love you Amie," he continued lovingly. "I'll see you on the altar." He grinned at me, giving me another one last kiss on my lips -- for now anyway. I watched him went out from my bedroom, giving me a little wave and then closed the door. I looked around in my dark barely-lighted bedroom and then realized at an instant that I didn't have a wedding dress. Great, what's a demonic bride without a dress? What a nice sign to a holy matrimony... But then again, I might be just a little bit pessimistic. *** I was, like my mother would have probably said if she was here, too young to get married. It would have been nice if I had waited till I was in my mid-twenties. See the life ahead of you, I imagined she would have said that, explore the world! There's more than just Ersta and the mortal dimension! But Edmund was my world -- the reason of my being. I had realized about it almost a little too late, I had nearly lost him and I didn't want to feel that lost broken feeling again. Josephine brushed my long auburn hair gently with a comb. I looked at my reflection on the dresser and I noticed she had that naughty smile plastered all over her face. I wanted to ask her about Robert but that smile of hers intrigued my curiousity. "What?" I asked her, somehow I have a particular idea on why she was smirking. "Don't act so innocent, Amie, I could hear you guys from all the way to my bedroom!" she grinned at me. "Oh c'mon! We weren't that loud!" I knew I wasn't! I blushed deeply. "Ok, ok, you're right, Amie," she grinned at me -- well, at my reflection to be exact, "So I checked your future for last night but don't worry, I didn't pry on today, honest!" she said, promising me. She knew that I didn't like her to check on my future. She could check, I told her, but I warned her to not tell me except it was anything of dire consequences. My cheeks turned crimson red, "Joey! Did you actually see us -- us -- oh my goodness!" I couldn't bring myself from saying it. I quickly stood up from my seat and covered my burning face with both of my hands. She quickly shook her head, waving the comb, "No! Hell! I just saw you guys kissed and he, well, carried you to the bed, that's all, and when I saw that, I quickly disconnected myself from the vision," She told me quickly, "Now, please sit down and let me finish preparing you for the wedding." She said, gesturing with the comb on the seat. "You're going to make the blushing bride blushes even more Josephine," Kara said suddenly with a little giggle as entered my bedroom, bringing a transparent white plastic cloth-hanger. She placed the plastic covered dress on my made bed followed by three more demoness who brought one plastic-protected covered dress each. "Is -- is that my wedding dress?" I asked Kara who smirked at me. "Four dresses to be exact," she corrected me, "Josephine checked the future to see which dresses would catch your eye, should you have the need to find a wedding dress so we gathered up four most likely dresses that you would choose," she gestured to the four dresses on my bed, "So, take your pick, we have exactly six hours to make you the most beautiful bride that Ersta had ever seen, well, when it's my turn, I'll top it off," she laughed cheerily, joking at the same time. "What? Do you think that we would leave the bride without her dress?" Josephine asked me as Kara went to open a make-up case collection and turned me to her. I was speechless. It didn't feel like I was going to attend my wedding, it was as if this was someone else's wedding and that I was a wedding crasher. Josephine and Kara went all over me, teasing my hair into a shinny sleek wavy glow, piling it high up into a bun with a few curly tendrils loose. Josephine even managed to put in a pink diamond-speckled hair clips all over the bun, making it looked like little strawberries. Kara had applied natural-looking make-up on me, stating that natural look was the elegant-classic-do, a must, she told me, for every bride regardless their species. There was no need to go heavy. When it was time to unveil the four dresses which Josephine had foreseen, claiming that I would love, I was already starting to feel nervous and butterfly-effect in the pit of my stomach, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything. "We'll get you something to eat before we put you into the dress," Kara said to me, clapping her hands so that the three demonesses took the dress from each of their protective confinement and displayed it to me one by one. The first dress was white ironically but it was short up to the thigh, it had a plunging v-neckline on the back and although the dress caught my eye, I didn't think that I would want to wear it. The second dress was long and tight on the hips and sleeveless. It looked like my favourite sheath dress except for its colour. The dress was green like the colour of an apple but lighter