Not Just A Phase

Renald, Tony, and Michael were already sitting at the dining table. They didn’t start eating until Lex and I took a bite first. I sat on Lex’s right side, just like before. Next to me was Tony. And across from me were Michael and Renald.

I ate my food leisurely. They served this amazing baked chicken with salad. And the red wine they served that night tasted somehow sweeter. Perhaps it was just my good mood. Mending my relationship with Lex cheered me up a little. I felt less stuffed. As though a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

It felt weird, though. Because I didn’t feel like this with the other guys. I didn’t even know how strong the strain in my relationship with Lex had affected me.

But just when I was about to sip my wine, Tony sniffed the air close to my hair. I jolted a little, still not use to these supernatural men sniffing me. But there was something wrong this time. He looked at me with an intense gaze. His yellow eyes flashed before me and instantly my body tried to move away subtly from him.

I felt like in the presence of a predator. A huge, dark beast seemed to be angry with me.

“Tony?” I called his name.

He kept his stoic face. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the shadows beneath the table move. They moved underneath Tony, creating complete darkness below him. His aura thickened, too.

For the first time, I saw him as he truly was. A demon.

“Tony,” Lex called to him in a warning tone. I saw that Michael and Renald stopped eating too. They both sniffed the air.

“You finally did it with him, didn’t you?” asked Michael. I stared at his blue eyes. His mouth formed a sneer as if he expected that from me.

“What do you mean?”

“Ohh,” Renald chimed in, “That’s why you smelled like Father. And you are glowing too. Damn it, he did you better than the rest of us, didn’t he?”

“Huh?” My heart started to pound. Sweat was forming on the back of my neck. Meanwhile, Tony had not stopped eyeing me like I am a rabbit to be hunted.

“It’s not like that,” Lex opened his mouth. He looked at me and he must have seen me being uncomfortable so he said, “We only talked.”

Michael scoffed. “Bullshit.”

Renald’s eyes widened. “Oh my Go–“

“We don’t say His name here,” Lex warned Renald.

“I’ll go British then, oh my days!” the hybrid exclaimed, “You just covered for her. Are you the Father we know?”

“Don’t be stupid, Renald,” Lex said, “Just continue your dinner.”

Michael was still tugging one side of his lip up, amused at the turn of the situation. Renald quickly forgot about the conversation and was just about to eat again when Tony suddenly said, “But you said you won’t touch her anymore.”

What? Did Lex say that?

I looked at Lex, trying to find out through his expression if it was true. His brows were knotted together, his eyes showed restraint and his lips thinned. I knew his expression too well to know that it was the truth.

But why? Why did he say he wouldn’t touch me anymore?

“It just happened, okay,” he told Tony.

I thought I was hearing things. But the chills on my spine and my hairs raising up couldn’t be faked. I heard Tony growling. Like, really, growling. I know some books describe people in anger to ‘growl’ but it is actually technically not possible, you know because we are not wolves and it would look so weird if we try to do it while we are angry.

But Tony did growl. His voice vibrated deeply and forcefully. Instinctively, my shoulders hunched a little, trying to make myself smaller in the presence of a predator. When I sneaked a peek at Tony, he really was baring his teeth. Normal teeth, unlike Renald who has fangs.

But instead of seeing it as weird, I was scared. He really growled unnaturally, and I felt my life in danger right then, sitting between the demon and the immortal sorcerer.

Lex, however, was unfazed. He dropped his utensils–which made Renald whimper a little because it meant dinner time had to be over; they had to eat when the Father eats and stop when the Father stops, remember? It just occurred to me too, that I, the Mother, had stopped eating for some time.

Michael tried to hide his smile. His eyes flickered from Tony, Lex, and then to me. Isn’t it weird that the angel, the one who was supposed to be the holiest among us, was the only one enjoying this dangerous exchange between the demon and the immortal sorcerer? I mean, Renald… he is Renald–he looked at me blankly, sadder that he couldn’t continue eating than worry about Tony and lex–but Michael should have been worried, right?

The immortal sorcerer cocked one of his eyebrows at Tony. His lips curled into a snarl. Lex, too, was showing his teeth. Is this how supernatural men fight? Showing their teeth? Why teeth and not their powers?

Just when I thought of that, the shadows underneath Tony thickened and I felt the pressure of the air becoming higher. It was harder to breathe, especially seeing both of Tony’s and Lex’s glowing eyes.

