NOTE: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it
Warning: There will be cursing and uncomfortable adult situations in this chapter and the rest of the book, so please read with caution. I do NOT recommend this book for young readers.
With all of that said, please enjoy the chapter! Thanks!
Chapter Three: Nightmare Come to Life
The room was dark and hot, the only light the small, ancient night light she'd had as a child. The light was and flickering, not strong enough to fight the darkness of the room, or the darkness brewing inside of her mind.
The images twisting inside of her head were cruel and terrifying, and brought tears to her eyes and whimpers to her lips. It was the same night nightmare she'd had every night for the past two years. It was a memory of that night.
Sweat beaded at her forehead, the tears streamed down her face, her heart raced and a scream built up in her throat.
She finally woke up, but not before witnessing the climax of the nightmare, the single event that changed her whole life, the single event that changed her forever.
Her eyes slowly slipped open as the tears subsided. She swallowed down the terrified scream that was caught in her throat, and wiped away the tears with the edge of her blanket. Her heart still pounded, as it always did after that dream. The cold fear still pumped through her veins, the veil of sadness never lifted.
She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but she couldn't close her eyes again. She couldn't have that nightmare again. If she did, she didn't know if she would ever wake up.
She stared up at the ceiling hidden in the darkness, the night stretching on into oblivion. She didn't know how much time was slipping past her, it felt like hours, days even, as the images of her nightmare fluttered through her mind. She had never felt so alone.
She was beyond the point of exhaustion as the night ever so slowly started to turn to dawn. Her eyes were heavy, begging for the relief of sleep to take her, but she forced them open. Tired. She was so tired. She slowly let her eyes slip shut.
She heard the creak of a door. Her eyes shot open. Someone was coming in. It was him.
She saw his shadow stretching out across the floor of her room, of her safe haven. It was so large, crawling across the empty space like a monster reaching out to gobble her up in the night. Her heart was beating rapidly, so fast she felt like it would burst from her chest. Her breathing stopped all together, she couldn't take in a breath, she just couldn't breathe. The shadow came closer, eating up the distance between her and the monster that had come to star in her every nightmare. She could make out his arms now, his shadow coming to spread itself across her walls, trapping her in the eternal darkness of his embrace.
She could hear the gentle thuds of his bare feet as he padded across the floor, creeping into her fortress of solitude and protection. She could hear him breathing, could make out the gentle smile that spread across his face as he gazed down at her.
Close your eyes. Just close your eyes. She repeated the mantra inside her head, trying desperately to follow through, only she couldn't. They were struck open with a sickening terror, as she watched his slow, terrifying approach.
Shadows of darkness slid over his angular face, morphing his handsome features into a face of nightmares. He ventured closer, and closer, and closer until he was at the side of her bed, towering over her. He was so strong, so large, so powerful. She knew he could do whatever he wanted to her . . . he already had. She was a defenseless pawn in his hands, and she knew that he could force her to bend to his will. He was stronger than her, both physically and mentally; he could crush her in any manner of ways. He had already proven so.
She laid there, as still and stiff as the long since dead, frozen in chilling fear, waiting. Waiting for him to decide what he wanted. He was in control, he was always in control.
Hundreds of possibilities of what lay ahead slashed through her mind, all ending in terror and destruction. Fear, the unwelcome demon, wrapped it clammy hands around her throat, choking her of her sense and heightening the feelings of helplessness and distress she'd carried around since that fateful night.
He stood there, as silent and tranquil as death, peering down at her with eyes that seemed endless. They held heavy promise and a dark possibility that dug a never ending void inside of her soul. In those eyes she found a determination and such strong emotion that the fire of hope inside of her went out like the flame of a candle in a fierce storm. He would get what he wanted, just as he always did. That had always been a trait of his that she had admired, his determination and refusal to back down until he got what he wanted, but now living with the consequences that it brought, she could only feel revulsion and shame.
She prayed he couldn't see her eyes in the darkness, as she could see his. She didn't know what he would do if he found her awake and defenseless, laying there for the taking. Still she couldn't close them, she would never leave herself vulnerable to him again.
He turned unexpectedly, and like a ray of light breaking through the darkness, she thought he was leaving and taking his dark possibilities with him. Only instead of venturing out of the darkened room, he sat on the edge of her bed, closer than she ever wanted him to be. He was breathing heavily suddenly, his breaths coming out strained and forced, sounding like whispered words in the otherwise silent night. Her heart was hammering inside of her chest, painful and quick; she knew it would be tearing its way out of her chest at any moment.
