A MAZE OF GREED

Darius stood at the place where he had been before a few months ago. The familiarity of the place brought back his memories. Lisa had no clue of what was going on where they were. She also did not know why they went to that place.

She asked Darius many times, and when the last night they halted at an abandoned building, she decided to demand the answers. She could not decide if it went well or not because their arguments ended with passionate sex afterwards.

Lisa was very frustrated as Darius barely touched her since he had seen that hazel-eyed woman. But last night, she did not stop him and was willing to surrender more than just her body to that blood-sucking demon.

She was still sore down there, and the short sleep did not help her to recover from the fatigue of the long travel, followed by an exhausting night.

She groaned and complained when Darius dragged her out of that abandoned building and away from it in the morning. And now, for the past ten minutes, he stood staring at an abandoned and deteriorated hut.

Lisa wondered why anyone would want to build a hut on the top of a hill where there was no sign of other human habitation.

It looked like the hut was hit by storms and heavy rain as its roof was torn and was lying nearby on the ground. The fragile structure barely held itself up, but for how long that could not be said surely.

While Lisa had so many thoughts revolving in her mind, Darius was calmly staring at that hut. The last time he was in a similar situation flashed in his mind.

*FLASHBACK*

Darius was walking through the forest, his dark eyes scanning his surroundings. The afternoon was quiet and a bit humid because of the nearness to the sea.

He was not alone. A woman accompanied him, who was a delicious treat to any man's eyes.

"Perrito, stop!" The woman called from behind caught his attention.

Darius drew in air through his nose before turning back to see her dragging her feet in his way with effort.

"What happened?" He asked.

"What are we doing here in between these trees? I do not think we can find anything about my relatives here. I am tired anyways." She complained while panting.

Darius had to keep up with her tantrums because he needed her for some reason.

"You may never know, Florence. Many people in Warthford Island used to live here years ago. Perhaps your relatives also lived here." He made another lie.

Florence did not seem convinced, yet she nodded anyway. She was a stranger to Warthford Island and had to rely on this man.

"Alright!" She mumbled before walking past him.

Darius got to know about Florence coincidentally. When he was trying to get Painite, he knew that the witches had it. The only person who could give it to him lived in Warthford Island for more than a century now.

Darius was on a hunt when he found his prey- a man. After sucking him dry, Darius threw his body in a nearby river, but then he realised that a note was fallen from his pocket.

'Miss Florence- a brunette woman in her late twenties, Vincardine.

Abacus320- 11:45 AM

Warthford Island.'

Darius read the message written on the front of the note, he turned it to read the details on its backside.

He was seeking an opportunity, and destiny had him blessed with one. Darius received Florence disguising at the man, who was originally supposed to receive her.

Darius had it all planned out. He threatened and cumpulsed an old woman before introducing her as his mother to Florence.

Darius needed a human anyways. And a woman was an easy target as his charm worked very well on them. And a woman from Vincardine was a cherry on the top.

Darius had her trapped, especially after the last night when he enjoyed good sex after a long time. Although he had Lisa for that, she lacked the experience and expertise that Florence had.

The way she took charge and pleasured him immensely, Darius understood that she must be a prostitute. He did not care who she was. All he cared about was she was the bet he was going to use to get Painite.

"aaaaahhh"

Florence's scream broke his train of thoughts. Florence held her head before staggering back. Before she fell on the ground, Darius caught her in his arms.

"Florence! Florence!" He called her name.

She was feeling dizzy and was rubbing her head with her fingers. She blinked a few times before the black patches clouding her vision disappeared, and his face became clear.

"What happen?"

Darius asked with worry on his face.

"I... I don't know. But sharp pain struck my head and... it felt like something... something shook me from inside."

Darius's head instantly snapped up to look at the spot where Florene was when she screamed.

'This is it!'

He exclaimed mentally, as he saw two medium-tall trees standing side by side, leaving some space in between them. Their branches intertangled with each other making a natural arch in the air.

After his many tries, Darius had found the portal. A portal to Malvadogar.

As Darius had anticipated, Florence was troubled while walking on the spot of the portal because of him- the seeds that he had left inside her womb last night.

Humans could not feel the presence of the portal, but only because Florence was carrying a part of Darius- a Vampire, a supernatural being- she was troubled.

And that was Darius's plan all along. He did not let her get a shower or go to the washroom because he did not want even his scent to get washed off her.

Florence was his way of finding the position of the portal as he himself could have got more problems if he went anywhere near it.

"Do no worry Florence! You are alright. Let's get you back to your room for the rest." Darius had a cunning smile on his face.

But Florence refused. She was adamant about finding out the people she falsely claimed were her relatives. Darius could see through her lies, but he did not care about her business as long as she came useful for him.

He tried asking her about the O'Dells and Vincardine, but the woman was a hard nut to crack. She did not reveal anything useful and had only her goal on her mind.

Whatever it was, at least she came useful in finding the portal.

Darius had to waste the rest of the day with her, and when she drifted to sleep, he slipped out of the motel and came back to the portal.

Darius tried everything, but nothing helped. He could not cross the portal and was left with no choice than going back before the sunrise.

He then helped Florence in finding the people she was looking for. Little did he know that one of them was already killed by him. And that he had a very strange encounter with that old man named Mr Payne."

He was ignorant and was focused only on finding a way to get in that portal.

The next day he saw Florence watching him from the deck of her ship as she left for Vincardine as she had fulfilled her goal. Darius stood there till the ship shrunk in the distance with one thought on his mind.

'How easy is to fool the humans! Brainless ceatures!!'

He had used Florence for his benefit, and she did not even realise it.

That morning Darius again went to the position of the portal, but to his utter shock, its position was changed, and now there was no trace of it left behind.

Darius was enraged. Now he needed another human to find the portal's exact position. Unfortunately, he had no time left. He had to go back to Kinsville, or else his father would himself come to hunt him down.

*PRESENT*

Darius had to go back empty-handed the last time, but not this time. He did not want to waste his time in finding another bet, so he decided to use Lisa at the last moment.

And that was the reason he got intimate with her the last night.

"Come with me."

Darius told.

Lisa wordlessly followed him. He stopped a few steps away from the hut's entrance.

"Get inside." He ordered. He had figured out that this must be the position of the portal, and to confirm it, he needed Lisa to get inside.

"But.. but why? What is in there?" She asked, looking sceptically at him and the place.

She could see an empty hut, the shadows covering its corners.

"Just do as I say, Lisa. Do not waste my time in asking useless questions." Darius snapped at her.

"You can at least tell me what are we doing here and why I need to go inside." She retorted.

Darius's patience was running thin, and so did his time.

"Lisa!" he warned with his darkened eyes glaring at her.

"Then come with me. We will go inside together!" Lisa said stubbornly, but Darius was not ready to tolerate more of her nonsense.

So he did what he found easy to do.

He pushed her inside the hut forcefully!