THE SHALLOW WHISPERS OF DEATH
CHAPTER EIGHT
The menacing wind whistled in Olivia's ears like baleful spirits, raising goosebumps on every surface of her body. She stood still, paralyzed in a darkness she felt trapped within. Her shoulders were tight and her elbows pressed into her sides, making herself as small as possible as she trembled uncontrollably. She whimpered uncontrollably with every crashing wave she heard, her fear only growing with the sounds. With every howl of the wind or crash of seawater upon rocks and shore, Olivia flinched stiffly, shivering in the cold with nothing but the terrorizing noises surrounding her.
Liquid beaded on her cheeks and above her lip, a combination of sweat and tears that poured out of her tightly shut eyes continuously. What frightened her most was that she had no knowledge of where she was, or how she had gotten here; why her skin felt like ice and she could barely pass air through her lungs. She was mortified, shaking uncontrollably with an unbearable pounding in her head and her heart– so loud that it overshadowed the wailing wind and the aggressive crashing sound of liquid hitting solid.
But then, with quivering lips and tense muscles, Olivia peeled her eyelids open. Even through the immense blur of her tears, the sight before her was terrifying enough to make her heart stop. The deep mist hanging over the high-tide sea, the eerie pitch-black sky...
And as she lowered her head, the petrifying height of the bluffs.
Olivia let out a loud, horrified sob as she threw herself backward. She sniveled at the scraping of rocks against the back of her bare thighs, leaving a small trail of blood on the dark grey ground as she shuffled backward. As desperately as she tried to bite back the heart-wrenching sobs and gasps that built in her through like a thick lump, they flew out uncontrollably. No matter how far she scrambled away from the edge of the bluffs, the rapid beating of her heart in her chest remained loud and painful, striking against her ribcage violently. She could barely control her breaths as they burst in and out.
She didn't stop the rushed movements of her hands and feet as she hurried back across the ground until her back was met with a painful slam. A breathy gasp erupted from her mouth and her heart ran to clutch her chest when she realized it was only the woody trunk of a tree.
With a trembling hand, she reached into the pocket of her night robe. Through the pool of tears in her eyes, she frantically typed in her phone's passcode, her breaths only quickening when she realized it was four in the morning. With a loud sob, she dialed the only person she could think of.
The rings were tormenting, each one long and slow. It beeped endlessly, teasing Olivia and her shallow breaths and shaking limbs. She pulled her legs to her chest and buried her face in her knees, crying out in agony. Then the beeping stopped. She drew the phone up to her ear and let out a shaky whimper.
"Ace?"
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Wood crackled with each step of his heavy boots on the forest ground. With his phone in his left hand to illuminate the darkness before him, he searched through narrow eyes for any sign of Olivia. Her voice played in his head like a song on repeat– the pure terror as she whimpered his name from the other end of the line made his chest clench and grip tighten around his phone. He shook his head, frustrated with himself, guilty for not having messaged her right after he and his friends had gone to The Claw to find Lucy Sable's bones spayed across the floor. If he hadn't been so stubborn, so petty that he didn't feel the need to reach out to her after their argument, Olivia wouldn't have taken her ring off thinking that the Aglaeca was defeated. Yet, here he was, searching for her at five in the morning with nothing but his phone's flashlight and her shaky voice playing through his head.
He halted his quick-paced steps at a strange shuffling noise. "Liv?" he called, squinting and looking between a mass of bushes. He continued walking, quickening his pace as the sound of crashing waves increased, indicating he was close. "You here?"
His head snapped to the left at the sound of a quiet sniffle. Following the noise, he pushed past a long-hanging branch, his eyes never leaving the tree he was certain the noise had come from. As he climbed through a cluster of branches and ivy bushes, his eyes caught a hint of silky pink material on the floor behind the tree. His heart pounded with anticipation, uncertain of what to expect as he made his way toward it.
A painful hit struck his chest when his eyes landed on the girl with her back pressed against the tree only feet away from the edge of the bluffs, her hair covering the sides of her face. Her entire body trembled with her nose buried between her knees. Even as she heard footsteps approaching her, she refused to tear her face away from its buried position in her knees.
"Hey..." Ace cooed, quickly kneeling forward. He placed a gentle hand on her bare knee, the coldness of her body piercing his skin. "You're freezing, Liv..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes darting between her silk pink pajama shorts to her head which she still hadn't moved. It was almost as though she was trapped within her fear, not even aware that Ace was there. "Liv, hey, come on," he pushed his weight onto his knees, dropping fully onto the dirt so he could get closer to Olivia. He reached his hands to the sides of her face and gently lifted it to reveal tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. Cupping her left cheek with one hand, he used the other to brush her matted hair off her sweaty forehead. His heart clenched at the sight of her, not used to seeing her so distraught and broken.
Her teeth clattered loudly against her parted lips and Ace carefully slid his hands off the side of her face. Her neck was weak and her head hung low as Ace slipped his coat off. Once it was tugged off, he used two hands to place it on Olivia's shoulders. She quickly sunk into the warmth of the material and Ace's body heat which lingered in the beige jacket. His eyebrows softened at the sighed and he returned his hands to cup her pale cheeks to look at her. Her eyes were tired, barely responsive to Ace, but as she weakly lifted her gaze to his face, she couldn't stop the way her face scrunched up tightly to allow more aching tears to fall.
