1 Chapter 1 - Elf You!

"No, I'm quite content without you, actually."

The man on the phone barked out an insult.

"See... I'm great without that in my life." Being sarcastic wasn't exactly the best choice to calm the irate man, but after almost four months of her ex talking shit and spreading rumors about her, she was done being nice.

After a few inventive words from her ex, he hung up, proud to have the last word.

With a sigh she dropped her cell on the coffee table and grabbed her tablet. She had ordered a pizza while on the phone and decided to rent a digital movie to make the evening a little more special.

It was Friday night, so she felt comfortable splurge a bit by renting a new release. Since she was single and unemployed it was a huge downer that she couldn't go out with friends or go have a nice dinner somewhere. So the compromise of renting a movie with her coupon discount pizza, made her feel excited.

She clicked the purchase button for her rental and set it to stream to her tv. Bouncing up from the couch she almost skipped to grab a bottle of green tea from the fridge. The movie she rented was an action flick where the heroine had to find her missing child in the dark underbelly of a foreign country. The reviews gave it a 3.2 out of 5 and she recalled her bff telling her how good it was.

In her excitement for her movie night, she hadn't realized over fifty minutes had passed since she ordered her pizza.

When her door bell finally rang, she nearly jumped for joy.

Running to the door she unlocked and opened the door with cash in hand. "Hi! Here is fifteen dollars and the coupon. Please keep the change."

She was solely focused on the pizza in the guy's hands, so focused she never spared him a glance.

He took the cash and tucked it into his back pocket. With a small cough he said, "Thanks for the tip."

It had only been a ten dollar pizza so it was a good tip. Her waitress days during college made her understand how important a good tip is. She couldn't count the times she had gone out of her way to serve those that tipped well.

The pizza guy in the bright red pizza shirt stepped to the side and another man in all black stepped up and invaded her space.

Maybe four dollars and change wasn't enough?

As a sharp pain in her chest sent lightning though her body, she looked up into her ex's eyes. He was smiling at her and moved his lips. He must have said something, but it seemed her ears had shut off. When her ex turned to the pizza man, she followed his line of sight and saw that her pizza man was her ex's best friend.

Her thoughts got jumbled, 'Oh right, I was told he took a part time job as a delivery man... I just didn't hear he was working at ,my favorite pizza place. It was rude of them not to tell me that.'

With a slight push from her ex's best friend she was steered back into her apartment.

'Oh right, if it had been a normal pizza guy, they would have had to be buzzed into the building.' If she had been paying a little more attention this might not have happened, but her ex had her code and must have used it to enter the secure building.

Before she could drop the pizza, her ex grabbed it from her.

She was kinda grateful, she didn't want pizza sauce on her new ivory rug. The rug had been a gift from her bff. They had searched for an ivory rug with slightly darker ivory vines. It matched her furniture perfectly.

When she took a second step back the fire in her chest reignited times ten.

She gasped in pain and looked down at the source. A large dagger was protruding from her chest. "My... oh..." With that said she fell to her knees and slumped against the island she used to separate her small living room from her tiny kitchen.

From where she was slumped she could see the whole room and could watch the two men's every move.

At first they seemed confused on what to do, but eventually they took her pizza and sat down on her couch. They flipped open her pizza, put their feet up on her glass coffee table, and hit the play button.

After several minutes she realized she should scream, but when she tried, all she could do was cough up blood. On reflex she tried to wipe the blood from her chin, but nothing happened. She could lift her arms or move her legs. More damage must have been done to her than she'd thought.

Damn it, she had lost her chance.

With tears in her eyes she watched her killer and his accomplice play her movie and eat her pizza. At some point her ex got up and grabbed her last green tea and down it right next to her.

She had tried several times to get up or to speak, but all she got were tears and blood. The dagger had done some real damage. Her body was cold and while pain rolled though her like a thunderstorm, she couldn't stop herself from trying to survive. She didn't want to die.

But with all the fight she had within, it was for not.

