GreyI hated my situation, I hated that I had to put up with Ramona just because I had to save Kaden. I didn’t even know how both he and Ansel were faring, I hated everything about being here with this cruel witch. Yes, she treated me well by giving me food, making sure I was comfortable and also clothing me. But how was I supposed to what the luxury of being with her when my brothers, Sky and Valerie were all trapped and treated awfully?I was tired of pretending- acting like I was in love with Ramona and having to be in her presence. I needed to find a solution to all of this, and fast. I couldn’t keep doing any of it. Pretending. Lying. Acting like her touch didn’t make my skin crawl. Every false smile I gave her was another crack in my sanity.After thinking it through very well, I decided that I was going to kill Ramona. And I would do it while she was asleep.I was sitting on the bed and the moonlight shined into the room through the small opening of the curtains through the w
SkylarThe minute I regained consciousness, I could feel all my body aching, it started off dully before I felt the pain crashing over me at once. Every part of me burned and I slowly opened my eyes, my visions blurry at first. But when it cleared up and I took in my surroundings, the exhaustion and pain I was feeling vanished into thin air, replaced by fear and panic. No… No, no, no.We were back. Not only were we back in the pack that we had run so far away from, we were in the mansion- in the hall where Ramona and Coral had crowned theirselves queen. I couldn’t belive that we were back there, how had they even found us? We had been careful and discreet when we escaped, and now all our efforts were in vain. I just couldn’t wrap my head around how they had known our location and had come after us. How had they known the perfect time to come? They ambushed us and dragged us back ti this hell hole With heavy eyes and a very sure body that begged to be put to rest, I forced myself
Grey“So, what do you say?”“If getting married to you means I’ll save Valerie from dying,” I started, my voice shaky, “then, I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”The words burned in my throat like poison and the minute they left my mouth, I felt nothing but hatred for myself. I had never thought I could hate myself this much, but since this whole ordeal began, I had lost my power, pride and willpower. All I had in me was hatred- more for myself than for the witches that had taken over and caused all of this. I was very much alive but I felt empty and dead inside. Me agreeing to marry Ramona was a defeat I had never tasted before, it was bitter, raw and it crushed my soul. But, I really had no other choice. Valerie was dying. Her blood had stained my hands, her breath was shallow and faint, and every second wasted felt like a nail in her coffin.I couldn’t let her die. Not like this.“I’ll get married to you,” I repeated, my voice loud and sharp so she could hear me. She didn’t answer the f
Grey“I want you to forget Valerie.”I swallowed, my mouth becoming dry and I tried my best not to let her see the amount of disgust and irritation I was feeling just from her touch. “Don’t worry okay?” She said sweetly. “I’ll give you time. Time to fall in love with me. But you will love me, Grey. Eventually.”I forced myself to nod. Not wanting to be so close to her any longer. “Thank you,” I muttered, my voice clipped. She smiled, pleased with my broken submission. I was happy that I had time, although little, to think of a better plan- to figure a way out of this. But just as I was calming myself down, her next words caught me off guard and I cocked my eyebrow at her.“Get dressed. We’re going somewhere.”My heart fell into my stomach and my mind raced with questions. “Where are we going?”She didn’t say anything in response, instead she pulled away from me and sat beside me on the bed. “Don’t question me,” she replied with an irritated expression plastered on her face. “Just
KadenThe pain never left- it just dulled into something bearable, something I could swallow down and ignore because survival was all that mattered. The little girl Skylar brought had done something- her small hand rested against my chest, whispering words laced with ancient power. Her magic coursed through me and the pain I had been feeling for a long time- like I wanted to die- immediately released its grip on me.It had given me strength- all thought little- to be able to follow behind Skylar and head to the temple. I had fought against the oracle servants beside them just so we could get the book and finally find a way to put an end to all our sufferings but even that wasn’t enough. We were back.After everything- everything- we were back in this godforsaken palace. Shackled and humiliated like trophies on display. Our bodies hung upside down, blood rushing to our heads, muscles screaming from the strain of being suspended for so long. Every breath was agony, but it wasn’t the wo
ValarieIt was strange- how your body could move, breathe, exist- without you truly being in control of it.I felt every breath my body took, the slow rise and fall of my chest like a cruel mockery of life. But I wasn’t in control. I was a prisoner- trapped, screaming into a void where my voice didn’t echo back.Coral’s grip was iron. Unrelenting.I tried to claw my way to the surface, again and again. I screamed inside my mind until my throat- the one I couldn’t even control- should have been raw. But nothing happened.No response. No freedom.Just silence.I was empty. I was a trapped soul in my own body. And every second of it was agony.I didn’t know how long it had been- time didn’t mean anything when you were locked away inside yourself. But every now and then, shards of awareness would pierce through the fog, cruel reminders of what I had lost.That was when I saw them.Skylar. Kaiden. Ansel.Hanging upside down like trophies.Their bodies broken and battered, blood staining