I had to stop this silly fight. I didn’t even understand why they are doing this to each other!

“Stop,” I said. My voice was meek so I tried again, “Stop!” I stood up and turned at Tony. “He didn’t touch me. I touched him. So stop this.”

I thought my words would avoid any unnecessary fight. But I was wrong.

Tony looked at me as if I had just stabbed him in the chest with a table knife. He looked hurt. “He treated you like shit, Ari,” he raised his voice, “And you went back right to his arm? I get it now. Women always choose the asshole, huh?”

“What does that even have to do with us?” I asked. “Stop this, Tony, you’re not making any sense.”

Suddenly, Tony banged the table hard. I flinched at the sound. “You’re not making any sense to me, Ari!” he cried out. “Why do you choose him? You wouldn’t even do it with me!”

I widened my eyes in shock. Did he just say that? So he was mad at me because I had not had s*x with him?

Now I felt like he had stabbed me with the table knife. My eyes felt hot instantly. I expected these kinds of words from Lex, to be honest when he was still treating me like an asshole. But not from Tony. The demon who had always been kind and considerate to me.

It hurt to see a man for who he truly was.

“You know, you’ve had the other Ladies before her,” Lex said, “Michael and Renald had their turn too. I never won against you guys in the previous cycles.” He stood too. Unlike Tony, who appeared mad, Lex was still calm. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Why can’t she choose me in this lifetime?”

What? Who said anything about choosing anyone? I have chosen no one yet!

“Because you told us, you wouldn’t touch her!” Tony cried out, “You told us you’d stopped trying after she got out of your ‘sugarbaby’ contract! You can’t just decide to waltz in and grab her attention!”

“Why not?” Lex challenged Tony.

“Guys, please–“

Tony cut my voice off. “Because I want Ari. You can have the Lady after her,” Tony said.

“Why don’t you have the Lady after *Ann*?” Lex said. He put an emphasis on Ann, a nickname that only he and my mother used on me.

But at that moment I felt like a second knife just stabbed me in the chest again. They were talking as though I was a phase in their life. That I was just another girl with the title the Lady. And they talked as if they wanted to own me. As if I was just a toy, being pulled by two immature boys with powers.

When I looked at Michael, his shoulders were shaking. The angel would not help me stop this nonsense bickering.

Renald looked at me with pity. He knew I felt hurt by the words Tony and Lex used. But he looked at me like a sad puppy with his ears put down. He was scared to stop Tony and Lex.

“Man up and honor your words, Lex!” Tony said while pointing a finger at Lex.

“Get that finger off of my face,” Lex said in a much deeper tone than before. The pressure of the air was becoming thicker. I had to force my lungs to take in and take out air just to keep the blood flowing inside my body.

“It’s not my fault if she finds me able to satisfy her more,” Lex suddenly said with a grin.

The third knife to my chest. I looked at Lex wide-eyed, I couldn’t believe his words. What about all the sweet things he had told me before? Was that how he still sees me? Was that how he still thinks I deserve to be treated?

Tony was not any better, too.

“I have enough of this,” I muttered. I decided I wouldn’t care anymore. So, I slammed my napkin on my plate and stormed out of the room.

“Ann–“ Lex tried to stop me. He grabbed my arm, but when I gave him a powerful stare, he backed down.

Perhaps I had power on my own. Because my powerful gaze finally stopped the demon and the sorcerer from going at each other. My gaze also made them stunned. They stood in each of their places as I pointed a finger at each one of them and said, “F*ck you all.”

I walked away from the dining table and closed the door behind me harshly. I didn’t care anymore. I had enough of them talking down at me, talking as if I was a property instead of a human being, as if I was just another short phase in their lives.

I had enough of them talking as though my life is less than their immortal, long lives. Just because I have a time limit, it doesn’t mean that my life is less meaningful than theirs.

My time limit doesn’t make it okay for them to define how I live my life, too! How dare they talk as if I was a thing of their possession?

I had enough of all those bullshits, and in my hot-headed state, I walked out of the mansion too.

At first, I just wanted to take in the fresh night air. But then I heard the voice. An unnatural and hoarse voice. It whispered in my head, “Lady, come to the gate. I have your friend, Mateo.”

My heart dropped right then.