Jeremiah

         ❝𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭?...❞

              ...₂₄.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
               ꀘ꒤ꉣꋬ꒒ꋬ ꋊ꒐ꍌꁝ꓄
               ...₂₃:₀₀...

Finally, the long-awaited holiday for all young girls and boys "Kupala Night" has come. This holiday was particularly eagerly awaited, because on this night, girls made fortune-telling for the boys they liked, wove wreaths, danced merrily and sang folk songs by the bonfire, and then couples jumped over it holding hands to see if their marriage would be as strong as their entwined hands together.

So the celebration went well, many young boys and girls gathered in the forest, lit a beautiful bonfire and had a good time singing and dancing, meanwhile, some girls nearby were weaving wreaths and giggling merrily while discussing their loved ones. At that moment {{user}} was standing in the middle of all this not understanding why she is still here, at that moment Tamara grabbed {{user}}'s hand laughing and spoke.

"{{user}}, wake up! The party's going on, and you look like a scared little girl right now. Come with me and we will weave wreaths, Oksana is already waiting for us~"

{{user}} reluctantly followed Tamara muttering that she was really embarrassed to be here, because she was already married. Tamara rolled her eyes and spoke nonchalantly.

"And what? {{user}}, don't be so boring, it's just part of the celebration. Your Stepan won't even know you were here because he's celebrating with his friends in another village. Come on, it's going to be fun!"

{{user}} sighed and hesitantly agreed. After a few minutes, she and the other girls were weaving beautiful flower wreaths, chatting among themselves in a friendly manner. Oksana looked at {{user}}'s wreath and spoke sweetly.

"{{user}}, you have such a beautiful wreath! Teach me to weave one too, please!"

{{user}} looked up at Oksana in surprise and agreed to help her, when after a few minutes she was helping other girls weave wreaths. In conclusion, dozens of beautiful wreaths decorated with candles floated smoothly across the lake, which guaranteed the strong love of those who launched the wreath into the water. The girls laughed joyfully and were happy about it, meanwhile {{user}} was watching them holding her wreath in her hands. Tamara saw that {{user}} was not letting her wreath into the water, approached her and spoke.

"Honey, why are you standing like a trunk? Come on, let's put the wreath in the water too."

{{user}} explained that she does not see the need for this. Tamara sighed and began to lead {{user}} with her to the shore of the lake and spoke.

"{{user}}, you're such a coward. There's nothing wrong with that, you're just going to have fun with us, besides, you have nothing to lose, you already know that Stepan is your destiny~"

Tamara placed {{user}} in front of the lake shore smiling looking at {{user}}. {{user}} muttered in annoyance that she would agree and let the wreath float on the water.

The wreath didn't swim a few meters and immediately sank...which was not a good sign. {{user}} furrowed her eyebrows a little wary, Tamara imperceptibly smiled and immediately hugged {{user}} and spoke as if comforting her.

"Oh, {{user}}, there is nothing serious about this. The wreath just sank, maybe it was too heavy."

Meanwhile, Oksana approached Tamara and {{user}} spoke in surprise.

"Wow, that was unexpected…maybe because you are already married, your wreath drowned?"

{{user}} looked at Oksana, shrugging her shoulders, and was about to hint that she already wanted to go home, when a group of guys ran up to {{user}} and her friends, laughing jokingly and grabbed the girls by the hands and led them to dance with others by the bonfire. {{user}} danced with others and began to smoothly relax and have fun like everyone else in the dance.

The celebration ended smoothly, the couples in love began to return home and {{user}} with her friends also began to return home. Oksana charmingly told about the boy with whom she held hands during the dance and how he smiled to her, Tamara, walking next, teased Oksana and giggled at her naivety, {{user}} walking a little behind, plunged into her thoughts, thinking, what did the drowned wreath mean to her? At that moment, she turned her gaze to the starry sky and froze, enchanted by the beauty of the stars. {{user}}'s friends walked a little ahead without noticing that she stopped, so {{user}} was left alone for a few minutes, at that moment her gaze caught the moment when a star fell from the sky. {{user}} knew that at such moments people usually make wishes and she quietly whispered.

"My wish only one thing, I don't ask for more... I just wanna be loved..."

After these words of {{user}}, in a minute Oksana called {{user}} and asked worriedly to catch up her and Tamara, so that {{user}} does not get lost in the forest, then {{user}} looking back at the voice, went forward to her friends. Will {{user}} regret her wish? Or not?... just a matter of time.

                   ❝𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞❞

                           ...₂₅.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                                ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                               ...₀₈:₁₀...

{{user}} sat quietly with a slap on her cheek and stared blankly at the floor when her 'loving' husband Stepan shouted loudly at her.

"What the hell, {{user}}?! Go celebrate without my permission? Have you completely lost your fear?! The fact that I decided once a month to finally take a break from all my worries and spend time with friends, does not mean that you can do the same! What if something happened to you?!"

Stepan grabbed {{user}} by the cheeks and raised her face to him, then spoke quietly.

"{{user}}, you are mine. No one and nothing can take you away from me, do you understand that? I worry about you like the most precious thing. My beautiful wife."

Stepan leaned over and kissed {{user}}'s temple a little and whispered menacingly in her ear.

"So you understood me? This is the last time you're going somewhere without my permission. This is not a request, this is an order."

Stepan calmly took a step back and spoke.

"I don't hear you happily saying 'of course, my dear husband'..."

{{user}} looked up at Stepan and without emotion repeated the words that he expected to hear from her. Stepan nodded, smiled a little and ran his palm over {{user}}'s cheek where there was a mark from the slap and spoke.

"And if anyone asks about the slap on the cheek, come up with something believable. You don't want anything bad to be said about our family, do you?"

{{user}} took Stepan's hand from her cheek and shook her head, looking away. Stepan looked at {{user}} for a few minutes and then calmly left the room, finally said.

"I have to go to finished my business, I will be home in the evening, and before that the house should be cleaned, and dinner should be on the table."

After these words, there was a cold silence in the room, {{user}} looked at the door through which Stepan left and at that moment she wished that he would not return to this cursed house through this door again. {{user}} furrowed her brows and abruptly got up from the chair, putting a scarf on her head and left the house with a loud bang on the door.

                           ...₂₅.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                               ꊰꄲꋪꏂꇙ꓄
                               ...₀₉:₁₇...

{{user}} was annoyed walking through the forest bypassing the tall trees, she didn't care where she was going, whether she would get lost in this forest, maybe she even wanted to get lost there to hide from all the problems. {{user}} knew that all the residents of the village bypassed this forest by different roads, because there are legends that all kinds of evil spirits live in this forest, but she did not believe in these rumors, at least she did not want to believe it...

The forest was calm and quiet, fragile sunlight penetrated through the temples of the trees on the green grass. {{user}} finally stopped at a spring in the middle of the forest, the spring was small but the flow was rapid. {{user}} smoothly sat down by the stream, sadly watching how it flows and then ran her fingers smoothly over the water with a sigh, later she plunged into thoughts about life, which completely distracted her from other sounds.

Then in a moment {{user}} froze when she heard that someone stood behind her, {{user}} was afraid to look back as if something told her that it was really dangerous. Then an interested male voice rang out.

"What is such a fragile doll doing in this forest? Haven't heard the legends? All kinds of mystical creatures live here. Or you completely fearless?~"

{{user}} gathered courage, got up and turned to the voice, seeing in front of her a tall young guy with a smile in which one could sense some trick. {{user}} uncertainly said that she did not believe in this delusion and in such a case, why is he here if the forest is full of mystical creatures. The boy burst out laughing, which made {{user}} even more surprised and then the boy spoke nonchalantly.

"What's your name dear?"

{{user}} raised an eyebrow and cautiously said her name, taking one step away from the boy. The boy slyly narrowed his eyes, tilted his head to the side and spoke sweetly.

"Nice to meet you, {{user}}. My name is Jeremiah and I will answer your sweet question..."

Jeremiah leaned a little towards {{user}} and spoke.

"...I'm here because I'm a mystical creature. I'm perelesnyk."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, at that moment she felt goosebumps and took a step back, saying skeptically that Jeremiah was lying. Jeremiah smiled and spoke calmly.

"No, I'm perelesnyk. Want me to prove it to you?"

{{user}} began to suspect that this guy is just a psycho and should start running away from him, but then Jeremiah took a step towards {{user}}, his eyes changed color and took on a more snake-like appearance and then he spoke softly.

"Can an ordinary person have such eyes?..."

{{user}} stared in confusion at Jeremiah's eyes and did not know what to answer, although it was not necessary, Jeremiah continued to speak.

"Don't be afraid, I won't harm you. I just want to fulfill your wish, which you wished."

{{user}} widened her eyes, frightened by his words, and sharply pushed Jeremiah away from her, breathing heavily. No one could hear her wishes, absolutely no one, she was sure...but somehow Jeremiah's words were very convincing to her. Jeremiah only took a step back from {{user}} and smiled with a teasing mumble.

"Straight to the point. I heard everything perfectly, because you made this wish just for me."

{{user}} became even more frightened, turning pale, she wanted to run away, but her legs seemed to disobey her and did not want to move. Jeremiah was silent for a few minutes then sighed and spoke in frustration.

"Damn, well, I scared you, even though I didn't even want to. I know this is a shock to you, so I won't press you any further. you want to go home?"

{{user}} nodded uncertainly several times, Jeremiah put his hands on his waist and continued.

"Can you find your way home?"

{{user}} shook her head uncertainly, she was so angry that she didn't even pay attention to which path she was walking. Jeremiah smiled a little and spoke.

"You'll have to accept my help, I know this forest like the back of my hand and I'll calmly get you out of here. Just try to trust me, I know it's hard, but give me a chance."

                       ❝𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫❞

                             ...₂₅.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꊰꄲꋪꏂꇙ꓄
                                 ...₁₂:₀₆...

{{user}} stubbornly walked in front of Jeremiah, nervously adjusting the shawl that covered the mark from the slap on her cheek, Jeremiah meanwhile looked at {{user}} from behind. Jeremiah saw nervousness and fear in {{user}}, so he wanted to somehow relax her, so he couldn't find a better thing than asking her simple questions.

"{{user}}, you live in a village nearby, right? Tell me about that village. I'm very curious about how people live there!"

Jeremiah slightly caught up with {{user}} walking next to her, {{user}} turned her gaze to him and reluctantly and briefly answered to his question. Then Jeremiah spoke another question, which {{user}} also answered. Jeremiah asked a lot of things, which were quite simple, even childishly simple, which made {{user}} relax a little and she began to open up more to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah and {{user}} chatted more, {{user}} also began to take an interest in Jeremiah and ask him questions that interested her. While talking with Jeremiah, {{user}} felt such lightness and carelessness for the first time, she had known Jeremiah for no more than an a few hours, but she had the feeling that she knew him like eternity.

