MY TORMENTED SOULMATE

Tragedy struck young Daria Moonwalk's life long before her memory kicked in, but its effects linger even today.

She had recently been living with her aunt, uncle, and her cousin Mona. Her great aunt Elsa sent her away to live with them, as she wasn't able to take care of her anymore. Even though Daria was young, she knew better. She knew there was a terrible storm coming and with it came evil.

One day, her aunt, and uncle prepared a welcoming party for her to ensure that she felt at home. About twenty guests were invited, they wanted to avoid overwhelming her.

"Hey baby girl," said Marlene as she took Daria into her arms and carried her outback to where the party was to meet the guests.

"Hey aunty," Daria said cutely and laid her head on Marlene's shoulder.

Marlene noticeably smiled when she saw this, she was touched that Daria felt comfortable enough to lay on her shoulders. Cute she thought.

Marlene was a tall petite woman still in her twenties, she had long dark hair with a pink strip of hair on the right side that flowed flawlessly over her oval-shaped face. Daria admired her aunt so much that she wanted to be like her when she grew up. Daria and Marlene locked eyes as they looked into each other's eyes, Marlene had blue eyes that looked like the deep blue sea. On the other hand, Daria had big dark brown eyes. She had a heart-shaped piercing on her button nose. Which Daria often wondered if it was painful, seeing as she also wanted one. Daria thought her aunt was the most beautiful person in the whole world, from her pinkish full plump lips and a mid-size chest with full breasts. Her beautiful olive brown skin and that looked newly tanned. To lavender crop-top that revealed her belly button and a black leather jacket on top that complimented her hourglass shape. She had on blue torn jeans and black G-star sneakers. Not only that, but she had beautifully soft manicured hands with dazzling violet nail polish.

As they reached the backyard, Nicholas and Mona raced to them. Mona reached them first, and Nicholas purposely lost.

"I won," said Mona excitedly to her mother.

"I would have won if I hadn't eaten so much at breakfast and....," breathed Nicholas as he feigned tiredness.

"Yeah right, dad," Mona said, clearly not believing her father.

Marlene and Daria giggled and shook their heads at them.

"So, little one, do you like your party?" Nicholas asked as Marlene put Daria down.

Daria looked around at the party and saw different sorts of decorations from her favourite cartoons. There were balloons of Moana, Ghost spider from the series Spider-Man and his amazing friends. A jumping castle that looked just like the fun house from Mickey and The Fun House. Daria never missed an episode of Mickey and The Fun House, she always made sure to finish her break fast to make sure she didn't miss a moment of her favourite show. Kids were playing in the kiddie pool, giggling and splashing each other, there were a couple of entertainers surrounded by an audience full of toddlers and tweens. One was a clown and the others were a magician and musician. There was a table full of presents, they all looked big, Daria secretly prayed that one of those giant presents was a kid's kitchen set she had been dreaming about since she saw the advert on TV. A table with a buffet of every kind of food stood next to the pool, she could see every kind of pastry, cool drink and Juices. A three tier Vampirina Cake and different kinds of snacks and goodie bags. There was a big purple banner intricately written welcome home Daria and a few pictures of Winnie the Pooh eating from his honey pot and Vampirina showing off her toothie smile.

"Yes, uncle Nicky," said Daria with a big grin on her face. She hugged him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. His cheeks turned red as he blushed at her gesture.

Mona took Daria's hand and pulled her towards the magician.

"Come on Daria, you have to see this cool trick the magic man does," she said excitedly and they both waved at Marlene and Nicholas.

Marlene looked around at the happy faces and back at her husband. Who smiled as if the world had finally achieved peace. Nicholas was a very tall man who towered over most people at about 6ft (1.83 m).8inc. He had sandy blonde shaggy hair and green eyes. A long pointed nose and pink thin lips,

fair light skin. He had a naturally lean medium build and wide, broad shoulders. He wore a white t-shirt that showcased his six-pack underneath, topped with a dark blue denim jacket, and wore blue skinny jeans that revealed his toned legs, paired with grey Adidas sneakers. It was a beautiful day and the Capetonian sun shined brighter than ever. Seagulls flew by as they sang their melodies. South Africa was a beautiful place to be in summer. The ocean air smelt grand as it caressed your skin. As the DJ started a song, Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. Nicholas took Marlene's hand, and they started to dance to the song. There was a sudden boom and the music stopped, people looked towards where the DJ was and saw that his equipment had been burnt. A man in a black cloak stood next to holding his head and guests screamed in horror when they saw the head. Stormy clouds started to form, the sunny day turned dark

as if a curse had been cast. The once blue sky now looked grey and dull, casting a hinge of gloominess on the atmosphere.

