Chapter 53
It was all a haze.
The dark forest stretched for miles and miles. I couldn't find my way back. Everywhere I turned, I only saw thick, long trees running deeper into the forest. Bushes and branches were spread on the grounds. I huffed out a breath and stopped running, even it was for a minute. My head throbbed with immense pain and I pressed two fingers between my eyes.
Think, Candice.
A slow whisper asking me to calm down went through my head and my racing heart stopped panicking. The fear of the dark creature appearing in front of me again was real.
I couldn't deal with it again. He had snatched away my energy and any power I had left. I couldn't think straight nor stand on my legs for another minute.
I wanted to go back into the town, return into the twins arms and stay there for the rest of the night. I had seen enough, more than what I needed to see.
I drifted toward north, hoping to find the borders of the town. It was nearly impossible to run to far and loose my way back but since it was the middle of the night, there could be a chance.
"Candice?" I heard Knox's voice from afar.
My head twirled all directions before I found him. A breath of relief poured out of my throat before I sped toward him and wrapped my arms around his torso. I felt the thumping of my heartbeat against his.
I closed my eyes tightly and reminded myself it was over.
It was over.
"What happened? Are you okay?" He asked, pressing his palm against my back and rubbing it gently till I was comforted. "Candice?" He listened to my breath and grew concenered.
Even when far from the forest, I could hear the screams of the innocent souls that were getting killed by the dark creature. Their screams could be heard from miles and it had no intentions of dying down anytime soon. They were too many sacrifices made to attract the dark creature into the land.
The world around moved slowly. I pressed my head deeper into his chest and looked over my shoulders to find the forest just behind me. It was getting hard to believe what I had seen—who I had seen.
It wasn't entirely impossible.
Could it?
When I turned, Knox's eyes were on me, awaiting for a response. I straightened my back and cleared my throat, "I'm okay."
"You look like you have seen a ghost." He cupped my face while men began surrounding me. Their presence made me feel cornered and I couldn't say what I wanted to say to Knox.
I shook my head and ran my tongue over my lips. "No, no, I'm fine." When I took another glance over my shoulders, I found a pair of eyes peering at me from the forest and it couldn't be anyone else's except for the dark creature's.
My blood ran cold and a shiver crept down my spine. I needed to get away from here, I needed to go home and think about something else apart from the devil I had faced.
I closed my eyes and my arm fell over Knox's shoulder before I whispered to him, "Take me home."
He looped an arm underneath my legs and another one around my back before picking me off the ground and carrying me back to the car. I didn't dare opening my eyes until I was in the clear and far, far away from the dark creature.
"Don't be scared. You're safe now." He whispered against my hair, his warm breath crawling to my neck and across my face that I had buried in his chest. His fingers slowly moved in circles on my arm, comforting me from the horrors I had seen.
Each time, it was getting worse. I couldn't do this again, even if my life was at stake. I couldn't go back into the forest and look into the eyes of the devil himself.
I pressed my eyes shut again, escaping from the reality but the moment I felt a trickle of peace and solidarity, a voice rang through my head and the dark creature flashed through my memories.
'I see your fears.' His voice appeared in my head and it echoed for long, torturous seconds.
My heart thudded against my chest. This couldn't be happening. How was he still here? How could he get inside my head? It wasn't possible.
'I see what you fear from and it isn't me, Candice. It's the thought of being left completely alone, it the thought of being unloved, it's the thought of being played and used. It's the little thought of heartbreak and tears. You'll only weep among them. There is no happiness for you here. You'll be destroyed by them.' He continued, his tone changing and his whispers growing louder.
"Get out of my head!" I yelled and snapped my eyes open.
The surroundings were changed. I was no longer being carried by Knox, instead, I was in the car. My head rested over Cain's lap who was staring out of the window until I screamed and snapped out of my nightmare.
"What's wrong?" He questioned, concerned.
I jumped up and sat straight while sweat beaded down my back. Yanking my shirt forward, I took a heavy breath and allowed cold air to pass through me.
"It's really hot here." I replied after realizing something wrong was happening with me.
The dark creature was in my head. I had only seen him for a couple of minutes and in those minutes, he had enough time to get inside my head and torture me with his unwanted words. He sounded threatened because I had seen his reality, I had faced him and I had lived through it all.
He was clearly threatened.
"The heat is blasting. I'll switch it off." Cain responded while rubbing his palm down my back. He asked the driver to switch off the heat and as soon as it was off, cold air gripped and cooled me down.
My body relaxed against the car seat. I breathed through my nose and kept my mouth shut tight. I couldn't respond to the dark creature—it was him only inside me head not the other way around.
"You're okay?" Cain asked, hovering beside me. "I know it was tough, Candice but you did it and I'm really proud of you." A perfect smile appeared over his perfect face.
I smiled back at him, "Thank you."
"No, no," He lowered his head and shook it. "I should be the one thanking you. You did a great job and I'll be forever thankful for it." Raising his fingers, he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and over my shoulders before continuing.
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