I thought I knew you
Morian opened the door to his apartment and flicked on the light switch, illuminating his living room. Seated on his couch was Delilah.
“What are you doing sitting in darkness like a spectre my love?”
Morian let out a sigh of relief as he laughed. Delilah didn’t return his humor, her expression was stoic, with a frown that froze her face.
“I will ask you just one time. What are you, Morian?”
Delilah got up from the couch, her arms crossed defensively, awaiting his response.
“My Love, what’s gotten into you? What are you talking about?” closing the door behind him, he set his briefcase on the floor and walked closer to her.
“I beg you Morian, do not lie to me anymore. What are you?”
Taking in a deep breath, he met her eyes. Her body language was cold and distant, completely different from the affectionate Delilah he had come to know. He figured she knew his little secret now.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes,” she swallowed.
“I am Death.”
Delilah’s stomach sank, a foreboding feeling covered her, and her entire body tensed up. She touched her chest sensing what felt like her heart imploding, she struggled to breathe. The truth wasn’t as comforting as she had imagined it would be. She had spent the past few days debating how to confront him, and nothing could have prepared her for the cascade of emotions that swept through her.
“My name isn’t Morian, I am called Mori.”
“My God, so it’s true? Everything is true.”
Feeling lightheaded, Delilah sat back on the couch. She felt her world had been turned upside down. Standing before her was the man she had fallen in love with but he was a stranger, an entity masquerading as a human. For the first time since their relationship Delilah felt fear, there was always a darkness to Morian that she couldn’t quite explain and now she finally understood why. As much as this revelation frightened her, she still loved him, she had fallen in love with Death. Hearing him utter those words ripped a hole in her soul. Some part of her hoped it wasn’t true, that it was a terrible dream and she would awaken in the arms of the man she was to marry.
Morian walked closer.
“No! Stay away from me!” Delilah screamed; raising her hand to emphasize that the distance between them be maintained. Morian stopped in his tracks.
“I know it’s a lot to take in but I was going to tell you.”
“When did you intend on coming clean? Before or after I bound my soul to yours for eternity?”
Morian swallowed; everything was falling apart. He’d worked so hard to ensure this moment never happened and now like spilled milk everything slipped from his fingers.
“You don’t remember Delilah but, in every lifetime, once your life came to an end, I was there to help you transition into another life, and guide you through your death. Wishing that I could walk through every lifetime with you. But I could not because I was destined for other things.”
He walked closer to her, frightened Delilah got up, and he continued until there was little space between them.
“But now I get to finally touch your skin, your beautiful soft skin. I can finally kiss you, those beautiful lips, to finally have you in my arms after spending eons pining after you. You don't know what it's like to love you, to ache for you. there is no soul in all of existence like you.” Morian looked into her eyes, and then her lips, gently he brushed her cheeks with his finger. With closed eyes, he inhaled her scent, basking in the full splendor of her perfume fragrance.
His every word was an offer of seduction, Delilah battled in mind and spirit to make sense of all that was unfolding. She fought her own heart not to surrender to the love, not to surrender to her feelings for him. She looked at him and it was the face of her lover, her fiancé. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Her mind struggled to come to terms with this new reality. Those beautiful eyes of his used to be the warmest most enticing thing in the world to her, but now it was like staring into the eyes of a stranger, a stranger whose intention she didn't fully understand.
“Don’t run from me and do not be afraid Delilah. I am the same man who made love to you the other night, knowing the truth about me changes nothing, I will never harm you. You are safe with me.”
Delilah looked at his hand on her face and then up into his eyes, she was trembling. She closed her eyes once more, fighting every emotion rushing to the surface.
“You have no idea how much I longed to be with you, my beautiful Mortala. For eons, you have been the only thing I wanted,” Morian whispered as he brushed her nose with the tip of his. Delilah felt his breathing on her face, hot, warm and comforting.
He kissed her forehead, Delilah took in a deep breath as tears fell from her eyes, stepping back away from his touch.
She finally gathered the strength to speak.
“All this time, I thought I was insane, losing my mind. I opened my heart to you, and trusted you. I thought I was finally safe from the monsters that haunted me but the one monster I should have feared was you. You are so cruel Morian.”
Tears continued to stream down her face with every word she spoke.
“You don’t mean that my love, I abandoned everything, and went against the laws of nature. I would have burned the universe down if it meant being with you. Don’t you see Mortala, that’s how much control you have over me. That’s how much I love you.”
“I gave all of myself to you and you lied, nothing about you is real Morian, oh yeah it's Mori right? So do not use love as an excuse for what you’ve done. Do you even understand what love is? You do not lie to or betray those you love. You are incapable of loving anyone Morian.”
Delilah touched her engagement ring as she spoke, her voice breaking from the tears she tried to fight back which fell from her eyes defiantly. Morian watched as she removed the ring from her finger and placed it on the couch.
He felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
“I can’t do this Morian; I cannot be with you or marry you, not anymore.”
Morian dropped to his knees; the thought of losing her was too painful to bear.
“I know there is no excuse for the things I have done to be close to you. These past few months I’ve spent with you have been the greatest gift since the inception of my existence. Please Delilah I never intended on hurting you, all I’ve ever done is love you.”
“Is that supposed to be justification for what you’ve done? Listen to yourself! If this is your love, this betrayal, and deceit then you are a cruel creature and I don’t want a love that hurts like this. Because only a monster can do what you’ve done. How do you justify this evil or the soul you so cruelly punished for eons Morian?”
“The soul I punish?” He got up, balling his fist, Morian realized what she meant.
He whispered “Ciaran?”
“You hurt him; he has suffered needlessly, because of your cruelty.”
Delilah’s voice cracked, biting her bottom lip, tears fell from her eyes.
“How do you know about Ciaran, Delilah?” asked Morian; his tone changed, his eyes lit with anger and jealousy.
Menacingly he walked towards her, she stepped backward aware of the change in his demeanor. She looked into his eyes and for the first time she saw a glimpse of Death, not the Morian she had fallen in love with, but the lord of the Nether realm and he frightened her beyond words.
He repeated once more, with clenched jaw, his voice stern and unyielding; “Tell me how you know about Ciaran?”
