A Beautiful Torment

24. Crumbling

Sweat beaded on my forehead.

Fear and panic swirled in my stomach, muffled only by adrenaline as it arced through my veins. My wrists chafed painfully against the thick cable ties that bound them together behind my back, and my waist was bound so tightly to the wooden chair that even as my brain urged me to struggle, I could barely move.

Three words pounded in my head. He found me, he found me, he found me...

But this – creature – wasn't like the demon I'd conjured before. She had been exotic, seductive, a tease. Once I'd signed away my soul with a drop of blood and a steady signature, she'd disappeared, her melodious laugh echoing in my ears. This – thing – wasn't here to entice, he was here to claim.

Claim mysoul.

"Let's start with your name shall we?"

The... man knelt fluidly in front of me, his bright, blood-red eyes staring unblinkingly into mine. His body seemed to defy the laws of physics. He reminded me of a fallen twig; willowy, with odd arches and indents along his sides. He wore a long, white cloak and a black, ornamental belt cinched around his waist. A sword hung from his hip.

But it was his pale, white face and red eyes that truly terrified me. He was old, older than any man I had ever seen, so old that he seemed on the verge of decay. His eye sockets were sunken and gaunt, rimmed in pink pigment, and his lips were almost the colour of his wrinkled, paper skin. He looked as old as time.

"M-my name?" I choked out.

The man inclined his head patiently.

"Al-Alexander," I gasped. "Alexander B-Benedict."

"Do you know where we are, Alexander Benedict?" the man asked, his voice little more than a croaky murmur.

Chills broke out on my clammy skin as I glanced around. I was sitting in the middle of what was once a grand, elegant hallway. The walls were blackened and charred, the stairway half collapsed and the floor littered with debris and rotting leaves. The smell of smoke clung in the air.

I nodded emphatically. Yes, I knew where we were.

"This is where they died, Alexander," the man said softly. "Right here, in this room. The walls burst into flames, the doors sealed shut, and their cries were lost beneath the roar of the fire."

Fear blistered through my veins. "H-Have you come for my soul?" I stammered.

"Oh, no," the man smiled, revealing a mouth of gleaming, white teeth with jagged tips. "I'm here for something much more satisfying." He rose to his feet smoothly and unsheathed his sword. "I'm here for vengeance."

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

"Isabel!"

I gasped, my nightmare ripping through me like shards of glass. Strong, steady hands held me down on the mattress, keeping my body from thrashing around like it wanted to. A whimper fell from my lips and my eyes flickered open, catching his blue-eyed gaze with flawless precision.

I ripped my arm out from beneath his, ignoring the sting, and clawed mindlessly at my throat. "Myheadmyheadmyhead," I choked out.

"Isabel!" Wyatt whisper-yelled. He grasped my wrist tightly and pulled my hand away from my neck, forcing it down on the pillow next to my head. He rose up on his knees, his legs framing my sides, and a weird sense of deja-vu surged through me. Our positions might have been reversed, but it was still... "Snap out of it!"