42

As the staff cleared away the empty plates, Damien turned to me and played with my hair with his fingers. "What do you want?" he asked in a calm voice, twisting a strand of my hair around his index finger. "I don't know," I replied matter-of-factly. I was still so excited inside that I was glad not to have to make a decision. He smiled softly, letting go of my hair to take my hand commandingly. "Aiden did me the favor of preparing something for you," he confessed, looking over at the blond, who stood up and nodded. "Let's go."

I let him pull me with me without any idea where I was going or what to expect.

Only when we ran down the stairs, the sun shone against us and we had arrived on the bridge, did I see it. There was a large easel right next to my lake, which once meant freedom to me. Surprised, I looked at the black-haired one, who was watching me curiously as if waiting for my reaction, but I couldn't find the words for it. I was far too impressed that he had noticed, although I only mentioned once to him that I loved painting.

"I don't get a thank you." He smiled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Thanks.", I whispered and gave him a shy kiss on the cheek, which made his eyes widen and beaming, he pulled me after the blond, who had been watching us with delight before.

It looked beautiful. The easel in front of the lake, which glittered in the sun's rays as if a thousand stars were trapped in it. In addition, the background, consisting of a part of the castle, which bordered the dense forest and gave a nice contrast to the white walls. "Here," Damien handed me a brush that was on a small table next to the easel, which had other brushes on it along with a small assortment of paints.

"I could sit naked on that rock. The painting would definitely go up in value." Aiden joked, pointing to the spot, but Damien just growled softly. "If you think that my wife would draw you naked, then you are wrong.", he said seriously. But then his evil mine disappeared and a cheeky grin spread across his face. "Besides, I think it would rather lose value." He provoked the blonde, who suddenly lunged forward to put Damien in a headlock. "Wait!", I heard Aiden say, before the two fought next to me, as if the inner child was controlling them.

I just stood there in amazement, watching the two of them fight and their hairstyles get mixed up. A feeling of lightness spread through me. It was good to see them both like this. There wasn't a prince in the middle of a war. There was just one really handsome man having a good time with his best friend and it put a smile on my face.

I happily devoted myself to my easel, took the brush in the other hand and began to paint the first outlines without paying attention to anything else, because now I was in my element.

After a while, I tuned them out completely, or they had stopped. I didn't know, didn't take my eyes off my painting, which was already half done. I would have loved to have stood here forever and never put my paintbrush down again. The emotions that painting triggered in me were far too beautiful. As if I could block out all bad thoughts and only the good would prevail and take root in the different colors.

When I felt the picture was perfect for me, I took a few steps back to admire it in all its glory. I had created something, and even if it was not possible for others to empathize with me, I was perfectly satisfied right now. And not only with me, but also with the whole world around me.

I turned around proudly, but the two were no longer behind me. I had absolutely no idea how long I had been painting here, or how much time had passed since the two had left, but it still made me happy that he was giving me my space. I looked at my work again and decided to let it dry here for a while and go find Damien.

While I was still on a roller coaster of emotions with him, I was dying to show him my artwork and see his reaction. Arriving at the beginning of the bridge, I suddenly heard my name softly, as if it were a whisper in the light wind that surrounded me. Confused, I turned around, looked in the direction of the small village and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her.

"What's-" "Shhh come with me!", she interrupted me and pulled me over between the first trees of the forest. It was Camilla, or at least what was left of her. Her long beautiful hair was cut short, shorter than Aiden's. If she hadn't had such a feminine face, one would have thought she was a cheeky boy with feminine features. Instead of her beautiful clothes, she was wearing ripped jeans and a white t-shirt that was way too big for her. Startled by her appearance, I just stared into her eyes and waited for an explanation.

She looked around nervously as if we were being followed and then took my hands. "You have to help me Melody.", she spoke with a trembling voice, and it was only when I looked at her hands that I noticed the many bruises on her arms, which immediately stopped my breath and threw me back into memories that I had long forgotten buried in me. "What happened?" I asked as the air slowly found its way back into my lungs, and instead of answering me, she suddenly burst out laughing, as if possessed by demons. At that moment I was glad that she let go of my hands and took a few steps back, because she scared me a little, even though my curiosity and concern for her was greater.

