MANIPULATED Book A (Sequel to Tempted)

18. Fires Within Our Hearts

Anti sees you, and you can tell along with his anger, he looks surprised you're alive.

He starts yelling at you. "What the hell were you thinking coming here, (y/n)?!

The fire burns behind him, and it starts to spread, and yet, here he is disciplining you.

"I had to!" You yell back. "I had to know the truth!"

"So you came to him!?"

"I couldn't go to you! If I did, I would be walking into a surgury I never wanted!"

Anti looks back at the fire, which has now covered the entire doorway. It roars with life and it's hard to hear Anti shout at you, even when he is only a few yards away.

"(Y/n), we have to go now!"

"I am not coming with you!"

"Look around you! It doesn't look like you have many options!"

"I choose whatever won't lead me to a nonhuman life!"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"Oh, by removing my human soul and refusing to give it back so you can keep me trapped here? That way you can just feed off of me and thrive in this world as its ruler!?"

His face changes to confusion. "What?"

Then sudden, Dark bursts through the doors, sending flames and pieces of burning wood everywhere, just increasing the temperature of the room.

His eyes are glowing and his suit is teared at multiple places, and even some small tongues of flame eat away at burnt material.

He sees the both of you, and the fury leaves his eyes, as if putting back on his mask of manipulative lies. His voice sounds like he should be wearing a smile.

"Couldn't keep yourselves warm enough?"

Anti doesn't hesitate to attack him, glitching at high speeds towards him, ready to throw a punch that should make contact with Dark's temple.

But Dark dodges, and he throws his fist into Anti's gut, doubling him over breathless and then tossing him aside and away hard against the wall. He lays there dazed.

You gasp, but then Dark is already approaching you, and he tackles your body and pins you against a pillar, his hands wrapped around your neck.

You struggle to breathe, clawing at his hands trying to loosen them, but your vision blurs in and out of focus of Dark's face close to yours. He whispers in your ear, making his voice seem even deeper and more fluid. "He gets in the way too much. You are the one I want, because he while he is alive, I can not let you live on." He chuckles and tightens his grip, making your vision fade and muscles grow weak. "Which won't be an issue for much longer."

Then a force tears Darks hands away from your body with a scream, but you still feel a pair of hands on you, like a ghost of what once was there. You slide to the ground clutching your neck.

You hear grunts and yells of pain, but you can't see anything. As your vision slowly regains itself, you can now see Anti swinging a knife around towards a bloodied Dark, who has blood pouring out of a wound on his neck.

You try to regain strength and your breath, but there isn't much oxygen in the room, so it takes a whole lot longer. The room is running so low on air, if a single window were to break, the entire room would explode.

Anti and Dark fight around each other, swinging knives and throwing punches. All the while the fire has now spread to cover almost all the walls except the ones with windows. It has crawled up the walls and eats at the ceiling. It feels like an oven. Any time not spent trying to get out is a waste. You're running out of time.