I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. Crap. I didn’t even know what time it was and I hadn’t checked in with Katy or Autumn. Hopefully they are doing alright and don’t miss me too much. Semi formal was beginning to feel like forever ago.
Malum had noticed my distraction.
“Is everything alright? You can check your phone.” He said with that million dollar smile of his.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was eight o’clock on the dot. The dance was scheduled to end in an hour and my parents would expect me home shortly after. I needed a way to stay with Malum and talk with him for a little while longer. With him being back I felt like I needed all the time I could spend with him. Part of me knew he truly cared about me, but at the same time the other half of me was still on edge. What if he decided to suddenly vanish again? Even if it were for my own good, I don’t think I could suffer through losing him again.
There was a text notification from Autumn on my screen. I opened it and read it.
“Hey girl, just checking in. Everything is fine here at the dance. Hope things with Malum are okay. Talk soon.”
I didn’t feel like replying right now. There were more important matters I needed to focus on. I slid my phone back into my pocket and turned my attention back towards him. We both smiled at each other.
“So is everything okay Grace? You’re anxious. I can feel it.”
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. Him being able to read my emotions would take some time to get used to. How embarrassing. Maybe there was a way for me to hide them so he wouldn’t be able know how I was feeling. Or maybe I could ask him to not be an invasive asshole and butt out of my head.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Is there a way for you to not read my emotions? I’m sure you possess some kind of off switch right? If so, please turn your superpower off because I am already finding it rather annoying.”
He burst out laughing. Even his laugh was beautiful. It was like music to my ears. Filled with pure joy and happiness. For someone who was supposed to be the embodiment of pure evil, he sure did not act like it.
“To answer your question-yes I do have the ability to not be able to read your emotions. However, I’m not sure I truly want to stop just yet. Your emotions fascinate me. Scratch that, you fascinate me Grace. Being able to feel what you feel is a plus though. You have so many walls that you have put up, but I can see right through many of them. Not all--not yet at least.”
Damn it. Having him be able to feel what I feel was extremely overwhelming and a little nerve wracking. I had built so many walls to hide some of my emotions over the years and he was slowly tearing them down one by one. What if he noticed that I am too infatuated with him? What if he realized that he is starting to become like a drug for me? Just about everything he says and does makes my heart race. Was I falling in love with Malum? Yes, yes I was. It was happening.
Even if he was the deity of evil, I didn’t care. He couldn't keep away from me, so why should I bother keeping away from him? Bad boys are definitely my type. Even with all of my worries that something I might say--or feel--could make him leave again, I didn’t care. I was falling in love with him and I was damn sure he was falling in love with me.
If he was also falling in love with me, then perhaps I should confess my feelings to him now and see where things go. He needed to know.
I took a deep breath in. I could do this-I was strong enough.
“Malum there is something I think you should know. Well, something you deserve to know.”
He smiled. “Okay Grace, go ahead. I will listen to anything you say.”
I smiled. Of course he says that. What a gentleman. However, there was one last question I needed an answer to before I could confess my true feelings to him.
“Before I do tell you this, I really need to know something.”
“Just ask me anything and I will give you the truth.” He said with a handsome smile.
Here goes nothing then.
“Okay. So, I know things have changed. Everything is different now. You’re some kind of...god. And I do believe you. I do. I however, am only human. Which I am positive you are aware of. Which brings me to my question. You said you came back to Walpole because of me. Why Malum? Why did you come back because of me? I am just an ordinary, human girl and you are a god. You could have anyone or anything and yet you say I am the reason you returned?”
He laughed at my question.
“I thought it was rather obvious, but apparently not. I don’t care about Walpole, or any place in this world for the matter. So therefore it is not like the beautiful scenery brought me back here. No. The only thing-the only one I care about is you. I care about you very much. Grace, I am in love with you. Throughout my thousands of years of existing, I have never felt love for anyone or anything. Until I met you. You have changed me.”
I was speechless. He loved me. The god of darkness loved me. How? Why? I was only human. He could have any girl-or goddess- that he wanted. Yet he chooses me? I didn’t deserve him. I loved him too of course, but I honestly did not think he would feel the same for me.
Despite my doubts and confusion-he loved me. Malum loved me and I loved him. I knew that my face lit up when he told me that. I wanted to cry tears of joy, but I wouldn’t do that. Jeez that would be beyond embarrassing and rather cheesy.
“Malum I-I, wow. Okay. That, I was not expecting. Funny you say that though because I love you as well. I really do. I love you Malum.”
His golden eyes were burning brighter than the sun. A huge smile grew across his face. I knew that we were both smiling like idiots now.