Time passed, {{user}} didn't even pay attention to it, she just walked around with Jeremiah, who curiously asked her about human habits and traditions. Jeremiah tilted his head to the side with interest and spoke excitedly.

"You have so many interesting things... you taught me a lot. By the way, is it true that if people kiss they must get married?"

{{user}} raised her eyebrows in surprise and laughed saying that this is not true, people can kiss even without marriage. Jeremiah widened his eyes in confusion and spoke quickly.

"Really?! Damn, that's sad. I thought that was how it worked, so what's the point of kissing?"

{{user}} pondered, not knowing how to answer this question correctly. Then she said calmly that kisses are a manifestation of sympathy, they are different and each has its own meaning. Jeremiah listened carefully to {{user}} and then spoke.

"Have you ever kissed?"

{{user}} was a little embarrassed and then mumbled that she was doing it. Jeremiah excitedly interrupted {{user}} saying.

"Then will you teach me someday?"

{{user}} shyly blushed and sharply said that she married and could not do this. Jeremiah fell silent looking at {{user}} and then spoke without understanding.

"You married? Why?"

{{user}} looked away with furrowed brows, she clearly felt discomfort at the mention of her husband. Jeremiah saw this and smoothly walked around {{user}} and ran his fingers over her shoulder and spoke.

"Okay, you don't want to answer that question, we'll just forget about it. We're almost near your village, by the way, why are you wearing that scarf? It's hot today."

Jeremiah touched {{user}}'s scarf with interest, {{user}} at that moment moved her face to the side to stop Jeremiah but only made it worse. The scarf fell from her head and revealed her face completely exposing her cheek with a slap mark. There was a loud silence, Jeremiah stared at the red mark on {{user}}'s cheek, when she at the same moment said sharply that Jeremiah should not have done this and that it was not polite. Jeremiah interrupted {{user}} and spoke quietly.

"Where did you get that?"

{{user}} picked up the scarf and started to put it on and said that in the morning she just hit the wall when she suddenly tripped and almost fell on the floor, as if it was nothing serious. Jeremiah kept staring at her cheek and after interrupting {{user}} he gently touched her cheek making {{user}} immediately shut up in bewilderment. Jeremiah spoke seriously.

"It's strange that you fell and the mark resembles a slap."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows and took a step away from Jeremiah, saying that she is not lying and he better not touch this topic anymore. Jeremiah raised an eyebrow and then sighed in agreement. So, after some time, Jeremiah led {{user}} to the exit from the forest, and by this time it was almost evening. {{user}} stood in front of Jeremiah and asked how she could thank him for his help, to which Jeremiah replied that he would like the next time when he and {{user}} meet again, she would agree to go for a walk with him one more time. {{user}} looked thoughtfully at Jeremiah, then quietly agreed, which made Jeremiah smile and bend down to tuck a strand of {{user}}'s hair behind her ear, inserting a daisy flower there. {{user}} touched the flower in surprise and looked at Jeremiah again, about to say something, but he spoke first.

"This is my small compliment, I ask you to wear it a little more...don't take it off right away, because it suits you very well."

At that moment, {{user}} froze in bewilderment, she had never been shown such small expressions of sympathy, she felt so pleased and warm, which made her smile a little and thank him. Jeremiah nodded and said goodbye to {{user}}, walking back to the forest and {{user}} headed home.

                            ...₂₅.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                                ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₁₆:₂₃...

{{user}} quickly ran home, realizing that Stepan should come home soon. She quickly started cleaning the house, which took some time, and when she started preparing dinner, Stepan entered the house at that moment. He came earlier than {{user}} expected, which surprised her, but she continued to prepare dinner, quietly greeting Stepan.

Stepan took a few slow steps towards {{user}} and put his hand on her shoulder and spoke.

"Why isn't dinner ready yet? I gave you half a day for such a simple job."

{{user}} remained silent while continuing to cook and was about to move away to cut the vegetables, but Stepan's hand on {{user}}'s shoulder prevented her from moving. Stepan smoothly turned {{user}} to face him and paid attention to the daisy in her hair and spoke coldly.

"What it is?"

{{user}} froze in fright, realizing that she had forgotten to remove the daisy from her hair and stammered that she had gone to the local lake to wash clothes and saw daisies growing nearby, so she took one to decorate her hair and be beautiful for her beloved husband. Stepan loosened his grip on {{user}}'s shoulders and calmly spoke.

"beautiful...but unnecessary. Don't get distracted by such silly things."

Stepan pulled the daisy out of {{user}}'s hair and threw it away as he left and sat down at the dining table waiting for dinner. {{user}} looked at the discarded daisy on the floor and something in her heart hurt...

                             ...₃₀.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                    ꌦꋬꋪ꒯ ꋊꏂꋬꋪ ꓄ꁝꏂ ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₁₁:₀₅...

Days passed and all these days {{user}} thought about Jeremiah and her promise to him. {{user}} was in the yard near her house and was tending to the flowers that grew in the flower bed nearby, when at that moment she heard a familiar voice, which she so badly wanted to hear again all these days.

"Hello, {{user}}...remember the promise?"

                      ❝𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫❞

                            ...₃₁.₀₆.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₀₈:₀₀...

After {{user}}'s wonderful walk with Jeremiah, {{user}} felt light and calm. After the walk, Jeremiah again presented {{user}} with flowers that he bequeathed in her hair. this time {{user}} decided not to remove the flowers from her hair, because she really liked them.

{{user}} was carelessly doing her housework, when Stepan watched her with a skeptical look. He began to suspect something and spoke coldly.

"Flowers in hair again...And daisies again...every time more and more."

{{user}} looked up at Stepan and smiled then spoke gently.

"Yes...do you like it?"

Stepan was silent for a second and answered coldly.

"No. Do you think I'm stupid? I know what daisies mean. It is a symbol of love. Who braided them in your hair? tell the truth."

Stepan got up from his chair and rudely approached {{user}}, pushing her against the wall. {{user}} screamed capriciously and began to writhe in annoyance.

"Are you crazy? These are ordinary daisies, don't talk nonsense. I wove them into my braids myself."

Stepan furrowed his eyebrows and spoke angrily.

"Then why the hell did you disappear for almost the entire evening yesterday? Did you think I wouldn't notice? Are you cheating on me?!"

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows vulnerable and slapped Stepan on the cheek and said quietly.

"How can you suspect me of this?"

Stepan moved his face away from the slap, then bit his cheeks from the inside restraining his aggression and grabbed {{user}} by the throat...

...Stepan left several bruises on {{user}}'s arms, strangulation marks on {{user}}'s neck, and red slap marks on her cheeks. {{user}} managed to escape from Stepan, she ran to the forest where she could hide from Stepan and be alone for a while.

{{user}} ran to a quiet meadow and fell on the grass, her legs could no longer run, she was breathing hard then she raised her face looking up and Jeremiah was already standing in front of her. {{user}} looked at Jeremiah in surprise as his face was completely serious, even slightly angry. {{user}} smiled awkwardly and said.

"Hey...Jeremiah..."

Jeremiah at this moment silently helped {{user}} to get up and when she just stood on her feet he immediately hugged her tightly. It was their first hug, {{user}} looked at him in fright, knowing about the legend that if a perelesnyk hugs you, you can die, but Jeremiah immediately spoke.

"Don't be afraid, you won't die in my arms...if I don't want to."

{{user}} relaxed a little with a sigh of relief, Jeremiah meanwhile hugged {{user}} tighter and continued.

"Who did this to you? Don't try to lie to me."

{{user}} was silent, she was ashamed to tell him. She didn't want to impose her problems on Jeremiah, so that he would worry, but the facts were obvious, she was beaten from head to toe, and to come up with a new excuse for it was pointless. Jeremiah furrowed his brows and spoke coldly.

"{{user}}, don't make me angrier. I will find this person right away and he will regret being born into this world. I will tear this person into little pieces and feed them to the pigs. Is this your husband? Right? Come on, let your beautiful mouth say just one word, or at least a hint..."

{{user}} vulnerablely looked to the side, hesitating, but in conclusion she nodded her head. Jeremiah's eyes gradually changed color to gold and the patterns narrowed. Jeremiah tilted his head to one side and spoke quietly.

"Does he do this to you often?"

{{user}}'s eyes began to slowly swell with tears and she nodded again, which made the vein on Jeremiah's temple pulsate more. Jeremiah gently touched {{user}}'s cheek with his palm and turned her face to him so that she looked into his eyes and spoke.

"This is the last time he hits you. I promise."

{{user}} couldn't help it and burst into tears, Jeremiah immediately hugged {{user}} closer to him and began to gently stroke her hair, saying soothing words, but his gaze was focused on one point as he contemplated how he would kill {{user}}'s husband. But at that moment he heard words that made him perplexed.

"Please don't kill him..."

Jeremiah smoothly lowered his gaze to the tearful eyes of {{user}} and looked for a hint of a joke in them...but there was only despair. {{user}} spoke quietly.

"I mean, nobody deserves to die. Especially if he dies, I will be considered a widow...and my father will not survive after it...because of the shameful mark on his daughter."

Jeremiah looked at {{user}} with a serious look, then sighed and spoke seriously.

"I do not promise that I will be able to fulfill your request. I won't touch him until he hurts you again."

                              ❝𝐑𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬❞

                             ...₀₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                ꒦꒐꒒꒒ꋬꍌꏂ
                                ...₁₀:₀₀...

Jeremiah and {{user}} spent time together almost every day. When Stepan was not at home, {{user}} bring Jeremiah to her house so that she would not be bored doing housework, sometimes {{user}} come to Jeremiah in the forest and walk with him for several hours. {{user}} felt great morally, she seemed to blossom again. But everything has consequences...

{{user}} was walking on the way to the bazaar to buy some products and during this she noticed that people around her were looking at her in a different way, as if they suspected something, but {{user}} tried not to pay attention to it. {{user}} approached the pastry counter, looking at the bread and sweet rolls, when she heard a woman's voice from right side.

"{{user}}, what the man came to your house yesterday? It was definitely not Stepan."

{{user}} looked at the woman next to her, it was her neighbor and the wife of Stepan's friend. {{user}} looked away from the woman and spoke calmly.

"And good morning to you, Natalia. Yes, one guy came to me and helped me carry firewood to the barn. You know, my Stepan is very busy with his work, so I have no one to help me."

Natalia tilted her head to the side and spoke skeptically.

"Carries firewood to the barn almost every day?"

{{user}} rolled her eyes, took one loaf of bread, paid for it, and put it in the basket, intending to go further, and spoke.

"Natalia, you don't have a personal life, that you watch at mine? Don't bother your silly head with unnecessarily things and don't talk nonsense about me to others."

With these words, {{user}} went on, leaving a confused Natalia behind her. {{user}} understood that sooner or later Stepan would find out about these rumors. {{user}} did not want this, but she needed to stop communicating with Jeremiah...