and creamier. I would have picked the dress but then again, it reminded me of my sheath dress and I didn't want to wear something usual on my wedding day even if the wedding wasn't planned by me. At least I could pick the dress so that was a plus. The third dress was horrendous at first and final glance. It was tight and skimpy. The material was made from lather. I looked at Josephine and she grinned at me, "It's a joke!" she told me. "We picked just three dresses but we added one more just for the laughs!" I stuck my tongue at her but I was grateful that she had picked the perfect last dress for me. The final and last dress was perfect. It was as if the dress had been tailored just for me. The dress was sleeveless, long and simple. It had gorgeous pearls on the waistline, accentuating the classic beauty of the silky white dress. The dress looked as if it could hug every curve on my body and I instantly fell in love with it. "Do you like it?" Kara asked me when she saw me touched the silky material of my chosen dress. I nodded at her, "I love it," I said with great enthusiasm, "Thank you Kara, Joey." I said with full sincerity. "I'm just glad that Edmund finally decided to settle down, ugh, all of those past years of dating the wrong demonesses!" Kara added with a grin, "I bet you made him a very happy man last night." I groaned at Josephine, "You told her!" I said, accusing her. Josephine grinned at me, "Well, we do share the same power!" she stuck her tongue at me but then broke into a smile. "Well, what do you want to eat?" Kara asked me as I sat down on the dresser's chair. "I'm kind of craving for corndogs," I told her honestly. "Dogs? Yuck, you eat dogs while you were in them mortal dimension, Amelee?" Kara was horrified. "Why can't you just eat normal stuff like blood-filled meatloaves, steaks and crunchy bones mozzarella cheesecake?" "I don't mean real dogs!" I told her, "It's just a name!" "You know, the humans would think that our food are weird comparing to theirs," Josephine piped in. "Anyway, I can't pop into the mortal dimension whenever I want, Amelee, I have to ask the Elders for permission," Kara told me. I shook my head, "No, I don't mean that I want you to go," I told her, "Steaks would do just fine." "How about blood gravy on the steak? Do you want that? I could ask the chefs to warm it up for you and put in cheese for taste!" Kara suggested. "You are making me hungry, Kara," Josephine complained. "Don't pull your head up," Kara grinned, "I'll get enough steaks for all of us." Then, she went out from my bedroom quickly. Hey Joey, I thought at her, how about Robert? Josephine's face contorted for a moment and then she gave me a little smile. "He's fine." She said to me, rather quickly but before I could even ask her about it Kara came back into my bedroom with another demon who brought in a big tray with plates of steaks. Kara brought in a pitch of bluish green liquid and glasses. "Bon appétit!" she said as she placed the pitcher on a circular smooth-stone table. The smell of the freshly cooked steaks wafted to my nose. My mouth watered and I stood up immediately and went to the table, I pulled up a seat and sat next to Kara. Josephine, then, followed suit. I wondered why Josephine had been so rash in answering me. Was Robert truly all right? *** Kara slipped the dress onto my body, I could feel the silky feel of the satin as she zipped up the dress. "There, you look perfect," she said proudly. Josephine gave a final check at my hair-do and then brushed down my dress to perfection. "How many hours do we have left?" she asked Kara. "Well, technically we only have half an hour left," Kara replied back. Whoa, did we really spend the last hours purely on make-up, hair-do, manicures, pedicures and body scrubs? Kara placed a pair of high white heels with diamond straps on the floor. I quickly slipped it on and then twirled around to see my reflection on the floor-length mirror. "We're late, aren't we?" I asked them. "Well, not exactly but we have to move now before the Elders themselves come up here and drag you to the altar," Josephine laughed. The calm sensation that had enveloped me earlier had vanished when I realized that I was truly going to marry Edmund. I wished my mother could have come to witness this, or at least know about my wedding. I suppose Edmund and I could have another wedding ceremony, just a small one, for the sake of my mother. I knew that she couldn't have come here, even if I had asked the Elders for permission, humans were strictly forbidden here. There were certain demons that fed entirely on souls unlike us and those demons would have no second thoughts of devouring my mother's soul if they had bumped into her here. I really hoped that Robert was safely tucked in the safety of his mortal home. I cared for him even though I now knew that I wasn't in love with him. The teenage