escape. “I can make you strong again.”
His nails dug into my arms as he held me beneath him. The boy I had once loved glared down into me with more hatred, more disgust, than I had ever seen while his hand moved to press against the mark on my neck. Ice shot through me at the contact, the sensation painful and caustic as my magic rebelled against me, his hand jerking away as he felt the same reaction.
“What did you do?” he roared, the ebony hatred of his eyes snaking up my spine, and I cringed, fighting for a desperate escape, even though I couldn’t move an inch.
“I did nothing other than what you begged me to do!” I screamed, my magic flaring in distress, sending one strong pulse into Ryland, knocking him off his feet and to the ground right next to me.
I turned and crawled away as fast as I could, my sweaty hands slipping against the stone before I was able to stumble to my feet and run away from him, find someplace to hide.
“Jos, don’t leave me,” Ryland pleaded through the dark, his voice sounding so normal that I almost turned back. Almost, if it hadn’t been for the clanging of the pipes that filled my ears; if it hadn’t been for the memory of each and every one of his attacks. “Don’t leave me… don’t leave me… leave me. Leave me.”
His words echoed through the halls that had become a labyrinth to me, his voice breaking in tears before his agonizing screams reverberated through the dark. I jumped at the noise, the fading sound replaced by the frantic pulse of my heart, by the agitated breaths that thundered from my chest.
My hands guided me down the crumbling halls as I tried to fight the fears of the haunted torments that I had been infused with, but they were too strong. I could no longer find the line of reality, the line of what was safe and what was not. The world I had so recently escaped became the only world I knew, the hallucination taking over.
“Joclyn! I will find you!” His voice again echoed around the stone, making it impossible to be certain where he was.
My eyes darted through the darkened hallways as I ran, trying to figure out where to hide, my feet stumbling as I tried to find my toilet, find the room with the books.
They were nowhere.
I stretched my hand forward to pull me around the corner, only to fall back in fear at the slick surface that met my touch, the cool wetness that covered the stone. Blood dripped down the stone wall in front of me, my body tensing in horror at glistening patches of red that covered the pads of my fingers.
“I-i-t-t’s… al-l i-in-n… y-yoooour h-head-d.” My stutter took over as I stared at my trembling fingers, the stammer so bad I could barely make out my own words.
I backed away from the wall in raw fear, tripping through unfamiliar corridors, only to be met with a wide hand that tightened around my neck, the skin pulsing hot as his magic crippled me. The strong grasp coarse like sandpaper as he burned me.
I tried to scream at the contact, but no sound came out, only my strangled cry as Ryland’s hand cut off my air supply. A sharp pain swelled against my skull as he smashed me into the wall, my lungs gasping as an ache inflated inside of me, my head swimming. My broken nails clawed at his hand and my lungs began to burn, my legs flailing as I kicked wildly in an attempt to get away.
His hold increased as his smile did, the darkness behind his eyes blazing, his voice a low growl of rage in my ears. “Ilyan thinks he can keep you from me. Well, he’s wrong. You are mine and everything about you belongs to me.
“You are mine! Mine… mine… mine!” He moaned again, his voice growing louder with each word as his instability increased. His eyes darted around the room as he mumbled the same word over and over.
My jaw opened as I gasped for breath, my fingers continuing to dig into his hand as I tried to pry it away, to give my body the oxygen it screamed for, little stars of white popping in my vision. I fought
His nails dug into my arms as he held me beneath him. The boy I had once loved glared down into me with more hatred, more disgust, than I had ever seen while his hand moved to press against the mark on my neck. Ice shot through me at the contact, the sensation painful and caustic as my magic rebelled against me, his hand jerking away as he felt the same reaction.
“What did you do?” he roared, the ebony hatred of his eyes snaking up my spine, and I cringed, fighting for a desperate escape, even though I couldn’t move an inch.
“I did nothing other than what you begged me to do!” I screamed, my magic flaring in distress, sending one strong pulse into Ryland, knocking him off his feet and to the ground right next to me.
I turned and crawled away as fast as I could, my sweaty hands slipping against the stone before I was able to stumble to my feet and run away from him, find someplace to hide.
“Jos, don’t leave me,” Ryland pleaded through the dark, his voice sounding so normal that I almost turned back. Almost, if it hadn’t been for the clanging of the pipes that filled my ears; if it hadn’t been for the memory of each and every one of his attacks. “Don’t leave me… don’t leave me… leave me. Leave me.”
His words echoed through the halls that had become a labyrinth to me, his voice breaking in tears before his agonizing screams reverberated through the dark. I jumped at the noise, the fading sound replaced by the frantic pulse of my heart, by the agitated breaths that thundered from my chest.
My hands guided me down the crumbling halls as I tried to fight the fears of the haunted torments that I had been infused with, but they were too strong. I could no longer find the line of reality, the line of what was safe and what was not. The world I had so recently escaped became the only world I knew, the hallucination taking over.
“Joclyn! I will find you!” His voice again echoed around the stone, making it impossible to be certain where he was.
My eyes darted through the darkened hallways as I ran, trying to figure out where to hide, my feet stumbling as I tried to find my toilet, find the room with the books.
They were nowhere.
I stretched my hand forward to pull me around the corner, only to fall back in fear at the slick surface that met my touch, the cool wetness that covered the stone. Blood dripped down the stone wall in front of me, my body tensing in horror at glistening patches of red that covered the pads of my fingers.
“I-i-t-t’s… al-l i-in-n… y-yoooour h-head-d.” My stutter took over as I stared at my trembling fingers, the stammer so bad I could barely make out my own words.
I backed away from the wall in raw fear, tripping through unfamiliar corridors, only to be met with a wide hand that tightened around my neck, the skin pulsing hot as his magic crippled me. The strong grasp coarse like sandpaper as he burned me.
I tried to scream at the contact, but no sound came out, only my strangled cry as Ryland’s hand cut off my air supply. A sharp pain swelled against my skull as he smashed me into the wall, my lungs gasping as an ache inflated inside of me, my head swimming. My broken nails clawed at his hand and my lungs began to burn, my legs flailing as I kicked wildly in an attempt to get away.
His hold increased as his smile did, the darkness behind his eyes blazing, his voice a low growl of rage in my ears. “Ilyan thinks he can keep you from me. Well, he’s wrong. You are mine and everything about you belongs to me.
“You are mine! Mine… mine… mine!” He moaned again, his voice growing louder with each word as his instability increased. His eyes darted around the room as he mumbled the same word over and over.
My jaw opened as I gasped for breath, my fingers continuing to dig into his hand as I tried to pry it away, to give my body the oxygen it screamed for, little stars of white popping in my vision. I fought
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