SHACKLED

Chapter 22: The pull

Dear lovelies,

It's extremely cold outside today. I have my hot chocolate and comfy bed. As I was browsing the net (obviously shopping along the way), I thought I should just surprise you guys with another update. Now do keep in mind I am giving up a nice lie in and Netflix to di this. The sole reason is that I love you guys.  Have a great day and enjoy.

Anna's POV

It's really hot.

Extremely hot.

My skin is burning. I tried opening my eyes but nothing happened. I try to move my hand and it burned like hell. I forced my eyes to open and saw myself lying on the hot sand stranded in a dessert. My whole body was sunburnt and every body part ached. I flipped myself over so I'm lying on my back. The sun hurt my eyes but I forced them to stay open. I whisper weakly, "water.'

Just as I was about to loose consciousness, I see the monster kneeling beside me. He holds me in his embrace and holds a glass of water near my lips. I feel a cold drop of water touching my lower lip. It felt like heaven. It felt like my saviour was there holding me safe from the burning hell. I slowly open my eyes to look at him. And a sincere smile stretches over his lips.

"Ahhhhhhhh," I screamed waking up from my slumber. What on earth just happened? Was I dreaming about the monster? I surely was and he had an ounce of humanity in him. No no no, I can't let this mate thing faze me. I know what sort of beast he is and I will never let myself forget that.

I look around my surroundings and I am back in the room I share with beast. I clearly remember falling asleep on the comfy chair near the fireplace. How the hell did I get here? It was still dark outside so I checked my phone that was flashing 4.00 am.

I get up and straight away glance at Harry's bed. It was empty and neatly made. It looked like he never slept in it. A strange feeling started to settle within me. There was no water running in the bathroom too. I slowly got out of my bed and started to move towards the door to exit the room.

All of a sudden the TV is turned on. It felt so strange. I didn't even turn it on and there was no one else there. Anyway I just started watching the clip that was playing.

There was a dimly lit room. Very well decorated. I could have easily considered it as a premium suite in a five star hotel. Suddenly a very scared girl appeared in the picture. She is scared and moving backwards until she hits the wall behind her.

Shortly after that the monster appears in the clip. He is slowly advancing towards her with an evil smirk on his face. She was so scared that she couldn't even scream. 

His evil glare scares her to death. Her pale colour shows how weak she was. As he progresses towards her, her heart beat races by the second. She doesn't even realise the river of tears flowing down her cheeks.

The monster keeps advancing towards her to wreck havoc. She knows there is no way out. However, just a small ray of hope gives her strength.

She focuses on the open door and jolts towards it to escape. Just when she is about to reach it, he pulls her from her hair and slams her into him.

He lowers himself near her whimpering body and whispers manically,

"Where do you think you are going sweet pea."

That was it. I couldn't bear to watch any more so I ran and turned off the horrible clip. My hands were trembling. God knows what happened to the poor soul. I knew he was a demon. I knew he was cold hearted. I knew he was a sick bastard. But I didn't know he was this bad that he will videotape his crimes.  I tried to compose myself but failed miserably. I slowly proceeded towards the exit when a strong arm held me and pulled me back. His other hand muffled my screams and now I was slammed into his bare chest.

I was shaking with fear. My heart was racing and tears were begging to run down my pale skin. Surprisingly he stays like this for few moments and then lowers his mouth near my right ear and whispers, "Where do you think you are going sweet pea."

That was the tipping point. I knew if I didn't do anything I will end up like that poor soul. So I gather all my strength and elbow him in his ribs. Obviously it didn't hurt him much but he did stumble enough to let me go. I turned around and looked at him. There was hurt and shock evident on my face.

He claims I'm his mate. He was about to rape his own mate. Is that how he values the blessing of finally finding his mate. I know I'm a lost cause now. I know that if there was any possibility of happiness, it was gone now that I belong to him. So if I'm going to go down, it will be on my own terms. If I have to die or suffer, it will be by my choice.

With that in mind I march up to him, hold his collar and slap him hard across the face. He was a little shocked by my reaction. I was trembling and crying at the same time. I gather all my courage and screamed at him,

"This is the reason you didn't find your mate all these years. You don't deserve one. You're inhumane and vicious. You want to force yourself on me to prove that you're the stronger one."

I stop and breathe for a second. Then I don't know what came over me. I stared into his eyes and spat at him with my poisonous words.

"You want me right. Go on, I wont stop you.  Do whatever you want and the discard me. I will not even try to stop you. Go on and tame the animal in you. I'm just happy that Jenna is not here. She would have died another death if she seen you like this. She died, one day your parents and I will die too. Then you will be all alone. Savour it while you can beast."

After my out burst my heart rate started to settle. It was up to him now. I was waiting for the worst to come but nothing happened. He stood there shaking with anger.

He turned around and went in the bathroom. I could hear the shower running. I wanted to run away but I couldn't. Something inside me wanted to comfort the beast. It was a strange feeling. Yes, I definitely hate the monster but at the same time there is this invisible force pulling me towards him. I slowly start walking towards the bathroom. My hand was holding the adjacent wall for support. There were a lot of sceneries and wall decorations on it. I was in a daze just being pulled towards him. Just then my hand touched the silver sword Harry had mounted on the wall. I screamed hard as my hand burned. I fell on the floor screaming with pain. My hand was badly burnt and bleeding. Harry must have heard me that's why he was besides me holding my hand.

He was really worried. He kept on telling me that everything would be fine. The pain was unbearable. I was drifting in and out of consciousness. Just as I was about to loose all my senses, I could have sworn that a tear fell down the monster's face.

After that I fell into peaceful darkness.