When she was finally wrapped in darkness and the pain disappeared, the credits were rolling on her movie. She may not have heard it, but she watched it. Even if her vision had started to darken at the edges near the end, she had watched the woman find her child and walk happily into the sunset.

With her loss of sight, she gained her hearing once again.

"Wanna watch another?"

~*~*~*~*~

"... another upon our Holy God. Praise us!"

'What the fuck!' Was her ex asking god to praise him? There was no way he was going to avoid hell. In fact, when she got to those pearly gates... or whatever there was going to be, she was damned sure going to put him on someone's shit list.

"My Lord... something is odd."

"Ha, my child, nothing is wrong. With this we are now blessed."

"No, My Lord, she breaths." The man speaking sounded kinda whiny.

"... What?" With a bit of rustling, a hand pressed against her chest, then pressed to her jugular. "How?"

That voice wasn't any she had ever heard before.

When her clothing was jerked and the sound of cloth ripping resounded through the room, she came to her senses. "What...!"

Hey, she could talk... and move. Wait, had she spoke? That, what, had been awfully high pitched.

Ignoring the unnecessaries, she sat up and looked around.

Several men in dark brown robs were kneeling on the ground looking at her with stunned faces. The man who stood closer to her had elaborate beading on his brown rob, his face was extensively wrinkled and all his hair and long beard was white. He looked to be about a hundred years old though.

The man who was obviously this groups leader, touched her bare chest between the gap where he had ripped her clothing open.

"Hey!" She shouted in that high pitch voice and pushed his hand away pulling her clothes together as best she could.

Wait... her hands.

She lifted her hands ignoring the shouts and panicking men around her. Her hands were dirty, but even under the dirt she could see the opalescent pale color of her skin. She may not have been dark skinned before, but she had been proud of her tan. Going to the beach had been one of her favorite things to do in the summers. In the winter she would go to the tanning salon to keep her glowing soft tan.

Her body was different too. The body she was used to was curvy and voluptuous, this body was curvy in the bust and hips, but it was severely starved. If she hadn't had wide hips and a large bust she would have been skin and bones.

As she looked down at herself, her hair fell forward, her natural brown shoulder-length hair had been replaced with really long silver blue locks

Before she could fully process what had happened to her. The leader shouted. "Take this demon to a cell. We must bury her before we are cursed."

She shouted at the leader to explain was had happened to her, where was she, what he had done to her body, but he ignored the ramblings of the mad demon before him. His lackeys grabbed her roughly and dragged her kicking and screaming out of the room.

They dragged her into a dark hall and down several flights of stairs.

In the stairwells she stopped fighting and started looking. If she had to describe the place she was in, it would be similar to those old castles you see in movies. Only, this one was dirty and smelled like mold and stale water.

After another long trek down a long corridor she was deposited into an old styled iron barred cell. The cell was about five feet wide and eight feet deep, the three walls beyond the bars were stone that matched the ceiling and floor. In one back corner was a pile of gross looking rags and the other a DISGUSTING bucket. Ewww…

Once dropped she was promptly kicked in the face. "I don't know what the hell you are, but a monster like you will be beheaded and burned for good measure."

With those parting words the men left.

She ran to the bars, ignoring the pain in her face, and listened to the men talk as they walked away.

"I can't believe what I saw. Have you ever even heard of something like this?"

"No, it was directly in her heart."

"Yes, our Lord would never miss."

"I didn't believe it when Jashu said she was breathing."

"Same, but when she rose up, I nearly passed out."

"She was definitely dead. The Lords knife landed true."

Their voices faded as they repeated that they hadn't and couldn't believe she was alive.

It was apparent that the girl who truly owned the body she resided in, had been killed, or as she thought about the altar-like-thing she had been lying on with all the worshipers around, it was more like she had been sacrificed.

Just like this girl, she had been stabbed in the chest, though, she had survived over an hour, so she hadn't been stabbed in the heart. She glanced down and saw a thin white scar running down her chest directly above her heart. It was three inches long and had to have broken a couple ribs when it pierced the heart.