She could feel the warmth of his body, through all the layers of material that sat between them, scorching her skin, and reminding her of the frigid inferno that had let loose inside of her that night so long ago. Having him so close, having him in her bed, so warm and alive, was a twisted reminder of the never changing past. His sensual lips slid open then, his ragged breathing transforming into a voice that was both silky and rough at the same time, both tempting and revolting, familiar and foreign. She had forgotten how much she had missed his voice as it sliced through the silence she had so hated as a child, forgotten what it felt like to get comfort from a few murmured words in the dark. His voice made her ache, with both a longing for the past and for her memory of her sweet Nick, and filled her with a disgusting, putrid fear that was always bubbling just under the surface, never leaving, never giving her peace.
At first she could not understand the words that were flowing out of his mouth, could not hear them over the pounding of her own heart. His voice, his beautiful voice, was so soft in this moment, gentle almost, but she knew what lay beyond all the pretty words and soothing whispers. She fought to understand him and his words, fought so hard against her own screaming heart, because she had to know, had to know what the monster in disguise had planned for her next.
"Eliana," he was whispering into the empty air above them both. It was her name upon his lips, falling from them in a seemingly endless repeat. The way he said her name sent chills down her spine. He called out for her in the dark with a such a desperate longing, such disbelief and greed.
"Eliana, Eliana, Eliana," he continued to whisper, each time her name passed his lips, his voice became darker, stronger, more deranged. With each passing moment she felt the precariousness of the situation, felt the insane desire falling off his golden tongue as he repeated her name over and over, testing it out, calling out to her and for her, remembering the way each vowel rolled off of his tongue as he had spoken her name in the past.
He was crushing her all of a sudden, and it took all of the strength inside of her to not cry out in terror. The fierce pounding of her heart increased tenfold, a sickness called terror rolling through her veins, thousands of screams building up in her throat and dying before she could open her lips. Her mind was foggy, all sense of rationality and logic ceasing to exist as fear seeped into every corner of her being, taking control.
It was moments later that she finally managed to fight back the fear and kill the impending panic attack that had been making its way through her body like a conquering force. She looked at him, with wide, frightened eyes, and saw the hazardous situating of his body. He was laying back against her, his burdensome weight pressing her into her mattress uncomfortably, his head was strewn across her left breast and his nose was nuzzling the side of her neck. His eyes were closed, a euphoric smile blooming across his lips. She felt his warm, ragged breaths against her skin, and couldn't fight the chill that ran down her spine.
"God, you smell heavenly," he murmured against her heated flesh. His hand was in her hair, stroking it, letting the silky tresses fall between his fingers. He brought a tendril to his nose and inhaled deeply. "Your hair smells so f*cking delicious."
Then she felt it. His lips were pressed against the vulnerable skin of her neck, gently, passionately. She felt so cold inside, frozen and scared, but her skin was on fire with the brushing of his lips against her. It was a disgusting fire that brought terrible memories to the forefront of her mind, and burned her everywhere he was touching. She felt so sick. She could feel the last shred of her sanity slipping, she was holding onto to it so tightly, had been for the last two years, but with one brush of his lips, he was making her lose her grip.
His soft black hair tickled her jaw as he pressed another heated kiss to her neck. She could feel herself dying inside. His scent was attacking her senses. She never knew a single aroma could instill such panic inside of her and play such ghastly memories over and over again inside of her mind. She wanted nothing more than to pry him off of her and scrub away every ghost of his presence left on her skin.
She wanted to run, get as far away from this room and this man as possible, only she was trapped. She was ensnared inside of everything that was him, her mind, body, soul and heart tethered inside of this gilded cage he had created with his manipulation. She was never going to get away from him, there was no where she could run that he could not hunt her down, no where she could hide that he could not smoke her out. She would be forever trapped inside of his painful embrace, forever drowning inside of his dark and disturbed version of love.
"I love you," he whispered directly into her ear, his soft, moist lips caressing her lobe before grazing it with his teeth. It was the words any young girl dreamed of hearing, but they were not said with any sweet connotations and dreams of happiness. Those whispered words were said with menace and rage, holding only grim promise for a devastating future; those words were a threat that she knew he would unflinchingly deliver. "I love you so f*cking much it's driving me mad."
His hand reached down and grasped hers, clenching around her fingers in an iron grip that felt like an anaconda squeezing the life out of its unfortunate prey. The grip was painful, and she found herself clenching her teeth to help get through the discomfort. His fingers entwined with hers then, his thumb absentmindedly stroking her skin. His lips were still at her ear, peppering light kisses all along the lobe as his teeth nibbled at the exposed flesh, breathing harshly in carnal abandon.
He knew he needed to stop soon, but he just couldn't help himself. Being so near her, holding her in his arms, feeling her soft skin under his lips, being encased by her delectable scent was immensely arousing. She was seducing him without even trying. He was falling down the path of reckless abandon, and it was all her fault.
