“What are you talking about?”
I look at Alana, hoping this is all just some hoax, a con to make me trust Kaladar and not her.
“Alana?”
She gives me an answering arrogant smirk as Kaladar steps closer to her.
“You see, Morana here, or as you know her, dear sweet Alana , has been playing you.”
My heart drops to my stomach, my world tilting at his words.
“No! No, that’s not…” I look to Alana, pleading with her to tell me he’s lying. That he’s making it up! Anything but what he just said.
“No.” Not after all these years, not after everything we’ve been through.
He’s playing a cruel trick, trying to deceive us, he has to be…
No longer a frightened meek woman that was slowly fading from the world, instead stood an arrogant double.
I shake my head, swallowing the large lump stuck in my throat.
It was another illusion. This wasn’t Alana, it couldn’t be. I had hugged her weak body. Seen her bruises and hollow eyes.
“You’re lying.” I blink back the burn in my eyes, each time hoping the scene in front of me will change.
But it doesn’t.
Even with the truth staring me in the eyes, I can’t believe it. She cares. I could see it in her eyes. She couldn’t have faked that. Not all this time.
Kaladar chuckles in delight. “You can see the truth for yourself. You can choose to believe it or not. Either way it doesn’t affect me.”
My mind tumbles between reality and wanting to believe I’m in some sort of messed up dream, a hallucination from too many beatings, too many deaths.
But the truth stares me in the eyes, a haughty look on her face.
The woman in front of me is not the one I know and grew up with. The one who was a constant comfort when I needed her the most.
This had to be King’s doing. Maybe he threatened her. Maybe—
“I can see the tables turning behind those gullible wide-eyes of yours. Let me guess, you’re still trying to come up with some plausible way that what you’re seeing isn’t true?”
“King—
The imposter cackles, amusement flaring in her eyes. “King would do anything for me. He loves me.”
A deep ache flares inside me, something far more painful than the physical torture from King.
Love. Trust.
All broken with those three little words.
She loves him? I feel like I’ve been sucker punched. My breath taken from me with each word. Each a slap to the face.
The deep pain lingers, spreading like a malignant tumour wanting to ravage my body and mind.
“You’re… with him?”
After everything he’s done to her…
But none of that was real, was it? She faked it. Her frail body, the bruises and cuts, they were all an illusion.
Whereas every punch King landed on my body, every slice of a blade across my skin, every break of a bone, was real.
She knew this. She knew what he did to me and still… Still, she played her role, gaining my compassion, my trust. My love and just… laughed at it behind my back.
Despair so vivid, so real, it suffocates me and drags me under, holding me down. A tidal wave envelops me like a shroud. One so thick and heavy it layers upon me, drenched in agony and pain. So much pain.
I try to catch my breath but it’s no use, my chest constricts in on itself.
This is just a game to her, a role to play.
She has been with my tormentor all this time, and she fucking loves him.
Something inside me cracks and rips, spilling out around me, the last remaining pieces of me shattering.
I become hollow. Numb.
An empty shell, my broken pieces lay scattered on the ground.
“Why?” My raspy whisper can barely be heard.
My eyes burn as my legs give out. The guard’s grip tightens, painfully so, but it’s nothing on the agony I’m feeling inside. The mental torture from learning her betrayal, like a living, breathing entity as it slashes out at my body and mind.
Ignoring Kaladar’s delighted chuckle beside me, I look at Morana. “What could you possibly gain from this?” My voice is drenched in agony.
“When you first came here—”
“When King murdered my mother and kidnapped me?!”
“None of that matters now.” None of that matters? How can she say that?
“You—”
Power whips out, dragging me to the ground and out from the guard’s grip. I send Kaladar a glare, but he’s smirking at Al—Morana. Whipping my head towards her, I watch on in shock as a wave of green smoke circles her hand.
The hand that’s reached out towards me.
My shoulders drop, too heavy to hold up. She isn’t just an illusionist; she has power. She was never weak.
I push back the tears threatening to spill, not wanting them to see just how much this hurt. Like so many others, they will only find amusement in my pain.
“Was any of it ever real?” I ask her, needing to know if she ever cared. Even for a moment.
