TW: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES THAT MAY BE TRIGGERING OR CAUSE DISCOMFORT FOR SOME READERS. THIS CONTENT INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO: PANIC ATTACKS, VOMITING, VIVID IMAGERY OF GORE (INCLUDING BLOOD) AND HINTS AT MURDER.
READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Please enjoy the chapter <3
V
MARIANA
The room was still after Sonia's claim.
"Why?" Jules asked.
"They meet with all of Lucien's children," Lena answered, wincing at her choice of words.
Lucien's child. The words echoed in Mariana's empty brain, incapable of summoning even a spark of temper. It seemed, she had spent all of that temper on putting Diana in her place.
Lena and her mother shared a long look, communicating in some way that the three teenagers did not understand.
"Good for them," Mariana said, turning back toward the stairs.
"Mariana," Lena began, "you can't avoid them."
"What if I don't go?" she questioned, turning on Sonia.
"Then they very well might kill you," the older woman responded vehemently. There was a warning in her eyes that forced Mariana to shove her way through the mindless sludge filling her brain to reach the part of her that thought rationally.
It was locked tight.
Mariana was silent for what felt like hours, shoving at that locked compartment.
It barely budged, giving Mariana enough time to decide. "The end of the week."
With that, Mariana pushed herself up the stairs, into solitude, not bothering to keep that locked compartment open. She was not surprised when it slammed shut, leaving her with nothing but emptiness and a numbing cold that encased her chest.
Four more days.
Four more days to decompress after her episode.
Four days until the Council made whatever assumptions and decisions about her that they wanted.
Until then, they could fuck off.
The sound of her door slamming was a distant hum in her ears as she collapsed onto the bed and stared off.
UwU
Time passed slowly as Mariana holed up in her room.
A light knock pushed through the fog in her mind. She had managed to move from the bed to the chair in the corner of the room, curled up into herself as she grasped emotions that seemed to evade her.
She didn't think it would be so difficult to feel.
She didn't think it would be so easy to give in to the fire sparking beneath her skin.
Another knock had Mariana standing from the soft recliner she had burrowed herself into. Robotically, she opened the door just as Lena was lifting her hand to knock again. The older woman smiled sheepishly, lowering her hand.
Mariana stared through Lena's eyes for a few seconds before she stepped aside, offering Lena entry into the room.
Stepping inside, Lena hovered her hand just under the light switch and shot Mariana a questioning look. At her nod, Lena flicked the lights in the room on, the sudden light stabbing Mariana's eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Killing Lucien
Fantasi"You're his cousin." It was difficult to keep the bite from her voice, but Lucien's eyes were boring holes into her brain, Lucien's fangs were ripping her skin to shreds and she couldn't escape the hole that was seconds from swallowing her. Somethin...
