BOUND TO MY MATE

CHAPTER 27

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. (Dr. Suess)

The ground below me was cold, uncomfortable, and damp. I could hear water slowly dripping on the hardened surface that I rested on. A musty odor circulated the air causing me to choke down my vomit. As I opened my eyes, I was met with a dim fluorescent ceiling light that caused my eyes to rapidly open and shut.

Where the fuck am I?

Propping myself up using my elbow, I scanned what I now knew was a small basement. A toilet was in the right corner, and a bed or cot was directly across from it. Whatever it was, it was fucking disgusting. There were brown stains that appeared to look like shit or dirt. It took a lot of work to make out from this distance. A small wooden stool barely touching the wall was on the far left of the basement, and hanging above me oddly were silver chains.

A table northeast to the stool looked stocked with weapons and smaller items that were unfamiliar. Pushing myself into a sitting position, I immediately rocked back, catching myself as vertigo hit me like a freight train. I moved my hand to my head, squinting my eyes from the sudden discomfort.

What happened to me?

Think, Helena. Think.

What was the last thing that I remembered?

We were leaving the witch's house, and Elijah and I pulled to the side of the road. We were talking about.....we were talking about the council. And the humans enslaved by them and the murders that could happen. I asked him if he would stand by and let that happen to me. He told me I was his life and would never let that happen. He would protect me. We were....kissing. Yes, we were kissing and then.....and then...

Realization

That's when it hit me. I remember now. A large silver arrow was protruding through Elijah's chest. Blood. So much blood. Pain in his eyes. Pain in my heart. He was dead. What little air in my lungs was rapidly escaping as the weight of my reality sunk in. After everything he and I have gone through, I again lost him. But this time, instead of following him into the afterlife, I am left alone in the cold, my entire world devoid of warmth and light. He took the essence of my existence when he took his last breath in this cruel and heartless world.

I laid back down on the icy, rough ground welcoming the feel of the broken stone against my skin. I lay there silently crying, running my hands across the cracks as if they were a roadmap to the breakage inside my heart. How could this happen? Things were going to be different this time. I believed we would conquer our enemies in this life and live out our days in a blissful romance. How foolish could I have been?

Life isn't a blissful existence. It's an agonizing, excruciating, gut-wrenching creation. There are no roads that lead to a happy ending. No, it's a winding staircase loops in an endless cycle of nothingness. Pointless. Without him, I no longer have the need or want to live. At this moment, I understood how people could get so hopeless that they want to give up. Because that is precisely how I feel right now. I don't want to go on anymore. I want to join him where the heavens and earth meet.

I don't know how long I lay there wallowing in my self-destruction before I heard the creaky sound of a door being opened. The footsteps were light as they approached me, and I didn't even look up when my captor's shoes became visible. My body was here, but my mind was somewhere else. The person cleared their throat.

"I am sorry, Helena. This is, unfortunately, a necessary evil. But I promise soon the pain you're feeling will be gone." I moved slowly, and once my eyes met my captor, a rage swelled deep inside me. They almost sounded sincere, and the female voice was very familiar.