Born in Sin [BOOK 1]

Chapter 30

Jacquelyn ran forward, her vision blurring around her as tears filled her eyes. She only saw Neo's limp body and Anise's cruel smile. That was all it took for her mask to slip off entirely and to be discarded at her feet.

An assorted array of embalming tools began to hover in the air and fly towards Jacquelyn. She blocked those that she could but they simply returned to cut away at her skin. No matter how she tried there was always something to stop her from getting any closer to Anise, who stood in front of Neo, laughing loudly with her high pitched squeal. Blood began to poor from Jacquelyn's body, gushing from her as the knives cut away at her body, dripping down her body into a red pool bellow her.

Suddenly the attacks stopped, the knives hovering in the air.

Jacquelyn fell to her knees, her body shaking.

Anise giggled, turning to Neo who's chest barely moved to show he was breathing.

"Wakey, wakey Neo!" She cooed, slapping the sides of his face. He groaned and squeezed his eyes tight, trying to come out from the darkness that had swallowed him. "Atta boy! I wanted you to see this."

Neo's vision blurred in and out of focus, only seeing the back of Anise as she sauntered towards Jacquelyn.

Jacquelyn.

Her clothes had been shredded, only large straps and fragments remained, he could see the deep cuts that stained her body red. Her body sagged towards the ground as she struggled to stay awake. Anise walked behind her, yanking her up by her hair, holding her for him to see all of her.

"She came for you Neo. She murdered an entire fleet of Sonar just for you. She came here to kill me too." She pulled Jacquelyn up closer to her face.

"Let her go!" Neo exclaimed, shaking the chains trying to break them free.

Anise only smiled. "But why? She stole you from me... Isn't it fair that I steal something back? How about her life? That way I can forgive her for taking you from me, and she won't be a problem anymore! Everyone wins!" Anise pulled a blade from the across the room, dragging it towards her for her to grab it. The blade scratched across the dusty floor as she picked it up and raised it to Jacquelyn's throat.

"You'll forget about her... I'll make you. But until I do... watch as I kill her." Anise pressed the dull embalming blade to Jacquelyn's throat, a streak of red forming on her skin.

Jacquelyn fought to move her body but Anise had her wrapped in her invisible web. She sent Neo a look of desperation and a silent apology that she wasn't going to make it when a loud boom echoed through the tomb.

Eric suddenly came rushing in, coughing as the dirt ceiling coated them in dust. "Anise, we have a problem."

Anise growled and threw the dagger away from her. "You're useless," she hissed as she stormed over to Eric, Jacquelyn abandoned for the moment. She took the small pistol that she secretly carried from under her dress and shoved it into Eric's hand. "You take this and stay here. I'll deal with the intruders."

Eric stared at the gun in his hand checking it's weight. He held it firmly and checked to see how many bullets it held when Anise stopped at the door.

"Eric," she called, her hard gaze staring at him from over her shoulder. "If she tries anything shoot her but done kill her. I want her alive when I come back."

Eric only gave a quick nod, pointing the gun towards Jacquelyn as Anise disappeared into the shadows.

***

Stephen was feeling quite proud of himself once the door had been blasted open, despite Tamara's constant ranting. He knew she was grateful regardless of what came out of her mouth, while stealth was what she had hoped for, he knew that she really just wanted to help her friends and get out and this was the best way.