Am I awake?Do I even exist?
The latter thought stirs an ache inside me, one that has me shivering.
Except that I no longer have skin. Or bone. Oranything.
It’s like I’m a soul.
Wait…My eyebrows lift.Is this… is this how Persephone feels?
Did we switch places?
Is she corporeal now?
And I… I’m here?
Is that even possible?
I spin around. Or I think I do, anyway. But I feel nothing. Sense nothing.Am nothing.
I have no mouth to open. No vocal cords to use for a scream. No arms to wave. No legs to run with.
I… I don’t exist here.
How does one escape from a void?
All I have is my thoughts. My mind. My yearnings. Mywants.
It’s like the worst form of a prison. Terrifying. Cold.Lonely.
Frigid sensations overwhelm me, freezing me from deep within.
It’s debilitating. Paralyzing.Horrifying.
I experienced fear on the Day of the Choosing, the moment my name was called.
However, this… this is true terror.
If this is a nightmare, then surely Morpheus will free me from it.
But this doesn’t feel like a dream anymore.
This feels very real.
And I’m pretty sure waking up isn’t an option.
“It’s chilling, isn’t it?” a feminine voice murmurs against my ear. “A prison unlike any other. One where the souls are trapped for eternity and guarded by the God of Wrath.”
I try to turn around, toseethe source of those words.
Because I know that cultured tone. It’s similar to the accents spoken by Morpheus and Hades, only haughtier somehow.
It’s the same voice that used to call me “Daughter.”
“Alina subjected me to this fate. After all I’ve done for Omega kind, it’s truly a disheartening experience. And then there’s you, my own daughter, betraying me withhim.”
Her tone takes a frigid turn, the coldness inside me seeming to spread through every inch of my being.
“Howdareyou return to him,” she says. “After all I’ve shown you, all I’ve done for you.” She tsks, the sound reminding me of metal scraping against stone. “And you let him touch you?”