He brought their entangled hands to his chest, laying her hand against his heart. It was only then, feeling the hard muscle and boiling hot skin of his chest did she realize his state of undress. He was practically naked, only a flimsy pair of boxers covering his modesty, leaving every other inch of his skin bare, and frightening her further.
"Feel this, Eliana. My heart, it beats for you, " he said, and feel his heart beat she did. It was racing, pounding just as fast as her own. It danced under her fingers, beating against her, clouding all her thoughts. It was intimate, the position he had put them, feeling his heart leap out of his chest, and she did not like it. It sickened her to be this close to him, frightened her to know what hold she still had over him, and he over her.
His hand was dragging hers down over his body, making her touch him. He let out a shuddering breath, the muscles of his abdomen tightening as he trailed her finger tips over his hot, wanting skin. This was what he had wanted for so long. He moved her hand lower and lower, loving the feel of her touching him, loving him. Her touch was so erotic and enticing, and he knew if he didn't stop now that he would never stop. Her fingers felt the waist band of his boxers, and she felt so far away from everything, so far away from herself, that she couldn't even notice the wheezing gasp of fear leave her lips.
It was going to happen again.
His hand left hers after a long pause, entangling into her luscious locks again as he took a breath to steady the whirlwind of emotions inside of himself. He needed control of himself. She wanted to move her abandoned hand away from him, wanted it so badly, but she couldn't alert him to the fact that she was awake. She felt like a doll, frozen and helpless, and just waiting for him to do what he wanted to her, just waiting for him to pose her and move her and manipulate her in any fashion he so desired.
She finally managed to close her eyes, feeling the shame and disgust flow over her. It had been such a long time ago that she had felt this much hatred for herself. She felt so weak, so defenseless, so unworthy. This was all her fault. She felt the tears bead in her closed eyes as she listened to his breathing.
"I love you, I love you, I love you," he chanted, sounding delirious. His voice was dark and angry, frightening and cool. He was enraged at how much he loved her, at how much he needed her. The hand that was sifting through her hair came to a stop suddenly, grasping onto a bundle of silky soft strands, and tugging on it painfully. She couldn't stop the pained whimper that escaped her lips and he delighted in the sound. He wanted to hurt her like she had hurt him, he wanted her to feel the pain he had felt at her abandonment everyday for the last two years.
"I loved you and you left me," he said dangerously, in a calm voice that belied the hysterical state he was in. His hand was still harshly ripping at her hair, causing her scalp to scream out in distress. The first tears started streaming down her face. He lifted his head from its position to stare into her face, noting the tears in dismay. He let go, feeling such shame and remorse at his actions. He began to message her throbbing scalp, whispering meaningless apologies and words of love as he tried to make her tears stop. He was just thankful that she had stayed asleep through this whole ordeal, feeling all the more agitated with himself as he thought about how he could have lost her for good.
"You make me crazy," he whispered above her lips, his hand moving fro her hair to stroke along her milky white skin. "I loved you and you left me . . . But now you've come back."
His fingers were dancing along the delicate flesh of her face. It was a face he knew every detail of. His fingers ran down the bridge of her sloping nose before brushing down her delicate little cheek. His thumb began to massage her plump lower lip as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. His lips moved down to each closed eye lid and planted a gentle kiss, before making their way to each tear stained cheek. He placed one last kiss on the tip of her nose as he had done when she was a child, sending her down the saddened path of nostalgia and reminding her of all the times she had sought comfort from his arms and his soft kisses, before he leaned away from her altogether. He would wait until she awake to kiss her lips, he had decided, because he wanted, no needed, her to remember his passion and love for her.
"Now that I have you," he whispered to himself, "I'm never letting you leave me again."
With that, he disentangled himself from her, and left the way he had come, his dreaded promise hanging in the air like death. It was many moments after he had left, that she lay shuddering in her bed, waiting to see if he would return, that she crumbled in on herself. The tears wouldn't stop. She wept for her past of love and cherishment, she wept with longing for her memories of her brother, but most of all, she wept for herself as she once again felt herself shattering into a million pieces.
A/N
Hi guys! Sorry for such a late update. I have been extremely busy as of late, but that is no excuse. At the moment I'm a full time student, working, and also have to split my free time between this account and my other Wattpad account. So again, I am so sorry I made you all wait so long for this update.
I'd also like to thank everyone for voting, commenting and following me. It had been a while since I had the time to check this account and I was so overcome with shock and gratitude when I saw how many new followers, comments, and votes I had. Thank you guys so much for all the wonderful support you have shown me! You have no idea how much seeing all of the nice comments and votes had brightened my day. I appreciate each and everyone of you! So keep on being wonderful. :)
I tried to make this chapter as long as possible as a thank you for all of your continued support! I hope you all have enjoyed the chapter!
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