“Oh you poor, poor thing.” Disdain drips from each word, giving me my answer. “Cared? You were a job, a role to play, so King would get what he needed.”
“Which was?”
“Your compliance of course.”
“He fucking tortured me, for my damn compliance? Why the fuck would you go to these lengths?”
“We needed to see if you were what we were looking for. Turns out you are. But to find that out, we needed to… test your limits.”
Bile rises up in my throat at her admission. She knew exactly what King was doing to me. Killing me over and over. And all to test me.
Morana continues on, oblivious to my inner turmoil.
“Your abilities seem to work better when you’re in a heightened state of emotion. You were so gloomy and withdrawn. So pitiful and completely lost.”
“I lost my mother. You ripped me away from everything I knew. You lied to me, and for what? All so you could test my fucking abilities?
I shake my head at myself. How foolish, how naïve was I to believe her?
“You’re so much worse than those that beat me and try to tear me apart. You’re evil, malicious. A venomous snake that hides behind its alluring scales when they’re nothing but blackened razors full of poison.”
King’s torment would always leave a mark on my soul, but this… This betrayal is beyond that. A scar so deep, so open, it stains and spreads like poison inside me.
King never tried to be anything but the monster he is. Alana faked her way into my heart and then ripped it out right in front of me.
“You lacked the motivation required.” She shrugs, a small tilt to her lips. “So, I made sure to get results.”
“This isn’t a fucking game!”
Kaladar chuckles in delight at my distress.
Glancing at Morana, he raises a brow. “I’m guessing she doesn’t know of your other little betrayal, does she?”
“What the hell are you talking about now?”
“There’s that feisty attitude I adore,” he croons.
His pretentious smile is a mile wide. “Who do you think helped King dispose of your mother?”
Everything inside me freezes and shuts down. I gasp for air, my chest feeling too tight as everything closes in around me.
Pain is everywhere. It holds no favour over my body. Every part is stripped bare and in a constant state of torture. I embrace it, letting it take over.
I deserve this. For not seeing the truth.
I’ve been looking after the person who helped kill my mother all these years.
She shrugs as if it’s nothing to her. That she didn’t help murder her best friend or spend the last six years pretending to be something she’s not.
A spark of violence starts to gradually build and burn inside me, looking for an outlet.
“If she had what we were looking for, she wouldn’t have died.”
“But… I guess in the end, she did.”
Her cruel smirk grows. “You.”
Just as I make a move towards her, I hear a rattle of chains. They whip out, coiling around my arms and wrists, preventing me from moving any closer to the treacherous bitch.
“Let’s see how well you do when bound.” Kaladar chuckles in amusement.
Struggling against his binds, I feel them coil as they begin to tighten, cutting my skin.
But the pain means nothing now, obscured by Morana, and now Kaladar’s revelations.
“Now, now. Don’t try to hurt yourself too much. We’ll have plenty of time to play later.” Morana sends me a wink.
My vision turns red as rage, like no other, burns through me.
“She was your friend!” I scream, trying to break free from Kaladar’s hold to get closer to the bitch.
She waves me away like an annoying pest.
“I’m going to fucking kill you.”
“Yes, yes. I’m sure you’ll try.”
I’ll do more than fucking try! They won’t have me bound forever. Anything they try will not kill me, so I just have to bide my time.
I try in earnest to move against the chains, watching as blood drips freely from my arms and wrist.
“Tut, tut. We can’t have you passing out on us too early. Not when I haven’t even started to have my fun.” Kaladar’s power tightens its hold once more, halting any movement.
My growing rage starts to wane as my body becomes immovable, anchored only by the chains Kaladar wields with his powers.
This all feels like some nightmare I will wake up from. One where my life isn’t a lie or where I wasn’t so trusting.
I don’t know the face I’m staring at, wishing I could take a dagger and spear it through her rotten, blackened heart.
Even now, I still can’t wrap my head around it all.
“You killed my mother, your friend, all because I can fucking heal myself?”
Morana cackles, her glee apparent. “You really have no clue, do you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” She’s speaking in riddles.
“My dear child, you haven’t a clue what you are? My Gods, if you only knew how powerful you really are. Such potential wasted on your naïve little mind.” She sneers. “But you will become useful now that the bonds have started to form. I can see the threads from here.”
