Chapter 10: The Second Name

The Chauffeur's face was pale as he looked through the carriage slit and saw Jenny bleeding out in his carriage.

“Hurry up and start moving the carriage,” Dravisha hissed.

“This… I wasn’t paid for this,” He stammered.

Despite being in agonizing pain, Dravisha managed to summon her shadowy tendrils and wrap it around the Chauffeur. “Start moving or I’ll end you right now.”

Guided by the simple will to survive, the Chauffeur spurred on the horses, and they were off. The dark streets passed by them in a blur. Meanwhile, Dravisha had to stem the bleeding of her witch. The constant bumps of the road shot new agonizing pain into her. She gritted her teeth as she clutched at the bleeding wound of the unconscious woman in her lap. She sterilized the wounds with the help of corrosive darkness, and all the dirt in the wounds was instantly reduced to nothing. With another swift motion, she stitched the wounds with her dark tendrils, just like she had sewn the greatcoat. She could hear the faint breathing of her witch, confirming that she was still alive. She brushed a gentle finger along Jenny’s face.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” She murmured. If she died now, all her work to control her would be wasted. It’d be such a shame, Dravisha thought.

The carriage stopped in front of Klaus Richter’s mansion. Dravisha looked at the chauffeur; he was a clear liability now, and Dravisha would naturally need to kill him. However, Dravisha couldn't kill people without them having attacked her first; otherwise, she’d have gone on a rampage a while ago. No, she couldn’t kill the Chauffeur, which begged the question about what to do with him. For the inquisition, he was an obvious lead; letting him go was out of the question.

If she couldn’t kill the Chauffeur, then she just needed Klaus Richter to kill him. She could also eliminate his memories, but that would take effort. It’s not worth it, Dravisha decided. She opened the carriage door and carried the unconscious witch out. Turning to the Chauffeur, she growled, “You are coming with me, and don’t you dare think about escaping.” Pale-faced, the Chauffeur nodded, hesitantly coming along.

Konrad opened the door as they approached. “What happened?” He asked, concerned.

She shrugged, “A lot probably.”

He scowled, “What do you mean, probably? Weren’t you with her?”

She sighed, “I’ll explain later. Jenny needs some care first.”

He nodded while stepping aside to let Dravisha in. He turned to the Chauffeur, “How much does he know?”

“Too much,” Dravisha replied.

“That’s a problem,” Konrad sighed while gesturing to the young man to enter.

The Chauffeur stepped into the house behind Dravisha before Konrad closed the door. Dravisha dropped Jenny off on the couch in front of the fireplace, and Konrad put warm blankets around her to keep her body heat up since she had lost a lot of blood. Her skin was cold and clammy.

While checking her pulse, Konrad said, “She seems stable for now.”

He turned to face the Chauffeur again, “Now the question remains, what do we do with you?”

“The best thing is to get rid of him, he could alert the Inquisition. Tell them everything,” Dravisha said with cold indifference.

“Wait, please, I won’t tell anyone. I have a pregnant wife,” The Chauffeur pleaded, while cowering back.

Konrad pulled back the cuffs of his shirt as he studied the young man with narrowed eyes. “A final decision should be made by Master Richter. Taking a life should not be done carelessly.” He pulled up a chair and bid the young man to sit down. The Chauffeur could not refuse.

Dravisha sat down on another chair, resting her ailing body. Her eyes were fixated on Jenny. The shallow breathing of her witch unnerved her. She could sense Jenny sliping further into unconsciousness, but there was nothing she could do now, other than wait.

Klaus arrived a short while later, bursting through the front door. He barely looked at the pale-faced butler before turning to Dravisha. “The city watch is out in full force. What the hell happened?”

Dravisha looked up, drained and shrugged, “Don’t know exactly.” She gave the basic rundown of what happened during the poker game and the aftermath.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Klaus turned to Jenny, concerned, her skin having taken a faint bluish hue. He kneeled beside holding her cold, clammy hand in his. “She looks in bad shape,” he whispers. “Can’t you do something with your fancy magic?” He asks as he turns to Dravisha.

“Do I look like a healer?” Dravisha shakes her head. “I did all I could. The rest is up to her. She is probably going to live; her constitution is stronger than normal humans.”

Klaus nodded as he squeezed her hand tighter, “Once she has recovered, you two need to leave. It’s not safe here, patrols are tighter than ever, they’ll probably send in reinforcements too.”

A while later, Jenny's eyes fluttered open. A sharp groan escaped her lips as she adjusted to the sudden onslaught of agonizing pain. Her bleary eyes adjusted to the dim light in the room. She squinted at Klaus and groggily croaked for water. Konrad jumped up and brought her a glass right away. They checked how she was doing, whether she had a lot of pain and the usual concerned questions that follow when someone wakes up from unconsciousness. Jenny responded with short croaks to each. Her body protested to every minor movement she made, so she opted to stay as stock still as possible. This made her more aware of the sharp pain on her waist and upper arm. She gritted her teeth as she had to bear it.