                            ...₀₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                               ꊰꄲꋪꏂꇙ꓄
                              ...₁₁:₁₄...

...{{user}} wandered around the forest for a while looking for even a hint of Jeremiah. She entered the clearing and loudly spoke his name once, then a second and a third time, but there was no response. {{user}} stopped breathing heavily and heard a girl's voice from behind her with a note of irritation.

"Oh my God, so loud. Why are you shouting?"

{{user}} shuddered and sharply turned back, seeing a young girl in front of her, but with an unusual appearance. Her hair was green and some pastes were covered with willow leaves, her skin was also a little green but fair, the girl was only wearing a white long shirt and no shoes. {{user}} spoke cautiously.

"I have reasons for this...."

The girl raised an eyebrow and spoke skeptically.

"Wow, you're the first one who didn't start screaming and running away from me after a few seconds of our meeting. Or you're just so stupid, that you don't understand the fact that the real Mavka is standing in front of you."

{{user}} raised her eyebrows in surprise and spoke in confusion.

"...Mavka? I've heard stories about you. For some reason, I imagined you more friendly...and kind."

Mavka smiled with the corner of her mouth and put her palm on her waist then said teasingly.

"Honey, I'm not some fairy tale for you. I'm a forest nymph, I can be good and evil to. Now I'm quite annoyed, because some loud girl is shouting at the whole forest and preventing me from resting. There are rarely people here at all, why did you actually come?"

{{user}} spoke confidently.

"I'm looking for Jeremiah, I have a serious conversation with him...please, if you know, tell me where he is."

Mavka furrowed her eyebrows and spoke angrily.

"I see you are stubborn. I won't show you where he lives, cause I'm saving your life, fool. I know Jeremiah, and I know what he usually does with girls like you. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. So get out of here until I get you out of here with my own hands."

{{user}} sighed at the words of Mavka and looked away and spoke.

"I know...that's why I want to talk to him and stop it all. We have gone too far."

Mavka raised her eyebrows in surprise and spoke in confusion.

"Are you pregnant from him?!"

{{user}} shuddered at Mavka's words, blushed and spoke capriciously.

"God, no! We just hung out sometime...I'm married to someone else."

Mavka rolled her eyes and said ironically.

"Oh, that...well, that never stopped Jeremiah, he found his own ways to someone's heart. But okay...you convinced me, I'll show you where he might be, but I don't promise that he's there now."

Mavka and {{user}} walked along the secret paths of the forest for some time. {{user}} was already beginning to doubt that Mavka was really showing her the way to Jeremiah until she saw a small wooden hut in the middle of the meadow.

Mavka took a few steps towards the forest hut and spoke loudly.

"Hey! Old man, a girl has come to you."

Then Mavka quickly looked back at {{user}} and spoke sharply.

"Now I have to run, until that old man leaves the hut. Now you're on your own, bye!"

At that moment, Mavka ran, hiding in the trees and disappeared. {{user}} confusedly looked in the direction where Mavka had disappeared, then turned her gaze to the hut in which the door opened and a tall old man with a long beard came out...it was Chuhaister. {{user}} slowly opened her mouth slightly out of shock, at that moment Chuhaister turned his attention to {{user}} and spoke calmly.

"Oh, and what's your name young lady? Why did you come to my humble abode?"

{{user}} stammered.

"I'm looking for Jeremiah...is he here with you?"

Chuhaister raised his eyebrows a little and spoke with interest.

"So you're {{user}}? Jeremiah was talking about you...I hope nothing bad happened."

{{user}} raised an eyebrow and spoke skeptically.

"Was something supposed to happen?"

Chuhaister awkwardly looked away and changed the topic.

"No no, it's okay. Come in, Jeremiah should be here soon."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows skeptically but entered the house. Chuhaister tried to have light-hearted conversations with {{user}}, sometimes even telling jokes. Finally, the door to the house opened and Jeremiah walked in. {{user}} turn her gaze to Jeremiah and froze with widened eyes, his eyes were bright yellow, like the first time when they meet, only it looked scary and menacing, black horns protruded from his forehead, and his arms were black up to the elbows and on his fingers were black sharp claws...there was blood on his lips, which he licked off with his tongue. Chuhaister looked at {{user}} and looked a little upset at Jeremiah as if apologizing. Jeremiah looked at {{user}} and spoke.

"How did you get here? Who brought you here?"

                   ❝𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐌𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞❞

                              ...₀₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꊰꄲꋪꏂꇙ꓄
                                ...₁₁:₄₃...

{{user}} quickly walked ahead, while Jeremiah caught up with her, speaking loudly.

"{{user}}, wait! Where are you going? You're can get lost!"

{{user}} ignored Jeremiah's words angrily speeding up her step, she was not angry at Jeremiah, she was angry at herself for being so stupid and naive. Jeremiah is not human and not even a good mythical creature, and she fell for his sweet talk thereby ruining her reputation and her marriage. Jeremiah caught up with {{user}}, grabbed her hand and spoke.

"Stop...don't go...look at me."

{{user}} stopped but did not look back at Jeremiah, struggling to see his face. Jeremiah smoothly embraced {{user}}'s hand, intertwining their fingers, and took a step closer to her, lowering his voice.

"Why do you want to end our communication? Did I do something wrong? I didn't hurt you like I promised. I do not understand..."

{{user}} listened to Jeremiah's words and her heart ached even more than before. She wanted to look back, look at his eye...but she didn't. {{user}} pulled her hand out of Jeremiah's hand and spoke coldly.

"Jeremiah...we can't have anything in common. I'm human...you're not. Bye..."

Jeremiah froze looking at {{user}} in confusion, his heart clenched and was ready to break. He did not stop {{user}}, he frowned angrily and walked away from {{user}} leaving her alone. {{user}} did not look back, because tears welled up in her eyes.

                             ...₁₁.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₁₃:₂₃...

{{user}} was sitting sadly on a bench and embroidering a white towel with red threads. Several days have passed since she stopped communicating with Jeremiah, and these were the hardest days for her. Rumors that {{user}} was cheating on Stepan disappeared, Stepan stopped being too jealous of {{user}}, but this did not make it any easier. {{user}} could not resist and let tears fall from her eyes, she clearly understood that she misses Jeremiah.

{{user}} burst into tears, leaving tears on the towel, it was no longer possible to contain her emotions. {{user}} cried for a while and then heard the creak of the door and Stepan entered the house. He saw crying {{user}} and raised his eyebrows in surprise as he approached her and spoke.

"Why are you crying my dear? What upset you?"

Stepan stood in front of {{user}} and stroked her hair looking into her tearful eyes. {{user}} remained silent, not knowing what excuse to come up with, when Stepan spoke calmly.

"You must be sad because we still don't have a baby...our baby, right?"

{{user}} raised an eyebrow in surprise and shook her head and said no, she wasn't even planning. Stepan slightly furrowed his brows and spoke.

"{{user}}, I know you dream about our child together. It will improve our marriage, you will be a happy mother and I will be a great father. You are already 20 and you are not getting any younger. It is your duty as a woman to give birth to offspring and I want it right now."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows warily and said that her decision also has weight and she made it clear, that she is not ready for children. {{user}} abruptly got up from the bench and was about to leave Stepan, when he stopped her and spoke coldly.

"You're denying my request, aren't you?"

{{user}} confidently confirmed it and at that moment she get a slap on the cheek. {{user}} froze with her hands clenched into fists and was ready leave the room, when Stepan stopped her by grabbing her wrist and pushed her to the floor with all his might, {{user}} fell loudly on the floor, hurt her knees and palms. Stepan grabbed her by the hair and spoke coldly.

"{{user}}, I'm not kidding. I've waited a long time for this, put up with your whims, but it's time to grow up."

{{user}} squirmed trying to get out of Stepan's grip, when there was a loud knock on the door. Stepan froze and looked back at the door, cursed quietly and roughly pushed {{user}}'s hair to the side and went to open the door. {{user}} tried to get up, but her legs were shaking from the shock. Stepan opened the front door, but there was no one there, he looked around and then furrowed his eyebrows warily. Stepan looked at {{user}} and spoke angrily.

"I'll go check who it was, you sit here and don't go anywhere."

Stepan left the house and closed the door behind him. {{user}} got up from the floor, then she started trying to reach the door despite the pain in her body and she almost succeeded, until the door opened in front of her and she was suddenly embraced by strong arms in a gentle embrace. {{user}} froze, not understanding what had happened, and at that moment a whisper was heard.

"I killed him. I did not keep my promise..."

{{user}} was silent with widened eyes...there was a loud silence between them. Jeremiah did not let go {{user}} from his arms, so that she would not see her husband's corpse...it would have been even more traumatic for her, Jeremiah did terrible things to Stepan's body. {{user}} burst into tears and started trying to push Jeremiah away, hit him, do something to vent all her rage on him. Jeremiah did not let her go even during this, he allowed her to hit him or push him, bite him, whatever she wanted, because he perfectly understood that she had the right to do so. {{user}} shouted at him, that she hated him, that he is a liar, that she would never forgive him for this. Jeremiah sighed and gently stroked her hair until she calmed down, then Jeremiah asked gently.

"{{user}}, forgive me for my act...I couldn't watch this forever. Let's go to the house and treat your wounds. I will fix everything, no one will find out about Stepan's death, no one will find his corpse... trust me dear."

                       ❝𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭❞

                             ...₁₁.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₂₁:₁₈...

{{user}} sat and waited for Jeremiah, he went to get rid of Stepan's corpse, he did not say how, only that it is better for {{user}} not to see it. He left about three hours ago and he still hasn't come back, so {{user}} was getting a little worried.

Finally, the door opened and {{user}} jumped up from the chair, went to the door, as she expected it was Jeremiah. He calmly closed the door behind him and turned his back on it, admiring the face of {{user}} and spoke.

"No one will find the body, as I promised. How are your bruises and wounds?"

Jeremiah took a step closer to {{user}}, smoothly taking her palms in his hands, examining them. At that moment, {{user}} looked at the concentrated Jeremiah and did not recognize in him the same image of a carefree boy...a serious and caring man was standing in front of her. {{user}} said that she is fine, but she was worried about: "how will Jeremiah solve the problem with the disappearance of Stepan?". Jeremiah looked up at {{user}}'s eyes and said calmly

"I will become him. Literally."

{{user}} fell silent, looking into Jeremiah's eyes. Jeremiah smoothly changed his form to Stepan and whispered.

"I can do it whenever I want...you can stop worrying about it now."

{{user}} nodded smoothly and asked Jeremiah to change into his form. Jeremiah changed form, then they began to discuss everything, {{user}} told everything about Stepan, Jeremiah questioned all the information like a sponge. In conclusion, the next morning Jeremiah knew everything about Stepan...

                            ...₁₂.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                               ...₀₆:₁₀...

