Seth Clearwater Imprinted With Trouble

Chap. 8

Seth POV

Time paused to allow for a brief moment of insanity. Suddenly everything rushed back into place, and then sped forward, way ahead. It left me behind. Every sound was a whisper in my ears. They felt like they were filled with cotton. Actually, my entire head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Every thought, every sound I perceived was slow. So very slow. My heart was pounding in my chest, galloping, really, but I could remember every single second in between its pumping. And everything that happened.

Edward’s words had reached my head but had never really sunk in. They slowly crawled into one ear and seeped insidiously out of the other. They felt long and drawn-out, like the slow motion in action movies. He seemed to push and pull the syllables beyond the recognizable point of English. But even if I had perfectly understood him, I doubt I’d be able to react, or even simply speak coherently.

The image in front of me was burning its way onto my eyeballs, staining right through into my brain. It felt like acid was being poured directly into my skull, eroding all of the gray matter that resided within it. It made thinking difficult. Impossible. I couldn’t think. A heavy pressure descended onto my eyeballs and caused them to fall millimeter by millimeter. I closed them, unable to keep them open. Breathing was difficult, too. It hurt my chest, and my lungs, and my throat and my head…

It hurt so much. Why’d it hurt so much?

I don’t understand. I don’t think I can. No. I—I can’t think. The emotions… the emotions! They’ve! They’re—they’re taking over me, controlling me! There is something… something else in my body. I can feel it slowly awakening, stretching its limbs… taking over me. Piece by piece, section by section. It fed on my emotions. It devoured them. The monster turned into a deep, dark abyss that grew steadily with each part of me it devoured.

Anger. So much anger. Rage. And hatred. Hatred for him. For what he is. How could he do it?

How could he?!

I trusted him. I trusted him. And he betrayed it! I believed in him and he shattered it!

Pain. Anger. Fear. It all spiraled down together inside my thick head, each trying to assert its dominance over the others. Each time one managed to place itself in front of the others, they yanked it back. Long, dark limbs reached out to me and my emotions. They beckoned us, taunted us, grabbed at us. From inside of the abyss I heard laughter. Hard, cold, cruel laughter. Malicious and terrifying. The stuff that froze your blood and stopped your heart.

I felt the monster’s dark eyes on me, glaring at me, gazing deep down into my soul. I could feel its contempt for me. It had anger, too… anger at my helplessness. No…

At our helplessness.

Wait. What? I—I don’t want you here! Get out! Get out of my head! Out of my body! I screamed.

There is no removing me, Seth Clearwater. I am you… your true self.

NO! I am NOT a monster!

Yessss… you are not the monster. He is the true monster…

My eyes opened of their own accord and took in the scene before me. It hadn’t changed at all. The monster. It was—it was was Edward. He was still there, standing before me. His face was a mask of pure hatred, of malice. His lips were curled away from his teeth. He was just on the verge of hissing at… at the little girl dangling from his hands.

By her neck.

Clari. My sweet, little Clarianna.

Almost as if she’d known that I’d been looking at her, her body stiffened. She stopped struggling. She grasped Edward’s hands and turned her head, coughing slightly. She kept turning her head until she found what she’d wanted.

Me. Of course. I knew that all she’d ever wanted was to find me. To stay with me. To be with me. That’s all…

She coughed slightly again when she couldn’t take in anymore air. She looked at me and our eyes met. And then she did the most astonishing thing ever. More astonishing than crossing an ocean to be together with me. Than actually finding me. Hell, even changing Leah’s heart.

She shook her head at me. And smiled.

Smiled.

He was hurting her. Edward was hurting her. And she was protecting him!!!

Earlier I had felt the beast inside me slowly snipping at my nerves. He was slowly severing everything that kept me in full control of all my facilities. He wanted to take control. He wanted my body. My thoughts. My emotions. He wanted to move, to be me. He wanted to—to…

I want to protect her, Seth. Let me protect her.

Her smile danced in front of my eyes.

Protect… protect her… please, help me protect her!! I begged.

I felt the beast roar as he took control and stretched its limbs once more.