GRIM REAPER¹, bellamy blake

098 ━━ breaking the bond

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"FULL HOUSE," Bellamy said with a smirk, placing his cards down on the table. Reina merely frowned, holding her cheek in her hand as she stared angrily at her father, who pulled all the chips to his side of the table.

Iona watched her, amused, as she rolled her eyes, sliding a few chips to the center of the table for her buy-in.

The game had just gotten interesting, to be honest. Iona had never played Poker before- well, she didn't really know it existed, either- and had been confused the first four rounds until suddenly, she realized she had a deadly poker face and was pretty good at it.

The environment felt comfortable- for once- and Iona found herself genuinely smiling at the people surrounding her. She enjoyed her life with them, chuckling quietly when Reina made a smart-mouthed remark towards her father.

Iona pushed her side gently, as if to say watch it, but Reina could see the small smirk on her face- she was proud of her fiery little girl, after all.

Iona!

Iona glanced around, furrowing her brows slightly. She looked back at Reina and Bellamy, who were busy flipping the cards over and inspecting theirs closely. Still, Iona felt odd- had she been the only one that heard that?

Swallowing thickly, Iona decided she'd ignore it for now, focusing back onto her card game.

Luck was on her side- she'd gotten three of a kind and a pair. She was happy, but didn't let it show on her face, subtly betting a little bit higher every time the pot vote came her direction. Bellamy matched her, his brow raised.

"What?" She smiled, laughing softly at his suspicious look.

He huffed through his nose, "I hate your poker face. I can't read you."

Reina furrows her brows, looking between her parents with a look of confusion and disappointment, "Isn't that the point?"

Iona nodded in her direction, shrugging, and Bellamy sighed, accepting defeat- both the women in his life were against him; he'd be better off folding right then and there, if he were to be honest.

Iona had just settled back into the groove of her game when she heard it again- and this time, she couldn't ignore it.

Iona, please help me!

Instantly, Iona stood from her seat, ignoring the pleading of her family behind her as she darted out the door. She held her coat closer to her body, beginning to shiver as cold air hit her skin, wind pushing her body back towards the house.

Iona grunted, forcing herself through the wind, covering her eyes. She tried to make it through to the other side of the street where she saw two figures, one crouched over the other, a dagger in her hand as she stared down at the man beneath her.

An image of Bellamy dead on the ground flashed in her head, making her pause, coming to a standstill.

When she saw it the night prior, she'd woken up in a cold sweat- she assumed it was a dream, and the support of Bellamy and Reina, both standing over her bed clearly concerned, had only fueled the idea that perhaps it was just a dream.

Now, though, as that same image disappeared from her mind, she realized it was real. It wasn't just a dream; Bellamy really was in danger.

However, a hand clutched her wrist, forcing her to stop. Iona glanced back, staring into Bellamy's confused- but hurt- gaze.

"Are you really going to leave us, mommy?" Reina asked, tears filling her eyes. She clung to her father's hand, a look of pure sadness coming over her face- it almost made Iona regret it- as she continued tearfully, "Do you... do you even care about us?"

Iona swallowed.

She looked at Reina, her brows furrowing sadly, before looking back at the two figures. Her dagger was raised, nearing the moment when she'd angrily thrust it downward; it'd kill him, and soon.

"You aren't real," Iona muttered, "You aren't real."

As pain started filling her stomach, that same punishment for bad behavior overcoming her, Bellamy and Reina suddenly disappeared. They were gone completely, pushed away and out of her head- Iona was rejecting the illusions.

It was excruciating, similar to that of the torture that Iona had endured several times in her life- but she pushed through it.

She had to push through it.

Forcing herself to run, Iona staggered towards the figures in the distance- appearing so close, yet so far at the same time. When she got into range, the woman stilled, her eyes flickering to her left, narrowing once they landed on Iona's approaching figure.

Then, she was tackled to the ground, Iona crying out, "Give me my body back, you bitch!"

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