“What happened?” Came the question she had expected from Klaus.

“Inquisitors,” She croaked in reply.

Klaus nodded, “Figured. What about Aldric?”

“Fled.”

The conversation then quickly shifted to the chauffeur and what to do with him. Dravisha continued to advocate for his death. Jenny wasn’t quite lucid enough to chime in much. And Klaus felt bad about offing someone who was simply doing his job and whose only crime was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Dravisha, ever the cunning demoness, decided to drop the bombshell that she could simply wipe the chauffeur’s memories if she wanted to. This delighted Klaus until she stated that she wouldn’t do it without proper compensation.

This enraged Klaus so much that he nearly lunged at the demoness until he realized at the last second that attacking a demoness is a terrible idea. “What do you want?” He managed to ask through gritted teeth.

“Only one more syllable of Jenny’s name, of course,” She shrugged.

Jenny’s eyes dilated in fear, “Absolutely not.”

“Then the chauffeur has to die,” Dravisha chirped while shrugging. “You wouldn’t want your dear Klaus implicated in your crime, would you?”

Jenny gripped the side of the sofa hard. She had an entire young life in her hands. Could she give up part of herself to save a young man? Could she risk him spilling all their secrets to the Inquisition? To that question, the answer was obviously no. She couldn’t live with herself if something happened to Klaus, but could she live with herself if she knowingly killed someone innocent? Also no. That meant she had only one option. But revealing more of her name was one more step towards losing complete autonomy. Her morality conflicted with her desire for self-preservation.

Fear flooded her system. She was already delirious and the ongoing emotional turmoil added on to her worsening condition. “I can’t,” She whimpered.

“Then we have to kill him,” Dravisha purred nonchalantly.

“No,” Jenny croaked, her bloodshot eyes wandering nervously, unfocused. “Remember… Remember the deal that we had. The one where I’m exclusively yours. I want those terms.”

Dravisha considers before responding, “I want the syllable.” Dravisha knew Jenny was about to crack due to her morality. There was no reason to waste an opportunity like this.

“No, I will take care of this mess,” Konrad interjected. “Don’t do something stupid, Jenny.” He clutched her hand tightly.

Sweat poured down Jenny’s temple as she contemplated, until she finally gave in, “I’ll do it. I’ll tell you.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Came the two simultaneous utterances from Dravisha and Konrad.

Konrad looked from Jenny to the Demoness and then to the Chauffeur. The poor Chauffeur was sweating volumes. For him, this discussion itself served as torture. The uncertainty about his own life weighed heavily on his mind.

“Please just let me go,” He pleaded.

Letting him go was off the table for everyone in the room, so his plea was quite useless. Konrad slid down his sleeves, showing determination. “I will handle this. There will be no more deals, understood?” He looked at both Jenny and Dravisha.

“How will you handle this?” Jenny asked in a murmur. “You are going to kill him, aren’t you?” Jenny’s question was met with silence. It was clear what was about to happen. This was her mess and she was the one who had to take responsibility. She turned to Dravisha. “I accept your deal.”

The demoness summoned a contract.

Konrad lunged to grab the paper, but Dravisha restrained him with tendrils. “As you wish,” She purred.

Jenny read the terms of the contract in detail. She took an obsidian dagger from the demoness and pricked her thumb before pressing it down on the parchment. The contract glowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Dravisha assumed her full demonic form, a small groan escaping her lips from the effort. Her tail wagged excitedly behind her as she approached the pale-faced Chauffeur. “You are a lucky man today,” She purred as she circled his chair. “You get to be spared.”

She stopped behind him, dragging her claws through his hair as she spoke a silent incantation. Dark tendrils seeped into his head and he screamed from sudden agony. Dravisha held him steady as she searched to annihilate his memories of the past few days. A dark fog spread over his mind until he eventually succumbed to unconsciousness and dropped to the floor, like a puppet that had its strings cut.

Dravisha finally turned her attention back to Jenny. Silently, she moved up, her knees buckling slightly from exhaustion. She fell into an armchair. “That took more out of me than I expected,” She groaned as she settled down. “Now go ahead.”

Jenny knew the consequences of breaking her promise were immense. With some hesitation, she muttered, “Andra. My second name is Nyxandra.”

She could feel the demoness' control over her solidify further, and then Dravisha spoke, “Jenny Nyxandra Nachtdorn.”

A shudder went through Jenny as her name was spoken. There was almost a temptation to submit fully. She felt compelled to obey anything out of the Demoness’ mouth, but held herself back through sheer iron will.

“Jenny Nyxandra Nachtdorn,” Dravisha spoke again, basking in the control she now held.