CHAPTER 2 Marked
1653 Words
POV: Elena Valen
I didn’t expect him to follow me.
I thought he would leave me alone. Let me breathe. Let me run.
But when the door slammed behind me, I realized I was wrong.
“You shouldn’t have come,” I whispered, my voice shaking, but loud enough for him to hear.
“I should?” His voice was calm. Too quiet. Dangerous calm.
“You’re insane.” My hands shook. I wanted to strike him. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to scream. “You can’t do this to me.”
He stepped closer. His shadow fell over me. I could feel it pushing into my skin. “I already have.”
I stumbled back. My heart beat. My breath came in short, weak bursts. “You… What do you want from me?”
“I want you to understand,” he said. His fingers brushed my wrist, light as a feather, and I flinched. “I want you to feel what your father did to me. And I want you to pay.”
I shook my head furiously. “I’m not him! I’m not my father! I”
“You are his blood.” His voice dropped, low, dangerous. “And blood remembers. Blood never forgets.”
My pulse jumped. “I don’t care about your revenge! You’re crazy if you think I’ll let you hurt me!”
“You already are hurt,” he said softly. “Whether you know it or not.”
Before I could respond, he pressed my wrist against something cold and smooth, a metal seal, etched with symbols that I didn’t recognize. Pain shot through me. Sharp. Burning. I gasped and tried to pull away.
“Stop! It hurts!” I cried, my nails digging into his hand.
“You will endure,” he said quietly, his gold eyes flashing suddenly and I felt it like a strike to my chest. Fire. Hunger. Power. Something old. Something real. Something scary.
“What is this?” I whispered, looking at the mark that now burned across my skin.
“It is your debt,” he said. “It is your punishment. It is your link. And it is mine.”
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. “No! I won’t”
“You will.” His voice cut through me like ice. “Until it is repaid, you will serve me.”
My legs gave way. I fell against the wall, holding my wrist, clutching myself. The pain wasn’t just physical. It was inside me, burning through my veins. My view was blurred. I could feel… him. Not just near me. Inside me.
“What… what did you do?” I gasped.
“I marked you,” he said simply. “You are mine. And you will learn to follow me.”
I shook my head again. “I won’t. I will never”
“You will,” he interrupted. “Because you have no choice.”
I pressed my hand to my chest. My head spun. My lungs burned. And then it hit me. Not just the pain. Something deeper. Something strange.
My wrist throbbed. But so did… his.
I blinked. “Your… your hand…” I stammered.
He looked at me, his pupils widening slightly. “What”
“It’s… it’s bleeding. Your hand is bleeding too.”
He stared down at his wrist. And then I realized the mark on him, faint but clear, matched mine. Every line. Every curve. Every scar.
I stumbled back, fear slicing through me. “What… what is happening?”
“The bond,” he said, voice tight, almost scared. “The mark… it links us. When you bleed, I bleed. When you feel pain, I feel pain.”
I fell to my knees, my vision dimming. “This… this isn’t… possible.”
“It is,” he said, stepping closer. His hand reached for mine, but I flinched. “It’s real. And now you know. You are mine in every way. Every beating. Every movement. Every wound.”
I shook my head furiously, tears pouring. “I don’t… I can’t… I won’t”
“You will,” he said softly. His voice changed quieter, almost gentle. “Not because I want to hurt you. But because it is the only way for you to live. And for me to survive.”
“What are you talking about?” I whispered, afraid of mixing with something else I didn’t want to name.
“The mark,” he said. “It’s a vow. Not just to me, but to life. To blood. To… everything your father destroyed.”
I pressed my hands to my head. My mind was spinning. My body was shaking. Every nerve was on fire. “You’re… insane. This… this is… murder dressed as revenge.”
“No.” His voice dropped. Dangerous again. “It is justice. And it is fate. You are bound to me now. And we will both learn the cost.”
I could feel the pain increase. My head spun. I tried to rise, to move, to escape. But my body refused to follow.
“You’re… you’re insane,” I whispered again, my voice barely audible.
He knelt in front of me. Close. Too close. His breath washed over me. “Insane? Perhaps. But you…” He paused. Something flickered in his eyes. “You are… remarkable. And dangerous.”
I looked up at him. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to spit, scream, fight. And yet… my body failed me. My pulse jumped. My skin tingled. Something old, something magnetic, something living was calling me to him.
“Do you feel it?” he asked softly. “The bond?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes… I feel… you. I feel it. But I hate it. I hate you.”
“And yet you cannot fight it,” he said. “It is in your blood now. Every beat. Every beating. You are mine, Elena. And there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
I shook my head, pressing my hands against his chest. “I will never belong to you!”
He chuckled softly. “Perhaps not yet. But you will learn. You will follow. Or you will die. That is the truth.”
I gasped as the pain surged again, sharper this time. My view was blurred. My knees buckled.
“I” I couldn’t finish the word. The world turned. My wrist burned. My arm throbbed. My chest felt like it was breaking.
He caught me before I fell completely. His hand on my back. His eyes burning gold. “Hold on,” he whispered. “You’re not alone in this. Not anymore. And neither am I.”
I looked down at my wrist. The mark glowed dimly. But beneath it, I could see the line reflected on his own skin. Every scar. Every detail. The realization hit me like a physical blow.
“This is… you… me… together?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Every pain… every wound… we share it?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “You will feel everything I feel. And I will feel everything you feel. That is the link. That is the curse. That is the mark. You are mine. I am yours. And it cannot be undone.”
I closed my eyes, tears falling freely now. “I… I can’t… I can’t handle this.”
“You will,” he said. “Because you have to. Because I have to. Because the moment I let go… we both die.”
I shook my head furiously, trying to push him away. “I will die anyway. I would rather die than be… be yours!”
He cupped my face. Soft. Gentle. Fierce. “No,” he said. “Not yours. Not mine. Ours. We are linked now. Every beating. Every wound. Every movement. Together. Forever.”
I shook, trying to fight him. Trying to ignore the truth. Trying to fight the tie. Trying to fight myself.
And then the pain spiked again. Sharper. Louder. My view darkened. I screamed, falling into his arms.
He held me. Tight. Golden eyes shining brighter. “Stay with me,” he whispered. “Stay. And survive. Or we both die.”
I pressed my face into his chest, breathing hard, shaking fiercely. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to die.
But I couldn’t.
Because the mark had already taken me. And it had taken him too.
A noise behind me. Footsteps. Shouts. Guards. Panic.
He looked down at his own wrist. Blood. Same as mine. Every line mirrored perfectly. His hand shook.
And in that moment, I understood the truth: the bond wasn’t just magic. It wasn’t just pain. It wasn’t just punishment. It was living. It was real. It was… unbeatable.
I gasped. “What… what does this mean?”
He looked at me, voice low, scary, shaking slightly. “It means,” he said, “we are tied together. In blood. In life. In pain. And we cannot escape it.”
I closed my eyes. I tried to fight. I tried to scream. I tried to deny it. But the bond pulsed through me like fire. Like a heartbeat. Like a warning.
And then I learned something scary.
If I died… he would feel it. And if he died… I would feel it.
We were linked. Bound. Marked. Forever.
And neither of us had a choice.
The guards burst into the room, and one yelled. “Your Majesty! Your hands… your wrists… they’re bleeding! Identical to hers!”
I froze. I looked up at him. His golden eyes met mine, wide with shock and something else I couldn’t name.
We both knew the nightmare had only just started.
- Writer
