[ IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A LONG, YET IRRESISTIBLY FANTASTIC READ, THIS IS IT ]

“Its done.” A smile crossed her stressed features. Eva was sweating, but she chose to ignore that factor. All that mattered was if she had made Vel happy. Every piece of attention she earned from him was like a drug. She couldn’t seem to stop running after him, even if she wanted. Sometimes she cursed herself for the effect he had on her, but then she would remind herself that it was perfectly natural. He was her boyfriend, and it was normal for her to want him to be happy. So, she would do absolutely anything he wanted if it meant seeing a smile spread across his full lips.

“Well done, darling,” Vel said. There was that smile she’d been awaiting. “This is brilliant!”

Earlier that morning, he’d asked her to take a secret route to retrieve a gift from an old friend. Vel hadn’t explained any further than that when she’d asked what, exactly, the gift was. She supposed he probably didn’t know, himself. After all, what is a “gift,” if it isn’t a surprise? Eva would be happy taking a trip for him, as long as he received his present. She’d want him to do the same for her, if she were busy and her friend, Lucy, had something to give her.

Of course, Lucy wasn’t much of a friend anymore. It was odd. Once Vel and her became romantically involved, Lucy stopped answering calls, texts, written messages. Vel offered that perhaps she was simply jealous. Lucy had had many failed relationships, and when she told her she knew for a _fact she _would marry Vel, she seemed…put off.

Anyway, it wasn’t important now. As long as she had her man, she would be perfectly content. Oddly though, there was still this distant, nagging feeling she was worthless to the people she loved, in some way. Yet she was happy. Her heart fluttered with joy as Vel gently took the backpack from her grip.

“Any…” Eva began to ask, but it was as though there were this hand that took hold of her voice. Was it fear she felt?

Vel paused from staring at his gift to consider her. His brow lifted curiously. He set the bag down and gently grabbed her hand, leading her to the couch in the center of his living room. They both sat, and he took her other hand in his. “What is it?” he asked.

She didn’t want to tell him, but his concern made her feel she should. She couldn’t hold back when he looked at her like that. All furrowed brows and waiting, honeysuckle eyes.

She opened her mouth. Closed it. “Has Lucy—or—anyone asked of me?” she finally managed.

Vel looked down, slowly. His hand gently rubbing her thigh as he spoke. “Your family, nor Lucy, has contacted for months. You know this.”

“I- yes, I do realize that, but I suppose there’s just this part of me that still…I dunno…”

“I understand, love.” As Eva’s chin tipped down, Vel tenderly kissed the top of her head. She sighed, and he pulled her to his chest in a warm embrace. Why did the gesture not feel so comforting, though? Instead of feeling better, she felt as though a rope had been tied around her arms and feet, preventing her from moving. Her heart beat fast and she hadn’t the slightest idea as to why. Eva just assumed he was still so special to her that he still gave her butterflies. Of course, he would be just as equally special if she didn’t get butterflies everytime he touched her.

Vel must have felt her tense up—something she did not know she was doing. He pulled away and looked into her eyes. His face was a question mark of emotion. The room was dimly set with dark woody colors. Jet black and blood red were his favorite colors, so one can imagine how…eerie his home seemed. But she was completely content with the interior as long as he came with it.

She bit the inside of her lip, nervously. He moved a loos piece of black hair behind her ear.

Eva had long hair. She decided to get it highlighted a few weeks ago. Raven with streakes of smokey gray. She loved it, and even better that Vel had, too. When he loved something, she began to appreciate it more, also.

His eyes searched hers. It was as though she were being slowly, peeled apart, all her deepest secrets spilling from her in heaps—not that she had any to keep from him. He finally blinked his gray eyes away, combing fingers through his hair that was laced with blood highlights that she thought was absolutely magnetic on him.

Eva wondered what he was thinking. He was so difficult to read. That was another factor that made him all the more exciting to be with. He was one, handsome surprise. All clean suits and leather jackets. Raven T-shirts and playboyish smirks. She loves him.