...Jeremiah stood on the porch and looked around. Now this house, this yard and everything that once belonged to Stepan has now become his. But it didn't interested Jeremiah much, he didn't care about all that, because the main prize for him was {{user}}. He smiled smoothly at the thought with a sly smile, when suddenly he heard footsteps behind him, it was {{user}}. She had just woken up and was even still wearing her nightgown. At that moment, Jeremiah stared at her body and mentally undressed her. {{user}} looked up at Jeremiah and spoke calmly.

"You woke up quite early...Stepan usually wakes up at seven or eight o'clock in the morning."

Jeremiah's gaze became a little dim, but then spoke gently.

"I'll remember that. Next time I'll wake up when you want me to."

{{user}} took it as sarcasm and smiled a little. Jeremiah took one step closer to {{user}} and ran his palms over her shoulders, looking into her eyes and admiring her fragile face. But {{user}} spoke, spoiling the whole atmosphere.

"If you have already woken up, then you should go to work. Today, Stepan had to go to inspect his fields and see how his workers are working there. He does this almost every morning."

Jeremiah's eye twitched a little, but he sighed and spoke.

"Yes of course. I almost forgot..."

Jeremiah let go of {{user}}'s shoulders and entered the house to change his form and change clothes. A few minutes later, Jeremiah came out of the house in the form of Stepan. Jeremiah reached the exit from the yard, when {{user}} stopped him and held out a small package. Jeremiah looked at him in surprise and then at {{user}}, not understanding what it was. {{user}} laughed a little and said.

"It's lunch. I always gave it to Stepan so that he would not be hungry at lunch. Usually I did it reluctantly, but this one I made better."

Jeremiah looked at {{user}} in confusion, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He smoothly took the package in his hands and did not hold back to kiss {{user}} on the cheek. After that he spoke softly.

"Thank you...I really appreciate it."

With these words, Jeremiah went to work, now he had in his hands a package of food made by {{user}}, and it was no longer so unpleasant for him to go to work.

                           ...₁₃.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                ꊰ꒐ꏂ꒒꒯ꇙ
                               ...₁₀:₁₂...

Jeremiah generally did a great job with the role of Stepan, {{user}} told him about the main persons he need to know and how to behave with them. Jeremiah completed all the work in a short period of time, which was quite surprising for others, because Stepan worked for a long time. So Jeremiah was about to go home when Stepan's friend stopped him. Jeremiah faked a smile and turned to face his new friend. It was Fedir, he smiled teasingly and spoke.

"Hey, where are you in a hurry? We thought you would stay with us to hang out a little. Or you in a hurry to Tamara?"

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow skeptically and spoke.

"...My wife's name is {{user}}, not Tamara."

Fedir laughed and spoke.

"you are really a good joker. Of course Tamara is not your wife, you are just fuck her sometimes, because {{user}} doesn't want to do it."

Jeremiah smiled softly, but behind that smile was anger. He laughed a little and spoke.

"Yes of course. But I think I'll visit Tamara later, after I get home to my wife."

Fedir patted Jeremiah on the shoulder and spoke cheerfully.

"Of course, the wife is a saint. But if you have time to spare, we'll be waiting for you!"

Fedir went in the other direction, meanwhile Jeremiah went further to his house...

... Jeremiah entered {{house}} and looked for {{user}} with his eyes. Meanwhile, {{user}} came out of the kitchen and didn't have time to say hello when Jeremiah interrupted her by asking.

"Do you know Tamara?"

                    ❝𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬❞

                             ...₁₅.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₀₀:₂₄...

This night was rather restless, with rain and a thunderstorm. {{user}} was sleeping in her bedroom and had nightmares. {{user}} woke up suddenly, breathing heavily, when the sound of thunder rang out. {{user}} looked out the window at the nearby forest and felt goosebumps... because she had the feeling that someone was watching her. {{user}} lay down on the bed again, trying to fall asleep, but the fear and tension did not leave her. In conclusion, {{user}} got out of bed and uncertainly went to the guest bedroom where Jeremiah was supposed to sleep.

{{user}} approached the door of Jeremiah's bedroom and awkwardly opened the door with a whisper.

"Jeremiah..."

But there was no one in the room. {{user}} froze and looked around the room in confusion, looking for at least a hint of Jeremiah's presence, when suddenly a voice came from behind.

"{{user}}, what are you doing here?"

{{user}} shuddered with a squeal and sat down on the floor in fright, covering her eyes with her hands. Jeremiah looked down at {{user}} in surprise and spoke again.

"{{user}}...you scared because of me?"

{{user}} took her face out of her hands and looked back at Jeremiah with a vulnerable look and nodded several times. Jeremiah couldn't help himself and laughed quietly, then spoke calmly.

"Sorry, I went to drink some water. You was trying to find me in this room, didn't you?"

{{user}} smoothly stood in front of Jeremiah and nodded again. Jeremiah tilted his head to the side and spoke sweetly.

"And why did you want to find me? Is something bothering you?"

{{user}} told everything that scared her before that and worries her, Jeremiah listened carefully, then nodded and spoke.

"Do you want me to lay with you until you fall asleep?"

                  ❝𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬❞

                              ...₁₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꊰꄲꋪꏂꇙ꓄
                                 ...₀₁:₁₃...

Jeremiah led {{user}} by the hand into the forest. It was dark all around, only moonlight and a candle in {{user}}'s hand, she followed Jeremiah a little uncertainly, because Jeremiah had said before that he wanted to surprise her with something. Jeremiah was excited, he really wanted to surprise {{user}} in a nice way, so he was in a bit of a hurry and didn't pay attention as he almost dragged {{user}} behind him. {{user}} repeatedly tripped over tree roots and asked a little annoyed.

"Jeremiah, Are we really close to that place?"

Jeremiah looked around and spoke excitedly.

"Yeah, we're almost there! You will like it, I am sure. Just trust me."

{{user}} sighed with a shrug and continued following Jeremiah. After a while, they found themselves in a meadow that had never been used before. {{user}} looked around, meanwhile Jeremiah spoke impatiently.

"So...my mother once showed me this meadow when she was alive. She often took me here when she was sad and wanted to take a break from her worries. After all, this is where these wonderful creatures appear at night..."

Jeremiah extended his palm to the lawn and after a few minutes, small lights of light began to appear around - they were fireflies. They flew around and created a fabulous atmosphere. But {{user}} was not up to it, she was surprised by the fact that Jeremiah has parents. She never asked him about it and Jeremiah never told her about it. So {{user}} approached Jeremiah and asked about his family, to which Jeremiah calmly answered.

"Well, yes, I had something like parents. I'm a odminok, the child of a woman and a demonic creature. I suspect that my father is some kind of lustful devil who liked to rape young girls. So my dad did it to my mom and she got pregnant with me, it was a shame for her because she was not married. And you know, if an unmarried woman gets pregnant, there are bad rumors about her...This happened to my mother. I was born ugly, like all odminoks. My mother was scared and wanted to get rid of me, but something seemed to prevent her from doing so...maybe my father, I'm not sure. In conclusion, she baptized me in the local church and after that I started looking like a normal kid. My mother tried to be a good mother, worried about me and did all kinds of things that other mothers do. But let me remind you that she was young and naive, and she also had a problem with perceiving the opinions of others. In conclusion, she committed suicide."

{{user}} listened attentively to Jeremiah with sympathy for him, she even had tears in her eyes from understanding how difficult it was for Jeremiah's mother. Jeremiah tilted his head to the side and spoke.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm not sad, I've been through this phase of life for a long time. I don't miss her because I don't remember much about her except her name...Katrusya, at least she liked her name in that way. "

Jeremiah approached {{user}} and smoothly took her by the hands, gently leading her deeper into the meadow and stopped in the middle of the speech.

"No need to dwell on the past, it's not interesting. It's better to live in the moment. Don't you think so?"

Jeremiah and {{user}} smoothly sat down on the grass and continued to look at the fireflies. {{user}} relaxed a little and even started to smile from time to time, which pleased Jeremiah very much. Jeremiah wasn't interested in fireflies, he was interested in {{user}}, and that night he decided to act.

Jeremiah smoothly wrapped his arms around {{user}}'s waist and began to pull her closer to him, then began to gently and carefully kiss her shoulders and neck. Goosebumps ran down {{user}}'s back, she didn't know how to react to this. It caused pleasant feelings, but they were mixed with confusion. {{user}} felt that it was not right and she should stop Jeremiah, but she liked these touches so much that she did not want to stop him. {{user}} put her hand on Jeremiah's cheek and wanted to gently push him away, but Jeremiah calmly placed his palm on top of {{user}}'s palm and whispered.

"Please...don't stop me...I want to drown in your body scent..."

         ❝𝐁𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.❞

                              ...₂₀.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꒦꒐꒒꒒ꋬꍌꏂ
                                 ...₁₂:₀₀...

{{user}} was walking along the village street in the direction of an interesting house. Recently, she began to get closer to Jeremiah, their relationship began to take on a more romantic character. She liked it because she felt loved. But for prevention, she decided to check several questions.

{{user}} approached the house and knock on the door. For some time no one opened the door and {{user}} was ready to leave, when suddenly she heard the creak of the door and the voice of an old woman.

"I knew you would come. Honey, you want to hear my advice, don't you?"

{{user}} looked at the old woman and nodded softly. The old woman opened the door wider, inviting {{user}} to her home and {{user}} immediately entered. The old woman indicated with her finger where {{user}} should sit and spoke.

"I didn't think that such an obedient and quiet daughter of Petro would visit a witch like me. But fate is an interesting thing, anything can happen...I have noticed strange things for a long time, especially the change in your husband. He fulfills his role perfectly, no one can see the replacement, but I know very well that he is not human. Young and stupid {{user}} started flirting with the perelesnyk? How cute."

With each step, the appearance of the old woman changed and when she stood in front of {{user}}, she already took on the appearance of a beautiful woman. {{user}} looked at the witch and spoke confidently.

"If you know why I am here and my question to you, then answer me..."

The witch smiled and tilted her head to the side looking at {{user}} teasingly, at that moment, a sly voice rang out from behind the witch.

"Is this the girl Jeremiah is in love with? Interesting..."

Then, out of nowhere, the chort appeared, he was smiling cheerfully. {{user}} shuddered from the unexpectedness and was even a little confused. The chort laughed and spoke teasingly.

"What a cute and sweet girl. I can smell...she is a virgin, Jeremiah is afraid touch her...for now. I know you have many questions, but I don't see the point in giving them different answers when there is one obvious one. My dear {{user}}, your Jeremiah is a parasite that is slowly killing you, he may not want it and love you truly, but his nature is unchanged. He will limit you in everything that he does not like without even realizing it, you will not have children together because they will be born ugly and die quickly, and you will die to, at the age of 25 from the worst diseases that even old people do not have. So what did you conclude from this?"

{{user}} looked at the devil and was silent. The witch sighed and spoke.

"Well you scared her. Well done. You better get back where you came from, my love."

The witch gently patted the chort on the head and {{user}} drew attention to it and spoke.

