The Hunted

Chapter Four-Avyanna

Torrents are water invaded my lungs, suffocating me. I gasped for air, desperate for oxygen but instead more water filled my insides. It burned my eyes, my throat and my chest. My screams came out as silent gurgles, my tears disappeared in the ocean that surrounded me. My arms beat violently against the current pulling me further and further into its depths.

My limbs went cold and numb, blood no longer flowing through my veins as I felt the last beatings of my heart struggling against my suffocating form. I saw my hair flowing around me, tranquil strands of dark chocolate lapping against the water. I saw nothing but the deep blue that engulfed me, small bubbles rising, caressing my skin on their assent to the surface.

A thundering crash echoed from above as something large displaced the water, rippling against the surface. My eyes fluttered close as the echoes of limbs beating against water ricocheted against the particles of the water. I attempted my last breath, feeling my heart slow to almost nothing, feeling my muscles unwillingly relax. Everything went black.

My eyes fluttered open, enveloped in a perfect abyss of nothing. I gasped for air but nothing entered, my lungs remained deflated, my heart remained frozen in time. I tried to scream but no noise came out. I was splayed out on a floor I couldn’t see, feeling its cold, icy surface pressed against my skin, burning me. I tried to stand, to move, but I was paralysed.

I blinked and blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness, to the emptiness but still it remained empty. I couldn’t feel anything, I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t smell anything. I was paralysed in a vacuum of darkness, I wasn’t even sure I existed, I wasn’t even sure I was here.

I couldn’t feel Ariadne anymore, her presence had dissipated into nothing. My soul felt shattered, broken, lost. This was worse than death, this was torture, constant and without mercy. There was no escape. There was no reprieve.

It felt like hours when it was only seconds, laying there with the ice eating away at my flesh.

All at once my heart bursts, thumping, pounding, thundering in my chest. It aches with every beat, each pulse more painful than the next. I gasp, air filling my lungs, expanding them more and more until I’m afraid they might collapse again. The environment shifts from freezing to burning, a scream escapes my throat at the new type of burning on my skin.

It feels like a thousand tiny fires have erupted, licking against my skin painfully, the smoke replacing the oxygen I was desperate to inhale. I choked, gasping for air that wasn’t there. I scrambled to my feet, running through nothing. I didn’t know if I was moving at all.

With each step the floor collapsed beneath me, shattering into a thousand pieces beneath my feet. I ran faster and harder, but the floor continued to break, fear building until it had taken over my body.

I stumbled, falling into something hard. A pair of large arms wrapped around me, a momentary comfort washing over me.

The floor falls out beneath us, the grip on my body loosens until it completely disappears and I feel the wind rushing past me. I wait for the feeling of my bones crushing, muscles tearing and body breaking as I hit the ground. I close my eyes, not wanting to see what lays before me.

Nothing happens, the wind stops, I stop.

When my eyes flutter open again, blinking into the darkness as the environment fades into focus. It’s a stone room, chains hang from the walls, a table has been set up with an array of weapons, some I’ve never seen before. I wince as a burning sensation starts at my wrists and I look up to find my arms held above me by silver shackles.

My shoulders and arms ache from holding my weight in the air. My body feels like it’s been dragged through ever level of hell. The only comfort is the oxygen filling my lungs instead of water or smoke. The stale smell of sweat, blood and decay attack my senses.

A cackle erupts, echoing off of every wall, bouncing angrily in my ears. I can’t see anyone; I don’t know where the noise came from. The hairs stand on the back of my neck, my muscles tense until they’re quivering. Cold fills the once warm space.

Obsidian eyes appear from nothing, faded and aged, staring at me with a malicious intrigue. As the close in I can see that there are no other features to the face, just black, beady eyes swimming with hatred.

The figure closes in, destroying the distance between us until it is mere inches from my face, hot breath fanning my face and neck, suffocating me once again. I scream in pain as something searing yet cold slices at my flesh of my abdomen, blood torrents out of the wound, sliding over my skin like a waterfall of crimson. I’m trying to blink back tears, but they fall freely, filling my mouth with salt.

I splutter as blood rises up my throat, the taste of copper mingling with the salt. I can’t scream, my mouth filled with the warm, red liquid, as it dribbles out of my mouth, staining my cheek. The eyes just continue to stare, enjoying my struggle as I squirm against the silver and the blood.

That blood curdling cackle erupts again, surrounding me in a shroud of fear and disgust. A pair of colds wrap around my neck, tightening until my windpipe is completely crushed, until I’m gasping, preying, begging.

As my eyes struggle against the pain, as my lungs give out, as my body shuts down, I hear his words, dripping with malicious venom, seeping into my skin like poison.

“Did you ever think I’d let you live?”

