Lynn love

Chapter 10

I opened my eyes to darkness layered with whispers. As my vision adjusted, I looked up—and froze. A face hovered above me, half-illuminated by the fractured moonlight slipping through the canopy. Familiar. Handsome. But wrong in a way I couldn't explain. The skin too smooth, the eyes too still, as if carved into something that once mimicked life. "Hello, sir...?" I managed to say, my voice shaking. "What's going on? What... am I doing here?" The fear cracked through my words like a child's voice in a graveyard. From somewhere beyond the trees, a voice answered—not his. "Nothing, my dear." It came from the woods. Soft. Smooth. Drenched in mockery. Another shape stepped forward. Pale. Still. Smiling. Jack? No... Ben. "Who's there?" I called out, heart pounding. My feet dug into the cold soil as I pushed myself upright. Ben's voice curled through the night, warm and poisonous. "You're far too beautiful to be locked up in that house," he said. "Wasted behind desks and locked doors." I swallowed hard, throat dry. "What... what do you mean?" His smile widened. Not kind. Not human. "I'm here to collect a debt." He chuckled, and it echoed far too long. The forest seemed to listen. "A debt?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Ben took a step closer. His eyes gleamed like wet glass. "Yes. And what better payment than the sweet little secretary playing brave in a vampire's den?" He tilted his head, studying me like a butcher might study a cut of meat. "Honestly," he said with a smirk, "you must be even stupider than you look. Walking around that house like you belong there." I tried to back away, but the trees seemed to close in behind me. Every instinct in my body screamed to run, but my legs wouldn't obey. Ben inhaled deeply, like he was savoring something. "But... anywho," he whispered, stepping so close I could feel the chill radiating from his skin. "You'll make a lovely offering." ⸻ ⸻ Ben stepped toward her with slow, deliberate confidence. There was a flicker in his eyes—red, gleaming like burning coals buried just beneath the surface. A hunger, yes, but not just for blood. It was something darker. Something vile. Lynn backed away instinctively, her breath shallow and quick. His gaze crawled across her like a predator sizing up prey, and the twisted smile on his face made her skin crawl. He parted his lips, as if about to speak, but she didn't give him the chance. With all the adrenaline panic could give her, she drove her knee forward—hard. The sound of impact was sickening, and Ben's face twisted with pain as he staggered back, growling through clenched teeth. Lynn didn't wait. She turned and ran. The forest blurred around her, branches clawing at her arms and face as she pushed forward, breath coming in frantic gasps. The cold air bit at her skin, her heart hammering like a war drum in her chest. Back near the clearing, Jack watched with narrowed eyes, his voice sharp and cold. "What are you waiting for?" he snapped. "Go get her." Ben didn't answer. He was already moving. Like a beast unchained, he lunged into the woods, his body a blur of unnatural speed and fury. Twigs cracked beneath his steps, shadows splitting around him as he chased her down with a hunter's precision. She could feel him gaining. A hand shot out from the darkness—his—and seized the back of her dress. The fabric yanked tight against her throat before tearing loose under the strain. She stumbled forward, her balance thrown, and heard the rip—the cold air suddenly against her back, cloth torn, part of her blouse pulled halfway from her body. Ben snarled behind her, voice low and guttural. "Don't make me break you." Lynn pushed herself forward, tears stinging her eyes, not from pain—but from rage, from terror, from the realization that she was alone in a nightmare that didn't play by human rules. ⸻