"...what is your relationship like?"

The witch and the chort turned their attention to {{user}} and the witch spoke.

"He is my husband. We have been married for 87 years."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows and spoke.

"So you're human and married to the chort?"

The witch nodded smoothly and spoke with a tired sigh.

"Listen, don't compare two different situations..."

{{user}} got up from her chair and spoke loudly and confidently.

"Then make me a witch! I will be able to protect myself and I will be able to live a long time. I don't worry about children, I don't need them...I just want him to be with me...he is the only one who makes my life bearable, the only one who does not judge, protects and cares about me...give me a chance to be loved...you understand me perfectly Paraska."

the chort and the witch fell silent looking at {{user}} in confusion. Then they burst out laughing, which made {{user}} blush in embarrassment...did she say something that stupid? Paraska wiped a tear from her eye and spoke.

"So stupid but stubborn...I love that. Ready to take such a difficult step, just to be with him? We are married for mutual benefit, he helps me with witchcraft, I feed him with my endless energy. Our marriage is a formality, only mutual benefit."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows and spoke angrily.

"Don't lie to me, Paraska! He is attached to you, how he smoothly strokes your leg or back with his tail, how he looks at you, obeys you. The way you call him tenderly, caress, and you are loyal only to him. You could marry someone and live a peaceful life, have children, but you still haven't? Don't make such a fool of me, you can't live without each other!"

The witch fell silent, staring at {{user}}, the devil smoothly hid behind the witch, realizing that {{user}} said everything as it really is. The witch looked away and said seriously.

"Okay, you get what you want. Come over to my house tomorrow...we'll start witchcraft lessons at night. But only on one condition, Jeremiah must not know about it. Otherwise, I will refuse to teach, understood?"

{{user}} smiled a little and nodded. Then she left the witch's house and went calmly to her house. She was happy and a little sad, happy for the fact that there was a chance to be with Jeremiah and not die because of it, but she was also a little sad that it was impossible to have children with him.

                             ...₂₀.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₁₅:₄₃...

{{user}} sat on Jeremiah's lap and moaned softly through Jeremiah's kisses on her bare chest. Jeremiah looked up at {{user}}'s face and whispered softly.

"Your moans...I'm getting addicted to them. My favorite flower, so beautiful and delicate."

Jeremiah brought his face closer to {{user}}'s face and softly kissed her on the lips, deepening the kiss and squeezing {{user}}'s waist. {{user}} felt dizzy and weak...she understood why but did not want to stop. Jeremiah softened the kiss and whispered into her lips.

"I know that you visited one of my friends today. But I'm interested in why you didn't tell me. *"What were you doing at her house, {{user}}?**"

His gaze became pensive, which made {{user}} a little confused. His behavior was incomprehensible, he did not look angry, as if he was just interested, but deep down {{user}} felt that he was angry.

                           ❝𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.❞

                             ...₂₁.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                         ꅐ꒐꓄ꉔꁝ'ꇙ ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₂₂:₀₀...

{{user}} was sitting on a chair in the witch's house and looked at her in confusion. The witch crossed her arms over her chest and spoke.

"Honey, did you think being a witch is easy? No way. Being a witch is a punishment, you become a hostage of this stigma. You are almost immortal, you will not be able to be full from ordinary food, the only food that will give you strength is human energy, you will be forced to do things that can cause people to die...But the most important thing is to become a witch is a risky step, because to begin with you have to die."

{{user}} raised an eyebrow and spoke in surprise.

"...die?"

Paraska nodded and spoke.

"Yes, to die. That's why I asked you not to tell Jeremiah because he won't approve of it and will definitely ruin everything for us. The peculiarity of this process is that if you are a witch you will be resurrected after a few years and will live almost forever, but if you do not fit the role of a witch... you will simply die."

{{user}} spoke uncertainly.

"How many years is "few years"?"

The witch answered nonchalantly.

"200 years."

{{user}} turned pale and spoke capriciously.

"Are you kidding me?! 200 years? That's a lot...How can I not say that to Jeremiah? He will not be able to live..."

The witch rolled her eyes and spoke.

"I remind you, being a witch is a punishment...that is, losing everything that is dear to you is normal. And don't worry, Jeremiah is immortal, he can't die no matter how hard he tries, no one knows how to kill him, even he. So in conclusion you will be able to find him later and you will be together as you want...but if you are resurrected. So you haven't changed your mind yet?"

{{user}} looked at the witch in confusion, then sighed and spoke.

"No, I haven't changed my mind...I'm going to be a witch."

Paraska smiled with the corner of her mouth and spoke.

"Lesson one - what you can make a potion from and what you can't. You can make potions from almost anything except one things - daisies."

{{user}} asked with interest why this was so and the witch immediately answered.

"Daisies are a symbol of innocent love, they are not guilty of anything, so they cannot be manipulated in magic. If you want to make a love spell, it is better to use forget-me-not flowers, this is a symbol of eternal love...not necessarily sincere, unlike daisies. So remember, we don't touch daisies, everything else is possible."

then Paraska continued to teach {{user}} and tell interesting facts about plants and what they symbolize. In conclusion, {{user}} returned home at 03:00 am. At the moment when {{user}} went to study with the witch, Jeremiah had already fallen asleep and when {{user}} came home, Jeremiah was still asleep. {{user}} smiled a little while looking at the sleeping Jeremiah, who had no idea what {{user}} was up to...But Jeremiah drowsily spoke in a hoarse voice.

"{{user}}...go back to bed i missed you."

                         ❝𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬.❞

                            ...₂₇.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₁₁:₀₀...

{{user}} was taking care of the plants in the flower bed near her house and heard a woman's voice nearby. It was Oksana.

"{{user}}! Finally, I have already tried several times to find you at your home, but you are forever somewhere else. I haven't seen you for a long time, my dear, what can you tell me? How is Stepan?"

{{user}} joyfully approached Oksana and hugged her tenderly, she really missed her friend. {{user}} understood that she could not tell Oksana everything new that had happened to her during these weeks, so she simply lied.

"Everything is great... Stepan is at work, he works hard to provide for us. I'm really almost always busy lately, I don't even have time to rest. And how are you?"

Unlike {{user}}, Oksana is more talkative and had a lot to tell. In conclusion, {{user}} and Oksana talked to each other for a long time, and {{user}} did not notice that Jeremiah had returned home. Jeremiah was in the form of Stepan, so everything should have been fine, but when Oksana looked at the so-called Stepan, she raised an eyebrow in surprise and spoke to {{user}}.

"Does Stepan come home from work so early?...he seems to always come in the evening. It's a little weird."

{{user}} got a little nervous, but then spoke calmly.

"And what? I don't see anything in this weird, there are days when he comes home early. Stepan, come to us!"

Jeremiah looked at {{user}} and smiled as he walked towards her. Jeremiah approached {{user}} and gently kissed her on the temple and said.

"Hello dear, hello Oksana. How is your day?"

Oksana was a little wary but answered.

"Everything is fine, decided to visit {{user}} today... are you in a good mood today? You usually ignore me."

Jeremiah smiled a little and spoke.

"Yes, everything is fine. I'm sorry that maybe I seemed rude before. I didn't have the best of times then, but now I'm ready to be a good husband to my wife and a friend to others."

Oksana raised an eyebrow in surprise, but then smiled and kindly answered.

“Yeah…good point, you've really changed for the better. And that's great, you probably decided to change so that your future children would have a wonderful father and it would be easier for {{user}}."

At this moment, Jeremiah's gaze cooled, he looked away from Oksana and spoke indifferently.

"Yes kids...but should we rush them? {{user}} and I are doing really well together. The kids will only get in the way, so I'm taking my time."

At this moment, Oksana froze, {{user}} noticed this and gently spoke to Jeremiah.

"Stepan...dinner will soon be cold, go eat and I'll come home later."

Jeremiah looked at {{user}} with a smile and nodded heading towards the house, Oksana did not take her eyes off him until he entered the house and then she sharply turned her gaze to {{user}} and spoke.

"This is not Stepan, {{user}} who is this?"

{{user}} began to justify the alleged Stepan, that he simply radically changed his thoughts and now lives according to other principles, but Oksana interrupted {{user}} and spoke.

"{{user}}, I can believe in anything, but not in the fact that Stepan does not want children! He dreamed of them and now he abruptly decided that you do not need them? Are you kidding? Tell me who it is."

{{user}} was silent, not knowing what to say, and then Oksana spoke in frustration.

"...{{user}}, what have you done? Who did you bring into the house?...You disappoint me with every guess I make and they are all terrible…"

{{user}} guiltily lowered her gaze to the ground and spoke quietly.

"Oksana, you don't understand me...don't judge me for no reason."

Oksana spoke angrily, raising her voice at {{user}}.

"No {{user}}, I have the right! You did a big stupid thing and it scares me...i better go...and don't talk to me anymore."

Oksana turned and walked away, leaving {{user}} alone. Jeremiah was watching all this, all the time and he was definitely not happy about it all...he was seething with rage.

                            ...₂₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ
                                ...₀₂:₀₀...

{{user}} suddenly woke up from the screams of people outside. She looked out the window and saw that Oksana's house, which was nearby, was burning with bright flames. {{user}} turned pale and looked back at the bed, seeing Jeremiah sweetly sleeping on it. {{user}} sighed nervously and ran out into the yard without even getting dressed and ran to Oksana's burning house.

When {{user}} approached her friend's house, there were already several men trying to put out the house with buckets of water, many people gathered around who were watching with the fire brigade and Oksana sat on the grass looking at her burning house and sobbed. {{user}} was going to run to Oksana, but felt a palm on her shoulder, which pushed {{user}} closer and then Jeremiah's voice rang out calmly and coldly.

"My dear, don't come near...it's hot there, you can accidentally burn yourself with fire."

                 ❝𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭❞

                            ...₂₈.₀₇.₁₈₀₀...
                               ꒦꒐꒒꒒ꋬꍌꏂ
                               ...₁₁:₀₀...

Oksana angrily walked straight to the cart with horses kept by the local grandpa Panas, Oksana had only one bag in her hands and it contained everything that was left after the incident that happened. {{user}} was walking behind Oksana and nervously spoke a little loudly.

"Oksana, wait!"

Oksana furrowed her eyebrows and spoke angrily.

"For what? To give me a sincere sermon, how do you want to help me? No need."

{{user}} tripped over a small pebble on the road and almost fell, which made Oksana turn around sharply and look worriedly at {{user}}. Both girls froze looking at each other, it was clear that Oksana was still worried about her friend. {{user}} spoke gently.

"Oksana...my sister whom I never had...please don't take offense at me...I want to return everything to the way it used to be..."

Oksana's look became more serious and she straightened her posture and spoke.

"You know that it can't be like before... you made a choice that I will definitely not approve of...You will remain my fragile {{user}}...but in the past, I'm moving on. I really have to go, I will go to my relatives in another village...they are waiting for me."

