Let's Play A Game, Alpha

18 - Puppet

"Well, you are no damn hero either."

"You just never stop, do you?" Lucian stormed up to me, his eyes simmering. "Get dressed, puppet. We wouldn't want any scandals coming up tonight, do we? Oh, you're a bitch Victoria. I may not be a hero, but at least I don't have to rescue any whiny little princesses. If it wasn't for my wolf, I would leave you in the streets for the real monsters to play with."

"Okay." I refused to fight with Lucian anymore. His eyes instantly lost some of their fire at my careless attitude. Truth was, it was killing me what he had said. But I wouldn't remain an open book anymore. No. I refused to care. Just like Lucian. What scared me the most was that maybe I would eventually become like Lucian. I didn't want to. Flora and my humanity was all I had left.

Our mating was just a twist of nature.

Nothing more, nothing less.

It was only when I walked away when the tears escaped my brimming eyes. Without Flora around, everything just felt cold and miserable. I couldn't tell if Lucian had followed me inside or not. Not that I cared. The mansion was empty. Even Vaughn was nowhere to be seen. I felt pathetic, a little child lost with a bruised heart and high pride. Worse yet, I would have to see Lucian again for the mating festival. Even thinking about him made my skin crawl and my heart pound. The feelings were just a mixed jumble, the mating bond changing things inside of me. 

I stumbled up to my bedroom, sniffling in the cold silence. I didn't want this anymore. Lucian wasn't going to be my happiness but the end of it. Before, I had utterly despised Draycottand loved the nights that were spent reading bedtime stories to Flora. Now, it seemed like a distant dream. I stripped off and watched the clean, blue water rush into the bathtub. The roaring sound helped clear my head. I felt defiled, like even the biggest amount of soap couldn't cleanse the sins inside.

Shutting the tap off, I stepped inside.

The scorching water burned my skin but I welcomed the pain. Sinking in, I let the water cover my mouth. It felt good to feel something but the anger and resentment with Lucian. Oh, Lucian. He was beautiful but deadly. Like a rose, the petals delicate and perfect while dangerous thorns lurked below. Not everyone who was beautiful was perfect.

Lucian was not perfect. 

I sat up straighter, the water's gentle swishes beginning to feel strange. I hated being submerged in water. I avoided going into pools with everything I had. The water turned cold, not slowly like the heat was naturally going away, but uncomfortably fast. In a moment, the water around me was at an arctic level. Did I accidentally hit the faucet for cold water or something? God, it was freezing.

I tried to get up, but my legs felt like blocks, weighed down by an unseen force. My fingers grabbed the edge of the tub and I forced myself up, my heart pounding. As I sat in the water for a second, trying to make sense of what just happened, something cold and wet touched my ankle from underneath the blanket of blueness.

It tugged sharply.

The water suddenly cascaded over my head until I was fully emerged into the bathtub. Blind panic rose in my throat, adding to the pain of constricting lungs. My whole body flailed, trying to reach the surface yet my head never broke through. Bubbles rose up from my nose. I felt water reach my throat, a choking cough snaking through the water.

Horrible thing it was, drowning.

I looked up to see the face of my killer before it was too late. But there was nothing there. An invisible force kept my head under the water. I felt my resolve weaken. My mind screamed to keep fighting and get air, but my body was shutting down. Something that could not be seen was going to kill me. Pathetic tears crawled down my face, but I didn't even know if it was possible to cry underwater.