8: pain,

~~Rose~~

Just getting to hold Maura in my arms was like bliss. I would never in my life forget this feeling. Because she was mine.

All mine.

Zayn would never touch my baby.

Never see my baby.

Ever again. And I made sure he would stay that way.

A cry could be heard echoing in my small house. I rushed into her nursery and cooed at the crying girl.

"You're okay, my Maura. Everything will be okay. Mommy's got you," I whispered to her. I kissed her forehead before carrying her to the kitchen with me. Liam had already beat me to fixing a bottle. I slowly pushed the rubber into her mouth and the crying then seized around as she watched me with her tear-filled eyes.

"This will most likely be the first place they check for us. We need to leave soon," William said, breaking the silence. I nodded and continued to watch my baby start to doze off. "I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm glad I'm alive to see her," I added, watching Mauraline start to fight away sleep before settling into it and relaxing in my arms.

As soon as the bottle emptied, Maura started whimpering. I shushed her and sat down on the couch with her. Levi's old house was small, but not too small.

"We need to be careful with every move we make. If anyone catches a whiff of where we are or what you two are, we'll be caught and publicly executed." William started to clean up the room from the small mess he made while making a bottle.

Maura's eyes opened and I watch them scan for something... or someone...

She lifted her tiny hand to my cheek and showed me images of a man with black hair. His eyes were red tinged with a slight glow and tears slowly sliding down his face.

"Maura," he had called out.

Then the image faded away and her hand fell away from me.

"Liam," I called. He came walking in with another small bottle and a bag of chips. "Did she get attached to Week while I rested?" I asked, only to receive a nod of confirmation.

"He cleaned her, dressed her, and cried over her by the time I got there. He truly seemed to be in love with her. May I ask why?"

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "This may be bad," I said, pulling Maura back into my chest.

"What's bad," William asked, genuinely confused.

"Demon babies tend to do like what baby birds do and imprint on their parents," I started, my voice shaking, "The tradition is that the baby's father washes, dresses, and holds them for the first time, the person who does that is then imprinted on as the baby's father. It's almost like it's imbedded in their souls."

"What you're saying is..."

"Mauraline imprinted on Week, making him her father figure."

"What does that mean for her?" he asked, fear starting to appear on his features.

"It means she will stop at nothing to get me and herself back to him."

Fear settled in my stomach, but started subsiding as I heard her tiny snores.

"She will show me memories, she will inflict feelings that I associated with him onto me, and she will be like a homing beacon to him. If she feels him near her, he will sense her and come running." I watched the small girl in my arms as I carefully said the next words.

"There is no way to break it. Meaning we'll be in constant danger until we get Week with us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Week~~

Emptiness settled back into me again. I had lost her again. Not just her, but her baby as well. I couldn't protect them.

"I looked into his death and it was definitely not accidental. Someone meant to kill him, and for his last moments to be torture," Angel said, handing me the clipboard with her notes as to what had happened.

I snorted at the results. Someone had first cut off his dick. Then they had put in a mix of chemicals into the wound. Then, at once, all of their arteries were slightly slit open, just enough for bleeding.

His death had taken approximately four hours of just straight blinding pain before he was dead.

"So he bled out after being castrated and added chemicals to the mixture?" I asked, flipping through pages.

"Yes, and we found how she did it."

"She?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yes, she. The wounds are too rigid for it to have been any of the males in this castle, including you. In fact, it matches the style of only one person."

"Who?"

"It matches the same style of absolute torture of something that Rosie does."

A pang of regret and sadness hit me in the gut before I turned to Rose's bed and placed a hand on the cool mattress.

"I know how you're feeling. Losing her again is probably tearing you apart, but don't shut us out again. We're here and we all want to find her. Both of them." Angel said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Levi~~

I ran through the portals connecting worlds. I needed to get to the Hell realm. I don't know where Liam and Rose could have gone due to the fact that Rose's vision of the future changed.

I ran into the hall of the large castle and let my body and mind start to calm down again. I had made it before they could grab me and drag me back. I felt the tears come up.

"Levi?" I heard before I looked up. I saw Lizzie but she was different from when I had last seen her. Her hair was dull and her eyes were cloudy. She had bags under her eyes. I quickly hugged her and pulled back and pointed at her eyes.

"I haven't been able to sleep lately is all. Not since Rose left," she said, looking down in guilt.

"Gods damn it all, I'm losing Xaphan again because of her! He's worse than when she was in comatose!" she yelled before falling down with sobs racking her body.

I held her, not knowing what else to do in this moment.

"I loved her, damn her! Our bond broke! It hurts, it feels like a piece of me is missing forever!" she screamed out. "She was mine! I can never have her again, goddamn it!"

"Lizzie," I heard down the hall before Angel pulled the sobbing girl away from me. She played with her hair and whispered to her in a way I had never heard before.

"Levi," she started, looking up at me as Lizzie started to relax in her arms. "It's good to see you, but please go take care of Week. He hasn't moved from Rose's bed since she left a month ago.

I nodded before getting up and walking down the hall. I reached a room with the door slightly open and pushed it open.

Week sat on a chair beside the bed. His hair was shiny from not washing it.

I stepped to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Neither of us acknowledged each other past that as we mourned for both girls.