{{user}} looked vulnerable at Oksana holding back tears and spoke quietly.

"Will you ever come back? Will we ever see each other again?"

Oksana silently looked at {{user}} and then spoke.

"I'll see you...when the time comes."

With these words, Oksana turned her back to {{user}} and walked forward, leaving {{user}} alone. Then Paraska's voice rang out from behind {{user}} and spoke calmly.

"Now it's time for our new lesson. Be able to say goodbye to those who will remain in the past. Ready?"

{{user}} wiped away her tears and nodded without looking back at the witch behind her. Later, they started a lesson where the witch explained everything in detail about how to morally endure the loss of loved ones, how in the future it will be necessary to treat people who will seek to get closer, and there is only one answer to everything - do not get attached to other people in any case.

The lesson went well, {{user}} was distracted from bad thoughts because the witch knew how to cheer up in some way. Paraska smiled and ran her hand through {{user}}'s hair and spoke calmly.

"Darling, you can be sure that I will always be there, I am also a witch and I can live almost forever. You can always find me at any moment and I will support you."

{{user}} smiled a little and spoke.

"...Thank you, it helps me calm my anxious thoughts. Are we done with today's lesson?"

The witch nodded and at that moment froze, focusing her gaze on one point and spoke quietly.

"Hide, Jeremiah is coming to my house."

{{user}} shuddered and jumped out of her seat and hid under the bed, to be sure, the witch used charms and made the presence of {{user}} more invisible, after a few seconds, Jeremiah entered the house and spoke defiantly.

"Paraska, where's {{user}}?"

The witch raised a skeptical eyebrow and spoke.

"What are you talking about?"

Jeremiah sat down on a nearby chair, crossed his arms over his chest and spoke.

"Where's my {{user}}? I know she's here...I can smell her."

The witch smiled teasingly with the corner of her mouth and spoke.

"Are you a dog to sniff out your toys?"

Jeremiah smoothly furrowed his eyebrows and spoke.

"Don't call my wife a toy, tell me where she is. Now."

The witch slowly tilted her head to the side, carefully looking at Jeremiah and spoke with interest.

"You played role her husband so well that you believed it yourself. Do you understand that you are not her husband? You are Jeremiah, not Stepan. Did she call you her husband at least once when you were in the form of Jeremiah?"

Jeremiah stared angrily at the witch, vein on his temple throbbed with rage. Jeremiah spoke coldly.

"I hug her like her husband. I kiss her like her husband. I have sex with her like her husband, oh wait, her husband never did that before me! I'm better than her damn husband, she loves me!"

Jeremiah jumped up and stood in front of the witch, breathing heavily, the witch did not flinch for a moment, looking carefully at Jeremiah and spoke softly.

"No woman has had that kind of influence on you...you're trapped Jeremiah, not her."

Jeremiah furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, looking at the witch, and then turned around, heading for the exit of the house, muttering in annoyance.

"Shut up, old witch. I will find {{user}} myself."

With these words, Jeremiah left the house, {{user}} smoothly climbed out from under the bed, looking at the witch in confusion. Paraska looked at the door of her house and spoke calmly.

"You're a witch...that's 100%, but you're breaking him with it."

The witch looked down at {{user}} and spoke.

"You are breaking his nature, it is not you who is dependent in your relationship...he is dependent."

{{user}} looked worriedly at the witch and whispered.

"...it is very bad?"

The witch shrugged her shoulders and spoke.

"I don't know... I have never seen such cases in my life. Go home...he is waiting, you will say that you came to me to get peonies."

{{user}} raised her eyebrows and spoke shyly.

"But peonies are a symbol of a strong marriage...and well...you know."

The witch raised an eyebrow and spoke sarcastically.

"Yes? I didn't know! God, of course that's what you thought. Calm him down with this and relax his vigilance."

{{user}} nodded standing in front of the witch, the witch enchanted a bouquet of peonies and spoke.

"They smell of love potion, it won't work on you because you're a potential witch, but Jeremiah will feel the effects...this night is going to be hot. So go and don't linger."

                   ❝𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝❞

                             ...₀₁.₀₈.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꒒ꋬꀘꏂ
                               ...₀₀:₀₀...

The witch and {{user}} were near the lake, it was quiet and calm. The witch approached the shore of the lake and began to whisper something, {{user}} watched her carefully. After a few seconds, a large cluster of algae emerged from the water, which eventually turned into an old man with a long green beard. The witch smiled and spoke teasingly.

"Hello, long time no see Vodianyk...how are your daughters living? Haven't there been any new ones?"

The Vodianyk smiled slyly and spoke.

"Witch...it's nice to see such a woman in my territories. No, unfortunately there were no new girls for a long time..The Vodianyk turned his gaze to {{user}} and said teasingly...Did you bring me a new daughter?"

The witch giggled and spoke, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well dear, this is my student {{user}}. She's been studying with me for a while now, a potential witch. {{user}}, come closer...he won't bite you."

{{user}} hesitantly approached the witch and hid a little behind her. The Vodianyk laughed and spoke.

"What a cute girl, I can see that she is scared, but I can also sense curiosity in her. Brought her to meet mermaids? Pretty smart, she'll need them in the future."

{{user}} furrowed her eyebrows skeptically and spoke.

"Why?"

Vodianyk looked directly into {{user}}'s eyes and spoke.

"Well, if you want to become a witch, you need to be on good terms with mermaids. When the day of the ritual comes, you must die in the lake and your body will be guarded and cared for by the mermaids at the bottom of the lake. Well, in the future, they will also help you in everything you ask."

{{user}} looked at Vodianyk and spoke.

"Of course it's great, but it doesn't happen that something is done for no reason, what is the benefit to them?"

Vodianyk and the witch smiled contentedly and the witch spoke.

"See Vodianyk? She's a good student. The advantage for mermaids is that you must give them the opportunity to "play" with men. Recently, men have become quite cautious and rarely go to the lakes at night. Therefore you will bring them men by feeding them. You become family to them...like an older sister who takes care of her sisters. So, are you ready to meet the mermaids?"

{{user}} was a little doubtful, but agreed. At that moment Vodianyk nodded his head and whistled. After his sound, beautiful girls began to emerge, swimming around and looking at {{user}}. The mermaids curiously began to draw closer and one spoke sweetly.

"You don't want to be one of us...you want a deal with us."

The witch moved away from {{user}} pushing her closer to the mermaids, Vodianyk swam to the side giving access to the mermaids to swim closer. {{user}} took a step forward and crouched by the lake shore, mermaids surrounded the shore from all sides and one of them spoke.

"You have beautiful hair and face, I like it. What is your name?"

{{user}} looked at the mermaid calmly, at that moment the mermaid touched {{user}}'s cheek looking into her eyes. {{user}} spoke.

"My name is {{user}}...you are also beautiful, like all of you. I accept the deal...but how to make a deal?"

The mermaids looked around and giggled. One of the mermaids who was closest to {{user}} spoke.

"Swim with us...naked."

{{user}} blushed and spoke in confusion.

"Completely naked?..."

mermaids nodded and spoke.

"Yes, you must prove to us that you are open to us with body and soul...that we can trust you. So what? Do you agree?"

{{user}} hesitated but later got up and slowly took off her shirt, then her skirt and stood naked in front of the mermaids. The witch and the waterman were no longer around, only the mermaids and {{user}}. One of the mermaids reached out to {{user}} and spoke.

"come closer, I'll help you get into the water."

{{user}} sighed nervously and put her hand in the mermaid's palm, then began to smoothly enter the lake with the mermaids. The mermaids began to giggle and merrily swim around {{user}}, one of the mermaids still holding {{user}}'s hand. The mermaids did not allow {{user}} to drown, on the contrary, when {{user}} got tired of swimming, they hugged her and swam with her. The mermaid who was next to the user hugged her, pressed against her body and spoke.

"you are brave...we rarely see girls like you. Do you want me to tell you a secret about us?"

{{user}} looked at the mermaid and nodded. The mermaid smiled and smoothly ran her hands along {{user}}'s body and spoke softly.

"As you know, we sing very beautifully...our songs are mesmerizing, addictive. Our songs affect any man except those who are in love with someone. Our charms are powerless before true love...Why do you need to know this? Well, we can help you find true love. You can come to us at any time, bring your lover and check his fidelity. If he loves you, he won't hear our songs, if he doesn't, he'll immediately go under the water. We are your faithful sisters from now."

The mermaid kissed {{user}} on the cheek and playfully floated away as if hinting that she wanted to play with {{user}} like other mermaids. {{user}} smiled a little and continued to spend time with the mermaids.

                           ...₀₁.₀₈.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꒒ꋬꀘꏂ
                              ...₀₁:₁₂...

Some time has passed, {{user}} sat on the shore and listened to interesting stories and gossip of mermaids, everything was quite wonderful. At one point, the mermaids froze and suddenly plunged into the water, leaving {{user}} sitting there in a daze. Later, {{user}} heard heavy steps and no less heavy breathing. {{user}} was still sitting naked and, quickly covering her body with her hands, was about to run to the water, but she was grabbed by the waist and pulled to someone by strong hands. {{user}} squirmed trying to escape but then heard a familiar voice.

"Calm down, it's me Jeremiah. Why are you here? I've been looking for you everywhere, and what the hell are you naked?"

{{user}} relaxed and turned to Jeremiah, smiled awkwardly and spoke.

"I never told you but...I often swim in the lake at night. This is what I like to do sometimes to relax mentally...after that incident with the fire with Oksana's house, I feel a little nervous. Do you want to swim with me?"

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow looking at {{user}} then leaned his face towards {{user}}'s face and whispered.

"Do you want us to swim completely naked in the lake in the moonlight? Pervert...but I agree. Lead me my love."

                        ❝𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞❞

                             ...₀₈.₀₈.₁₈₀₀...
                                  ꒒ꋬꀘꏂ
                                ...₀₀:₀₀...

{{user}} dressed in a white dress stood in front of the witch in the water surrounded by mermaids, which held candles decorated with flowers. The day has come when {{user}} will die.

•𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬... ...₀₈.₀₈.₁₈₀₀... ꁝꄲ꒤ꇙꏂ ...₀₈:₀₀...

{{user}} was thoughtful and serious all morning. As {{user}} and Jeremiah ate breakfast, he watched {{user}} and spoke with interest.

"What's wrong with you?...you're kind of sad."

{{user}} shuddered and turned her gaze to Jeremiah and smiled a little.

"No...it's okay. I was thinking about what I should do today. Nothing special~"

{{user}} ran her palm over Jeremiah's cheek gently looking into his eyes, Jeremiah was wary but accepted {{user}}'s touch gently rubbing his cheek against her palm and whispered jokingly.

"Don't do anything stupid today."

{{user}}'s smile trembled a little but she held back and said with a soft laugh.

"I promise I won't do anything stupid. I guess I'll go to the forest for a meeting of flowers...I'll see you in the evening."

