e P

e with a chilling emptiness. I watched as she was taken, the sight twisting a knot in my stomach that I couldn

heavy and cold. The scent of disinfectant mingled with something coppery, m

fiance. She struggled against the men, her slender wrists leaving red we

place, Blaire," I snarled, my voice low and menacing. "You should have stayed quiet. You should have accepted your fate." I watched h

ur lover, your confidante, your support. My place was to be the mother of your ch

acceptance, festered within me. My hand shot out, slapping her hard across the face. The sharp crack echoe

oice surprisingly steady, her eyes still fixed on

," I commanded the guards, my voice devoid of emotion. "Kee

osity driving me. The storeroom was dank, cold, and dimly lit, its stone walls slick with moisture. A faint, repu

tightened in my stomach. Spiders, their webs shimmering like ghostly lace, clung to the corners.

rtment floor. She' d shrieked, jumping onto a chair, her face contorted in a comical mask of terror. "I hate rats, Cade! They're so gros

th the starry night sky. "From every shadow, every fear. You'll never be a

become. The Blaire of that memory, so innocent and trusting, was gone. Replaced by a woman whose eyes held a terri

tting through my thoughts, devoid of all emotion. "To u

he damp floor. Blaire's breath hitched. She took a step back, then another, until her back hit the cold sto

tched defensively. The rats, sensing her distress, swarmed. They crawled over her legs, her arms, their tiny, sharp cl

the cut on her forehead. The pain, the terror, the sheer violation, was overwhelming. I watched, my heart a

limp as consciousness threatened to abandon her again. The cut on her head, reopened by her thrashing

art attack. My congenital condition. Was this fate's ironic punishment? My heart, the very th

of my own suffering, I couldn't tear my eyes away from Blaire. Her body was still, her e

's happening?" she said, her eyes quickly darting to the unconscious form of Blaire on the floor

the pain intensifying. "Just... being dramat

e. I guess some people just can't handle a little... setback." She walked closer to the edge of t

out of here! Now!" The pain in my chest was unbearable, blindi

decision, Cade? Thinking about your precious Blaire now?" She laughed, a chilling, mirthle

n back at me, twisting the knife in my heart. The irony was a bitter, choking t

world spinning. My last coherent thought was of Blaire, lying lifeless