She Belongs To The Devil

"And I still want that, even now."

Those words kept on ringing inside Ariel's head. Her heart started to beat like never before. She was extremely anxious after hearing what Damien had just said. She kept on holding her breath and kept on giving a dumbfounded look to Damien.

Damien waited for a while in the hopes of getting a reaction from her, any kind of reaction. But she kept on giving that blank look to him.

So he further spoke from the deepest corner of his heart, "Ariel, the greatest regret of my life is not returning to Wyverndale when your father kept on coming to my mansion to get me. And once he stopped coming altogether, I realized that I should have come back to you when I had the chance."

Damien looked into Ariel's amber eyes and shared his sorrow, "When your father stopped coming to find me, I figured that you had finally stopped thinking about me. I thought that if you were able to forget me then I would be able to forget you too. But I was so wrong."

He suddenly felt as if something was stuck in his throat. He looked at Ariel with eyes glistening with tears.

He clenched his fist over his heart and whispered, "I had never felt that much pain in my life as I did when I realized that I had lost you for good. I f-felt as if my heart was shredded apart into hundreds of pieces."

Ariel inhaled shakily. She looked up at the ceiling and breathed out, trying hard to control the tears welling up in her eyes.

And then she shouted painfully, "You were the one who asked me to forget you, remember?" She glared back at Damien and whispered angrily, "Don't you dare blame everything on me now."

Damien got up from the chair and knelt down before Ariel's bed. He looked up at her and whispered in an apologetic tone, "Yes, I was the one who asked you to forget me. I am not putting the blame on you. But when I felt that you actually did give up on me, I was devastated."

He stretched out his arm and tightly held Ariel's hand. And he kept on pouring his heart out, "I was so lost, Ariel. I was never at peace. At times, I would feel as if I would die from heartbreak. The other times, I would lock myself up in my room for days and even months. I had given up on my life."

He looked away from her and gulped hardly. He sniffled and pressed the back of his palm on his nose. He cleared his throat and then looked back at her.
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"And when my mother thought that I would die, she…" he showed his wrist and said, "She finally told me that these weren't jewelry sets but these were inhibitors that she made me wear to stop me from teleporting."

Ariel furrowed her brows and whispered, "So how…"

"My mother told me these were gifts from your uncle, Lucifer. So, I went to him to have the spell lifted." Damien frowned and added, "You have no idea how much he scolded me before finally agreeing to lift the spell. King Lucifer is more terrifying than your father."

The corner of Ariel's lips subtly curved up upon hearing about her uncle.

Damien held her hand with both of his hands. He yearningly looked at her and said nervously, "Trust me when I say this, Ariel. All I did for all these years was tried to find my way back to you. I'm sorry that I took so long to come back. But I never stopped thinking about you. And neither did I ever stop loving you."

Ariel knew that he was being sincere. However, she pulled her hand away from Damien's hold.

Damien felt a shrilling pain in his heart when she did that. He looked down and pulled his hand away.

Ariel closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling again. And she spoke with a heavy heart, "Damien… I am really sorry that you went through all the pain. But you cannot…"

She held her forehead in frustration and continued, "But you cannot simply reappear in my life after so many years and say that you love me."

"I mean…" she looked into his blood-red eyes and asked, "Do you even know me? Sure, we were really close when we were kids. And we knew each other inside out. But we've changed, Damien. We've both changed."

Ariel suddenly tilted her head and winced in pain. She felt a sharp pain in her head and in her heart out of nowhere.

But she disregarded the pain and kept on questioning Damien. "Do you even know what my favorite food is now? Or what I want to do with my life? You don't! So how can you say that you still love me, when you know nothing about the present me?"

Damien mumbled in a sad whisper, "I know that your favorite food is medium-rare steak. But if you were allowed to eat cotton candies for dinner then you would eat them in a heartbeat. And as for your life goal, I know that you want to travel the world. You want the freedom that you lost as a child."

Ariel knitted her brows and scoffed. "You know that's not what I meant, Damien. I meant to say that we've grown apart. Yes, I do want you back in my life. But… I cannot promise you anything more. I cannot promise you what you want."

Damien was not giving up. He gave a pleading look to Ariel and asked, "Then let's get to know each other again. I know that I am lucky that you even want me as your friend. But I want to be selfish. I want you, Ariel. No… I need you.

And not just as a friend. So please–"

"Damien…" Ariel shifted a little behind and then said while shaking her head, "I've already promised Kenneth that I would give him a chance to win me over."

"But he hasn't yet!" Damien placed his hand on the bed and pleaded to Ariel, "So please… please don't push me away. If you've given him a chance then, I deserve one as well. Let me love you, Ariel. Let me pursue you. And let me dream about our future together."