REAPING INNOCENCE ◦ STILINSKI [3]

xviii.

Instantly, she found herself scratching at her skin harshly—with certain determination—almost as if she were trying to get the Death off her. If she scrubbed it all away, she'd be able to forget that she currently standing on a pile of jagged bones. Had all of those people been trapped down there, as well? Did they die not knowing where the were? Was she destined to die in the pit, too?

Now that, hadn't been a part of her plan.

She hadn't signed up for this. It used to be simpler—you know dangerous—dangerous, but never life-threatening. Now, everything was bigger. Stranger. There's never an in-between (their live, in a way, had become so predictable), it was full throttle or nothing at all. She never meant for it to turn out like this. And there was something utterly disturbing about the big closed-off cellar-type-room she was in. A sudden thought clawed at her insides as she tried to shake off her uneasiness: where was Scott? She needed to find him—what had Kate done to him? She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the link she shared with the Alpha, but something was wrong. Different. She felt like her heart was suddenly beating backwards—guts being reworked.

There was no sound at all but her own breathing and the sounds she made. She was alone in the huge, dim room—

Someone was watching her.

She didn't know how she knew, but she was sure. Someone was out there somewhere, watching. Eyes in the dark. And now there were eyes on her. She whirled quickly to face the room, straining her own eyes to see into the shadows, trying not even to breathe. She was terrified that if she made a sound the things out there would get her. But she could see nothing, hear nothing.

Above her head, there was a large hole where the ceiling used to be. She watched as shadows seemed to float over it with such grace it reminded her of a bird in mid-flight. Her entire body jerked when the low rumbling growl of a Berserker filled the air—her knees shook at the ferocity.

She lifted her head to the heavens and inhaled deeply; trying to pinpoint how many Berserkers were crawling all over the ruins. She sighed and kicked the ground in frustration when she couldn't pick out any specific scents—the air was literally contaminated with the stench of death. She wished there was something safe for her to think about. She couldn't allow herself to consider the horrors that lied beyond the metal door on "cell", or, more horrific yet, the chance that they might fail—not if she wanted to keep from screaming aloud.

She couldn't anticipate anything, either. Maybe, if she were very, very, very lucky, she would somehow be able to save all of them—herself included. But she wasn't so stupid as to think that saving them would mean that she could stay. Her plan wouldn't change. There would be no new reason for her to change her mind now. She would assist in saving them and losing them again...

She fought against the pain. That was the price she had to pay for her actions. She would pay it.

She found herself taking cautious steps toward the gate, wrapping her nimble fingers around the metal bars. And as soon as her hands came in contact with the metal, the fire in her chest roared to life—sending fiery spasms out along her arms and down her spine. She could feel her lungs inflating; the fire coaxing her insides with its glorious hue. The heat was so real it was hard to believe that she was actually feeling it. The heat grew—rose and peaked and rose again. There was hot and dry air in her lungs, scraping in rough bubbles up and down her throat.

She wanted to raise her arms and claw her chest open and release the horribly dry air in her lungs—anything to get rid of the pain in her chest.