I know. I know. She's frustrating me too okay. 😭😂 but realistically, that's how anyone would react.

☀︎︎

A Set On Fire

I S A B E L L A

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was burning hot and it looked like I was trapped in a room with fire closing in on both sides of me. It was getting harder to breathe each second that went by but I couldn't call out for help. My voice only came out in just barely a whisper.

Inside the fire were a bunch of dead bodies, that just seemed to keep piling up every second that went by. On the other side of the fire, I could see my mom, both of them. There were Cole and his brothers and there was Juls.

They all seemed to be staring at me, but at the same time, it looked like they couldn't see me at all. I tried crying out to them but they didn't move a single inch. Their gaze only seemed to make everything more intense. Their burning gazes hurt more than the fire that was just nearly grazing my skin.

There was excitement written in their eyes as they watched me squirm in pain, trying to avoid the flame. My real mother was suddenly set on fire, and she disappeared almost instantly.

The woman who I grew up loving as my mother remained there, but she didn't have that look of love written on her face. Rather she looked disgusted and horrified by me. I was somehow suddenly in my demon form. She had an entirely different family being behind her and she cowered in fear at me. I just wanted her to save me but she was afraid of me.

I turned to Juls and she scowled at me. All those years of friendship, I sometimes forget how she never really cared about me, to begin with. Of course, she wouldn't try to help save me.

All that was left was Cole and his brothers. Yuily and Lucius were already out of the question, they seemed to want to fuel the fire burning me. Theo and Cole both had their hands reached out towards me but they both had something in their eyes that I couldn't read. I couldn't figure out what their intentions were, they were both smiling but, it didn't make me feel any more at ease.

"Isabella, you need me don't you?" Cole asked, reaching out his hand a little, "I'm the only one that can protect you. I'm the only one who can end the pain you're feeling."

I glanced over towards Theo and it seemed like he was slowly backing away from me as if he was giving me no chance but to choose Cole. His hand was still stretched out to help me but it wasn't close enough to reach.

I grabbed Cole's hand and he pulled me towards him. Nothing changed at first, there was a fire surrounding him that seemed even bigger than mine, with even more bodies in that fire.

He pulled me into a hug and let out a sigh of relief, the flames started to gradually die down.

"He's really the one that needs you," Theo said to me, pointing towards Cole's fire. "You're the only one that can change him, Isabella. You two will burn up without each other."

I woke up gasping for air, the room was completely dark and I still felt like I was on fire. Somehow I felt like there was something that I had to do.

Cole was still sleeping right next to me, his arm was snaked around my waist. I slowly moved his arm off of me and slipped as quietly as I could out of bed.

"Isabella," he mumbled and I froze in place completely. "Don't leave me."

He shifted over and I sighed in relief, he was just talking in his sleep. I snuck carefully out of the room and walked down towards the open hall. The lights were still on out there and I could hear voices talking.

I needed to find Theo.

As I walked into the room, everyone stopped speaking and their attention shifted to me.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Theo shouted at me. Lucius and Yuily were both looking at me with hungry eyes, but I ignored them and walked towards Theo. I trusted that he wouldn't do anything to me, neither would he let either of them do anything.

"I need you to take me somewhere," I whispered, looking up at him.

He grabbed me and pulled me into another before shutting the door closed. "Isabella. What the fuck?"

"What," I said frowning at him and he groaned, burying his head in his hands.

"Look at what you're wearing first of all. Secondly, you can't just waltz around here like nobody is going to fuck with you. What were you going to do if I wasn't there just now?"

"I just had a feeling you'd be there, so I-" He cut me off, "Isabella you can't just act on how you're feeling all the time. I get that you need something but, maybe you should ask Cole instead."

"Wha- Why?"

"What do you think my brothers are thinking about this whole thing right now? Listen. I want to help you but, you can't start relying on m-"

"I know that! I just need this one thing. I swear."

"Where do you want to go anyway?" He asked, pacing through the room. I took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"I want to go confront my mom. Well, the person who's been pretending to be my mom. Yesterday Cole told me about my real mom and I want to know more about her but... my love for my other mom didn't just go away, I still consider her like that. I just want to understand... I want to know if she actually really cared for me as a daughter or something else."

When he didn't say anything I sighed, "When I figured out how she died, I didn't care at first... But Cole triggered that feeling in me, to want to understand everything. It hurt so much realizing what it meant, but I can't keep denying this side of me I guess. I might still want to but, I have to-"

He smiled and clapped his hands, "That's amazing Isabella. Don't you think you should tell him that though? Shouldn't he be the one to take you?"

I shook my head, "He wants me to depend on him. He keeps saying that I need him and how everyone is just going to throw me away after they've finished with me and how useless I am in everyone else's eyes... If I asked him for help, that'd just feed into his ego."