lust and crush inside me had misguided me. It had led me to believe that Robert was the one for me and as for Robert, I was certain that love wasn't what he felt for me. Just like me, he had felt a taste of ultimate lust. Maybe I was a descended of a succubus. Why else would a mortal guy couldn't resist in having me but then again, I remembered that he had ran in fear when he saw my demonic form so the chances of me having the traits of a succubus was probably nil, but then again, who knows? "Amie," Josephine called suddenly. I looked at her, smiling, "Yes, Joey?" She bit her lips. She looked uncertain. Josephine was never the type of demoness that hesitates. I touched her arm briefly, my gesture was telling her that it was all right. She could tell me anything that she wanted but then she shook her head, "It's nothing," she told me, "I'm just being silly." I frowned at her, "About what?" I was determined to know and I won't let her get away that easily but she just shook her head and flashed me the most brilliant smile she could ever muster. I knew that something was up. "Josephine, what are you talking about?" I demanded. "Did you something in my future?" I knew that I sounded a bit hysterical but I think I deserved to know if what I was going to do would cause a dire consequence that I couldn't bear. "Edmund loves you," she told me, "More than his life." "I love him too, Joey," I said to her, starting to sound more annoyed than curious, "What is wrong with you?" I asked her. Josephine just bit her lips and flashed me a faint smile. I frowned at her, "What does Edmund got to do with you being so secretive all of the sudden?" I asked her, my voice rose high with undeniable anger at her. She flinched at me but stood tall on her place. Who wouldn't feel so much anger when the only person who could tell your future suddenly refused to spill another word? Josephine was starting to get on my nerves. "It's just -," I knew that she would have told me the honest truth if it weren't for Kara who had suddenly popped in between us and pulled at my arm. "The first bell has rung, Amelee!" Kara said sternly, "You two can girly gossip later," she snapped disapprovingly, pulling me to walk towards the door, "We've got a wedding to attend to! And you as the bride shouldn't be late!!" I looked at Josephine but she just stood there on the floor, unmoved and frozen as if time had frozen her to the spot. Kara pushed open the door and as she pulled me out through the door, I thought I saw pearls of tears flow down Josephine's pale beautiful face. Her eyes dimmed. "Amelee!" Kara screeched at me as the second bell rung, "Damn it Amelee, one more bell and we're dead late!" Kara pushed me out from the door. An amazing feat to be exact since she didn't even ruffle and crumple my dress or even a strand of hair on my head, I had to compliment her for that. I wanted to wrench my hand from Kara's hold. I wanted to go to Josephine and shake the life out of her, demanding her to stop being so secretive and tell me the honest truth! How could she do this to me?! How could she leave me to go to the wedding in such a distressed sense?! I knew that we were running late. I couldn't believe that I was late for the first time and on my own wedding! Oh the horror! The inevitable nightmare that clung on my soul! My heart ached to see the love of my life, the very reason of my existence. I wanted to claw out from this tight wedding dress and run to the comforts of Edmund's arms. The dress had unjustifiably confined my movements from bursting out into a run to my destiny. My Edmund, my sweet darling Edmund... Were we even meant to be, my love? Was fate standing by our side? We had to mean to be together, the Elders wouldn't have agreed to the marriage if they thought otherwise, wasn't that so? Weren't the Elders supposed to be all-knowing and powerful? Wasn't that what Edmund had said not long ago? Or did Josephine saw something so impeccably atrocious that she couldn't bear the heart to crush me into tiny insignificant pieces that could be blown away by the harsh cold wind of reality? * TO BE CONTINUED... Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!! -- THANK YOU!! Within Amie Ch. 08 *** Hi!!! This is the EIGHTH and FINAL installment of WITHIN AMIE I'm a part time English speaker so naturally, there would be grammar mistakes and confusing sentences here and there LOL so I'm sorry for that. With love, Jayleen *** I took a deep calming breath as the tall majestic double-door opened in front of me. I could hear the sound of the door opened, long bloody red-coloured carpet had stretched from the bottom of my feet to the far end of the altar that ascended by a few steps. I could see Edmund standing there, looking so handsome and so loving. Josephine must have been wrong. Edmund and I were meant to be together. Couldn't she see how perfect we