Her brain raced to her ex and his friend. Those assholes, once she gets out of this newfound hell, she was going to go kill them. Only, she was going to use that same hour and a half they let her lay there, too slowly torture them. Cutting sensitive places and maybe cutting said sensitive place COMPLETELY OFF! Payback would be a bitch!

Oh, and she was totally going to get revenge for the girl whose body she was in too. She just didn't know how yet. Killing them might just feed their god after all. For jackasses like these they needed to be broken in another way.

But first she needed to assess her situation, then she would figure out why she was reincarnated into another body, then get revenge for both of them.

"Okay, at least I have a plan." Geez, even her voice was different.

The sing song voice was another reminder of the new body and made her take stock of herself. She was wearing a dirty white potato sac of a dress and had a leather dog collar on. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the collar off, so she had to give up. Other than that, she was completely bare, no underwear, no bra, no shoes… nothing.

This was hell, wasn't it?

With a sigh, she checked the hall, no guards could be seen or heard. However, there was faint breathing coming from the cell to the left of hers. She had entered her cell from the right and all the cells she had passes had been empty, so she was a bit surprised she wasn't alone.

"Hello, is someone there?" She leaned against the wall dividing her and the breather.

"Hmmm…" Sounded like a man. "Wha chu want?" He said it like he really didn't give a shit about her or her problems.

"Oh umm… I was wondering what is going to happen to us."

"Are chu daft woman, ef tay don't kill chu by end o week, chu die here o starvation." He spoke in monotone, but sighed in annoyance. "We bouf will die."

When she thought about that, she wasn't happy. Dying in some foreign land just after being killed, wasn't going to work with her.

Now, she just needed a plan.

Several days later, she had clocked the rotation of the guards, one guard would come by at least once, to deliver food and water, and sometimes twice a day. The second time was just to his typical patrolling, no food and never any speaking. She had only seen a companion with the guard once. The companion wasn't someone she wanted to deal with, he scared her, his eyes were dark. She had a feeling he enjoyed killing. Her monotone neighbor agreed with that sentiment.

When the guard would come around by himself, she would always go to the iron bars and smile shyly at him. She had waved last time he came by and he had smiled and waved in return.

Footsteps sounded down the corridor. Just one set.

She quickly set the next step of her plan into motion. It had been about six meals, so she guessed she had been there about seven days.

On her first day being imprisoned, they had served her neighbor, but not her a meal. Well, that was if you could call the sawdust tasting grits and half cup of water a meal.

Plopping herself into the corner near the bars, she curled up with her head to her knees and started shivering lightly. She waited till he stopped at her neighbor's cell, a plop and scrape signaled her monotone friend had been served his daily portion of ick.

Yesterday, she had found a piece of stale bread accompanying her grits, so she knew the guard was primed for her next step.

Also, since her body was feeling weaker, she needed to act soon. If she grew too weak, she wouldn't be able to survive this.

Once his footsteps sounded again, she coughed and tightened her arms around her legs.

Plop… no scrape.

"Umm… you okay?" He was very hesitant and kept his voice low.

Shivering, she looked up at him with sad eyes and trembling lips. "I'm cold." Cough.

He hesitated and looked around him as if he thought someone was watching him. She wasn't positive, but it hadn't seemed like the type of place to have cameras around, maybe near the exits, but the old rundown halls she had seen when dragged to her cell didn't have anything of the sort.

There was a small scrape as he picked up the wood tray of food. He stood there for several seconds while she coughed and tucked her face down to her knees again. He sighed and pulled out a large jingling ring of iron keys.

She glanced up as he opened the door and stepped in. Looking as scared as possible, she retreated further into her corner, shaking in pretend fear.

"Don't worry, I'm not goin' to hurt you." He set the tray on the ground near the rags and hay that was a sad excuse for a bed.

She stopped trying to get further away from him and stared into his eyes. Just as every time he passed by, she would lock eyes and hold contact.

This time was different though. They were close, within a yard of each other, every twitch would influence the outcome. She had to pay close attention to every move she made.

A glance to the side and a slow blink before meeting his eyes again. She smiled at him, but coughed again, she only allowed a small shy smile and a locking of eyes before she started coughing hard.