Everyone at the party felt uneasy because this didn't look like any normal storm. Shadowy figures began to emerge from within the dark clouds.

Daria's uncle Nicolas's eyes widened because he knew that, WHAT THEY CALLED, THE COMING STORM HAD ARRIVED. He screeched the words run!!!!.

"Marlene! Take the kids and hide them in a safe place!" Said Nicholas in a grave yet worried tone.

"Noooo w-what about y-you, I can't leave you," Marlene stuttered.

"We don't have time to argue we have to protect Daria and Mona too, we can't fail Daria, I-I can't fail my little sister I made a promise to her that I'd protect Daria," he says with teary eyes

"OK I'll go but promise me you'll come to find us and that you won't die on me," Marlene said knowing that this might be the last time they would see each other.

She carried Daria and took Mona's hand and rushed to their emergency bunker. The bunker was in the middle of

the forest in a very secluded place where a canopy of trees and shrubs covered the underlying entrance to the bunker. When they reached it, she pried open the door with shaky hands, seconds later a loud explosion could be heard and with it came the screams of the guests at the party. She immediately took the kids and went

in, she looked around frantically for something to barricade the door.

"Are you kids okay?" asked Marlene breathlessly

"Yeah, we are fine," Mona said, looking paler than a ghost.

"Are we going to die?" Daria asked plainly.

Marlene found herself speechless and didn't know how to reply. Both children looked at her pointedly as they

stood there waiting for her answer.

"No one will die, I promise," she told them and tried putting on a smile for assurance.

There was a loud boom which blasted the door wide open and Marlene and the kids had managed to take cover. When Marlene looked around the room full of dust and smoke, she saw a figure laying on the floor. When she crept towards it, she saw that it was a person laying there and guessed that the invaders had used his body to slam the door open. When she turned the person over, what she saw would forever haunt her, her eyes became wide, and

as she recognized the person and screamed.

"Nicolas!" Marlene wailed when she saw how bad his condition was.

Marlene's POV

After I had barricaded the doors and windows I was certain that nothing was going to get in, but

in my heart, I knew this wasn't good enough to stop the Pride Of Blood Lust. These guys

were brutal, I guess the embankment gave me a sense of security. When I turned around and

saw how terrified the two little beings in front of me were, well, Mona was the one who looked

scared, Daria, on the other hand, looked indifferent, it scared me.

"Are you guys OK?" I asked

them worriedly.

"Y-yeah, I think we are OK," stuttered Mona in a whisper.

What got me tongue-tied for a few minutes was what Daria inquired.

"Are we going to die?" Daria asked plainly.

I was stunned for almost a minute before my mind could register what I was just asked. The

truth is, I knew we were going to die. Heck, I didn't even know how we had survived this long.

But I couldn't say that to a twelve-year-old and a nine-year-old.

"We will be fine, I promise"

is what I had managed to come up with. Talk about a cliché.

A while after we had settled in a

bit, there was a loud blast at the door, and it blasted the door until it was specks of wood. I

had managed to push the kids out of the way. While I did that I got my fair share of pain, the blast created a shockwave which in turn made a shelf fall, instead of falling on

the ground it fell on me. As I struggled to get out of my current predicament, I noticed that

there was a figure laying on the ground a few meters away from me. I couldn't tell who it was

through all the dust and debris the blast created. I managed to get the shelf off me, I decided to

crawl towards the figure instead of walking, mostly because I didn't think my legs could carry

me after the heavy shelf fell on me. When I got closer, I noticed that the figure was a man laying

there motionless. I panicked and started frantically shouting for any sign of life.

"ARE YOU OK?!! HEY MR, CAN YOU HEAR ME!!!" I was shouting so loud that anyone could have thought that

I was being attacked.

I got closer to the person and instantly recognized him as my husband.

