Chapter 9 Royce
ROYCE
“Baby, let me walk you home. Please,” Beckham pleads.
It’s not something I’m willing to further risk, since Prince has seen too much, and if Agatha knew as well, that would be the end of it all between us.
But I would take my own life before they are able to take his. I am nothing without him, and to live a life alone is no life at all.
Cuddling into his sweet embrace, I say, “I’ll be okay, I promise.” The words are a lie, and his body tenses, worried. He believes them as much as I do.
Witches cackle, demons ride briskly past us on unicycles, and warlocks brood with their brooms.
Looking up at the most beautiful man, I kiss his thin, cool lips for what may be the last time. He feels it too, that fact that the passion, our connection, could be compromised.
Slowly we part, his forehead resting upon mine, and hushed words are spoken so only I can hear them. “Forever mine, and I am yours. I love you, Royce.”
Tears prick my eyes. Squeezing them shut, I allow one to fall. “I love you, my sweet vampire boy.”
With tangled fingers, we stay like this for only a moment longer. A crack of thunder startles us.
“I should go,” I painfully state.
His lips press against my forehead a final time before we separate. Sliding his fingers delicately under my dress and up my thighs, my flesh warms at his touch, along with the bite mark, which connects our souls.
Looking into his eyes, I vow, “I promise you’ll see me again.”
It’s a lie.
I can’t see Prince letting me live a life with Beckham now that he knows about him.
We disconnect.
Turning on my toes, I hoist up my dress and dash through the carnival. Weaving through bodies also fleeing, but not fast enough. I must escape before he finds me.
Briskly I pass through the exit gates and proceed up the hill to the forest, never looking back. Another crack of thunder follows. Looking up, the dark clouds spin as I seek shelter beneath the trees.
Panting, I stop, placing my hands on my knees and hunched over to catch my breath. I’m safe; the forest will protect me.
As my breathing becomes stable, I stand tall and follow the worn path through my home.
Agatha’s is where I reside, but the forest and cottage are my sanctuary of solitude.
But for the first time, my home offers me a crossroads.
Options and confusion. In all my years on this earth, I have only taken one way.
I could close my eyes and allow instinct to guide me, and it would guide me down the same beaten road each time.
But tonight a new trail has appeared; it’s dark with fog dusting over the tree limbs.
Each time I attempt to look away, I am pulled back, drawn to the possibilities it could present.
Therefore, against all logic, giving in to curiosity and impulse, I step forward and walk down the ominous opening.
An energy pulls me forward, and I allow it to take me.
Bright eyes loom over, forest creatures watching on nervously. “I won’t hurt you, precious babies.” My voice is hoarse. I want to reassure them not to worry, to not fear me. I could never harm them, as I know all too well what pain feels like.
With each step, the fog parts for me, and the creatures hoot and chirp, communicating with one another, as I pass.
An animal jumps over the top of my head, startling me; its paws skim the top of my head, and I freeze.
It lands on the branch, and I hear it scurry up the tree trunk. I step forward and continue my journey.
Deep in, my eyes can barely see before me, and as I do, I allow instinct to take over and my feet guide me, gripping the earth with every step.
Suddenly, everything stills. All goes quiet. The forest is eerie, but I continue. The calmness my brain had with the sounds of the forest is no longer the case, and my mind begins to race. What is beyond this darkness? What lurks ahead that I cannot see? And what do they want with me?
Before my anxiety can create scenarios for each question, a loud tick fills my ears, echoing around me, and I pause. Eyes shift in an attempt to find the source, but before I do, a single sharp nail begins to slowly scrape along my exposed back.
Chills prick along my skin. A soft hiss flows from between their lips, followed by calculated clicks.
Panic sets in. My heart drops into my stomach, and my eyes begin to shift.
Refusing to turn around and face what is behind me, I shout, “Nope, not happening. Sorry!”
I’m not sure who or what I am apologizing to, but I am fucking out of here.
On the tip of my toes, I scurry through the darkness; vines attempt to tickle my ankles and take a hold, but my body is in fight mode, and I don’t stay still long enough to allow it.
The eyes peering around me are now shifting from white and yellow to greens, reds, and blues.
More clicking fills the void, the sharp nail now moving up my scalp, where my white and black hair parts. Adrenaline keeps me moving; fear stops me from turning around.
A flash of green light floods the dark forest, and a loud shriek erupts from my mouth. I close my eyes with my hands over my ears. “Make it stop!”
The ground moves beneath me, rumbling strong enough to make my legs shake with unease.
Why is this happening?
Tears well in my eyes, and for the first time in a very long time, I am scared.
Then as quickly as it started, it stops, and I still, not moving for minutes out of fear of what I will see if I open my eyes.
The phantom touch of the sharp nail can still be felt against my skin, and as I remove my hands from my ears, the ticking has ended.
Slowly, lashes leave my cheeks, rising with my opening eyes.
Darkness is no more; the forest has disappeared, and as my eyes adjust, I find myself in the graveyard of Hollows Grove, standing in front of the tombstones of my mothers.
No, no, no.
Falling to my knees, the adrenaline wears off, and I allow myself to lie in the grass above their plots, plots where no bodies reside, just a symbolic location where mourning assholes can come wallow and visit the spirits of the deceased.
My fingers grip the grass. An unfamiliar faint female voice whispers, but I barely hear it, though I can feel her soft, cool lips on the shell of my ear. “Run.”
With wide eyes, I rise, wasting no time, and flee.
Racing through the maze of gravestones and hedges, my legs carry me as my body is on autopilot. With no time to think, the iron gates come into view. Pumping my arms with wheezing lungs, I give it my all to get out of here before it’s too late.
The sky cracks, thunder roars, and rain is next to fall.
Warm droplets hit my face. At first, it’s only a drizzle, but the closer I get to the gates, the drizzle turns into a downpour, and the water droplets turn out to be red, crimson blood beading on my pale skin.
The harder it falls, the beads break, streaking down my body.
The taste of metal lines my tongue as I accidentally lick my lips.
Red blurs my vision, but I don’t let it stop me.
A large tree root trips me, and I fall on my hands, causing my face to meet the ground hard.
The blood coating my body attempts to weigh me down, making it harder to rise, and my muscles ache from exhaustion, but the adrenaline kicks in once more, aiding my escape to safety.
Never once did I think Agatha Manor would be that place, but for tonight, and only tonight, it is.
Passing through the gates, my arm brushes against the cool iron, a welcomed sensation giving me if only a second of reprieve from the blood. But the moment both my feet pass through the threshold of the graveyard, the rain stops.
Confused, I look back, only to find nothing is falling from the skies.
My chest heaves, my throat is dry, and my hands attempt to wipe my face hopelessly.
Panting breathlessly, I continue racing home.
Having ended up at the graveyard and not the familiar tree line I am used to it takes me longer to see the silhouette of the manor off in the distance, but it gives me hope with every step taken that I am almost safe, that the four walls will protect me.
But it still doesn’t answer the question: why is this happening?
MINE!
Prince’s voice enters my head. It’s loud, possessive, and terrifying.
I try to look around, find the source, but I’m greeted by wet hair slapping me in the face instead.
With my arms still pumping, they give me the momentum I need to reach the manor.
Just as I make it to the back door, his voice invades my mind once more.
We will make the world dance for us.
Screaming into the night, exhausted and on the brink of a nervous fucking breakdown, I shriek, “Get out of my head!”
The door is unlocked, and it opens as I turn the brass knob. Stepping inside, darkness greets me, comfort fills my body, and I hope this house does the one thing it has never done before… protect me.