Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Hennessy: The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much and forgetting that you are special too.
Question after question tore through my mind at a rapid pace.
One wouldn’t end before the next one began.
My eyes fluttered for a moment, or maybe they were closed.
Even in the pitch black, someone had caught me there.
I couldn’t tell you how I found this place.
I was out in the woods, studying in a tree, still in my uniform from school.
I wanted to be alone, afraid that Onyx would find me, and I’d have to face him.
I wasn’t ready yet. I’d been avoiding him everywhere I could, spending most of my free time in this forest. It’d become my home.
I heard the chimes of an old clock, not understanding why I’d even hear that sound out there.
One impulse led to the next, and then I was being steered to what my eyes weren’t prepared to see.
I heard enough, especially when Onyx’s voice was among them.
I lost sight of him pretty quickly. All the brothers looked the same.
What I assumed was the council had more detail to their cloaks.
Their masks were bigger and more avant-garde too.
They were lavish, designed to appear distinguished. It must’ve been an honor to be dressed in one of their attires, but to me it felt like a prison. It was definitely a cult, one run by blood and oath, which makes complete sense of why they chose that title.
I considered running, but before I could exit, someone caught me. I didn’t know which would be worse, Onyx or a stranger…
They were all standing there under the moon, chanting their oath to Satan, or at least it felt that way.
Something had guided me there. Everything always happened for a reason.
Maybe it was time to face the truth. Whether I was willing or not, it still somehow found me.
Maybe that was the plan all along: stay silent until they couldn’t anymore.
It was like my feet were moving on their own accord, one right after the other. Before I knew what I was doing, I was standing there watching what appeared to be a blood oath ritual, similar to what happened to me, but they weren’t mixing their blood. At least not yet.
Now, my senses of sound and smell were heightened. I could barely see what was happening, but somehow, someone still found me, and I quickly freaked the fuck out internally.
I didn’t say a word or make a peep. I hadn’t even moved yet. Too scared of what would happen if I did. I couldn’t fathom how they knew I was there. I hardly realized where I was.
Before I could finish that thought, the night’s disturbing events came crashing down on me like the stack of stones they were bleeding on.
My heart pounded against my chest, my mind reeling with thoughts of why I was there, and what they were going to do with me. I wanted to look around, but I couldn’t will myself to look away from them. If I peered around, it’d make it too real.
My subconscious was protecting me from the reality, from the truth glaring back at me. Our gazes were still locked, with my emotions running wild inside me. Every last fiber of my being screamed at me to run, hide, fully aware it was going to be impossible to.
My head flew to the night where someone chased me through the woods and then did a ritual with our blood. Questions tore apart my brain, but I knew I wouldn’t get any answers.
However, it didn’t stop me from wanting to know them anyway.
Not being able to find my own voice, the feelings stirring through me were crippling me in ways I never thought possible. There was no holding back anymore.
I exploded, bursting into hysterics through my body, and it began to shake blazingly.
I was battling the inevitable of losing this unexpected war I found myself in.
I thought about the life I still wanted to live and the future I deserved to have with all the people I wouldn’t get to see again or say goodbye to.
I should have known better, but of course I didn’t. My mom always said my defiance would eventually get the best of me, and she wasn’t wrong. The instant I felt my fight-or-flight defenses finally kick in, I chose flight and hauled ass in the opposite direction from where I was being watched.
I ran with everything inside me, knowing my life depended on it. I laid it all out, finding strength I didn’t know I had inside me. Ignoring the unsteadiness of my body and mind, I rushed deeper into those woods.
With one foot in front of the other, I tore through the forest I suddenly felt like I was being held captive in, and I hated them for that.
These woods were my escape, not my death sentence.
My feet mercilessly pounded on the grass. Trying to stay focused on the present, I flew through those trees, resisting the urge to scream.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. I heard their hammering footsteps coming up behind me.
It echoed through the wind and into the core of my being.
The sound of their boots dragged on the dirt, slashing beneath their feet, and it was then I understood it was a man.
Probably the same man who hunted me months prior.
He was coming for me; that much I knew was true. Terror set in again, and I tried to run faster than I already was, looking back to see how close he was behind me, not paying attention to where I was going.
Frantically, I tried to catch my bearings while I looked around, needing to find something I could use as a weapon. I found a thick wooden stick and picked it up off the ground, hiding behind the tree beside it.
My heart was thrashing out of my chest. It was so loud, I felt as if he could hear it. Placing my hand over my mouth, I concentrated on softly breathing through my nose like a masked man wasn’t chasing me, wearing nothing but a cloak.
I watched through the slits of my eyes as his steps passed by my tree, and I didn’t contemplate the consequences. I heaved that stick toward the side of his head as hard as I could, but at the last second, he whipped around and caught it mid-strike.
Fuck!
He gripped the stick as if it were made of foam, tossing it aside before he grabbed me like I was nothing more than a rag doll, triggering my fight to no avail. In seconds, he pinned me to the ground, getting on top of me.
I tightly shut my eyes, moving my head side to side, refusing to look at him.
In a forceful, demanding grip, he snatched my chin, making me face him.
Because I was a defiant woman, it was in my nature and part of my DNA at this point.
My eyes snapped open, and I impulsively spat in his face. It landed right on his lips.
To my complete horror, he slowly licked his mouth from one end to the other, cocking his head to the side, baiting me. Holding my wrists above my head, he was now hovering above me, making me much more vulnerable in this position.
I was at his mercy, and he knew it too.
Still, I didn’t open my eyes. Scared of the consequences of what I just did, of what I just watched, of who I would tell and where this would lead me.
Suddenly, his cell phone pinged, and he loosened his hold for a second.
Thinking quickly on my feet, I opened my eyes to find him reaching for it.
I used his moment of distraction to my advantage and kneed him in the balls as hard as I could, silently thanking my grandfather for teaching me this self-defense technique.
He groaned, falling forward, but before he could fall onto the grass, I shoved his body off me and hauled fucking ass. His body collapsed to the grass in a loud, hard thud, and I instantly felt an immense sense of satisfaction that I could at least hurt him.
Except I didn’t get far. He gripped my ankles, dragging me back to him. My nails dug into the dirt, praying for Mother Nature to help me escape. I should’ve screamed, but again, I was too terrified that more of them found me.
Unable to help myself, I finally spewed, “Why are you still wearing a mask? Huh? You know what that proves to me? You’re just a pussy hiding behind that mask.”
For good measure, I spit in his face again. Only this time, it landed on his cheek. What I wasn’t expecting was for him to scoff out a chuckle, obviously amused with my outburst.
Still feeling feisty, I pushed more boundaries, adding, “People will look for me. If I go missing, they’ll look, and then the truth will come out.”
I lay there on pins and needles, waiting for the inevitable. Once I saw him, there was no going back. I’d be an eyewitness if he gave me over to them. Despite the harsh outcome of seeing his face, it didn’t stop my desire to see who he was.
In one swift movement, he showed me the man behind the black matte mask.
“Oh my God.”
It was who I wanted him to be…
Onyx Devereaux was now my captor and I, his prisoner.
This wasn’t my happily ever after. It was my execution.