But something was off, and she needed to change the subject.

“So, what’s in the bag?” she inquired with a curious smile. “You did have me go through multiple winding alleys full of rats and spiders to retrieve such a thing. It must be important?”

He looked back to her with a bright smile that reached his eyes, and made them sparkle. “I am afraid I cannot tell you, Eva,” he pressed a lingering kiss to her lips that made her melt. “Friends never tell each others secrets. You understand that, of course?”

What she wanted to say was “no.” She didn’t understand why he couldn’t tell her. Hours trying to get it, and multiple run ins with rather sinister individuals, and all for what? In her mind, she could have simply gone through all that trouble to bring back a mere child’s toy. Surly, what was concealed in the bag that sat by his leg, had to be of immense significance.

But he would never lie. He would never cause her to go out for hours, alone, without good reason. Her curiosity was simply burning, but she extinguished it not too effectively, by painting a smile on, and nodding. “Yes, I understand.”

“I knew you would,” he said. “You always do.” Her heart fluttered whenever he spoke. His voice was always so low and hypnotic. Even asking herself, occasionally, what she liked most about him, she couldn’t choose just one. He was one giant mystery, and he was hers to unravel.

He tightened his hand on her high, slowly moving up my leg, tempting millions of butterflies that clustered in her stomach—

“Sir.”

A rather urgent tone suddenly cut into the moment. Eva’s face turned hot. Hopefully they had not seen anything.

Vel paused and slowly turned his head towards the familiar voice. She stifled a small chuckle at the irritated look on his face. He must’ve noticed her expression, because it caused him to smile, laugh for but a second. “Yes, Ray?” he finally addressed the man standing in the living room. Of course, with a rather lazy sigh.

“Pardon my interruption…” Rays gaze cut into her. This caused Eva to squirm and look down. Vel saw this, and drew the man’s attention back to him.

“If you have nothing to say, then—”

“No, no, sir, I do. Uhm—it concerns your _package_…?” The rather disheveled man looked from Eva to Vel. It made her feel like a child at a party when the adults were speaking of things they didn’t think she should hear, and gave her careful glances, before excusing her from the room. One can imagine what a negative feeling that was—to be excluded.

Ray shifted uncomfortably, his hair a mess of gel and nerves. When she turned back to Vel, she had never seen him look so angry in her life. His eyes were two knives that said rather bold things. He fidgeted with his boot as though he would pull a dagger out and throw it at the man’s chest.

“Is there something wrong, Vel?” She asked. Her tone was timid. This Vel, she was not so acquainted with, and Eva didn’t think she ever wanted to be. All the more reason to make sure he was always in good spirit.

“Of course not, darling.” His expression switched the moment he realized she was watching. He was back to being all charming. She flinched her eyes, and he noticed. A small frown took over. “Forgive me, Eva. I do not mean to look so…bitter,” he reassured. “You will have to excuse me, my love. I must speak with Ray in private. But I shall return shortly.”

Eva never trusted Ray. He was like Vel’s personal assistant—butler, more so. But he would always shoot her weary looks, frightened looks that sent chills down her spine. She had assumed he was simply a skittish man. After seeing the way he coward in the presence of Vel, she wasn’t so sure.

“I’ll hold you to it,” she smiled. Vel grinned and pressed his lips to hers. She heard Ray shift uncomfortably, once more, as Vel’s hand found her neck and tipped her head back. He placed a kiss to her neck before looking at her once more. He rubbed her cheek, tenderly. Then he was off, walking to his ‘work room’ as he called it. Ray followed a distance behind.

It was just her and the dark living room. Her and her many, mixed thoughts. Eva was shaking. What reason did she posses for being so afraid, though? She clasped her hands together and rose from the sofa. Why had Vel looked so…dangerous? He was anything but. So why was she so afraid of him, all of a sudden. There was something going on, and he obviously didn’t want her to know. Which gave her all the more reason to sneak upstairs to Vel’s work room.

