Love. Happiness. A future of her own.
You’re not other people.
True. She was cursed.
All of a sudden a blinding light flashed in their bitter darkness.
One second Mara was there by her side, and in the next she was gone. Ripped from her very grip with nothing more than an almost inaudible gasp!
Valynda panicked more than usual, given that this was what happened to her over and over again in her life.
Everyone she loved vanished on her, without warning. Seldom was she ever given a reason for it. One moment they were there. The next they were gone and she was left behind to pick up the pieces. Alone. With nothing and no one to help her through the madness and pain.
“Mara!” Forcing her hysteria down, Valynda turned around, searching the room with her gaze. Not that there was much to search. The tiny cell was definitely empty. Yet she felt the need to try and find her friend. To reclaim her from the darkness that threatened to swallow them whole. “Mara!” she shouted again, praying she could find her.
It was useless.
Mara was gone.
How could this be? She was alone again. In the dark. Without warning. For no reason. Panic crashed through her like a tidal wave that threatened to tear her apart.
How could she have ever forgotten this desperate feeling? Yet somehow the crew of theSea Witchhad driven the horror from her heart. They had given her a false sense of hope and security.
Because the truth was, due to them and their kindness, Valynda hadn’t been alone since the day she’d been resurrected from her death.
Nay, since the day Benjamin had killed her.
You will love me.She could still hear his maniacal insanity as he insisted she give him what he hadn’t earned. So afraid of the world and of her running away from his repugnant form, he used to stand on her feet to keep her planted by his side. Psychotic to the extreme. How could no one else see it? Everything about him was wrong, and yet her father had insisted she marry him. From the moment she’d met him and had first stared into those dark, soulless eyes, she’d known something about him hadn’t been right. He’d lacked empathy for others. Lacked any kind of caring for her.
Sanity for himself.
And on that fateful night when his need to control her had gone too far and he’d slipped over the edge of all human decency, he’d stabbed needles into the body of the poppet he’d used to represent her. Every one had shredded her and torn through her flesh. The pain had been relentless. Unbearable.
She’d screamed for him to stop, but he’d taken no mercy upon her. Then as now. No one ever took mercy on her suffering.
Because no one cares, a disembodied voice whispered in the air around her. It was a haunting sound. Chilling and emotionless.
Worse, it was true.
That was what she hated most. Not because she was being self-pitying. Because it was the truth. Not even her own parents had cared about her. Sad though it was, she’d known that from the moment she’d entered this world and taken her first breath. Her parents had provided for her out of duty and nothing more.
Now …
She froze as she heard a sudden sound. Someone was here.
Or something.
“Who’s there?”
Echoing laughter answered her whisper.
That only made her panic more, which then angered her, because she hated her own weakness. Fear was ever a useless emotion. It robbed her of what little intimidation she could muster.
Valynda stepped back against the wall to prevent anyone from attacking her there.
“Do you want your freedom?” This time, the voice was loud and commanding. Yet still the creature didn’t show himself.
Which made her wonder if it was a trick question. Some bizarre phantom conjured by her mind that didn’t want her to be left alone. “Who are you?”