looked? How much in love we were? Yes, it was indeed true that I didn't know what Josephine had seen in her futuristic vision but surely it couldn't be because of Edmund and me. It took all my strength and control to not break into a run towards him, this was my destiny. Edmund was my destiny. He was my present and future. There was nothing else that could stop me from claiming that fate. I gripped the bouquet of Roses -- a last-minute request that I had made from Kara, the roses was my mother's favourite. I didn't know how and where she managed to get her hands on it but how ever she done it, I was eternally grateful at her, I had initially asked for it on a whim, knowing that it was impossible to get Although my mother wasn't here to witness my wedding, at least something that reminded me of her was here. I could hear a piano playing from the end of the grand hall. I walked as gracefully as I could towards the dreadfully long carpet towards the altar. I could see Josephine and Kara sitting at the third row of the pew. They waved at me and smiled but I noticed that Josephine's smile wasn't sincere. It was like she felt compelled to smile at me, just to appease my burning heart. What was she hiding from me? I noticed that she kept on looking at the door from where I had entered before. I would have looked back but since thousands of demonic eyes were watching my every move, it would have been too conspicuous if I had turned my head and looked back. Oh come on!! Which bride in the history had ever done such thing?? And I for one did not intend to be the first to make such moves. Talk about scandalous behaviour! I highly doubt that even the humans had ever done such things on purpose! Edmund smiled at me, my heart did that familiar thundering in my chest. My mind replayed every touch and kisses that he had laid upon me, every little movement that made me sighed at his warm loving touches. I wanted to run and lock my legs along his waist and pull his lips to mine but I couldn't just do that so I had to walk according to the sounds of the disastrously and painfully slow piano. I threw those longing thoughts into his mind and he grinned at me. I'll make you writhe for me, baby, he thought back at me, heavy longing in his thoughts. I grinned at him as I continued to walk towards the altar and finally! Oh, bless me! Finally, after three whole minutes, Edmund took my hand and escorted me up the altar. The Head Elder stood in front of us at the centre with the other White Elder and Red Elder by his sides. The Head Elder held a small ancient looking book, it was probably a book of vows -- something similar to that, I supposed. Our hands entwined together on a tall narrow golden pole with a bloody red ruby on top. It was a sign of holy matrimony -- a union so sacred and pure. The Head Elder started with a short speech of his giving blessing to our union and then he asked us on our vows on, "Do you Edmund Bryce Sylvern and Amelee Kirsten Bernaugh take and love one another as husband and wife, forever together for eternity and of immortal life till time itself ends?" It was simple and yet, full of meaning. We had looked into one another's eyes and I felt like I could burst into tears when Edmund said in a cool collected and yet, passionate voice, "I, Edmund Sylvern, vow to take and love thee forever for eternity of our immortal life till time ends do us part." I took a deep calming breath, I smiled at him, "And I, Amelee Sylvern, vow to take and love thee, my Edmund, forever for eternity of our immortal life till time ends do us part." Edmund dropped a tear of happiness from the corner of his eyes when I said of my new name. Amelee Kirsten Sylvern...Hmm, that definitely sounded like a perfect ring on it. The bloody red ruby glowed and we could feel the warmth that gradually increased. I winced when I felt the heat seared onto our palms and I knew what the sacred ruby had done. It etched an invisible symbol of our matrimony, a sign that bonded us together for eternity. The Head Elder smiled widely, revealing a row of pointy sharp teeth. The White Elder than touched my forehead and gave me his blessing, followed by the Red Elder and then, the Head Elder cleared his throat to give his final acknowledgement of our marriage. "From this, I, Marcocratun Hytorne, witness that thee are husba-," but before the Head Elder could even finished his acknowledgement. Josephine screamed in horror just as a loud banging burst open the grand majestic door. Edmund and my head whipped up behind to see what had caused such racket. The Head Elder hissed, he leapt up above us and crouched in a strike pose, waiting for the right moment to attack. My eyes went wide as both the White Elder and the Red Elder followed suit, hissing even louder. Their demonic powers crackled around them. Thousands of the demons present today stood up and crouched low, ready to