He had never allowed her to step foot in it before. He’d told her his work was very private, and because of this, only people who worked in the same field were able to know. Yes, it raised a fair ounce of suspicion. But Vel had never been one to lie. He was a gentleman. However, she didn’t think it was beneath him to _hide_ something from her. Perhaps he thought she wouldn’t understand? That would be ridiculous, though. Eva was smart, and he knew so. Which arose another thought.

He knew she was smart, and that hiding something from her most likely wouldn’t last. So why try?

Her whole thought process was a great web of complexities that she couldn’t seem to unravel. One thing was for certain—she would not feel at ease until she saw exactly why Vel had been so secretive, and why Ray had seemed so eager to get away.

She had been convinced Vel wasn’t abusive. Could she have been wrong? That was preposterous. He was a nothing but a gentleman.

She walked down a winding hallway full of paintings.

As her fingers finally grazed the cool wood of his door. She made light of her feet to move closer. Eva turned her head to hear better. Surprisingly, they spoke in hushed tones. She hadn’t heard the beginning of the conversation, but by the quiver of Ray’s voice, and the rather intense edge to Vel’s, something had to have gone very wrong.

“—if she found out?”

“I- I do apologize, Sir Murizia.”

_Who was _Murizia_?_ Vel’s last name, he’d told her, was Carder.

An irritated sigh full of disappointment came from Eva’s boyfriend. “Not only have you promoted her curiosity, but now have even had the audacity to state my last name.”

“—Carder! I meant, Sir Card—”

A scream arrupted from the butler, Ray. A large crash. “Sir, please. Have mercy!”

“Mercy is reserved for those who follow orders.” The sounds that came next were labored, as though someone were being—

Her foot slipped, and she accidentally pushed the door open attempting to steady herself on the handle. The sight she saw next caused her breath to catch. Vel was standing over a very unconscious Ray. His room was full of all sorts of weapons. This was awful—_he_ was awful. How could she not have seen it before?

When Vel’s eyes latched onto Eva’s figure, he stood deathly silent. His eyes were two slits. He seemed stunned, but also angry.

She pushed off the ground and ran to Ray, flipping him onto his back. The poor man was very much dead. His neck was red, as though someone had attempted to strangle him. Head bashed inward, blood dripped down the side of his face, staining the carpeted floor an even deeper red. Eva had to force herself to breathe.

Her eyes slowly traveled up the length of Vel’s body from his feet, to his chest, and finally back to his distant expression. “Y- you killed him.” She still could hardly wrap her head around it. Never had she imagined herself speaking these words.

Then a thought came to mind. It caused her to shake with the absurdity, yet clarity, of it all. He had told her again and again that her family and her best friend hated her for being with him. She believed him. Everything he said was believable. If only she weren’t so blind. Those people loved her just as much as she did them. It made no sense for them not to speak to her for so long. Even more peculiar, was the fact that anytime she would try to use Vel’s phone to contact them, he would distract her.

He was a liar, a murderer. And she trusted him. She even loved him, and _convinced_ herself he loved her too.

“What have you done?” Eva stood, hands fisted at her sides.

Vel blinked. Pulled on a charming smile. “Ray had been sick for a while. Even began to act far from himself. He tripped on the carpet, and bashed his head on the corner of my table—”

She stammered over her words. “Liar!” More than a small dose of fear and anger had consumed her. What could she do? Here she was, face to face with a killer. Her eyes traveled to the table he spoke of. No, he must’ve smashed his head into the table. And—

There it was. The so called “gift” she’d gone out of her way for. It was opened, and the contents lay bare on the beautiful wooden surface of that same table. He wasn’t just a killer, he was a con artist. His little “gift” were rather hefty packets of drugs. And the “friend” that she met of his…

There. His smile faltered, and he stepped over Rays body, carelessly. Eva backed away. “No, stay away from me!” Her back suddenly hit a wall.

He clicked his tongue and slid a dagger from his boot. No wonder he’d been fidgeting with it earlier. He’d been conceding a blade the whole time. She couldn’t die here. Surely he wouldn’t kill her?