"What happened you ask?" she began. "Well, if you're no longer at the side of the oh so great prince, you have to look for another man, and nowadays you can't find any decent ones anymore. All animals who have never noticed anything about decency." She slid down a tree and buried her face in her arms, which were on her knees. She gave me a soft sob and I didn't really know what to do now. I suddenly found myself sitting there, frozen, feeling Calvin's bathroom floor beneath my feet. It sent a shiver down my spine and I quickly shook off that memory. I had to help her. It couldn't be her story, even if I didn't like her, I wouldn't wish such a life even on my worst enemy. "Come on let's talk to Damien." I took a step towards her and gave her my hand, but she didn't even look up. She sat down there and let her feelings run free.

Her whole body trembled as her arms were wrapped tightly around her thin legs and she whimpered to herself. I decided to get Damien over here immediately. Even if the two weren't a couple anymore, he couldn't let that go, after all she was by his side for so long and somehow belonged to the family. "Stay here! I'll be right back." I pleaded, stroking her short hair soothingly.

Just as I stepped out of the forest, a disgustingly smelly man suddenly stood in front of me and grinned evilly at me. He had a small beer belly that showed through a crack between his pants and his t-shirt. Everything about him disgusted me. Even the mustache that hung over his lips. "Where is she?" he asked, trying to get past me into the trees, but I grabbed his arm. "Let her-"

He interrupted me by giving me a hard smack right on the nose. My heart was racing as I widened my eyes and stared at him in horror. "I'm just asking one more time," he warned me, but I wasn't really listening anymore. Full of pain, I held my nose with both hands, which hurt so much that the first tears ran from my eyes and mixed with the blood that came out of my nose.

As he took a step toward me, I took my hands away from my face, ready to fight back, but before I could even react, he had grabbed my hair and pulled me into the woods. "Let go of me you disgusting piece of shit!" I yelled at him, but he didn't care at all. I was afraid of renewed pain, but I wasn't going to give myself to this creep without a fight. I struggled to free myself from his hands, but he wouldn't let go of my hair, dragging me across the dirty forest floor, tearing my pants.

"There's the ungrateful bitch. Why not like that." He laughed and threw me next to Camilla, who showed no reaction, still sitting there frozen and crying. "If you knew who-" He cut me off again with a kick to my thigh that made me yelp briefly in pain. The pain rose up to my stomach. "Release me! I'll rip his throat apart!" demanded Saphir, but if I transformed he would probably do the same, and he was much bigger and stronger than me. This time there would be no Aleks to save me and the guy, unlike Calvin, wouldn't have any feelings for me either, so no mercy or inhibitions either.

Not knowing what to do, I sat there, wiping the mixture of blood and tears from my face with my hands. A metallic smell took over everything around me, while the tears gave me a salty taste. As he ran towards Camilla and tried to pull her up, I mustered up the courage to stand up again, my hands clenched on the tree as if I was going to fall without his help. "Leave her alone!" I tried to yell, but my voice shook and broke in mid-sentence.

He let go of Camilla and looked at me in amusement, like an animal at its prey, ready to play with me until I squirmed in fear of him. He slowly got closer but I walked around the tree, looking for something on the ground to bang his head on, but saw nothing but leaves and small insects frolicking around. "Didn't anyone teach you any manners?" he asked with a grin, grabbing my hand to pull me close to him. "I like it when women fight back," he whispered, sticking his tongue down my throat. If I hadn't been so shocked, I would have thrown up immediately. The smell that poured from his mouth into mine was the most disgusting I had ever smelled.

I pressed my hands against his chest and tried to move him away, but the opposite happened as he pushed me against the tree behind me and I could feel everything about him on my body. He let go of my lips and slid down to my cleavage, licking the blood with relish and stroking my hips with his fingers. His hum made my heart race, which made my body sweat. I just watched him tamper with me and was unable to move. Were it not for the body's automatic response to breathe, I would probably have suffocated miserably.

"LET ME OUT!", screamed Saphir, pulling me out of the rigidity that was holding me captive. Deliberately, I jerked my knee up, hitting squarely on his groin, causing him to stagger briefly and giving me time to persuade Camilla to get up, but the lunatic was no longer there at all. Stared past me into space as if she were no longer in this body. "You stupid bitch!" the creep screamed and came at me again.