Lark had a meager portion of food pushed through the bars of his cell the next morning. He had no visitors until just after lunch when Eugene arrived outside his cell. Eugene said nothing initially but only looked at him before he finally entered the cell and locked it behind him. The guard that accompanied him kept the key.
Eugene approached slowly. “We meet again,” he said quietly, triumphantly. “What did I tell you?”
“I… I’m sorry sir. Please… please… I beg you. Have mercy. Give me the chance to show you how good I can be for your daughter,” Lark said.
Eugene lashed out and slapped Lark so hard he stumbled backward and fell on his butt. “Get up!” Eugene said menacingly.
Lark stood shakily.
“I told you never to return didn’t I?”
Lark said nothing.
“Didn’t I?” bellowed Eugene as he struck Lark again. Lark stumbled backward into the back wall of the cell and Eugene pulled him up. “You thought you knew better. You thought you could thwart my will. Do you know what you have done? You have ignited my wrath and now I have had you cursed forever.”
“What do you mean?” Lark asked.
Eugene ignored him. “Do you know what forever means?”
Lark shook his head. “I don’t understand sir.”
“Then let me tell you,” He turned and shouted to the guard. “Out! I will send for you when I need you.” What he would divulge to the boy now would be heard by no-one. He waited until the guard was gone and then whispered into Lark’s ear.
“Forever, means you will never die. Not only that, but every time you try to kiss my daughter in this life, or any other life, you will become the monster you are. She will never love you again in any of her lifetimes. And you, if you seek her out, will have your heart broken again and again. Every. Single. Time.”
“I don’t believe you,” Lark said.
“Then believe this,” Eugene said as he drew his hunting knife and plunged it into Lark’s stomach without hesitation. Lark doubled over as he clutched his stomach screaming in pain. Eugene removed the knife and wiped it on Lark’s back as he knelt on the floor.
Eugene crouched in front of Lark and tilted his head up. “There’s more. You will have no choice but to seek Erin out in every one of her lives after this one because the only way for you to break the curse is if she kisses you despite you being the monster you are. Good luck with that.”
Eugene stood then and kicked Lark in the face. Lark screamed in pain as Eugene called for the guard who came running.
“Bring Erin to the dungeon now,” he commanded.
The guard left at a run and returned a short while later with another guard dragging Erin between them. His wife, Loren, followed behind demanding that they leave Erin.
“Leave,” Eugene commanded Loren. She protested but Eugene’s roar made her beat a hasty retreat from the dungeon.
“Let her in,” Eugene ordered the guards. They unlocked the cell and let Erin enter. “Leave the door open and get out,” Eugene commanded. The guards hesitated but eventually complied.
Eugene reached for Erin and pulled her into the cell to stand next to him. “I warned you to stay away from him did I not?”
Tears spilled down Erin’s face but she did not reply.
“Didn’t I?” Eugene roared.
Erin nodded silently. “A monster. That’s what he is. Now you know it. You made me do it. You made me make him into a monster. Maybe from now on, you will heed what I tell you.”
“I’m sorry, Lark,” Erin said as she stood crying before him.
Lark struggled to his feet with difficulty still clutching his stomach.
“What happened to him?” Erin asked even as she noticed the blade in her father’s hand. “Did you do that?”
“Yes,” Eugene said. He stepped forward and plunged the knife twice more into Lark. Erin screamed in horror. “Stop it! Stop it!” she screamed at her father.
She tried to move towards Lark but her father stopped her. “Keep your distance!” he shouted.
Erin froze on the spot as Lark collapsed to the floor and then rolled on his back. Blood soaked his shirt and covered his hands.
“You didn’t have to do that!” Erin screamed. “He’s dying!”
“He cannot die! It is the curse. He is immortal,” her father said as he looked down at Lark.
“Please father,” Erin asked as tears ran down her face. “Let me help him!”
Eugene stepped back. “Very well then, help him.”
Erin immediately ran and fell on her knees before Lark where he lay. She stroked his face but he pulled away.
“Lark, I’m sorry,” she cried. She reached for his face again and Lark’s resistance faded. This would be the last chance he would have of feeling her touch.
He said something Erin could not hear and she leaned closer so he could say it again.
“Kiss me. Please,” he whispered.
Erin looked at Lark briefly and then pursed her lips. As she leaned in to kiss Lark he transformed in the blink of an eye into the monster he was cursed to become.
Erin screamed as the transformation occurred before her eyes. She stopped leaning into Lark and instead scrambled to get away.
Lark looked at her. She had become black and white again as his vision changed and then everything returned to normal. Color returned to his world but it was too late. Erin had backed away in terror.
Eugene laughed cruelly.
Lark looked up at Erin from where he lay. Sadness fell upon him and he knew there was nothing he could do. As he lay there he realized that the stab wounds her father had given him had healed. He needed to leave. Now. The only way he could successfully do that was by becoming the monster they all feared and he believed he knew how to do it.
He stood slowly, warily, and said to Eugene, “Let me go. Now.”
“Why should I?” Eugene asked.
“Because you have achieved what you wanted. You know Erin will never come back to me. You’ve won.”
“Why should I let you go? You can stay here where I can keep an eye on you for the rest of my life,” Eugene replied.
Before Eugene or anyone else could react, Lark moved. He was fast, almost as if the curse gave him superhuman strength and speed. In the blink of an eye, he had reached Erin and had her held tightly in his grasp. Erin screamed again in horror.
“Get out of my way,” Lark said as his transformation began again. Eugene backed away looking for an opportunity to get his daughter back but he was afraid and a coward. Lark moved out of the cell, down the passage, and up the stairs of the dungeon until they reached the exit.
“I won’t hurt you,” he assured her every step of the way. It was pointless though since his words came out as little more than grunts and Erin was screaming non-stop. Lark looked around for reinforcements and saw a few strategically placed. They were archers and were waiting for the order to shoot. The captain was afraid of hurting Erin so he held back on firing. Lark judged his odds of getting away as minimal if he let go of Erin now. He walked backward dragging her to the gate as a cover. Once he reached the gate he opened it and released Erin before fleeing into the dark. He heard arrows flash by in the night as he ran. He was lucky to escape unharmed.
As he ran, he felt himself changing back to normal. He realized he wasn’t able to run as fast anymore as he reverted to his human form. At least he had been able to make good time while he had been in his monster form. He continued as long as he could without stopping. He had to keep the distance between him and his pursuers.
He ran for most of the next day and the next night making only small stops to catch his breath. By dawn the next day he was exhausted and began to look for a place to rest. As he stepped slowly through the forest he reached the edge of a clearing. He crouched behind a tree.
A cabin stood in the clearing. There were no lights and no smoke rose from the chimney. The smell of burnt wood reached him. There was no fire in the cabin and he had no idea where the smell originated.
He watched until satisfied that no-one was in the cabin. Then he crept forward to the cabin and peered through the windows.