“What—”
Cutting me off, she gives Kaladar a snooty look. “Check the area, she was meeting up with someone.”
No!
Her lip curls in disgust. “She used some foul-smelling potion to remove King’s spell tying her to the hotel, but it’s temporary. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it will last a few more hours. But there’s most definitely a witch involved.”
Kaladar nods to his guards. “Search the place. Don’t leave any stone unturned. I don’t want anyone getting out of here alive. Understood?”
The guards form groups of threes and fours and head off in different directions to cover the whole area quickly.
I send a silent prayer up to whatever Gods there are, that Luna, Jazmyn, and the guys are all safe and far away from here.
Kaladar waves the chains holding me away. They drop with a heavy clang to the ground. I catch myself, scraping my palms against the coarse gravel.
I focus my rage and pain on the sick son of a bitch in front of me. I may be broken and foolish for trusting her, but I wasn’t going to make it easy on either of them. They don’t deserve my compliance. Not anymore.
“Who else is involved in your little getaway?” Kaladar asks.
Spitting out blood towards him, I glare at him. “Fuck. You.”
I will never betray Jazmyn.
Kaladar’s laugh is cold. I can see the depraved look in his eyes as he releases the cage on his sadistic nature.
I feel Kaladar’s power before it hits. The impact is like a blow, snapping my head sideways as I whack my head against the rough ground.
The world spins and tilts as I attempt to push myself up.
Before I get the chance to sit up, a sharp burn slices up my back, forcing me back to the ground.
“I think it’s time for a little re-match. Except this time, I won’t be holding back.”
I grit through the pain, cursing Kaladar.
“Good for you,” I bait him, having no care to my mortality, it’s not like he could kill me.
A laugh escapes my lips at the thought as treacherous tears run down my face, making me look insane.
Just as I stand up on shaky legs, an invisible force punches me in the stomach, making me crumble to the ground once more.
I don’t get time to even consider getting up before the dick reaches a hand out. Seeing his eyes light up, I know this one is going to be a bitch.
The bolt of energy hits me with the force of a moving truck, throwing me ten feet in the air before I land hard on the gravel. My body ripples with the force of impact.
I can’t move.
My body is immobile, but every inch of it is in pain. The energy bolt still sends shock waves to every nerve, lighting it on fire.
My breathing is laboured and raspy as it struggles in vain to take in the air around me.
After a minute, I’m able to open my mouth. I cough and spew up dark blood. It coats my lips and chin as I wait for the rest of me to heal.
Fuck! That hurt.
That really fucking hurt!
“Prick,” I pant out as my ability works overtime to try to dampen the major damage. Bolts of sharp splinters work their way up and down my broken spine and legs.
Kaladar chuckles in delight as another razor-sharp burn slits across my stomach. I don’t have time to stem the bleeding long enough to heal before I’m thrown into the nearest crate. I hear a crack just as my head slams against the thick metal.
My adrenaline fades as my ability tries to focus on the worst of my injuries. Bile rises up my throat as everything around me darkens and spins.
If he keeps this up, I’ll pass out before I get the chance to heal.
“Kal?” Morana gives him a bored look. “Do you really have to do this now?”
“She deserves to be taken down a few notches. The bitch should know her place.” He sneers at me.
Before I get a chance to reply, Kaladar’s power wraps around me, squeezing me tighter and tighter until I hear a crunch and the blaze of pain that follows.
I feel a wetness on my face and neck and know that can’t be good. I won’t have long before I pass out and not being awake scares me more than the pain right now.
I just need to hold on a little longer. My ability will not let me down, not after all these years with King.
“Can we move this along? I have somewhere to be?” Morana says, looking put out by all this. After all, she knows how creative King likes to get in his sessions. The bitch probably gave him ideas.
“Get. Up,” Kaladar demands, but the sick fuck can go to hell if he thinks I’ll ever listen to him.
“I said, GET UP!” he roars just as I feel myself being yanked up by an invisible force. I stay suspended as my ability finishes healing the rest of my newest injuries.
He must have injured some of my internal organs as I feel the familiar blaze and bite inside my lower back.
