OpheliaI nudged her along, waiting patiently as she stumbled down the two steps leading to the lowered platform where the couch sat. As she breached the spell circle, the one my father had meticulously placed around the perimeter of the platform, I released the dark spell I had crafted.The ebony snakes vanished into wisps of smoke, leaving behind little red pinpricks where their fangs had cut into her flesh.I nearly sighed with relief. Already I could feel my strength returning to me. Dark magic still drained me much too quickly.Kimberly wasted no time. Ignoring our father completely she lunged at me, magic crackling at her fingertips. As she hit the barrier of the spell circle she was thrown backwards onto her ass.“What—” Her eyes darted around, making note of the grey substance circling her and the platform itself. “You trapped me in a fucking spell circle?”It wasn’t just any spell circle, but she’d find out soon enough. The mixture of black salt, crushed egg shells, and grind
OpheliaKimberly continued to curse me to hell and back while the demon dragged itself from the portal. She was very creative with her threats, which ranged from drowning all the way down to beheading and flaying me alive.With that tenacity she should have no problem controlling the demon.I unfurled my fingers around the timer and pressed the button, starting the countdown.Rapping my knuckles on the door, I shouted. “Thirty minutes, Kimberly. Tick-tock.”I could tell the moment the demon fully emerged from the portal. Kimberly’s brazen threats were cut off by an ear-piercing scream, the kind you saw in horror movies. I listened with my ear against the door.“Ophelia!”“What is this—”“GET AWAY FROM ME!”I rolled my eyes and exhaled through my nostrils. Was that her plan of action? To yell at it to death? Unless the demon had unnaturally sensitive hearing I was almost positive that wouldn’t work.Quickly realizing there was a gap in between the doors, I peered through it and into th
OpheliaI was asleep.I knew I was not because of the weight dragging me under, pulling me beneath waves like an anchor I couldn’t shake. No, it was the nightmares that told me I was unconscious.They flashed behind my eyelids in short bursts partially blocked by the potion I’d taken that morning. Once it was out of my system they would come back full force, haunting my sleeping moments until I did everything in my power to avoid falling into their grasp.It had happened before, which was why my father had shown me the recipe in the first place.Red tainted my vision. The taste of blood lingered on my tongue, as pungent as Kimberly’s shrill screams.I couldn’t take back what I’d done. Did I really want to though? I wasn’t sure.The nightmares flickered, taking on this blurry quality. Some distant part of me felt arms wrapping around my body. Warmth brushed across my flesh along with something that almost tickled.Sparks maybe? No, that couldn’t be it. Not unless one of them were touch
OpheliaI spun around. “Wards. You think wards are going to keep me in here? I’ll drain them just like I drained the dark spell Kimberly placed on Jude.”“That’s if you can find them all, which you won’t.” Jude rolled his lower lip between his teeth. The bond unfurled in my chest. I barely bit back the pathetic whine that threatened to leave me. “I missed hearing you say my name.”Ryker cleared his throat. His hands were clasped behind his back, making him even more imposing than he already was. It didn’t help that his dress shirt and slacks did nothing to conceal the muscled body that hid beneath.“I didn’t take a stand before, but I should have. We should have claimed you the second the bond snapped into place, because you’re all that matters, Ophelia. Not Kimberly. Not the idiotic deal I’d made with her. I fucked up by letting you think otherwise. You might end up hating me more, but this is me taking a stand.” He clenched his jaw, the muscles within twitching. “You aren’t leaving
Ophelia “Chin up, girl! Oh, and tuck that stomach of yours in. Honestly, try not to look so pathetic, Ophelia. You’re being mated to an Alpha.” Mother muttered quietly, “Goddess only knows how that one happened.” I bit my tongue when she yanked the front of my simple cotton dress down, exposing a fair amount of cleavage. Speaking up would only make things worse. She might not be able to strike my face, but she knew how to punish without leaving marks. “Yes, Lucille.” She didn’t care for when I called her mother. Apparently, it made her feel old. That didn’t stop Astrid and Kimberly from calling her it, but they’d always been her favorites. Mother snared a lock of my strawberry-blonde hair and tugged hard. Her flat, dark eyes scoured my face in search of a flinch or wince. “You should have let me dye this mess for you. Alas, it’s too late. Not that it matters in the slightest.” She said with the wave of her hand, “Soon enough, you’ll be someone else’s problem.” A problem, that’s
OpheliaPain raced up the side of my face as Lucille’s hand made contact with my cheek.“You petulant girl, are you even listening to me?”I wasn’t.“Yes, Lucille.”Two of the movers entered in through the front door, sparing me from hearing her retort. A slimy smile wormed its way across her nude painted lips. She clasped her hands together and cooed at the men tasked with carrying the furniture out to the truck. The dirty look she shot me over her shoulder was a warning that this conversation wouldn’t be forgotten.It was hard to care when the shredded bond in my chest writhed in agony, leaving me in near-constant pain.Astrid flounced down the stairs, turning her slender nose up at me as she passed. The wheels of her designer suitcase whirled softly against the hardwood floor. Inside was all the clothes, shoes, and make-up she’d need for the week it would take the movers to transport all their stuff.With my lonesome duffle bag tucked neatly in the trunk of the Bentley, there was n
Ophelia Sun block, and ocean mist. Those were the scents of my childhood, the ones that clung to the bits and pieces of the half-formed memories rattling around in my skull. I breathed each one in through the tiny bedroom window at the tippy top of Lucille’s modernistic nightmare of a beach villa. She’d stuffed me in the attic like a frail Victorian child she was afraid of the neighbors seeing. Little did she know, she was doing me a favor. Kimberly, my older sister, was moving out of her dorm at Eclipse University and back home to be closer to our darling mother. Why she felt the need to come back when she only lived thirty minutes away, I’d never know. That made the attic my safe haven. “Ophelia!” Or so I’d thought. I rolled out of bed, sneezing when a plume of dust hit my nose. It was like she purposefully kept the attic in shambles. Whatever, at least it would give me a project to focus on. The door creaked as I opened it, “Yes, Lucille?” “Make yourself presentable and
Ophelia“Spill the tea, girl. I know Kim-Kim’s done a thing or two in her past.” Diana smacked her glossed lips as we sped down the blackened highway into Eclipse City.Chloe, the bubbly blonde in the back seat, laughed loudly.“We won’t tell a soul!”The surly, narrow-eyed Gemma mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. I knew what I told them would make the rounds throughout the entirety of Lunar Isle.I rummaged around, sorting through memories that bubbled in my gut like acid. Without warning, they began to spew from my mouth. Word after word, I told Diana and her friends all about the kind of person Kimberly was.Each transgression lingered in the air, and for the life of me I couldn’t stop talking.First grade she’d pelted me with rocks and clumps of mud on the walk to school. Third grade she’d chopped my hair off and laughed as I cried. Fifth she shredded every article of clothing I owned, leaving them in tatters. Seventh and she’d already rallied the entire school agai