He chuckled, "That's true, he's an arrogant asshole and he doesn't know what not to say most of the time. I can imagine how possessive he is but Isabella, he's really the one that needs you."

My eyes widened, that's the exact same thing he said in my dream

"He's the one that wants to feel needed. It's kind of pathetic if you think about it but, he didn't grow up feeling that. He doesn't know how to express that though and he's stubborn. I'm sure he has feelings for you, but for someone who's never experienced that before I'm sure he's conflicted."

"People don't hurt the people they like, and he's made it very clear that he only wants me to satisfy his wants," I said shaking my head.

"Isabella I know you're a smart girl." He said sighing, "Do you honestly think... He went out of his way to learn about you and tell you about it because that somehow helps him? If he says that, he's lying to you or he's in denial, either that or he just doesn't realize his feelings."

"And like I said, he's never experienced this before. That's all he knows, how to hurt someone because that's all he's ever felt. That's why I said, you're the only one that can change him."

"I don't think I can..." I mumbled, "I- I don't like him."

He clapped his hands together and patted my head, "Don't think about it so much, you're doing it whether you realize it or not so, relax."

I wrapped my arms around him and he paused in surprise. "Isabella..." He started but I cut him off.

"Just one hug, please," I whispered and he sighed before hugging me back. "There's nothing between us," He reminded me.

"I know..."

"Isabella." he said after I didn't let him go for a while, "Yeah?"

He cleared his throat, "Your breasts are pressing up against me, and you're barely wearing anything... I'm still a man you know?"

My eyes widened and I pushed him away from me. He burst out laughing but he covered his face almost immediately. I caught a glimpse of what he meant to hide...His eyes were completely red, and his fangs were coming out.

His laughter died down after a couple of seconds and his mood completely changed. "I almost bit you just then," he admitted in a low voice.

He stood up after a while and sighed, "You're an idiot. You drop your guard way too easily, it's frustrating. You should probably leave before Cole figures out you left if he finds you here like this-"

Before he could finish his sentence the door busted open, and speak of the devil.

It was Cole and he was not happy.

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

I don't know what happened to trigger this inside me but, the second Cole walked in I ran out of the room. Not necessarily because I was scared, but... I already knew what he was going to say. The same thing he always said, calling me a whore or saying I don't mean anything to anyone, I didn't want to stand around to hear it. I didn't care for what he was assuming, it was wrong anyway.

He immediately followed behind, despite his obvious want to fight his brother. I could hear him yelling my name from behind me but, I just kept on going. I knew I wasn't fast enough to get away from him but, that wasn't going to make me stop.

When I'd finally got outside, he caught up to me before I could run anywhere else. He yanked me towards him, making me fall over onto the ground. He kept holding onto my hand and glared at me. "Where the hell do you think you're running to?"

"Let go of me!" I yelled, kicking at him, and gripped my hand tighter, "I swear Isabella don't make me hurt you."

I paused and gasped, "Hurt me? Like you always do you mean? What are you gonna do...slap me because I talked to your brother again?"

He completely ignored my question and asked his own, "Why did you leave without my permission? How many times do I need to tell you that I'm the only one you need? What were you two talking about? Did he touch you?"

There was so much irritation building up inside me. Maybe because of how horrible I felt yesterday, the other side of me was borderline coming out, and I wasn't trying to hold her back. I thought he'd be at least a little better after yesterday, but it seems like that's completely nonexistent.

"And if he did? Why do you care so much? Why do you want me to be so attached to you?" I asked, yelling at him, and his eyes widened. "I don't mean shit and I can't do shit right? Apparently, I do to you, otherwise, why are you so fucking adamant about making me stay with you?"

It got really quiet and he just looked down at me, he let go of my hand and sighed. I nearly let out a sigh of relief but he grabbed my hair and pulled me up toward him.

"I'm sorry, where the fuck is this coming from? Ah, I get it. He must be putting crazy ideas in your head."

He brought his face closer to mine and stared me directly in my eyes, " The only reason you're even alive right now is because you're a succubus. But you can't even use your powers, you don't even want to. So I will, and if and when I need you, I'll use you. I'm not your damn boyfriend, don't say disgusting shit like I care about you. You're my property."

"I don't belong to you."

He laughed, "Keep telling yourself that, but look at yourself right now, on your knees... You can't do anything but sit there, can you? You're weak... mentally and physically. At end of the day, you're always begging me for something like you're my fucking dog. You have no right to complain about it if I decide to treat you like one."

He pushed me back onto the ground and scoffed at me, "I'm sure your mother is rolling in her grave right about now."

"What the hell did you just say?"

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PURRRRRRRR