Stolen

Chapter Twelve

Ember

I winced as the back of a phantom hand struck my face. The sting was nothing in comparison to the torture that the thief had been inflicting on me in the last few days. He was taking parts of my soul. Nothing could be worse than that. I blinked hard to clear the haze from my eyes. Each time he pulled me from a memory, it got harder and harder to come back to reality. A part of me thought that eventually I may never come back. Would I be stuck in my own mind, or would there be nothing left to be stuck in? 

"Why are you doing this to me?" I whispered into the empty room. I was beginning to lose what little strength I had left. Only the thought of Knox kept me from succumbing to the torment. Carrson walked tentatively in front of the chair I was being kept in. His eyes locked on me, an annoyance in his features. I inhaled a sharp breath at the sight of him. Had he come to rescue me? How did he even get here? Hope sprung to life in my chest for the first time in days.

"I would have given anything to be more than an afterthought to you, Ember..." he whispered to me, "but you were too busy loving him to notice. It was him the entire time..."

I could see the betrayal in his eyes but I couldn't understand why. Was he involved in this?

"I don't understand..." I said softly to him. How had I wronged him to a point that deserved this? He couldn't have done this, could he?

As if answering my thoughts he said, "I told you once that if you chose him it would be the death of you. When I'm done with you, you won't even remember your own name. But this?" he gestured to the silver object in his hand, "this will be a pain that you'll never forget and every time you think of him, you'll remember me." He glanced behind me, "Take them all." he instructed.

The thief was back quickly, pulling my head down against the back of the chair. "No!" I pleaded with him, "Carrson, please! Please don't do this to me! I'm begging you!" I struggled against the ropes that held me into the chair. I could feel the scabs on my wrists and ankles breaking open as the rough strands of the rope began to rub against them. Carrson smiled at me as the memory thief dug back deep into my mind, taking the last of my pleas with him. Images of Knox smiling fluttered before my eyes. I could hear his laugh echoing off the walls around me. The sounds of his heavy breaths in my ears. Rhett's blue eyes were staring at me, a warmth in them. And then it was the laughter of the two of them together. There were images of the library, of the lunchroom, of Knox's bed. I felt his rough hands on my skin leaving trails of fire and longing in their wake. These were the things they were taking from me. My body felt numb and cold. My mind growing foggier and foggier with each passing second. It was getting harder to hold onto things. Where was I? I tried to remember anything I could. Repeating it to myself like a mantra as the thief continued his attack on my mind.

Knox...the academy...the darkness...the thief.

Knox...the academy...the darkness...the thief.

Knox...the academy...the darkness...the thief.

Knox...the academy...the darkness......

Knox...the academy...the darkness...

Knox...the...academy......

Knox...

Knox...

Knox...

...

Knox

I stumbled as a pain erupted through my chest. Something was wrong. The tether I felt to Ember had been growing weaker and weaker by the minute, but it was always there. For years I had grown accustomed to the feeling of her inside of me, the magnetic pull she had over me. I knew where she was at any waking moment. I could tell if she was asleep, awake, or if she was training. It was like my heartbeat at the same speed as hers. I was a mirror of her. Rhett stopped suddenly, putting a concerned hand on my shoulder. The pain was enough to drive me to my knees. I cried out for her as I felt the tether break. It was like my soul shattered inside of me. A part of me was just gone, ripped out of my chest, a dark black hole left in its place.