Ace quickly leaned forward, allowing her to drop into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her small torso tightly without hesitation, pulling her further into him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, and he sighed at her silent cries as tears trickled onto his shirt. "Liv, what the Hell happened?" he asked gently, using his thumb to rub small shapes onto her upper back. When she didn't respond, he stayed silent, only pulling her body closer into his.
His body radiated heat onto hers, warming her chest in a way she hadn't experienced before. His gentle hands wrapped around her torso and his hot breaths against her neck made her feel safe– made her not want to think about anything else. All her anger and frustration, her feeling of betrayal, they had vanished while she was in his embrace. Her utter terror lingered, but his warm hand on her back slowed her quick, shallow breaths. She sunk deeper into his arms, and he tightened his arms around her in response.
"I- I don't know how I got here," she croaked, her voice hoarse and nasal with her stuffy nose. Ace pulled away slowly to look at Olivia while she spoke, and she felt almost tempted to grip onto him tighter to make him stay close. "I opened my eyes and... and I was on the edge- and- and I couldn't breathe and I really, really, really don't like heights, Ace," her words followed after each other hurriedly as her breaths began to quicken. Tears rimmed her eyes again and her eyebrows knitted together, chin quivering as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. When Ace picked up her icy, shaking hand and enclosed it within both his hands, she looked down at her lap to allow tears to fall.
"Hey, you're okay, Livvie. You're safe," he whispered comfortingly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.
Olivia lifted her gaze from her lap to just above Ace's shoulder. She could hardly look at the sea anymore, regardless of how pretty it was under the sunlight. The sight of the bluffs sent shivers down her spine. She shook her head rapidly to try to get the memory out of her head before it could settle. "I don't wanna be here," she whimpered, "I wanna go."
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Ace quickly jumped to his feet, reaching his hands out to grip Olivia's upper arms. He slowly pulled her up and tucked an arm under hers, wrapping it around her waist for support. "You're okay," he reminded her quietly. He pressed his lips softly against the side of her head as they stepped into the wooded forest.
Every sound, from the crickets to the small twigs snapping between their feet, made Olivia flinch. Each time, she would dig herself further into Ace's side, wanting nothing more than to be out of the tormenting area. She desired bright light, warm air and to once again be in Ace's comforting arms, yet all she got was the sinister darkness of the forest and the freezing cold wind brushing past her neck and legs.
As soon as he'd helped her into the truck and safely buckled her in, Ace cranked the heat up to the max. He watched Olivia sink back into the car seat, embracing the warmth while he began to drive. She stared blankly out the window through burning eyes, watching darkened houses and looming trees flash by. She held her trembling fingers up to the warmth radiating from the vent, but her tired arms didn't allow her to keep them there for long. She dropped her hands onto her lap, wedging her fingers between her thighs to warm them up.
Olivia could feel Ace's eyes on her, switching between looking at the street and her head. He reached his hand over to her knee and gave it a gentle, comforting squeeze. Hesitantly, he inched his hand from her leg to her hand. His eyes were glued to the road, his shoulders tense as he waited for a reaction from Olivia.
For a moment, Olivia froze at the action, but without thinking, she spread her fingers to allow his to entwine with hers. He smiled softly, squeezing her hand tightly with his before caressing it with his calloused thumb. "You... you wanna talk about it?" He finally broke the cold silence in the air, glancing at her shortly. Her forehead was still pressed against the cold glass and she aimlessly watched the passing trees and houses.
Olivia closed her eyes and squeezed them, absorbing the darkness her eyelids brought. "When I try to think about it, all that comes to my mind is Nancy Drew..." She thought out loud before peeling her eyes open. "I don't know what's happening to me," she mumbled emotionlessly, her eyes and lips sunken dully.
"It's not you," he trailed. "The bones– the Aglaeca returned them last night at The Claw. The bluffs, that's where Nancy is meant to die; maybe it was a vision."
"What?" Her head snapped up to face him, her tired eyes were slightly wider and alert. "Does that mean..."
"Yeah, she's still after us," he sighed, discontent. Olivia threw her head back against the seat in agony, closing her eyes to try and contain her emotions. "Hey, it's okay," he reassured and squeezed her hand which still sat comfortably in his.
"How is any of this okay?"
"We'll all be fine, Livvie, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He sounded so certain, Olivia almost believed him. But after everything that had happened in the past few days, Olivia refused to believe that anything would ever be okay, that they would ever be safe. "But after what just happened, you need to put that ring back on and keep it on. Just until we figure this out." Still trapped in her previous thoughts, Olivia stared out of the window in silence. "Promise me, Liv."
She snapped out of her daze, eyes still glued to the road. "Yeah... I promise," she mumbled, staring into space. Her head hung low like her tired eyelids. Yet despite her exhaustion, her rapidly beating heart, and aching head, she felt nothing, staring out the window while numbness took over her body.
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i frickin LOVED writing this chapter omfg ace and liv are so cute and this is kinda where stuff goes uphill for their relationship in this fic so i hope u stay tuned!!
let me know what you thought of this chapter <3