In a coughing fit she glanced up with tears in her eyes. "… sorry…"

"It's okay, 'ere take this." He smiled and patted her back.

Recovering slightly, she watched him remove a cloth from around his shoulders. He wore it as a small cloak over his armor.

It took everything she had not to recoil in disgust. The wrap smelt worse than the rags on her bed, the man was even more potent.

Coughing for real now, she looked at him with real tears in her eyes and whispered, "Thank you."

He smiled and continued patting her back. Steadily he was leaning closer and closer.

'Eww, god, his breath is rancid.' Being near this man was more hell than the cell was.

"You know, I could get you out of 'ere. I could save you from your death." He was really close now. "All I 'ave to do is make you mine… as my slave you can stay with me."

He slid her hair through his hands and promised. "I can take care of you forever."

With a small shift of her position she looked at him with wonder and hope. "Forever?"

Before he could say anything, she made her move.

She had bid her time to make him fall for her because, that alone took time, but also to make her very own shiv. It took some time to shave the piece of stone she held into a sharp point, she had even used strips of her bedding as a grip. The shiv was well built for about four days of work.

But she hesitated. She may have been killed, but she was no killer. Frozen in her own plan, she faltered.

When he grabbed her breast roughly and pinched her nipple, she snapped out of it. This man was going to rape her here and now. A simple glance into his eyes told her he had every intention of going further. There was even the feeling he might like it if she struggled.

Finally, the girl that had grown up in a big city and got sexually harassed walking down the street or specifically at work, hence her unemployment, rose up.

The body she was in may not have been hers, but her memory was still quite intact and all her self-defense classes came flooding back.

Weak as she was, she needed leverage, so she kicked at his left foot and pushed his left shoulder back, knocking him off balance. Once down, she pounced and used her body weight to slam her shiv into his jugular, severing an artery.

Blood sprayed all over her and the cell. He tried to yell, but couldn't, so he stood and shoved her as hard as he could. She slammed into the bars and watched as he tried in vain to stop the bleeding.

Only seconds passed before he fell to his knees then to his face.

He didn't even twitch.

Taking an extra few minutes to calm her shacking, that was very real now, she finally stood and started pushing and rolling the body. Once the body was tucked into her bedding, she stood with keys in hand, a small knife that he had in his boot, and walked to her neighbor's cell.

His gold eyes glowed as he stared at her with shock and a whole lot of respect.

Over their time together she had never asked what he did to be imprisoned, she didn't care, but it hadn't taken long for her to realize he wasn't a bad guy.

So, with no hesitation, she slipped the key into the lock and opened the cell door.

He stood and walked out with such grace, you would never believe he was malnourished. His clothing however, showed his imprisonment, they were all torn and dirty. His brown pants were shredded at his left ankle and right calf and the once white shirt was stained through with sweat and was covered in slashes and rips so badly, that his shirt just hung off of him. Unlike her, he did have shoes, though they had a hole in the right toe and likely didn't have much of a sole left for protection.

She looked up at him when he stopped in front of her. He was big, six eight easily, with muscles coiling around his body. He was a long haired and bushy bearded version of The Rock. Tribal looking tattoos and olive skin deliciously included.

When he grabbed the wrap around her shoulders, she didn't even flinch. He flipped the blood to the inside and pinned it together properly with a large circular pin she hadn't noticed before.

"Ef any sees the blood tay will stop us and kill us." Now that she could see him, she could tell his jaw had been broken and never set to heal properly. Though it was difficult to see under the messy bushy beard and long dirty black hair.

He never spared her cell the slightest glance, just closed his cell and pushed her to walk by his side.

They rushed down the long hall to the stairs, or more accurately, he half carried half dragged her along. What little energy she had had was gone. Her body was exhausted and now she was in desperate need of some sleep.

Upon ascending the stairs, voices could be heard down some of the halls, but they didn't see a soul until they were on the sixth landing.

Two guards stopped in surprise, but never got the chance to do more than gape at the escapees.

