The Story You Don't Know

"Hey Kalen. Tell me more about this world - your version of this world."

We were lying in my bed, his long legs intertwined with mine, my head on his c.h.e.s.t. The rise and fall of his breathing was soothing, much like the feeling of waves lapping over you as you treaded the shallow waters of the sea.

And yet, that night, it wasn't enough to lull me to sleep. Something was bothering me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe my sixth sense was telling me what was about to come, but in that moment, I was just especially restless, almost as if I was being watched.

"Kalen?" I nudged him. I blinked in surprise. His eyes were dark and icy, a snowstorm brewing within. He seemed lost in thought, distant almost. "Kal?" I asked again.

"Hmm?" He glanced at me, eyes turning warm in an instant. It was like flipping a switch.

I frowned. "What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing." He changed the subject. "Now what were you about to ask me?"

"I can't sleep," I sighed.

"Did you want me to help you?" He pulled me closer and put his palm on my forehead.

"No, wait, not tonight." I grabbed his hand. "I want a bedtime story tonight."

The look on his face was priceless. "You're twenty, Avery."

"Pretty pleaseee?" I flipped around to face him and pouted, widening my eyes in an attempt to make a puppy face.

He let out a sigh. "I don't like this new-found difficulty I am experiencing in saying no to you," he muttered under his breath. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"What other supernatural beings exist in this world besides you and the shadow people? Do angels, demons, vampires and werewolves exist as well?"

"Yes. They live amongst your kind."

"What are angels and demons really like? Is there a god as well?

"The human mind is complex and has a greater impact on the world than you humans realize. When your kind evolved and your intellectual capabilities increased, they began believing in the supernatural - animism, and later on other religions that you have today. The more people believed in something, the more mental power was channeled into the ideology, and this created all the supernatural creatures we have today - gods of different religions, angels and demons, ghosts, evil spirits, anything you can think of. Everything that exists now, the systems and ways of the world, exist because somewhere out there at least one person believes, strongly, in that."

"Does that mean this is how you were born as well?" I wondered.

"I wouldn't say born per se but yes, that is how I came into existence." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Oh, I see. What does that make you, exactly?"

"I am an embodiment of darkness."

I blinked as I tried to process this. "Do you have a job like say, how the Grim Reaper is supposed to escort the dead and all? What are your powers?"

"The Grim Reaper, the angel of death, Azrael, Marzanna, Dhumavati, he goes by many names. I exist because there will always be humans that fear the dark, and what they think it brings - danger, death, the unknown. My powers are merely an extension of their belief"

"Wow," I tried not to gape. "Does that mean you're super powerful? Wait how old does that make you - a thousand million years?" Exactly how big was our age difference?! I tried not to think of an infamous vampire novel saga that I'd been secretly reading in the school library.

He coughed. "Sleep, Avery. Enough stories for tonight."

I pouted. "You always avoid my questions."

He tightened his arms around me, pulling me even closer so our bodies were moulded together. "You're just too curious, silly."

He nuzzled my neck and I stiffened at the feeling of his hot breath fanning my skin. He pressed his lips gently against the soft skin at the nape of my neck just behind my ear, then I felt them part as his teeth grazed my skin. "You smell so good, Avery."

I let out a soft involuntary m.o.a.n. "Wait, stop it." I shook my head. "You always distract me when you want to change the subject," I complained.

"You need to sleep, dummy." He stroked my hair, then place his hand on my forehead.

I began to struggle as I felt my eyelids grow heavy and a calming peacefulness spread throughout my body. "Not yet, I wanna know more about.." I trailed off as the drowsiness set in.

"Sleep tight, my love. Dormi."