strike at the intruder. The demons started to growl... And Robert Sherman stood there at the entrance with a long sharp sword in his hand. The first thing that crossed into my mind was where the heck did Rob get a sword from? Was it possible that he had raided the weapon chamber in the underground? Was I really seeing Robert standing there with a sword? His bones trembling in fear and - and I blinked at him, noticing that there was anger around his aura "Rob?" I couldn't believe my eyes. Edmund's arm shot up on my shoulder, stopping me from moving any further. I looked up at him, his eyes blazed with anger, "Edmund?" "Why is Robert Sherman here?" he asked me, gritting his teeth. "H -- how did you know his name?" I asked him but he ignored me as he launched into his demonic form and joined the crouching Elders, leaving me blinking in confusion on the altar. It was all like a slow motion in a movie, replaying every scene as slow as ever -- very much slower than the slowest sloth walking by leisurely. Robert shouted something about, "Amie, I don't care what you say! I love you and I want to be with you regardless anything!" and then started to run towards me, towards the wall of crouching and hissing demons ready on strike. Robert shouted a soldier's cry as he aimed his sword aimlessly, it was clear that he wasn't a fighter. He wasn't meant to battle a fight that he couldn't win alone. My mind and body was frozen but my eyes went wild, darting all over the grand hall. I saw Josephine jumping above the pews and leaping over crouching demons and then dropped on the floor, running towards Robert, determined to stop him from making the biggest mistake in his life. Kara hissed and started to throw fireballs at him, anger burnt in her eyes and I knew what was running through her thoughts at the very moment, how dare the puny pathetic human disturbed Amelee's wedding! I'll teach the maggot wedding crasher a little lesson on manners! My head turned to Edmund but I couldn't read his mind. His was too messy, full of anger and hatred and somehow I detected that he had known all along that I had helped Robert to escape from the balcony but I was certain that perhaps he had realized it from the human scent that wafted when he had slept on my bed. It was like a domino effect as the Elders and Edmund leaped up and met Robert's attack, his attempts of taking me, Edmund's newly wedded wife, away and back to the mortal dimension. Why couldn't he see that we weren't meant to be? That our worlds were two different things that couldn't be combined? I would die if I stay in the mortal dimension more than what I could bear. My heart would wilt anyway if I lost Edmund. But that didn't mean that I wanted Robert dead... And so I did the only common sense thing in my clouded panic mind, I leaped up from the altar, transforming from my human form to my demonic side. I could feel the powers crackling within me as I slipped past the demons who had rolled and leaped to attack Robert but I was a little too late as the demons had reached him first. They bit and grazed at his fragile arms and legs. Edmund had thrown Robert on the cold stone floor. His body on top of Robert, his clawed hands went wild on him. Edmund's silvery blue eyes burnt with intense rage. Despite all the chaos and the numbness in my brain, I could hear his thoughts of how angry he was when he had known about my infidelity but his anger was more aimed towards Robert who managed to slice Edmund on his bicep but it was like slicing through diamond. He couldn't do any damage to him but he managed to raise Edmund's anger further. One demon managed to slash its claws on Robert's throat. I pushed the demons away even my Edmund, tearing my wedding dress in tatters in the process. When I finally had Robert within my grasp, Edmund and the Elders were there, preventing me from taking another step closer to save him. The Elders growled at me, "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO PROTECT THIS INSIGNIFICANT MEAT?" Edmund growled at me, telling me to step aside but I had to save Robert. Why couldn't he, the love of my life, see that? Hurt filled in his eyes as I made a giant leap over them and then gathered Robert under my arms. Just like that, silence washed over the hall as the demons realized that the bride had turned sides. I was now considered a traitor... *** Josephine reached out to me and knelt down beside me. She touched Robert and noticed that he was losing a lot of blood and time for that matter. I realized that I had to act quickly to save an innocent life, I looked up at Edmund, my clean dress was now bloodied and torn -- what a perfect ending to a wedding that had barely started. My tears fell down my face and at that moment, I didn't know whether I was mourning over the potential loss of an innocent soul or losing the love of my life because this was how far