CHAPTER 17
"Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood." ~ J. Sheridan Le Fanu, "Carmilla"
She was crying; something had gone wrong, she was sure. She had waited all night, but he had not come.
The sky was tinged with pink and red as the sun broke across the horizon. The usually calm and collected Boro looked horrified at the sight of his best friend; he had been pacing all night, anxious with worry, waiting for her to return home, and now she was here, looking like a scene out of a horror movie. She was covered in blood.
"What happened, Hazel? Are you hurt? Whose blood is that?" Boro asked with mounting dread.
She couldn't bring herself to look at him, burying her face in her hands as she sobbed.
"Please tell me what happened. I'm about to lose my mind here." His heart was hammering in his throat.
"I don't know what happened. But he didn't show up. I waited and waited until... until..." her voice broke as she cried.
"Until what?" Boro asked, agitated.
"A guy came. He tried t...to..."
"Hazel what?"
He was dreading the answer, stealing himself from what he was about to hear.
"He tried to..." but she couldn't bring herself to say it, so she turned her back towards him as her shoulders shook.
Boro took a step towards her and put a tentative hand on her shoulder, feeling relieved when she didn't shrug it away.
"Please, Hazel, tell me what happened."
He pleaded, worry creasing his forehead.
"He tried to...he touched me..." she bawled suddenly with a howl.
Boro's hand stiffened and grew cold.
"That son of a bitch!!!" He snarled, "I'll kill that piece of shit!"
"No, it wasn't him; it wasn't Ethan."
Turning away, she hastily wiped away the tears that streaked her cheeks, her eyes swollen and red from crying.
Drawing in deep, steadying breaths, she fought to regain control of her emotions, knowing that falling apart was not an option.
"It was someone else. I've never seen him before."
She continued, "When Ethan didn't come, I went out searching for him, and that's when this man found me in a crowded alleyway. Something was happening, and people were running..."
She choked with renewed sobs.
"I tried to fight him off, and I screamed for help, but no one stopped to intervene. I think they were scared of him. And... and he was too strong," she said in a whisper.
"Oh God, I feel so dirty." Her voice broke, and her bloodied hands shook.
Boro wrapped his arms around her, his jaw ticking in anger as he rubbed her back.
"I didn't know what to do. He held me down, and..." Hazel shuddered, unable to banish his touch from her skin.
"I stabbed him and portaled back home," she said, her lips turning white as she recounted her ordeal.
YOU ARE READING
THE CAPTIVE OF QARANLIQ
Fantasy"I used your blood to bind you to me. There's no escape. You're chained to me until your last breath." She hated him so much that she wanted to poison him, rip the mask off his cruel face, and stare into his eyes as she plunged the dagger repeatedly...
