D for a devastated love
1941-03-30
France

It’s been a while since the Sin’s really concerned with anyone and the realization hits him like a train; fastly and deadly all at once while the unexpected crash leaves some nasty scars on his immortal yet humanlike body. Is he truly worried? Does he care about her that much? Or is it just frustration bothering his stomach?

He stands in front of the enormous building with his arms crossed and his cramp shoulder leans against the wall impatiently while his head raises up a bit every time he picks up on a slight shadow coming towards him. Worry gets deeper and deeper roots in his chest whenever an unfamiliar face looks back at him from across the street.

’Did you hear it?’ A sassy girl asks from her friend as she jumps on the other’s back all of a sudden only a metres away from Greed. They almost fall onto their knees because of the childish act but somehow the older one manages to keep her balance despite the redhead’s choking arms around her slim neck. ’Someone snuck into Hitler's hidden vault!’

Greed’s heart stops beating and his left eyebrow climbs onto the middle of his forehead as his mouth opens wide with astonishment. His nerves are tight just like guitar strings.

’Unbelievable!’ The older girl says in shock and her long fingers take a quick nap on the younger’s bare palms before she turns towards her friend. Her already rounded, brown eyes shine like dying stars on a night full of foggy clouds; with dim yet noticeable light. Her curiosity settles down in her veins, bowls her blood and turns her whole face to carmine.

’Right?’ The younger lets her hands fall back next to her sides then pulls her friend closer and lower her own voice. Despite her always bold personality she knows the common rules way too well. Keep your mouth shut or be careful around the Germans otherwise you have a huge chance of never seeing the sun again. And she loves the sunshine oh so much! So, she even takes a look around before she continues the tale. ’They mobilize all the soldiers in the neighbourhood. There is no way that the thief will survive!’

Greed’s strict lips let out a mischievous laughter and his frustrated muscles ease off when the deep, manly sound assimilates with the air. Humans are so stupid!

The older girl pulls the redhead into the closest alley and pushes her back to cold wall. Their noses almost rub each other while she talks.

’Do you know who is it?’ She asks and there’s something undescribable in her voice that makes the other feel uncomfortable. The younger swallows a bit before she looks directly into her strange friend’s shining eyes.

’Louis Belmondo. That punk!’ She replies then sits on her heels at the base of the wall. Her curly locks fall into her cheeks full of dark moles when her narrow shoulders start to shake out of the blue. She lays her heart-shaped face down on her knees after the first transparent drop appears in the corner of her eye.

The older girl’s mouth twitches a little but she tries to be funny when she sits beside her desperate friend. She wasn’t really aware of the fact how much the redhead cares about that rascal until her clumsy embrace tries to hide her trembling body.

’What a shame! He is so handsome.’ She jokes around and she even punches her friend gently to cheer her up.

Greed turns his back on them and looks up the sky instead with an ugly grimace on his angelic face. The vivid light of the setting sun makes him blind and deepens the purple circles under his now closed eyes. He cannot get the silly thought out of his mind that something isn’t okay. Even though she’s always late, Claire should be there by now.

The redhead’s insatiable sobbing makes a perfect match with the Sin’s mood until a wrinkled hand spoils the sick beauty of the situation.

’It's not him, darling. It's Claire.’ The old lady says sadly while her weak palm fondles the girl’s messy hair with love. Although, her warm voice is full of grief.

The girl with ginger locks raises her tear-stained face up and bites back her lower lip before she says the overwhelming question out loud. When she passed by the ruined church, she saw the love of her life lurking around the building just as she heard the alarm’s terrific sound from the inside as well. How is it possible that it’s not him?

’What?’

’It's Claire Galland.’ The old lady answers while her thumbs wipe off the tears of the girl’s fatty face. She looks so young and innocent like the first flowers in spring when a sudden change in the weather is still able to destroy everything.

’That kind waitress from the Rouge?’ The older girl asks and she hugs the younger even tighter when the old lady nods as a yes. She has no idea why would someone like Claire stole from the devil himself. ’Poor girl!’

Taehyung opens his eyes so fast as if his eyelids turned into liquid fire. Her name alone is enough to switch something on in his mind. Something indescribable that puts some heavy weights on his chest that makes it difficult for him to breath.