Slower than I’d like, my bones shift, fusing back together. My wounds close, disappearing as if never there. The only evidence is the dark blood still on my skin.
“Look at that! Brand fucking new.”
Morana rolls her eyes at him. “Yes, yes. It’s all very fascinating. Wrap it up already!”
Morana’s agitated look makes me wonder how I never saw any glint of this side of her. How was she able to fake it for so long? Was I really that naïve and stupid?
“This was our deal. I get to have my fun with her first. So deal with it,” Kaladar says to her.
I give him a hollow laugh. “You’re a coward, hiding behind your powers.”
“Is that so?” I’m dropped to the ground like a rag doll.
“Let’s even the playing field then, shall we?” Reaching behind him, he pulls out something small from his back pocket.
“You can thank your little Alana for this gift.” Kaladar waves the small vial as he makes his way closer. The contents are a familiar green gunk.
How did he get a hold of King’s blocker?
Before I can think about it, he waves his hand, and I’m immobile once more.
Forcing my mouth open, he pours the vile sludge down my throat.
“How long before it kicks in?” He turns to Morana while continuing to hold my mouth closed as the concoction works its way down my throat.
My eyes widen as I choke down large gulps of the sludge.
Too much. He’s giving me too much. I’ll barely be able to heal once this kicks in.
Morana huffs just as the guards come back. “A couple of minutes should do it.”
Looking back to me, he gives me a cruel smirk before pulling his hand away and stepping back.
I glance around the guards, looking out for any familiar faces, and relax when I see none.
“The area is clear, sir.”
Kaladar narrows his eyes on me.
“Fine. We’ll have to find out your little secrets some other way.” He waves the guards off, releasing me from my motionless position.
“Form a perimeter, I don’t want anyone getting in.”
“Yes, sir.” Kaladar’s guards spread out around us, the nearest leaving their backs to us.
Just as I go to get up, I feel a boot to my side, making me curl in on myself, gasping.
“Let’s see how much of a coward I am when I rip you open and tear you apart.” He hisses, bending down to grab me by my foot. I pull back my other leg and put as much force into it as I can.
“You little—”
He drops my foot, cursing me to hell and back. I waste no time twisting around and pulling myself up, ignoring the sharp burst of pain in my side. The fucker must have broken a rib or two, but I don’t have time to worry about it. I need to get my ass out of there.
My ability isn’t going to get the time it needs to heal with King’s little potion, slowing it down to a near halt.
Just as I make it to the nearest crate, I’m whipped to the side, slamming into it.
Of course, he won’t play fair.
I pull myself up, turning around to face him when I see the large sphere of power just before it hits.
A gasp slips out as pain explodes throughout my body, sliding me to the ground. I’m unable to do anything as it comes in fresh waves, over and over, feeling endless.
“I lied.” Kaladar chuckles as he hunches down beside me.
My insides feel like they’re being crushed together while my skin is flayed alive.
A scream is torn from my lips, no longer able to hold back. Without my ability to halt the injuries, it’s too much.
It’s all too much.
My vision dims and darkens as I wait for the darkness to take me, begging it to hurry.
“Oh no, you don’t.”
Sharp blades of fire flay open my skin, leaving no area untouched, drawing a scream once more, and prolonging my sweet slumber.
Time moves on without me as Kaladar continues to inflict more and more pain, shattering my body into crooked pieces and broken shells.
The world slows and stops as my mind attempts to find a happier place. One where the guys are safe with Luna. Where Jazmyn and Kane are happy and far away from King’s grasp.
I try to focus on those happy thoughts as I begin to turn numb and hollow.
They would all go on to live happy lives, surrounded by family and friends who love and care for them.
The last sliver of warmth abandons me. My heart thumps one last slow beat, before turning cold and heavy leaving an empty husk behind.
I’m alone now.
Truly alone, with no way out from the relentless pain and mental torture.
Mumbles grow distant as the dark pit threatens to open up and swallow me whole.
The numbness grows. The sounds around me turn silent as everything slows down and stops.
I’m suspended in time as I wait to regenerate and move once again.
My thoughts lean into the dark, no longer able to hold them back any longer, as I begin to accept my new fate.
It was all a lie. Alana never really needed me anyway.
No one did.