But why wasn't he moving, why was he breathing so slow? I turned him around

to see what was wrong. What I saw would forever be engraved in my mind. It would haunt

me for the rest of my days. I was about to scream and realized my mouth was already doing

it, my eyes were full of tears, and I hadn't even noticed that I had started crying. I moved away in

shock and disbelief because what I was seeing couldn't be real, it was too surreal, it looked

like something from a horror movie.

"NICHOLAS!!" I screamed

Half of Nicholas's body was disfigured, his face looked burnt, but there weren't any burn

marks, it looked like someone peeled half of his skin off. I could see his insides, all the

organs on his left side were bare. If a normal person were to see him like this, nothing would

stop them from running out the door, mostly because he seemed like an animal that had been

skinned alive or the undead or one of Frankenstein's experiments gone wrong. I wanted to

close my eyes, but I couldn't. It was like my eyes were glued open. I was in such a daze that

when I heard two tiny voices belonging to my girls calling me, I almost ran for the hills. Mona

and Daria were suddenly by my side, they must have come while I was in my dazed state.

"Momma, what's wrong with daddy?" asked a terrified Mona.

Daria was petrified.

Before I could answer Mona, I heard a cold and dark voice come from the hole that used to

be a door.

"I made it for you, don't you like your daddy's new look?" said a voice.

The owner of the voice came into view. It was a man, he looked about 6 feet (1.83 metres) 9 and around his twenties

was wearing a suit that was darker than the night itself and looked like it was sewn with shadows. He was wearing a skull

ring, with a snake coming out of its left eye. He was wearing a black mask with a crescent

moon and a snake circling the mask. His aura radiated power and evil. When he began to walk toward us, it almost seemed like a jaguar was walking, a predator hunting his prey. His movements could seduce snakes, his

posture was elegant, and his body seemed like it was sculpted by the dark angel Lucifer himself. His eyes were iridescent as they changed colours each second, it seemed like a rainbow, and it was almost hypnotic. Something about his look left me glued to the floor, I was frozen, I couldn't move nor could I blink. I felt stuck inside my body, it was as if I was in a vegetative state. I was unable to talk or move,

I could just watch as the world carried on. When he looked at me and saw the fear in my

eyes, a cold smile formed on his face when he saw this, tears fell from my face. I was crying, but I was unable to make any sound. He then looked down at Nicholas and his smile became

wider. It was full of evil that every cell in my body stopped moving. My hands shook uncontrollably, my breathing became shallow, and my heart started thumping rapidly. It was as if I were about to have a heart attack or shut down right there and then. The children increased their grip on my hands and I could feel Mona's body shaking. Daria just stood there frozen with a dumbfounded look on her face. I couldn't blame her, what they did to Nicholas was beyond words and belief.

Daria's POV

When aunt Marlene turned the figure to view, I was in so much shock that my body couldn't

move, I was afraid that if I even flinched a little I was going to end up like him or even worse.

Mona had to drag me to Marlene's side. I stood there as if a witch had cast a petrifaction

spell on me. I then felt that we were not alone and that we were being watched, or I was

being watched. It was like I could feel their eyes on me, and the hairs behind my neck stood.

Then the realization hit me, that the ones who had used uncle Nicholas as a door opener

were outside, all 14 of them but wait I sensed another presence, but I couldn't quite pinpoint

his location or sense his life force. I guess there are 15 of them if you add the phantom

present.

"Momma, what's wrong with daddy?" Mona asked terrified. Before her question could be

answered by Aunt Marlene. A cold voice beat her to it.

"I made it for you, don't you like your

daddy's new look?" Came a voice.

I knew something big was going to come, I knew the nightmare had just begun. After he was done admiring what he had done to uncle Nicholas,

his eyes shifted towards me, and they seemed to have been stuck between colours the moment he locked eyes with me. His eyes looked blue yet silver at the same time.

His eyes looked stuck between colours, he smiled and said, "Are you guys going to come in or

will I have fun all on my own?".

Suddenly, the room was full of men and women wearing

black. Well, they were 13 males and 3 females to be specific. There was this particular man

who bothered me, I had recognized him as the person whose life force I couldn't sense. He was tall

around 7 feet (2.13 m) 3, to a nine-year-old like me, he looked like a giant considering how very tiny I am.