He runs across the street and grabs the old woman’s black coat without thinking. The top of his long fingers turn to white as he clamps the thin material.

’What did you just say about Claire?’ The demon asks in an aggressive tone that scares the hell of the pathetic humans around him. Greed cannot help himself but smirk at the sight of their shaking bodies. It’s been a while since he felt himself at least half as powerful as now despite the undeniable horror behind his cold eyes. Although Claire was nothing but a disposable tool from the very beginning, strangely the Sin finds himself worrying about the young waitress who made him happy during the last three weeks. Her caring eyes gave meaning for the stupid how was your day? and her soft yet loving kisses sweetened his eternity.

’She snuck into the Notre Dame.’ The woman replies while she tries to keep her balance at the edge of fainting. Her quiet voice is barely above a whisper hence the small distance is the only thing that helps her words to be heard. ’I saw her before she went in. She was so nervous and preoccupied. It had to be her.’

Greed pulls the lady closer and silences the rustling youngsters at the base of the wall with a single glance before he lifts up the fragile body. The lady’s scream dies in the muteness of the haunted street. Nobody’s willing to help her nor put her life before their owns as if they would recognize the pure darkness that glows around the demon’s body.

’Are you sure that the vault is in the Notre Dame?’ He asks and a tiny drop of saliva falls onto the woman’s consternated face without dignity.

’Yeah.’ She murmurs under her nose. ’My husband works near church… in a… in a bakery. There are way too many… way too many soldiers there at the moment.’ The old lady clenches her eyes and takes a deep breath while she tries to draw herself apart from Greed as much as the Sin’s strong arms let it.

Taehyung swears wholeheartedly; as nasty as a drunken soldier would then he puts down the useless woman. She falls onto her trembling knees before she loses her consciousness.

’Damn it!’ An ugly grimace gets into his features and this impossible situation forces his eyes to roll. A tired sigh leaves his lungs when he turns towards the French girls only an arm-length away from him.

He bends down and grabs their shoulders then closes his eyes. He imagines those small doors in their minds as always but no matter how hard he tries he cannot touch the handles. They slip through his fingers like sand or water and every time he takes another shot, his powerlessness drives him crazy. After all, he is one of the seven deadly sins for the love of Satan! He should be able to reign them all!

His pointless arms fall back to their original place while he stands up in tension. He hates to admit it but there’s only one option left. He has to run like crazy just as a stupid human being. So pathetic, it hurts!

Meanwhile, Claire lurks behind a ruined bench in the middle of the hall not so far from the altar. Her eager gaze loiters over the beautiful letters on the edge of the box over and over again while she tries to calm her crazy fast heart down. Her head just grazes the wooden backrest and she takes a deep breath before she gathers enough courage to look out of her hiding place. There’re already five soldiers who look for her. Two guards with rifles and three common patrols with smaller but not less terrific guns.

’We know that you're still here, darling! I promise you, it won't hurt that much.’ One of the newcomers shout out loud before he takes a look behind the front benches on the opposite side of the church.

Claire bites back her lower lip and tries to methodize her unsteady thoughts about Taehyung, her broken promise to his little brother and her already dead family, but she fails. Their sad and disappointed faces keep coming to her mind.

’Please, help me God.’ She begs after she loses her interest in withholding her salty tears that have pierced her eyes since the moment she heard the alarm’s noisy sound. They glide over her red cheeks and fall to the dirty floor just to reunite in the ground. She is scared because deep down she knows, there is no way out from this hell.

She doesn’t notice the sleepy guard looking after her on the gallery until it’s too late. His hoarse voice reaches her ears at the same time it reaches his fellow’s.

’There she is!’ Claire raises her head up but doesn’t waste her time with looking around. She holds onto the chest as if Pandora’s box would be able to build a transparent shield around her fragile body during her lame attempt of escaping.

Her heart is beating madly like it’s afraid of losing its last chance to pump and she is out of her breath when she reaches the aisle between the wooden benches. She’s aware of the fact that she wouldn’t make it to the entrance if she stopped every possible hiding place so she chooses to run. It’s only ten metres away and after plenty of more she’s already at the riverside.

’Okay, let’s do this to three!’ She cheers herseft, than starts counting.

One. She closes her eyes and murmurs a quiet apology. Two. She takes a deep breath and lets out a frustrated sigh. Three.