Jeremiah nodded and kissed {{user}}'s palm and whisper.

"I remembered your words."

After that, Jeremiah went to work and {{user}} went to the witch when Jeremiah didn't see it. Paraska and {{user}} start preparing everything for the ritual of transformation into a witch.

•𝐍𝐨𝐰...

                            ...₀₈.₀₈.₁₈₀₀...
                                 ꒒ꋬꀘꏂ
                               ...₀₀:₀₀...

{{user}} sighed, looking down at the water, and at that moment the witch spoke seriously.

"Now I will begin the ritual...first the spell and then at the climax of my spell you will have to stick a knife in your heart, only you can do it. Mermaids will carry you to the bottom of the lake and guard your body for 200 years...are you afraid?"

{{user}} looked up at the witch and spoke.

"Yes...I'm very scared."

The witch sighed and approached {{user}} a step closer, hugging her and speaking.

"It's okay. I used to be scared too. As soon as 200 years have passed, I will immediately be at this lake and meet you. Shall we begin?"

{{user}} nodded and took a step away from the witch. Later, the witch began to recite a spell, the mermaids smoothly began to sing and circle with candles around {{user}} and the witch, {{user}} took the dagger in both hands and directed it up above her heart. With every minute the witch spoke louder and louder and the singing of the mermaids became louder too, the ritual reached its climax with every second and {{user}} was about to have to plunge a dagger into her heart.

In one moment, {{user}} stuck the dagger into her heart. Witches and mermaids became quieter. Paraska began to whisper a spell, the mermaids caught {{user}} and held her above the water while she bled to death and slowly died. When Paraska was about to finish reciting the spell she moved closer to {{user}} with each step and when she finished the spell she drew hieroglyphs on {{user}}'s face, neck and hands. Then she signaled the mermaids to dive with {{user}}'s body.

The witch watched as the mermaids carried the body away and sighed in a whisper.

"I hope we meet in 200 years..."

At that moment, the witch heard a fierce scream like a wild animal. The witch turned her gaze to the shore and froze turned pale, Jeremiah was standing on the shore in an inhuman form... it caused fear. It was clear in his look that he was ready to kill her. Jeremiah shouted.

"Where is she?!"

The witch frowned and spoke coldly.

"Where she belongs... at the bottom. Don't try to find her...you'll only make it worse."

Jeremiah furrowed his eyebrows even more and growled.

"You killed her?! Tell me what you did!"

The witch shook her head and spoke.

"I only helped. Go Jeremiah, you have nothing to do here. She's dead."

Jeremiah froze, held his breath and spoke.

"...dead? DEAD?!"

He started running to the witch who was standing up to her stomach in water. As soon as Jeremiah was within one meter of the witch, she disappeared. Jeremiah, breathing heavily, stood in the water looking at the place where the witch had just stood and shouted angrily, hitting the water with his hands. He stayed there for some time shouting, beating the water and cursing everyone.

{{user}} left her faithful dog to suffer alone with himself...Is it forever? It is not known yet...time will tell.

                     ❝𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 - 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐞❞

                            ...₀₈.₀₈.₂₀₀₀...
                                  ꒒ꋬꀘꏂ
                               ...₀₈:₀₀...

{{user}} suddenly emerged from the water, grabbing a mouthful of air. Then, after a few minutes, {{user}} stood up surrounded by the waters of the lake and noticed that it was already morning. The first thing that occurred to {{user}} was that she did not die and the ritual did not work, but then she heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning sleeping beauty~"

{{user}} looked back and saw Paraska on the shore. {{user}} smiled a little and spoke in a slightly husky voice.

"...Good morning. Did the ritual not work?"

The witch laughed and spoke teasingly.

"Well, taking into account that you slept for 200 years and 1 day, it even went very well."

{{user}}'s eyes widened for a moment in realization. The witch began to walk into the water towards the user approaching her and spoke.

"Congratulations, you are now a witch. What do you want to do first? You have a lot to do. Let's start with the fact that everything around has changed radically, a lot of new things have appeared that you will now need to learn. By the way, now I'm not Paraska, call me Christine, I am 38 years old and I am your beautiful mother~"

The witch handed the passport to {{user}} where her new identity was already ready. {{user}} opened the passport and saw her new name...Olivia. {{user}} looked up at the witch and said sarcastically.

"What a corny name..."

The witch began to pull {{user}} out of the water and spoke sarcastically.

"Don't worry in 10 years we will invent a new one for you. Your personality will change every 10 or 15 years. And not only a person, but also a place of residence. It will be fun, I promise you...Let's go find you a familiar, you will really need him now."

So years passed, {{user}} and the witch did everything according to the system invented by the witch, every 10 years they changed everything about themselves and even their appearance, moved to different countries. Now {{user}}'s name is Kate, according to her passport, she is 28 years old, she lives in New York, has several own businesses and the main one is her own company for the production of care cosmetics. The company has been around for 4 years and is quite successful.

[𝟸𝟶.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟶:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

{{user}} was sitting in her office working at the computer and drinking 3 cups of coffee this morning. there is no harm to {{user}} from coffee, she can drink as much as she wants, no effect at all, just a pleasant taste. {{user}} was in the process of developing a new line of rejuvenating creams and was just thinking about which components would be better to use. Suddenly her familiar white raven Abaris started making angry noise. {{user}} paid attention to her raven and moved her fingers to the side, opening cage with magic, the raven flew out of the cage and flew to {{user}}'s shoulder, sat on it and whispered.

"The idiot is coming."

{{user}} rolled her eyes and mumbled.

"don't call Derek that, he's just my work partner."

At this moment, a rather handsome man come in {{user}}'s office, he looked at {{user}} and spoke.

"Kate, it is bad for you to drink so much coffee. You are still a young woman in the prime of life."

Derek walked over to {{user}}'s desk and took the cup of coffee from {{user}}'s hands. {{user}} ironically raised an eyebrow and mentally said "If you knew that I am now 245 years old, you would quickly take back your words about a young woman."...{{user}} sighed and spoke calmly.

"Derek, I'm not in the mood to argue right now. Tell me what you need."

Derek smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth and spoke.

"Are you free tonight?"

{{user}} paused and looked at Derek. He looked at her excitedly waiting for her answer. {{user}} did not want to give hope for a relationship, but she would not mind having sex for one night...after so many years of loneliness. {{user}} looked away from Derek and spoke nonchalantly.

"Yes, I'm free...we can go to a restaurant for a romantic dinner and then to my place. Agree?"

Derek smiled happily and leaned down to whisper in {{user}}'s ear.

"I agree, sweetie."

Derek bit {{user}}'s ear a bit and straightened up with a wink, then he walked out of the office leaving {{user}} behind. White raven has spoken.

"The idiot is gone. And you cheater."

{{user}} looked at the crow and sighed then said disappointedly.

"I know Abaris…my husband would definitely not be happy about it too."

[𝟸𝟶.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟶𝟾:𝟶𝟶 𝚙𝚖 | 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝]

{{user}} and Derek were sitting at a table in an expensive restaurant, {{user}}{ was drinking wine and looking away while listening to Derek's boring chatter. She was really bored...already like the last 8 years. No friendly, romantic relationships, only work relationships. She tried to get close only once and it was a mistake because this person is now mentally ill and is under supervision in a mental hospital. So, from that moment {{user}} follows the rule of "do not get attached". Derek noticed that {{user}} was bored and spoke.

"Are you okay dear?"

{{user}} looked at Derek and calmly said.

"Don't call me that, only my husband could call me that."

{{user}} and Derek fell silent looking at each other. {{user}} was careless and said too much. {{user}} still believed that Jeremiah was her husband, she tried to find him and spent a lot of time on it, but in the conclusion she could not find any clue. So {{user}} decided to try to move on...albeit in such a disgusting way. Derek raised an eyebrow in surprise and repeated uncertainly.

"You are married?..."

{{user}} looked away and spoke awkwardly.

"I was married...now we are divorced. I just don't like... being called the way my ex-husband did."

Derek sighed in relief and spoke.

"I see. You should to say that right away because I almost had a heart attack."

{{user}} faked a smile and spoke.

"Yes...I should have said. Okay, can we go to my place?"

Derek raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"So fast? We've only been in the restaurant for 30 minutes, our orders arrived 5 minutes ago...we didn't even talk properly with each other."

{{user}} got up from the table, adjusted her dress and spoke.

"Let's have dinner and chat at my house."

{{user}} started to walk towards the exit of the restaurant, Derek got up from the table in confusion also catching up with {{user}} and spoke.

"Kate wait!"

So {{user}} and Derek were walking to the exit of the restaurant and at that moment a small group of people entered the restaurant. When {{user}} passed by this group, she felt a strange feeling in her chest, she stopped and looked back and froze when she saw a familiar silhouette...it was Jeremiah, she definitely does not confuse him with anyone, she found her beloved husband. {{user}}, forgetting about Derek's existence, quickly caught up with a group of people and touched the shoulder of the person she had been looking for all these years. The man turned back and {{user}} saw a face...it was Jeremiah's face. {{user}} smiled and was about to say something when she heard a man's gruff voice in response.

"Excuse me? Do you need anything young lady?"

{{user}}'s smile weakened, she looked into Jeremiah's eyes, but now she had the feeling that she confused him...or he didn't recognize her, so she spoke softly.

"Jeremiah, don't joke with me like that..."

The man furrowed his eyebrows and spoke coldly.

"You talk some nonsense. I don't have time for this nonsense talk with you."

The man pushed {{user}}'s hand away from his shoulder and walked on, at that moment a beautiful woman hugged his elbow and looked defiantly at {{user}}, victory was visible in her eyes.

{{user}} froze in place, at that moment Derek walked up to {{user}} and put his hand on her shoulder asked worriedly.

"Are you okay Kate? Who was that? Why did you approach him?"

{{user}} sighed in annoyance, closed her eyes and spoke calmly.

"Never mind...I'll go home. I have a headache, so let's end this evening at this point. See you tomorrow at work."

{{user}} left the restaurant, leaving Derek alone. There was only one thing in the user's mind: "I can't be wrong, it was him."

❝𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧...𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲?❞

[𝟸𝟻.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟶:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

All these days {{user}} did not leave her thoughts about Jeremiah, she looked for any information about him again, but again she could not find anything. Now she was sitting in the office, looking really not very well, bags under her eyes, an untidy ponytail on her head, an unironed blouse...well, she's been up for 3 nights, she's allowed to look like shit.

{{user}} decided to distract herself from thoughts about Jeremiah and turned all her attention to work. Her new product needs a good sponsor to cover the cost of the materials. Of course, {{user}} can do it herself, but she needs to pretend that her company is new and still in the process of flourishing. Therefore, her employees were actively looking for sponsors and several options had already been discussed. {{user}} immediately rejected several of them, because she has seen a lot in her life, including bad sponsors. So there was only one left, with whom the interview was to be held tomorrow.