“Is it bad that I kind of already knew that? The emotions that you have been giving off this evening were kind of the classic “symptoms” of infatuation. It is good to actually hear it come out of your mouth though. Grace, this makes me so happy. It truly does.”
I made him happy. He made me happy. I knew that at this moment, we couldn’t be any happier.
Malum rose from his chair and walked towards me. I looked at his golden eyes and they were still shining just as bright as a few moments ago. He held out his hand to me.
“Take my hand. I know I kind of crashed your dance with your friends this evening, so I would like to make it up to you.”
I reached out for his hand and placed mine into his. He pulled me up gently from my seat and then roped his fingers through mine. I reached for his other hand and almost instantly our fingers were intertwined. We both laughed.
“So, how are you going to make it up to me?” I asked.
“With our own private dance of course.” He let go of one of my hands for a brief second, snapped his fingers, and a record player appeared on a table in the corner of the room. His magical powers still amazed me.
He snapped his fingers once again and all of a sudden there were multiple floating lanterns throughout the room. It was truly a romantic and gorgeous sight to behold.
“Okay, yes I am just showing off now. I haven’t had a lot of free time to use my magic in the last few weeks. It is always fun to play around with.” He said with a wink.
I was once again starstruck and impressed with what he could do. I have always believed that some sort of magic existed somewhere in our world, but I had never even thought magic could be like this. It was truly amazing.
“Well sir, I am very impressed. I don’t mind when you show off from time to time. All of this still amazes me and I can't believe it is real. Honestly I can’t even believe you are real. You are truly amazing Malum.”
When I said that he kissed the top of my forehead. An electric shock ran through my body. If that kiss was only on my head I couldn’t even imagine how his lips on mine would make me react.
“Grace I love you, but you keep forgetting one rather important detail. I am the god of evil. I am not good for you. That is why I left the first time. I really shouldn’t even be here. Me not being in your life would be for the better. Every second we spend together is another possibility for disaster to strike. I am not good. You know this.”
He couldn’t leave again. I would fall apart. After all he had told me- and shown me- I don’t think I would be able to recover this time.
“Don’t leave again. I don’t care if you aren’t good for me. I don’t care if you put me in danger. You are all I want Malum. I love you. We can work through anything that happens.” I said quietly.
He gave a slight smile. “Thank you for the optimism. You really shouldn’t be saying any of that though. However, I don’t have enough strength to stay away from you any longer. You complete me. I can’t imagine a world without you in it.”
“I can’t imagine one without you either.”
He smiled. “Let’s table the serious talk for a little while and enjoy this moment. Will you dance with me Ms. Barrington?”
“Well, considering we are already hand in hand, I suppose so.” I said with a wink.
He wrapped his hands around my waist while I readjusted mine over his shoulders. I heard the record player spin music. It was a gorgeous tune playing ever so softly. I had never heard this arrangement before. It sounded as if it was one of those classical, romantic songs. There were no lyrics. Just music. And that was enough.
We waltzed around the room for who knows how long. I didn’t even know how to dance- let alone waltz, but Malum took the lead and I flowed into the rhythm with him. We were totally in sync. As if our bodies had been together like this many times before.
Eventually the record stopped spinning and the song ended. Malum sighed, but his hands stayed on my waist.
“You look gorgeous tonight. I never got the chance to tell you how much I love that dress on you.” He said softly.
I knew I was blushing like crazy, but I didn’t care. This moment was perfect. Everything right now was perfect.
I looked down for a moment. I hadn’t realized Malum was dressed up as well. How did I not notice that? The suit he was wearing fit him so well. It was a dark purple color. The same color as my dress. Had he been wearing that all night?
“Thank you. I have to say you don’t look too bad yourself. I am however, just now noticing that our outfits matched.”
He laughed at that. “Yes they are. Perhaps I did that on purpose.”
“Were you spying on me while I got dressed?”
He leaned in closer to my face. I could feel his breath. It smelled so clean and fresh. Like it was the purest air that ever existed.
“Don’t worry Grace. I wasn’t spying on you. I suppose it was just a lucky guess. Or was it? Guess we will never know.”
I leaned in a little closer as well. Our lips were almost touching. Just a few more spaces and they would be together.
“Guess we will never know…” I replied.
It was starting to feel like one of those super cheesy, slow motion romantic kiss buildups that you would see in films. The moment I had secretly dreamt of for months was about to happen.
As we leaned in for the kiss, a loud explosion went off right outside of his house. The glass in the windows shattered and smoke poured into the room. All of the candle lights blew out all at once and we were left in total darkness.
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