It doesn’t calm, it doesn’t satiate, it grows hotter and hotter until it’s unbearable, and I cry out as my eyelids slam shut.
His touch is gone; all I feel is pain. Daring to pry my eyes back open, another scream rips from my lungs as I blink. The tattoo shop is gone, Walker’s gone, it’s all gone, except the sense of familiarity.
I hate it the moment I realize where I am.
Bound to the board behind me, my screams grow mute as I catch a glimpse of The Sanctum members standing on the other side of the glass like I’m a danger to them, despite them being the ones to hurt me.
The same woman with the science lab cloak and clipboard in hand stands to my right, oblivious to the terror I’m reeling in as another pulse of pain washes over me.
I know what they’re doing. How could I forget?
Test after test after test, it’s all too much.
The face of a vampire.
The face of a witch.
The face of a wolf.
Fangs, claws, spells, I’ve endured it all, but it seems there’s still more to take from me.
They’ve unleashed everything on me, bringing me back to consciousness again and again, only to wreak more havoc on my body. My name is a curse on their lips as they force me to open my eyes repeatedly.
“Elodie. Elodie! Elodie!!”
My eyes shoot wide in panic as Ocean’s face comes into view, tearing me from whatever twisted nightmare that was, but her presence does nothing to quell the horror taking root inside of me.
Screams echo around the room as I try to settle my gaze on Ocean, worrying over what’s wrong with her, when I quickly realize the sound is coming from me. My cheeks are drenched in tears, the pillow damp beneath my head as I writhe in fear, twisted in my bedsheets.
I try to focus on my friend to shake the dread from the pit of my stomach, but it’s impossible,especially with the way the back of my neck burns.
My chest heaves, my vision blurring once again as tears spill down my face and my hands ball into fists.
“How can I help you, Elodie?” Ocean asks, her voice an octave higher than usual, fueled with panic as I claw at the back of my neck.
I shake my head, desperate for her aid, but I don’t know anything other than the terror I feel.
She inches closer, nipping at her bottom lip as she tucks a loose blonde curl behind her ear. “Are you going to be mad if I get Kael?” she breathes, and I frown, unable to comprehend what that even means, when a bang comes from the door.
We both stare at it with uncertainty, but I only last a second before my body curls in on itself, writhing with pain as I dip my chin to my chest and claw at my neck even more.
“Why the fuck is this door locked?” someone hollers from the other side, and I pause, deep in the thick of the panic.
“You fixed it?” I rasp, my shoulders sagging with a bit of relief as she murmurs her confirmation. “Thank you,” I manage, the rest of my body tense and tight as she clears her throat.
“Should I let him in?” she asks as I pant, everybreath tighter than the last, but at least the screaming has stopped for a minute.
“Yes,” I rasp, desperate for someone, anyone, to take this all away.
The second the lock clicks, I hear the sweep of the door widening, but I don’t lift my head as Kael’s voice fills the room.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. She was sleeping, then the whimpers came, the tears not far behind them, before she started screaming. Now she’s hellbent on scratching the skin at the back of her neck off,” she admits, and I gulp, hating how that all sounds.
A shadow casts over me a moment later and a set of fingers curl around my wrist, their thumb running across my skin soothingly.
“Petal…” Rion’s nickname for me lingers in the air, somehow guiding me toward the safety of his embrace and away from the tendrils of horror that continue to twist through my limbs.