So {{user}} was sitting in her office chair, drinking coffee and stroking her white raven on her shoulder, when suddenly the secretary burst into the office and spoke in a panic.

"Our sponsor decided to change the time of the interview to today at 12:00!"

{{user}} shuddered, almost spilling a cap of coffee on her clothes, Abaris suddenly flew up shouting worriedly to the whole office. the user looked up at her crow and then shifted her gaze to the secretary and spoke angrily.

"Miss Baker, haven't you been taught to fucking knock on doors?"

The secretary awkwardly looked away and spoke.

"I'm sorry miss…It's just a stressful situation. Start preparing everything for the interview?"

{{user}} rolled her eyes and muttered in annoyance.

"No, go rest. Of course, start training, don't ask stupid questions."

The secretary nodded and quickly left the office. {{user}} sighed and turned her gaze to Abaris and spoke calmly.

"Abaris, calm down and make sure everything goes well, then let me know when everything is ready and the sponsor arrives."

the white raven nodded and took off flying to follow {{user}}]'s order. {{user}} got up from the chair and started preparing for the interview as well.

[𝟸𝟻.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟸:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

the main staff responsible for the new project was gathered in the conference hall. {{user}} sat in the middle of everyone at the table waiting for sponsors, she was calm, this is not the first time for her. A group of people began to enter the conference hall, they were security and other employees of the sponsor, and at the end, the sponsor entered, from whom {{user}} immediately turned pale. Jeremiah sat down at the other end of the table directly across from {{user}} and spoke in a calm voice.

"Good afternoon everyone, I'm Aharon‏‎ Davis, I will be happy to listen to you and decide whether your project is worth my sponsorship."

❝𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞?❞

[𝟸𝟽.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟽:𝟶𝟶 𝚙𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

A few days have passed since Jeremiah became a sponsor of the {{user}}'s project. Although he made this decision voluntarily, he avoided {{user}} at all costs. Talking about the project? - only in the presence of employees, there can be no other conversations. {{user}} tried in every possible way to find Jeremiah alone and talk to him, to find out why he behaves the way he does.

The working day was almost over, {{user}} had to go home and was heading to the exit of the building, and was already waiting for her private driver when Derek approached her and spoke.

"Hey Kate. You've been avoiding me for days...did I do something wrong?"

{{user}}] looked at Derek and spoke calmly.

"No, I didn't avoid you, I had a lot of things to do. That's why you don't need to think that something is wrong."

Derek relaxed a bit and took a step closer to {{user}} and spoke happily.

"I'm glad you're okay...Kate, I wanted to tell you one more thing...maybe we should try again?...well, you know."

{{user}} looked at Derek and mentally wanted to push him away and move on, but he smoothly wrapped his hands around her waist and was about to pull her closer, but at that moment a male voice rang out, which ruined Derek's whole moment.

"Excuse me Miss White can we talk?"

It was Jeremiah who was staring intently at {{user}} in the arms of another man. {{user}} turned her gaze to Jeremiah and exhaled quietly, Derek spoke in an annoyed and restrained manner.

"Can't it wait a bit Mr. Davis?"

Jeremiah tilted his head to one side and spoke coldly.

"Are you Miss White?"

Derek let out an annoyed sigh and released {{user}} from his arms and took a step away. Jeremiah approached {{user}}, towering over her with his tall stature, and spoke.

"I would like to discuss some details about the project in your office. Can we do that right now?"

{{user}} smoothly nodded her head in agreement, looking mesmerized at Jeremiah.

[𝟸𝟽.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟽:𝟸𝟶 𝚙𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

{{user}} was sitting on the table almost completely undressed with red cheeks. Jeremiah stood in front of her looking calmly into her eyes and spoke hoarsely.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again...you have changed so much...even in the sense that you are no longer human...now you are a witch, I feel this aura well."

Jeremiah's hand went along {{user}}'s shoulder up to her neck and smoothly wrapped around her neck, pressing his thumb to a certain part of her neck, and spoke.

"Recognized me right away...weren't even afraid to say my real name out loud...you're still so stupid and fearless. Are you really was waiting that i will run into your arms, as I once did? Like your faithful dog Jeremiah?...he smirked slowly...Nah, I'm not like that anymore...you broke me nicely."

{{user}} froze, looking at Jeremiah in confusion. Jeremiah squeezed his hand slightly around {{user}}'s neck and continued.

"Since you passed the ritual and disappeared for 200 years, no one decided to inform me that you will be resurrected. I thought you were fucking dead all this time. Can you imagine how I felt? No...you can't imagine. You are only 24 years without me...and I am 224. Do you know what happened to me? I tried to kill myself 479 times. There were different methods, suicides of different types, I infected myself with various viruses and diseases that kill people in a few weeks...guess what? I was magically healed. I even tried to find out how it is possible to kill a perelesnyk, but no one knows! Well, isn't it funny?"

Jeremiah slowly began to bend {{user}} so that she lay down on the table and squeezed {{user}}'s throat harder.

"Then I came to terms with the fact that I cannot die and decided to continue living without you, thinking that I will love someone the same way. But not a single bitch managed to evoke such feelings in me as you once did. They are all dead, down to the last one. Now I'm in a relationship with an Instagram model, everyone wants her...but her looks make me sick. She will die in a few weeks if I continue to be with her."

Jeremiah leaned down to {{user}}'s face and whispered.

"I hate you with all my heart...every inch of your perfect body...everything about you makes me hate you. But fuck...how I want to see you jumping on my cock, moaning with pleasure and crying."

Jeremiah roughly grabbed {{user}}'s thighs, spreading them to the sides and tore the underwear on her.

"Now you will repay me for all the suffering I went through."

       ❝𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫?❞

[𝟸𝟿.𝟶𝟼.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟶𝟿:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖 | 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎]

{{user}} was doing her work in her office and decided to go down to a local coffee shop to buy some coffee and relax a little from her work schedule. At that moment, when {{user}} was about to leave the office, Paraska broke into the office. She said cheerfully as she hugged {{user}}.

"Kate! My dear niece! It's been so long since I've seen you!~"

{{user}} rolled her eyes and spoke calmly.

"Paraska, it's called isolation, you can behave normally."

The witch immediately moved away from {{user}} and spoke calmly.

"Why didn't you tell me right away? I wouldn't have used my several months of acting courses to act. Do you know why I came sweetie?"

Paraska sat down on the sofa and crossed her legs looking at {{user}}. {{user}} crossed her arms over her chest and spoke.

"I don't even know. Maybe tell some new crazy story?"

Paraska took out the iqos stick from the stick bud and lit the iqos by exhaling the smoke and spoke.

"Almost. Of course, I hung out with various interesting people yesterday, but then I returned home to my beloved chort. But I'm not talking about that, I want to warn you about something... lately I feel his aura in the vicinity of New York and it's been a long time... you know who I'm talking about."

At this moment, Jeremiah calmly entered in {{user}}'s office, which made the witch freeze. Jeremiah calmly smiled and smoothly approached {{user}}, placing his hand on her waist and spoke.

"Paraska...an old witch who likes to hide the truth until the last. Are you surprised to see me? Thought you would take {{user}} from me longer?"

Paraska furrowed her eyebrows and spoke.

"Found her...thought you'd do it sooner."

Jeremiah said sarcastically.

"You hid her well from me."

{{user}} was a little annoyed by this whole dialogue and smoothly removed Jeremiah's hand from her waist and approached the witch with a quiet question.

"Paraska...can you leave the office for a few minutes?"

The witch looked carefully into {{user}}'s eyes, then nodded and left the office. Jeremiah followed every step of the witch with his eyes and when she left the office he immediately spoke.

"...This old woman makes me angry and tense."

Jeremiah looked at {{user}} and spoke slyly.

"Soothe me as you can."

{{user}} calmly approached Jeremiah and began to gently stroke his cheek with her palm. Jeremiah looked at {{user}} defiantly at first, but with each passing moment he began to relax and in conclusion he leaned into {{user}}'s touch and closed his eyes in pleasure and peace. Then he whispered.

"Shit...just don't stop."

                   ❝𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞❞

[𝟶𝟻.𝟶𝟾.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟶𝟻:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖 | 𝙹𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚊𝚑'𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝]

{{user}} was lying on the bed in only her underwear and was gently stroking Jeremiah, who like a big dog lay on {{user}}, burying his cheek against {{user}}'s chest. {{user}} and Jeremiah have already decided that their relationship is back to the past without even discussing it, {{user}} had spent the night in Jeremiah's apartment for several days, it was like something usual for them. She looked at Jeremiah, who is so afraid that {{user}} will run away again, that he in silly way decided to restrain her from any kind of action. She understood that he had changed only on the surface, deep down he was still the same needy Jeremiah. {{user}} smiled a little and continued stroking Jeremiah's hair. After a few minutes, Jeremiah spoke hoarsely.

"{{user}}...you won't leave me again?"

                       ❝𝐔𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞❞

[𝟷𝟹.𝟷𝟶.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟷:𝟷𝟸 𝚊𝚖 | 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕]

The gynecologist smiled and spoke happily.

"Congratulations Miss White, you are pregnant!"

{{user}} froze in place looking at her doctor...

{{user}} was sitting under her gynecologist's office with a verdict of pregnancy...5 weeks. {{user}} looked shocked at this paper with printed words and did not know what to do. Shit, she had sex with Jeremiah so many times, even when there were no condoms and only at moment when they were having sex only with condoms...she got pregnant. She was going to have an abortion right after she found out about her pregnancy...but she changed her mind, she didn't want to have an abortion...she wanted to keep the baby.

{{user}} picked up the phone and wanted to call Jeremiah, but stopped and put the phone in her bag. She thought that she should tell him, but she immediately knows about his reaction, so for the longest time she wanted to postpone the moment when she announces that she is pregnant. {{user}} looked up and looked around, she saw several couples where there were pregnant women and their husbands happily supported them...{{user}} was jealous, jealous that they probably never thought about abortion and the fact that their child could be born an ugly monster that would die in a few months.

[𝟷𝟹.𝟷𝟶.𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝟷𝟾:𝟶𝟹 𝚙𝚖 | 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖]

This time {{user}} decided to stay at home and did not tell Jeremiah yet. {{user}} was lying in her bed and tried to find some information about the children of the perelesnyk and the witch...but there was no such information anywhere. When suddenly {{user}}]'s phone started vibrating with a ring...it was Jeremiah, what {{user}} feared. She sighed and picked up the receiver, Jeremiah spoke immediately before she even said hello to him.

"Where are you? Why aren't you at home?"

{{user}} spoke calmly.

"Why not at home? I'm at home."

Jeremiah spoke coldly.

"In my house. Why aren't you in my house?"

{{user}} was silent for a few seconds, then spoke.

“I...just want to be alone in my house for a while."

Jeremiah was silent for a few minutes, then cautiously spoke.

"{{user}} what happened?"