“You’re going to kill me too?” she chocked out.

He tipped his head to the side. The moment his eyes met the cool metal of the dagger in his hand, those eyes she used to find so magnetic, were anything but. They shone with…carelessness. Like he couldn’t have waited any longer to do exactly what she inwardly pleaded he would not do next.

“You won’t. Why keep me all this time if you didn’t need me?” Eva wasn’t completely certain she wanted to hear the answer to her question.

“Understand this, love,” he began. “You and I mean nothing. We _are_ nothing—” his hand slipped into her hair, jerking her head back, as he got closer to her face “—never were. But…maybe we _could’ve_ been.”

“You—”

“Yes, Eva. I am a murderer. I’ve killed many people.” He drew the words out slowly. It sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine. She was overwhelmed with fear. “I killed Ray… I killed Lucy… I killed your parents…”

Tears slipped down Eva’s face. Her breathing became unsteady.

“And now I’m going to kill _you_.”

Her eyebrows drew together. She closed her eyes in despair.

He smacked his lips, brought his hand to her cheek. Only it wasn’t comforting. It didn’t send butterflies through her whole body like it would have. This was what came next. This was what awaited her. It was the last straw.

“Please— please don’t,” she tried.

“Aww, I’m afraid not.”

She opened her eyes. He was so close. He looked down at her like she was nothing but a bug—something of a nuisance, and easily dealt with. “I just want you to know that, you know, despite me killing you, you made a rather good lover.” He laughed, at the last word. “The best I’ve had yet, in fact.”

There was nothing natural about the sound of his laughter, the bite of his words. The way sweat beaded on his forehead. The obvious hunger for blood. This was what a monster looked like, and it was more frightening than any horror movie she’d watched. He hadn’t done anything yet, but everything felt like a knife to her heart.

The absurdity of it all was nearly unbearable. This whole time, Vel had been lying. Throughout their whole relationship, she felt something was always off, but never voiced it. She only ever pushed it to the back of her mind.

But all of it was an act…

Makes sense how he, all of a sudden, turned up with a big load of cash. Eva wasn’t sure how—not that it was important—but he managed to kill almost, if not, _every_ person she loved, with no trial left behind. Not only that, he was able to somehow steal money.

He must have cought her spacing out as she was in deep thought. The cool tip of his blade met her neck. Now they had each others full attention. The world stilled and though she’d not met death yet, her heart seemed to stop, entirely. “Perhaps we might be together in the next life.”

His lips moved closer to hers, the knife trailing down her neck until she felt it no more. A part of her would’ve believed he would do it—a part of her _wanted_ him to press his mouth to hers. But that was preposterous. It was the naive thinking of a young girl, helplessly fooled to believe the love she sought every day was real.

She gasped. Not because he’d kissed her, but because she suddenly felt the keen cruelty of his blade meet her flesh. Vel twisted it all the way around. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground. Blood dripped around the long dagger and through her clothing, onto the carpet she crumbled onto.

Eva groaned and screamed in pain. She’d never felt anything this horrible in her life. But the thing she found to be so horrible was not the blade carelessly plunged into her stomach; it was the dark, mocking pain of betrayal. Betrayal that she jumped right into the hands of.

Vel bent down and pushed her from her side, onto her back. His head hung over her. He ripped the dagger from her and watched as the life in her eyes slowly faded to nothing. Thick, crimson liquid stained the floor. At least it would be the first thing he saw anytime her entered this very room. At least he would be reminded of the soul he stole.

“Forgive me, love.” He brought his fingers to her eyes, slowly beckoning her to the sleep she was never ready for. A slumber that would last for all eternity.

Blood pooled in her mouth. With the last of the poor girls strength, she choked out the word “Never.”

Then Eva was swept away from the very world she thought to be so, utterly wonderful. The worst part being: seeing the very person that made it to be so utterly, miserable, as it all came to an end.