’Stop!’

Her determined gaze is pointed at the door and she shuts out reality even though her lungs hurt like hell. The metal bullets that miss the target crash into the wall or pass her only by inches leaving some nasty scars on her soft skin. The gunshots echoes in her ears.

He is the first thing she sees after she crosses the threshold. He looks so frightened, pain blossoms in her heart and spreads all over her body especially her spine.

Then nothing.

She falls onto her knees without perceiving the ache. It makes a loud crack sound when she hits the rocky ground.

’No!’ Greed’s ear-splitting scream is full of rage and his almond shaped eyes turn into straight lines as time freezes for an infinite minute. He doesn’t even have to take efforts to spread his power, those particular, imaginary doors open up so easily as if her blood alone would be enough to break down his chains that have held him back since the first time they met at the dim pub during the mournful holidays.

He pushes every single moron away from her unmoving body with his resurgent power and sits on his heels by her side. Claire’s vivid blood paints her blonde locks all red as the tiny drops draw some slim lines from the scar on her forehead to the top of her head. Her smirk looks miserable when she raises her head up to Taehyung’s face.

’I've got it! It's yours now.’ She whispers under her nose and her iron tasting smile is pink like her fluffy thoughts in her cloudy mind. She is over the moon due to the fact her stupid actions at least weren’t otiose. Pandora’s magic box lies next to her. The last rays of sunshine glimmer on its surface as the giant, fiery star disappears behind the horizon.

Taehyung takes a slothful look at the relic; his gaze takes a long nap on the heavenly warning – all the derisive lines on the edge of the chest.

’You...’ For the first time in his immortal life, he doesn’t know what to say and the heavy words that stuck in his throat choke him. You didn’t have to? Jeez! It would be hypocritical and way too cruel even from him because this exact moment was the goal of their fake relationship. He wanted to make her sin so badly, he was ready to sacrifice a significant part of his power if it’s necessary.

’I'm sorry. It was supposed to be a surprise.’ She offers her sad apology and her big blue eyes become even bigger when she realizes that she cannot raise her hands up no matter how hard she tries to. In point of fact, she’s unable to move her legs, too. That means, her pain vanished on purpose and this hollow weightlessness isn’t just a wonderful side effect of the sight of the love of her life. What a shame that love isn’t as powerful as she thought!

’Why did you come here alone? Are you stupid?’ Taehyung raises his voice and his dark eyebrows abut when it reaches a supernatural tone. His coal black pupils almost annexes his cold irises as his body absorbs the greedy desires from the gathered soldiers around them. He has to take a deep breath before his ever-growing power consumes everything within a kilometre radius. Anger is indeed a powerful thing, just as desperation. And at the moment, the demon’s soul is overflowed with both.

’You gave me the one thing I truly dreamed of. I wanted to give you the same, too.’ She confesses while she closes her tired eyes for a passing moment. This whole situation is so weird without pain. It’s almost peaceful.

Taehyung his lips and count to twenty-three before he opens his dry mouth for a childish question. Of course, he knows why she acted so reckless and bold. Lust told him in the very beginning, he warned him. Love is another name of the devil and when it comes for them, it never ends well. Blood and tears. Nothing else.

’Why?’ His rosy lips twitch a little when he slips a mop of blonde lock behind Claire’s ear. He prays to everything that’s saint in the world for her answer to be different.

’Because I love you.’ She murmurs with her eyes closed and her delicate features are as peaceful as a sleeping fairy's would be from a tale or another universe.

Taehyung clenches his bloody palms and lowers his head. This whole thing is so ed up! He never asked her to stole the box. All he wanted from Claire’s to stay by his side and commit a tiny crime that gives her the power of reigning the relic. They could have conquer the world…

’I don't want you to love me. You don't have to love me. Don't do it!’ He screams in her face out of rage but his trembling hands fondle Claire’s unmoving arm so agonizingly he knows that it’s a weak lie. No matter how hard he tries to deny it, his aching heart draws his attention to the shameless truth. He kinda likes the idea that the girl loves him. Just as her senseless mission warms up his cold body.

Taehyung lays his forehead down on her shoulder. His stomach is tugged by the lovable peck Claire gives him right behind his ear.