I had gone. I had dragged Josephine into the mess by accident too. Robert gurgled under my arms, I held him, trying to hold his neck so that he could breathe. I knew that he had mere minutes left before life would end for him. His future would disappear just like that, unnoticed and unmissed. I didn't want that to happen to him. He deserved better. "Please spare him," I pleaded to the audience, the demons were silent but I knew that their insides were burning with mad anger especially now that they had a traitor in their hands, "He's innocent, he confuses himself with what is real and what is not, forgive me for breaching the promise I had made, please, he is innocent." Silent again but then surprisingly it was the Head Elder who broke the silent, "Amelee, child, you are a fool," he said although calmly, he was filled with rage, "This is an example of why mortal dimension should be avoided, people get hurt easily Amelee, surely you know better than this but we won't be the one to punish you." I looked up at him, shock filled my eyes. What did they mean by that? Weren't the Elders supposed to be all powerful and knowing? "Edmund Sylvern will decide what fate will befall upon you and your little trivial affair." The Head Elder added as he gestured my newly wedded husband to step forward. Edmund knelt down to my level, he touched my face, "Why do you want to sacrifice yourself to save a human who you don't even love?" At least he knew that I was in love with him, only him, my sweet Edmund. That was enough for me. If he condemned me to death then, I'll welcome it with open arms. "It's my fault," I whispered to him, "Give me a chance to amend all of this." "And how do you plan on doing that?" he asked me, pointing to Robert, "He has minutes left to live." I looked down at the gurgling Robert, he was desperate for air but he managed to shake his head and gurgle, "I love you Amie..." I shook my head at Robert, dropping my voice to a whisper, "You don't love me, I know you don't," I said as I put his head on my lap and then placed my right hand on his forehead, "You just think that you do..." I closed my eyes as I channeled my power within him, our minds and souls connected for a brief moment as I carefully wiped every memory of what he had about me, returning him back to the life which he had before he had stumbled his life upon me. I channeled healing powers within him, healing every bruise, every snap in his bones and every gash on his body. I wanted to save him, my poor dear friend. I cared for him so much that I wanted him to have a life of his own -- a life of which he deserved to have. I felt very weak when I had completed the process. I looked down at Robert whose eyes were closed tight but he was breathing evenly. He was asleep. The Elders then opened up a portal and then levitated Robert's unconscious body three feet above the ground and then sent him into the portal. He would be safely tucked in his bed and I was certain when he woke up, he would think that he had a bad nightmare and truly, this was a nightmare for him and for me. I stood up slowly, looking into my husband's eyes. My wedding dress was a mess, torn and bloodied. I knew without a doubt that my hair was rumpled all over. What a beautiful picture I would make later, I thought sarcastically to myself. The Elders looked at me sternly but they knew that Edmund still held the power on my fate. I had became a traitor in their eyes, was there remotely any way that I could be forgiven? Josephine stood by my side and knew that her fate rested on the Elders. "Go back to your sit, Josephine, you are forgiven," the Head Elder said grimly, "But one more act like this, I shall banish you to the mortal dimension to die." Josephine threw me a desperate look of "I'm sorry Amie" and then she hurried back to her seating with Kara. I could feel all eyes bore onto me. It was amazing on how one second I was looked with loved and awed and now, the next second, I was the traitor waiting to be hanged and apparently, under my husband's hands. "I love you Edmund," I said to him, "I won't blame you if you send me off to die in the mortal dimension too." My voice cracked at the end. Edmund approached me after he had made a little conversation of thoughts with the Elders. It was very brief but the Elders seemed to agree with whatever was concocted in Edmund's mind. "How could I hurt a strand of your hair when you owned my heart?" his confession surprised me as he took both of my hands into his. How could he still want me after my little act of treachery? "You didn't betray Ersta," he told me, I forgot at that tiny moment on how he could hear my thoughts, "You had helped saved an innocent life that although I think that the particular life didn't deserve to be saved at all but-," his eyes bore deep within me, "I love you, I could not bear the thought of hurting even a strand