~----------~

My body shot forward, once again blood, sweat and tears coated me. My hair matted to my face and neck, tiny wounds healing on my skin, the taste of copper and salt in my mouth. The room couldn't get any more destroyed at this point unless the wall, ceiling or floor collapsed.

All week the same nightmare plagued me, the same events, the same comforting embrace, the same maniacal laugh taunting me. I was considering if I was going insane, if the curse had finally started to destroy me, if this was a warning. They say the curse is more than a tracking spell, it eats away at you, destroys you making you an easier target. I'd never believed the stories until now.

I hadn't left the tavern at all this week, petrified of what might be waiting for me beyond the safe walls of my residency. I'm here nobody knew what I was or who I was and nobody cared. Out there, in the city, there was danger around every corner, a chance that someone might figure it all out. Ari was getting restless, begging to be released, constantly pacing back and forth irritably. I wanted to, I just couldn't.

I'd never been one for fear, I'd always been strong headed, cocky. But after the dreams started, everything came crashing down. They were so vivid, so real, that every morning I wondered if I was actually dead, some mornings, I almost was.

Reida opened the door slowly, peaking her head from behind the thick plank of broken wood, her eyes assessing the damage as she did every morning after her visit to the lake. She was petrified, constantly wondering if I was as much a danger to her as I was to myself. There was nothing she could, she was a siren, her power was in the water, not here. She grimaced as she looked at the new cuts that healed on my skin, the blood clotting as the skin laced back together.

The room stank of blood, sweat and tears. My blood, sweat and tears. I couldn't even open the window, it was painted shut. I considered smashing it, but it was the only thing left intact out of the whole room.

"You need to go to the woods", I shake my head, curling into a ball. I shouldn't be afraid of a dream, of something that isn't real. But I was. I had died over and over and over again, countless times. I had felt my lungs fill with water, crushed under the pressure. I had felt my skin burn to a crisp, my lungs suffocated by smoke. I had felt that silver blade slice me over and over and over again. I had felt the blood drain from me, pooling beneath me, the droplets echoing in the stone and metal room. I had felt every second, felt every last breath, every scream and sob.

It was all too real and now my reality was completely distorted, I didn't even know if Reida was real, of this was a mirage. I didn't know if this was part of the torture, if in a moment she might fade away into a cloud of my imagination to be replaced by another horror, another death, another shattered heart. Even if I didn't die in the nightmare, it was killing me anyway, destroying my mind, fracturing the world around me.

A pair of comforting arms wrapped around me, pulling me into her chest as I sobbed, remembering how a comforting pair of arms always held me before my next death. There was always a split second before the horror, when I was safe. It was just a second, a brief second. It made the torture even more unbearable. In a moment the floor would cave beneath us and I'd be in that dungeon, the man with only the eyes would be back.

I sobbed louder, my lungs struggling under the weight of my chest. Any moment now, she would disappear as if she had never existed at all. "I'm real, I'm here", she kissed the top of my head, rubbing my shoulders comfortingly as my body trembled, waiting for this to end like it always did.

I was here to fulfil my duty to my pack, I was here to save countless lives, but in the process, I was losing my own. I was paralysed, confined to a single room, hating myself for my fears and anxieties. I was chosen for this because I was brave, because I was strong and powerful, because I was an Alphas daughter. Alpha blood courses through my veins even if somebody else had taken the position after my father’s death. I was a baby at the time. On my return I would assume my position, finally being of age. I was doing this for them, for my people.

But I couldn't do it. I was barely eighteen trying to destroy a tyrant, trying to fix thirty years of terror and torture caused by him. I was young, naive, foolish, cocky, the list went on. I'd walked straight into the belly of the beast, completely blind to the real dangers of the world. I had walked into enemy territory believing I only had one enemy, I had an entire pack of them and I was on their land.

If he didn't kill me, somebody else would, and if they didn't, then I'd die in this bed from fear or from my own claws. How many more nights could I withstand my own claws? How many nights could I withstand this insanity?

I felt her soft fingers brush my cheek; I hadn't realised how much I'd been crying. My already tear-stained cheeks for damp again, the salty water drying against my skin again. "How about a bath?", I sat there frozen, but she didn't wait for my response as she walked towards the bathroom. The sound of the water brought back that feeling of drowning, that memory, a breath caught in my throat as I relived it over and over in my mind. I didn't want a bath, I never wanted to go near water again.

I whimpered as she walked me over to the bathroom, the room smelt of sweet honey and lavender, the steam from the water mingled with the cold air above, swirling into mesmerising patterns. She pulled away the clothes from my skin, grimacing as she saw the still healing wounds that littered my body. I stared at the water’s surface, into its depths, reminding myself I couldn't drown here. Reminding myself that I was awake, that this wasn't dangerous. My mind wouldn't accept any of it.