ScottI let out a sharp breathe. “What is it that you’re planning? And how do I fit into the picture?”The woman smiled and gave me details of what they planned to do. The decision to help them wasn’t easy.I didn’t do it out of trust.I didn’t do it because I believed their sweet words about “freedom” or “justice.”I did it because of them.Elara and Dennis- two tiny heartbeats that had somehow become my entire reason for breathing, the children who described to love without fear and to have their parents beside them.I wasn’t going to allow either Ramona or Coral get their hands on the babies and I won’t let their parents suffer any longer under the witches’ reign.The children were innocent. Helpless. They deserved more than this cruel war, more than being pawns in a twisted game they didn’t even understand.When that so called resistance kidnapped us in, I had believed that they truly wanted what was best because of how they had gone over their plans and also treated the babies ge
ValerieI was trapped.Not behind bars, not in chains- but within my own body. A hollow shell, moving and breathing on command like a puppet dangling from invisible strings. Every movement wasn’t mine. Every breath I took belonged to someone else.But I was still here.Buried deep beneath Coral’s suffocating control, I was nothing more than a silent scream echoing in an endless void. No power. No voice. Just… emptiness.Until I felt it.A flicker.Small, barely noticeable- but there.Coral thought she had complete control, but she didn’t realize I was still lingering, like smoke refusing to clear. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. But I could feel… and deep within the cracks of her mind, I discovered something far more dangerous than any blade or spell.Her visions. Taking a page from her playbook. Her precious foresight- so flawless, so unbreakable- wasn’t as invincible as she believed.And if I couldn’t fight her physically, then I would break her where she was most powerful.In h
ScottMy head was still spinning. Skylar was alive. Relief washed over me in waves and it battled against the confusion that I felt, the one eating at the edges of mind. A part of me wanted to believe it without having questions, to accept that Skylar truly had sent someone to help me, to lessen the burden I had to carry. But, the other part that had been betrayed, captured, hurt and nearly killed refused to let its guard down and I stared at the woman suspiciously. “What’s your name?” I asked her, my voice cold and void of any emotions. “And why would Skyler even send you to me?”“My name is Tori,” she replied, her smile unwavering. “And like I said earlier, Skylar sent me to come help you.”I studied her carefully and when she moved closer to me, I recoiled. She asked me to calm down and then she gave me a potion. She said it would cure me. I didn’t want to believe her but she had convinced me and I had taken it. It had taken the burning pain I was feeling away but I still didn
ScottI ran and ran until my legs begged me to stop and rest, but I didn’t listen. I couldn’t listen. Only one thing was on my mind and that was getting to a safe place far from where anyone could reach us. Out of nowhere, it started raining and I grew weary. That was the last thing that I wanted, it poured down heavily, my clothes clinging to me and making my wounds. My vision was blurry as the rain lashed against my face, entering into my eyes. I ran through the woods, muddy floor and I had no idea where I was going. Normally, I would have been healed, my wounds closed up and my body stronger no matter how much I had been running. But, every time I tried to focus and heal myself, I would feel nothing but excruciating pain. Vervain. When they had captured me and taken me back to their camp, they had injected me with it. The stupid poison was coursing through my veins and eating away at my essence like fire would burn up a paper. It was even worse because it wasn’t just little
SkylarI felt dizzy and the world spun around me. I barely had time to figure out what was going on or what had happened when I felt myself shift and my knees hit a cold and hard ground. I was supposed to be dead. I was this close to getting my head chopped off. The last thing I remembered was the guard with empty eyes raising a machete while Ramona and Coral watched me with amusement as I was about to be killed. I had accepted my fate because not only was I helpless, it was Grey who had asked for me to be killed but-Light. A light erupted, bright and blinding as it shone through the room, affecting me even more because it appeared so close to me. And now, I was here. A cave. The air was thick with the smell of moss and something I couldn’t quite place my hand on, the air was also moist and shadows were cast on the stone walls by the moonlight that shone into the tiny opening of the cave. A lantern was on but it was not bright and I blinked rapidly as I tried to figure out wh