Her monotone friend moved so fast she was incapable of seeing what he did. One second he was beside her and the next he was standing over the two dead guards with blood dripping from his right hand.

He grabbed both guards and deftly picked them up then stuffed them into a dark corner of what looked like an open storage room.

Once done he emerged whipping his hands with a brown cloth, he'd likely torn from one of the guards.

With that done he waived her forward and they continued up the stairs.

Finally reaching the top they opened the door to the open night air. The only problem was they were on top of what looked to be some big historic castle-fort.

"How–"

"Ssshh… Ay have way, but quite." He quickly hushed her and dragged her through the shadows down the top of the wall.

When they reached the second tower, that kinda looked like a rook, he stopped and grabbed her.

"Brave Elv, Ay will 'ot let chu get hurt." He picked her up into a princess hold. "Please 'rust me."

His eyes were sincere, so she nodded. She had died once already, so to get out of this hell, she was willing to put her life on the line.

With her nod, he jumped.

Every fiber of her being screamed, luckily, she didn't actually scream.

'I wonder why my life didn't flash before my eyes when I died.'

Her odd thoughts cleared when he landed.

'How in the hell?' He had landed on the solid ground smoothly and barely jostled her at all.

He looked all around. "Hold tigh', Ay run."

Then he ran… fast.

Merely two minutes passed before they entered the forest that would have taken her at least thirty minutes to get to. Hell, with how tired she was, she likely wouldn't have made it to the forest without having to stop for a nap.

She took this chance, before she passed out in his arms, to look under the dirt and grime that was plastered into his hair and beard. He looked to be in his mid to late-thirties and might have once been incredibly handsome, if not for the scars going from under his shirt to his jaw and the hardened killer look on his face.

What surprised her most was that the whole time he was running with her in his arms he wasn't panting heavily or sweating profusely.

She wasn't proud of it, but she had fallen asleep a couple of times during the trip. She hadn't slept long, just long enough for her body to regain some energy.

In the cell, she hadn't realized just how weak she was, but since the guard she'd realized she wasn't going to be able to out run anyone. Without her monotone friend she was a dead woman.

As the sun rose, he slowed and lifted his face as if smelling for something, then promptly turned and ran to the right.

Rushing water met her ears and she looked over in surprise. A creek was flowing between the trees.

Her thirst that she had been ignoring was back with a vengeance.

The second they emerged at the water's edge, he set her down and they both dove to drink the water.

It tasted like heaven and even if it was tainted, she didn't care, it was the best thing she had ever tasted in her life, or after life, revival? Oh, forget it, it didn't matter.

She tried to ignore everything, but one glaring problem was reflected in the water. Her facial features were slightly off from how a human should look, she was mush to beautiful to be human, her once average looks were gone and replaced by a unnatural beauty.

But it was more than that, her ears were long and pointed. She was a… a…

"Brave Elv, we shou' go."

No, no, she was just imagining this. "Umm…What's you name? I don't want to keep calling you my monotone friend."

Okay, maybe that was a little rude, but she couldn't process manners right now.

With squinted eyes he answered. "Damon."

Ha! That's hilarious. Almost too perfect. Perhaps she was indeed in hell, that would explain a lot. "Hi, Damon. My name is Lilith."

'Damon and Lilith… yep, this was hell. Yay! Everything made sense.'

"Greetin' Lilith" He took an extra second to make sure he pronounced her name correctly.

"So this is going to sound weird, but… are we in hell or am I perhaps dreaming? Yeah, a dream would fit even better than hell, right?"

She was not whiny, she was just freaking out a little, no shame in that.

When all he did was shake his head in confusion, she changed her questions. "Sorry, I guess my real question is… am I an elf?"

He squint-glared at her. "Yesh, chu an elv."

'Elf… I'm a fucking Elf.'

When she didn't respond, his frustration won out and he grabbed her, pulled her up into his arms and with no further ado, he ran… even faster than last time.

Did she do something bad in her life to have this happen, was karma biting her in the ass because she was a bad person? 'Oh, ELF you!'