Yeah, well, fuck you too.
I choke out a sob, thinking of those smiling idiots leading their happy, asinine little lives, as I lay dying in a forest, chased by a guy with a gun, all because…
I have no idea.
Because I got caught up in something I have nothing to do with. And now, I’m paying for it.
Because I fell in love with a man who doesn’t give a shit about me, and when I tried to escape the pain it caused me, I was punished for it.
Because I’m Seraphina Connor, and that’s my lot in life. Tosuffer, and then to die, like the sad little jellyfish I am.
That last thought is the one that rings truest. I let my bitter tears fall for a few moments, allowing myself to sink into the thought ofIt’s not fair, allowing the words to hit me like a ton of bricks. I succumb for just a few moments to self-pity before dashing my tears away angrily, and come to a stop in the middle of a tiny clearing, breathing in great gulps of air and taking stock of where I am.
Dense trees and shrubbery surround me. The branches are so thick, dripping with such foliage, that the sky is blotted out. I can’t tell if it’s morning or night anymore. No ray of sun or moon pierces through the leaves. It’s pitch black.
I hear his thundering footsteps grow nearer. He must know this forest well. Either that, or I’ve left an easy trail of blood for him to follow.
I can feel him closing in, but my stupid body won’t let me give up, even as my lifeforce leaves me, making me feel faint.
I spot a boulder in the distance, just behind a thicket of trees, and crouch behind it, pushing a sweaty palm down on my mouth to keep myself from making noise. It’s pointless, though. My breathing is so labored I’m pretty sure everyone in a one-mile radius can hear.
I hear his taunting, cruel voice, and my hands clench into fists. He’s laughing at me. My pain and fear are big, fucking jokes to him.I’ma joke.
I’ve been a lot of things in my life. A pathetic jellyfish, a needy captive, but I’ve never yet been a joke. The three men in my life before I was kidnapped used me, but they didn’t find me funny. Damien laughed at me a lot, but even now, after my cruel disillusionment, I can’t believe he truly saw me as a joke. Everest certainly didn’t. Igor... well, Igor was probably too stupid to see me as anything. No, I wasn’t a joke to any of them. Not even to Logan. I realize that for the first time as Vale’s laugh grows louder.
As the danger closes in, my thoughts inexplicably turn to Logan. Sudden understanding dawns on me. My suffering was never a punchline to him. Under the cruel bullying, he cared. Cared about Devil, but mostly, about Damien. He loved him, and he protected him.
Just like I did, when I killed that agent.
I close my eyes, letting a nice feeling wash over me as the footsteps draw nearer. At least, I will have done something useful before I die. It doesn’t matter that Damien doesn’t love me. What matters is that I love him, and I saved him.
I let my thoughts drift back to Damien. The feel of his hands against my body. His lips on mine. The way he made me feel such pain, and such pleasure too. All of it entwined. Sensations I’d never felt before. The way he got me to hand over control, for the first time in my life.
It felt so good to lose control. To feel that he possessed me. To feel that he took care of me, in his way.
If only I hadn’t messed it all up…
He liked to play games too. I smile slightly at the memory of that game of hide-and-seek. I was so scared. So scared, and so turned on.
I hear another loud report, and cringe again as the thundering sound echoes through the forest. I look down at my stomach, but the bleeding there hasn’t gotten worse. It doesn’t seem as though I’ve been hit. Maybe he’s just shooting wildly to scare me. I stay crouched behind the boulder, shivering.
After a few moments, the footsteps begin again, edging closer.
In a few seconds, I’ll be dead.
At last, the survival instinct has disappeared. I can’t find it in me to run again. I can’t even find it in me to move. The blood has started to gush out of me again, and I close my eyes, hoping the bleeding will end me before Vale does.
The footsteps stop, and I don’t even have to raise my head. I already know I’ve been found.
“Well, well, well,” murmurs a deep voice. “It’s cute, how hard you try. But don’t think you can run from me. I own you.”
My entire body shudders as I hear the words, spoken in that warm, soothing tone, tinged with a glint of humor. I can’t move. Can’t even make myself open my eyes anymore. All I can do is breathe him in as his arms surround me, and he lifts me up gently from my hiding place.
My head falls back against his chest, and the last thing I remember, before everything fades to black, is the feel of his finger, sliding down my cheek, wiping away a tear.
Damien.
-