KaidenI was in shock. Skylar was gone. One minute, she was kneeling in the middle of the hall, bleeding, wounded, her voice hoarse and broke as she begged Grey to tell them to stop. She was screaming, scared and trembling from all the exhaustion. Then in the next minute, as the guard raised the machete to behead her, a bright light shone through the room. And a figure emerged out of nothingness. It was the girl that had saved me- the one that had healed me and found a way to lessen the effect of the poison that had been given to me. The girl was facing away from us so I could see the look on her face. Coral looked surprised and so did Ramona- they had been looking for the girl and she had just appeared in front of them out of nowhere. Before I could figure out why she was here, she placed her hand on Skylar and they both disappeared. Gone. Like they had never been there in the first place. I stared at the empty space- the place she had once been, begging- and my body went ri
RamonaAfter Coral stalked away with a cold unreadable expression on her face after we had argued and I was left standing there confused. I didn’t understand why she looked at me like that. Like she was hurt that I had gone against her and she wanted to hurt me and draw my blood. I didn’t mean to go against her but, her saying I should stop my marriage to Grey was unbelievable. She knew this was what I had wanted for a very long time. I wouldn’t just throw all of it away because I wanted to please. Because Skylar had disappeared. We were in power now- in control, no one was going to win against us and I was sure we would find Skylar in no time. So, I didn’t know what the fuss was about. I dismissed everyone and stormed back to my room, not waiting for Grey to follow me. If he was really under my control, he would know what to do. Getting to my room, I slammed the door shut behind me. The sound of the door closing had echoed through the room and it felt like the walls were comin
CoralThe anger I felt was like none I had ever felt in the past. It burned hot, unrelenting and through my veins as it clawed its way to my chest like a beast that hungry blood, and would do anything to get it.Skylar was gone.Gone.Vanished before my very eyes like smoke in the wind.That girl—the one I had been desperately searching for had appeared out of nowhere, and in an instant, almost like she hadn’t appeared in the hall at all, she had stolen what was mine and had disappeared with it.And now, Skylar that was once wounded, bruised, and broken was no longer in the middle of the hall where I was getting the satisfaction of watching her bleed and beg in pain. My fists curled at my sides and turned away from the crowd towards Ramona, glaring daggers at her.“This is all your fault,” I gritted out through clenched teeth, my voice dangerously low and venomous. Ramona blinked, surprised but quickly regaining herself. She let out a scoff, rolling her eyes as she waved her hand i
ValerieI smiled in my head, satisfied when I saw that Coral was now plotting against Ramona. One thing about who has a thirst for power that wasn’t theirs or people who loved making people suffer was that they didn’t trust anyone- not even theirselves. And now that Coral had asked Ramona to do something not Ramona straight up rejecting and refusing to do it, Coral mind was made up that she was going to be eventually betrayed by Ramona. But my victory was bitter because even as I savored my success, I learned something else- something that made my insides burn.Ramona was planning her engagement to Grey and the thought of it alone made me sick.Even after all she had done, after taking away his free will, after turning him into her puppet- she still wanted more.She wanted to own him completely and I wanted to scream. To fight.To burn everything to the ground before I let her take him.But I couldn’t because I was nothing.An echo. A prisoner. A ghost trapped in my own body, curs
GreyI was drowning.Not in water. Not in blood.In her.I had to put up with Ramona, be with her all the time while acting lovingly. Her presence felt suffocating, filling every part of me, twisting my thoughts, coursing through my mind and making me desire her even if I really didn’t want to. I could still feel her magic coursing through me, strong, unrelenting and taking away my willpower as she forced me to do as she wanted. My body obeyed each and every of her commands- in fact, she didn’t need to tell me to do something before I did it sometimes. The words that came out of my mouth were what she wanted to hear and my hands did as she wanted- whether it was a massage, a hug or a cuddle. And I hated it.I hated every second of this existence.Hated the way my own body betrayed me, the way I knew I was doing something monstrous but couldn’t stop myself.Most of all, I hated what I had done to them.Kaiden. Ansel. Skylar.I hated myself because I had whipped them. Over and over a
CoralI raised my hand to her mouth and held it together, cutting her off with one quick movement of my hand. She widened her eyes in surprise and looked at me like I was crazy, making me drop my hand and roll my eye in response. She pulled me close to her and wrapped her around me for a hug. I stood stiffly in her arms and wondered why she was hugging which spiked up my suspicion. I pulled away from her and eyed her with suspicion. Ramona blinked at me, her expression smug. “Why did you hold me by my mouth?” She asked in amusement. “Now, I’ve lost my train of thoughts and I can’t remember the last thing you said. Plus, you looked tense, that’s why I hugged you, maybe that would help.”“You never stop talking, do you?” I asked as I slightly bent my head to the side, studying her. She let out a small and soft laughter, it was the best sound ever and on normal days, I would have laughed along with her but now? It only made my skin crawl. “I had a vision,” I said, my voice blunt a