The only thing big about me was my brain. The man wore a black suit that was darker than the first guy's suit. He had a body of a gladiator, his suit showed his bulging muscles, and it

almost seemed like he was going to explode out of the suit. His hands were pale and he had

sensitive-looking hands. His hair was navy blue with light blue tips. He wore a black mask

just like the first guy, except the crescent moon, was silver and the snake gold. His eyes

also turned into different colours, but his eyes took about 30 seconds to change to the next

colour, right now, they were violet.

"Let's begin the test," he said coldly he had a very seductive voice, that could put anyone in a trance.

What happened next was unspeakably

demonic, The first guy took Uncle Nicolas by his neck and made him kneel. A woman

came for Mona and grabbed her, while a blondish woman came behind me and held me

steadily as if to make sure I wouldn't run. Suddenly, it was dark, the last thing I saw and

remember was being carried and put into a car. When I came to, I was in a mansion, in a

room currently, and it looked ancient, it had vintage furniture and paintings that looked

ancient and looked like they belonged in a museum.

"H-hello, is somebody there or out there?" I said sacredly and shaken. My voice was dry, I was afraid if I cried that they would hurt me or yell at me as villains do in movies. I peeked

through a window to see if I could recognize the place I was at, but to my disavail, I recognized nothing at all. The place looked dark and murky, crows were all over the mansion. I then saw something shiny and dark and very long. My eyes widened, and my

breathing became fast as if I were having a panic attack. My body couldn't stop shaking when I realized what I was looking at when I saw what the shiny thing was. It was a snake! a massive one at that, it was black and silver which made it reflect the moon, its head was humongous it looked about the size of a Range Rover. It had whiskers-looking things on both sides of its mouth, It even had horns, it was very long, it had the length of about 50 buses lined up. Not only that but it was curled and had coiled itself as a ball python did, It looked fast asleep. I recognized the snake, I had seen it in our ancient scrolls at the manor. It looked too big to be a basilisk, it couldn't be, the snake is extinct, but the size and length say it all. These lunatics managed to bring back a Titanoboa cerrejonensis, this species had gone extinct about 66 million years ago. I guess I would also get myself a Titanoboa for world domination. I was startled by a sudden noise, which took me out of my dazed state. When I regained my

sense of reality, I realized the sound came from outside the door. I heard voices talking, and it

sounded like they were talking about me. "Hey, so is this kid the real deal or what?" Said a voice excitedly.

"Yeah, that's what they said she's supposed to possess the ultimate powers and more," said

another voice lazily.

"Oh really, hmm, I wonder how someone so dinky can control so much power," said the first

guy.

"I don't know, but it's fascinating," said the second guy sarcastically.

A few seconds later, the door was opened. The two boys entered, one carrying food and the other carrying what looked like clothes.

"Hey, little girl," a dark-headed boy said with a very sly smirk. While the blonde-headed one just looked at me and looked away.

"Eat this you know how don't you?" he said while pointing at the food and showing eating motions. Are all bad guys morons like him, I thought and wondered to myself.

"FYI, just because I'm nine years old, doesn't mean I don't know what food is, dummy!!" I said angrily and added.

"What you should be asking is whether I can eat by myself. That's what a normal and rational person would've asked, and again I'm nine, of course, I can eat you retard!" I said yelled.

The blonde head burst into laughter and said mockingly at his friend.

"How does it feel to be both scolded and schooled by a nine-year-old" He-he. Still laughing he added

"The Grand Master said she was wise beyond her years and that she wasn't an ordinary kid dude, way to embarrass our guild".

After the blonde guy had said that, the dark head's cheeks turned pink and were

filled with rage fuelled by embarrassment.

He raised his hand and I knew what was coming

next, he was going to hit me, so I squinted my eyes shut waiting for his hands to come in

contact with my skin and leave a burning mark that would last for aeons, but it never came.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the dark head's giant hand had stopped mid-air and a

small hand seemed to have stopped his hand in its tracks. The small hand belonged to a

beautiful woman. She looked roughly 5 feet (1.52 metres) and 9 inches tall, She had a perfectly round face with

eyes that were amber and glistening. She had a beautiful pale shin that she would almost

blend in with snow if it wasn't for the blush colour of pink on her cheeks, showing a sign of

blood. Her nose looked like the one everyone wanted when they looked at girls in

magazines. She had perfectly plump lips and teeth that were white as snow. She had golden

brown hair that reached her thighs and fell perfectly on her back.

"What do you think you are doing," said the pretty lady with a stern and cold look.