of hair of you, my dear Amie." I looked up into his eyes, tears filled the brim of my silvery-blue eyes as he crushed me into a warm loving embrace. "Careful now," I whispered to him, "I might have stained your tuxedo." He laughed at my silly statement as he cupped my chin and then whispered back, "I think we have the most unique wedding ever written in history, don't you think so, my Amie?" and before I could even replied back, he closed the gap between us and shut all connections of life and thoughts as he kissed me deeply. And somehow at the back of my mind, I thought the Head Elder whispered in my mind of his pardoning me... *** Four years later, Robert walked alone with his dog along the beach, breathing in the fresh salty air of Grave Hill. "Come on boy, let's go Mac!" he said as he broke into a light jog, he could feel the splash of the ocean under his toes as his dog sprinted through with him. He wasn't focusing on where he was going and then, just as he was looking down at his dog that had stopped to dig a hole on the ground, he bumped into me, making me fell on my butt. The waves rolled in gently, making my sarong wet. "Hey, sorry there miss!" he said to me as he helped me up to my feet. I straightened up my red bikini set and then tightened the loose end of my see-through black sarong. He looked directly into my silvery-blue eyes and shivered involuntarily. "It's OK," I told him with a sincere smile. "I'm Amelee Sylvern." I said giving him my hand to shake. He shook it with a smile, probably finding the whole shaking hands thing very amusing, "I'm Rob Sherman, nice to bump into you, Amelee," he joked as his dog then suddenly shifted his attention towards me by snuffing its nose all over my legs, Robert chuckled, "He likes you." He told me. "I'm likable, that's why." I replied to him. He looked at me for a moment as the wind blew my hair gently, "You do looked familiar," he told me suddenly, "Have we met?" But before I could even answer, a little laughing giggle came forward. I laughed and opened my arms wide and welcoming as my little 3 year-old Isabelle Marianne Sylvern hopped into my arms. "Mama! Mama! Look at what Daddy found for me!" she said proudly, her talking ability was more articulate than the average human beings as she showed me a beautiful seashell. Her silvery-green eyes sparkled lively. Edmund then jogged to my side and kissed my forehead before taking Isabelle from my arms, "It's beautiful, honey," I said to her. She laughed on cheerily as her father tickled her on her stomach. I marveled at the godly sight of his bare chest and black swimsuit boxers. Deep longing coursed within me but I could hold it on, until night came anyway. He put her down on the sand and then ruffled her curly auburn hair, "Let's go find Grandma Sarah, OK?" he said to her, "I'll race you!" he said as the father and daughter burst into a light run, laughing all the way to my mother who was sitting under a big umbrella. I smiled at Robert, "No, I don't think we have ever met before, maybe we just bumped into each other on the streets." I answered him. He smiled at me, "Lovely daughter," he told me, "You must be proud, so what brought you here to small town like Grave Hill?" "Yes, my daughter's amazing really. We just got here on a two weeks holiday," I said laughing as we walked along the beach, "So, Robert, how about you?" "Me? Well, I just graduated from the local university here and I'm thinking on doing my Masters, I'm waiting for a confirmation letter for my scholarship," he said, a little too friendly and then, his mobile phone rang in his pocket, "Oh, sorry," he said to me as he checked his phone messages, "Oh man, look, I have to go, my girlfriend's waiting for me to come and pick her up," he smiled to me, "See you around, Amelee!" I waved happily at him as he jogged away with his dog by his side. Edmund then went towards me and touched my hand, "So, how does it go?" he asked me. I smiled at him, "It's perfect, just like what Mom had said." He entwined our hands together and held our foreheads to one another, "I love you, Amie," I smiled at him, "I loved you very much, my love, more than my own life." Life went on as perfect as life could ever be. My mother was thrilled to finally meet her granddaughter but this was as close as we could come to visit her. A gap of four to five years was sufficient enough to prevent us from falling weak. Within Amie Ch. 08 I could see our daughter building her first sand-castle with her grandmother -- my beloved mother. I looked up at Edmund as he grasped my hand lovingly and then pulled me to walk along the beach, "Follow me down to watch the sunset, Amie baby." He said to me huskily. I smiled widely at him, he could take me anywhere and anytime. My world was just within Edmund and his was just within Amie and our daughter completed that circle for eternity... ***THE END***