“I am not lying; every goddamn night for a year, I had to endure him. Every night I wished you would walk through that door, wished that you would realize and save me from him, to make it stop,” I scream at her, which only angers her more.
April’s face distorts in anger. “You’re lying, or you would have told me. Why didn’t you speak up then, Evelyn, huh?”
“Because he threatened Lana; because of who he is. I tried, April. No one would believe me; why would they? You couldn’t even see what was right under your nose the entire time.”
Her hands grip my throat; my words die out as I try to breathe and the chair suddenly tips, and she comes down on top of me. “Liar! Fucking liar!” she keeps screaming, and I can feel the darkness take over my vision just as she lets go, stands up and kicks my side.
I start choking on the breath I try to take, as she struggles to lift the chair back up under my weight. When she finally has me upright again, she strides over to the shelf with tools again, and I groan.
“Please, no more, no more April, just let me go,” I cry.
“No, I will make you suffer the way he did.” My stomach drops when she turns around. “No one will recognize you when I am done,” she says, walking toward me with a blow torch, a sadistic look on her face. One of pure insanity.
Thaddeus
I fucked up; I know I fucked up. I let my walls down. I fell asleep, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I knew they would find me. I shouldn’t have gone home or closed my eyes for those few seconds, which turned into hours.
I can feel them getting nearer. Looking at the clock, I see that it is 10 AM. I have to get moving; they won’t be far out. My mates will convince me to come back, and I can’t risk her safety. She is safest away from me.
My life has been hell without them. I haven’t slept in a month, sitting down and resting is my mistake. I should have kept moving, stayed awake, and then they wouldn’t have found me. Putting my clothes on, I head for the door. I know I don’t have long before they get here. Time slipped away from me, and I’m not even sure how long I slept, but I can feel how close they are.
Moving quickly, I start running. No direction in particular, just away from them catching up. I can feel Orion getting closer, feel his emotion creep into me, flooding me, forcing me to stop. I usually block them out. I can’t handle their suffering. I know it is hell for them, as much as it is for me, but this is the right choice, or so I thought, until I feel her, feel them suffering along with me.
First, it is unease creeping in from her. What is she doing that is making her unsure? Then it is fear, then pounding pain, ripping through my skull, forcing me to clutch my head.
Something is wrong; something has happened. Then suddenly, I can’t feel her at all; she is gone. Looking around, I have no idea where I am; stopping at a sign, I read: Town of Forse.
Ryland and Orion are just as far away as I am. They are 6 hours away from her. Turning on my heel, I take off, heading back the way I came. My surroundings blur into a sea of color; I am moving that fast. My heart is pounding, and dread consumes me. Why can’t I feel her? Is she unconscious? Ryland and Orion would have left her in safe hands. I know them; they love her just as much as I do. So why is she hurt? Why isn’t she safe?
Running, I dig my phone out slowly, as I ring my mother.
“Hello?” her excited voice comes through to me.
“Ma, where is Evelyn? Put her on.”
“I can’t hear you. Are you running?” she asks.
I slowly come to a stop so she can hear. I can feel Ryland and Orion moving away, heading toward her. They must know where she is. “Ma put Evelyn on the phone,” I tell her.
“Evelyn, she went into the city to meet Lana,” my mother says.
My blood runs cold. “By herself?”
“Yes, Ryland said it was okay.” I hang up to dial Evelyn’s number.
“Hi, you’ve reached Evelyn. Leave your number, and I will get back to you.” Her voicemail. Either it is off, or she has no reception. Running, I can feel myself catching up to Ryland, feel the pull of the mate bond pulling me towards his direction.
That’s when I feel her wake, her panic courses through me. My wrists are hurting. I can feel everything she feels. My mate is in trouble; she is hurt. Finally catching up to Ryland at Leven, I see him in wolf form and then, he drops. So do I when the pain starts radiating throughout my left foot. My foot is throbbing, and Ryland groans, the pain forcing him to shift back.
Grabbing him, I slam him to the ground as anger takes over me. “Where is she?”
“She went to the park to visit Lana. Go, Thaddeus, find her,” he says and starts screaming in agony. I can feel her pain but push it aside; her mind is consumed in pain. Letting him go, I start running. Just hang on, Evelyn. I am not far now.
* * *
Evelyn
Watching, horrified as she walks towards me with the blow torch, I feel bile rise in my throat, nausea swirls within me at what she is about to do. She has lost her mind.
“Look, your foot is bleeding. How about I cauterize it for you?” she mocks and holds the blue flame to my broken foot. I scream.
At first, it feels cold, but then it is melting my skin off. I thrash, trying to get her to stop as she starts with my toes. My screams fall on deaf ears as she ignores me. I have never felt pain like it; not even catching fire hurt this badly. This is torture in every sense of the word. My skin is literally melting under the intense heat.
She stops, checking out her handy work. I can smell my burning flesh. It fills the room. The stench is horrendous. She then stands up and walks upstairs; relief floods me that she is leaving. I am drenched in blood and sweat, drenched in my own tears.
“No, no, no,” I scream when I hear the door open and realize she is coming back.
She walks down the stairs, a cruel smile on her face. She is carrying a knife. “Burns are terrible, aren’t they? So painful,” she tells me. “I was planning on burning you to death, but I can’t handle the smell. It is atrocious.” She grabs a medical mask from her pocket and puts it on. She then ties her hair up, getting it off her face and picks up the knife.
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