’I don't care whether you want it or not. I won't stop loving you just because you ask me to.’ She protests while she inhales Taehyung’s characteristics scent that have made her weak from the first time. Although she doesn’t feel the electricity running through her veins, she’s sure it wakes up her tired butterflies as always.

’Claire.’ He mumble in the corner of her neck. His warm breath flutters the waitress’ already fragile heart that desperately tries to hold on. It would like to give her time – just a little more in the Sin’s tight embrace. A selfish yet sweet moment before she lets him go for good, that’s the only thing she dares to wish for before the fever blurs her eyes full of pixiedust. Her blushed cheeks and half-opened mouth make her much more beautiful. Just like a bruised angel after the fall.

’They will kill you if you don't hurry.’ Her faint warning is barely above a whisper and her concern punches the demon right in the face.

’They cannot kill me. I'm...’ He replies but shuts his mouth up in the very beginning. There is no point of telling the truth anymore and cowardly he doesn’t want to scare the out of Claire, either. And to be honest, he simply cannot handle if the girl would look at him like that old lady in the alley. Both with pure horror and maybe with a bit of disappointment knowing she gave up her life for a demon. ’Oh, damn it! Why is this happening?’ He screams and a few drops of saliva falls on Claire’s skin as he raises his head up.

’I'm sorry.’ She offers her lame apology once again but this time her voice trembles in the middle of the short sentence.

It’s funny how perfect yet imperfect existence is. How cruel yet protective when it comes to a heartbreak. It never lets us die. No, it pushes us through the pain instead, then gives us a little break before it starts over. Over and over again.

’Don't say this!’ He begs and the first teardrops appears in the inner corner of his cold eyes while he rocks himself back and forth. They blur his sight when the world becomes way too cruel to endure it. ’! I'm so sorry. I can't. I just cannot heal you. I can't.’ He craves for her forgiveness when his broad shoulders start to shake.

His warm tears fall onto Claire’s bare skin like a million drops of melting iron. She’s never wanted to embrace his body that badly before. She would give everything for a simply motion but despite her determination her arms stay still. She has nothing left but her words.

’It's okay.’ She murmurs and she has to stop for a minute due to the strange, choking feeling in . She looks so miserable when she coughs up her own blood between two heavy breaths. ’I would gladly die in your arms. I'm not afraid.’ She admits the truth with an ugly grimace that settles down in her features. Despite the blur ache, Taehyung’s presence alone is enough to make her feel at ease. ’That's why I know I love you. It doesn’t matter, if you don't feel...’ Her sudden fit of coughing interrupts her protest and her blood paints the demon’s skin all carmine and deep red.

’I do. I...’ Taehyung’s forehead fits close to Claire’s as his arms embrace her broken body even tighter. Her head nestles to his chest while he rocks her so devotedly. ’I love you.’ The Sin pecks her sweaty skin like he’s used to seal his sweetest love letters.

She smiles when she takes her last breath.

’Damn it!’

A reckless bullet hits the demon back and it turns the whole world upside down. Like, literally. With a thump, his heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground, and this second is a perfect example of those kind of situations when you think you have a choice but you don’t. Staying calm simply can’t be an option.

He stands up as slow as a graceful predator and turn towards the stupid German with a wicked smirk on his already bloody face. His deep voice is hoarse and terrifying while he speaks ready for revenge.

’You made a huge mistake, ! And I will make you all suffer for it.’ He says and he raises his hands up above his head. He doesn’t even bother with manipulation, he kills them all with a satisfying laugh that merges with the darkness of the night.

It doesn’t take a minute, German corpses garnish the whole park around the cathedral. Broken limbs, fallen heads and blood. Oh so much blood!

He smirks as he takes a look around. His tired gaze loiters over the golden chest next to Claire’s dead body. He walks towards the box and sits on his heels. As his long fingers take a nap above the first letter of the warning, his sick laughter turns into a hysterical snicker. The ironical outcome punches him right in the feels.

Without her precious soul, he still cannot control the mighty relic.

’All for nothing.’ He laughs and fondles his love’s soft skin for the last time.

He sighs when he turns his back on her. What did he expect? After all, this is the exact definition of being greedy. Wanting everything yet not getting anything at the same time. Their sick tragedy surely has been written in the stars from the very beginning.

>>The end<<