She guided me closer to the water, my breathing became laboured as panic overcame me. My heart thundered louder and faster until I thought it might explode from my chest. My muscles twitched in anticipation of the danger.

I stepped in to the water, it's warm surface lapping against my skin gently, comforting me and reminding me I was okay. This wasn't cold like the water from my dream, it didn't smell of salt and blood. It was sweet, it was different, it was safe? I didn't have time to think any more about it as her hands guided me down until half of my body was submerged and the comfort dissipated replaced by anxiety. I tried to scramble away but her hands held me in place firmly, her soft voice comforting me, reminding me that this was real, that I was safe.

She remained with her hands softly on my shoulders, sometimes rubbing small comforting circles on my back, her voice constantly reminding me that I was safe, that I was alive. Slowly, my muscles relaxed and I began to enjoy the water. Eventually I built up the courage to lower my head just enough to wet my hair, jumping up as soon as the water roughed my face, gasping for air I didn't need.

Once again, her hands comforted me, her voice reminded me that this was real, that I was safe. She lathered soap into my hair, singing a song that I didn't recognise. Her voice was soothing, the soft melody shrouding me in comfort and trust. I knew she was using her siren voice, manipulating my mind, but I didn't care. The longer she sang, the more my muscles relaxed, like a lullaby sang to a crying child.

As she sang, I lowered my head again, the panic slowly subsiding while I listened to her, washing away the suds from my hair. When I came back up, I wasn't suffocating, I wasn't gasping for air I didn't need. "Please don't stop singing", my voice was breathy and desperate, knowing that if she stopped everything would come rushing back. Her fiery mane bounced as she nodded, her voice continuing its peaceful tune.

She handed me the soap and I washed away the dry blood and sweat, watching as it stained the water a murky brown. I wanted to throw up, I didn't realise how much blood I lost every night, not until I saw some of the remains in the water. I stood up, the water rippling as I broke its surface, remnants dripping down my skin. There was still a crust of dried blood on my skin, without thinking Reida handed me a cloth, I offered a thanking smile as I used it to wash away the rest of my nightmares.

I wrapped a soft towel around myself, following Reida back into the room. She stopped singing, her eyes studying mine for a moment before scanning my face for anything. I was still tense, still struggling against my fears, but some of it had subsided enough for me to be okay. She let out a relieved sigh, placing her hand on her heart and leaning against the wall. "You really scared me", I nodded as guilt pinched at my chest, I mumbled an apology, looking at the ground out of embarrassment, guilt and sadness.

She shook her head, walking over and once again taking my shoulders into her hands, turning me to face her. "It's not your fault, we'll figure this out", I nodded, uncomfortable with this entire situation, Reida wasn't much older but she was having to act like my mother. She was having to protect me from myself, she had to free me from my own mind. I felt like a stupid pup. She handed me a fresh set of clothes, a white linen blouse and trousers, I was thankful she left the corset.

Pulling the garments over my body, I looked in the mirror, grimacing at my appearance. My eyes were an even paler shade of blue, almost white now. Shades of purple and dark blue stained the skin under my eyes, showing my exhaustion. My lips were swollen and bruised; fang marks littered across the pink flesh. My hair was knotted and tattered, the once dark chocolate waves had faded into a dull shade of dirt. The skin had tightened against my skeleton, my cheekbones were more prominent and my eyes looked sunken. I looked like a corpse.

I looked worse than a corpse.

I didn’t want to leave the room now, everyone would know what was doing this to me, it only made everything more dangerous. It would only bring me closer to my imminent death. Reida took my wrist in her hand, leading me towards the door, I tried to slam my feet down, to ground myself, but I had lost so much of my strength.

“You need to let your wolf out”, I shook my head, fighting against her grasp and failing miserably. I hated this, I hated not having control of my body, of my mind. I hated being weak.

Please.

But what if we get hurt, we’re too weak.

We’re weak because our bond is weakening, we need to shift.

I’m scared.

I know, I promise we’ll be safe.

I sighed, the panic building and building the closer we got to the door. I knew that Ari was the voice of reason, she knew more about the bond than I did, but I still didn’t want to listen. I just wanted to curl up and hide, I had found my weakness, death. That was my fear. I thought I was fearless, that I was one of the very few that was brave. But I wasn’t, I was a scared little girl, shaking and quivering from a nightmare.

I winced when the sun hit my skin, the warm sensation reminding me of the fire that engulfed me. I waited for the smoke, for the suffocation. I had completely lost my hold on reality. Reida continued to pull me along as I waited for something that wasn’t coming.

I didn’t notice when she was leading me to the lake right outside the palace walls, I didn’t notice that familiar scent that had once captivated my interest, I didn’t notice the man with the obsidian eyes.

 I didn’t notice, that this was all a trap.