The Awakening of Eve Rose // ONC 2024

Chapter Three

A strangled cry tore from my throat as I turned away from the man and ran toward the front door. A black mist formed in front of me, blocking my path, as the man materialized, his arms outstretched toward me. I stumbled away from his grasp. I bolted for the bedroom, but he was suddenly there, his body blocking my path once again.

A smile stretched across his skeleton-like face, showing yellowing jagged teeth. "You can't run, little witch."

I knew I needed to escape, but the thundering of my heart drowned out my thoughts.

"There is no escape," his voice whispered through my head.

My mind screamed against the intrusion. His black eyes focused on me as I tried to make sense of what was happening. A dull ache creeped into my head, followed by an overwhelming pressure. His gnarled smile stretched further. The pressure intensified. My eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. Dark spots clouded my vision as the ache spread. I pushed back against the pain, willing it away. The man's eyes darkened as he leered at me. Searing pain exploded in my head and my knees buckled.

"You won't be able to resist me this time, little witch," he sneered.

Fear turned to rage, taking me by surprise. I pulled myself up from the floor and stared harshly at him. "I am not a witch!" I cried.

"Oh, but you are."

"No, I am not! I am just a normal person!"

He laughed. "You are the very essence of power herself."

I didn't feel powerful. I couldn't even think of a way to save myself.

"No, I am not," I whispered. My rage seeping away.

He licked his thin, cracked lips. "You are. I can taste it. It rolls off you in waves. Your blood signs with him," he assured, his voice becoming wilder. His eyes dilated like a cat with a mouse. His body lifted into the air and floated toward me, his unmoving feet dragging across my floor.

This has to be a dream.

But as soon as the thought passed, I knew it wasn't. I can't explain what was happening, but I knew it was all very real. And I had to get away. He stretched his arms out toward me again. I scrambled to my feet as dark as smokey black tendrils curled out from his hands.

I twisted away from the scene before me and ran toward my small kitchen, where a window opened onto a fire escape. The slick tile floor of the kitchen, slowed my pace. A tendril coiled around my ankle with a vice like grip, digging into my skin like a thousand tiny razor blades. Hot blood spilled down my foot as I tugged my leg away from the blackness, screaming.

The smell of iron filled the air as I ran, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. A low growl emanated from behind me. A chilly blackness whipped by me on both sides, coming together as the man materialized in my path in front of me. Wild and feral, devoid of anything human, sunken black eyes sized me up. A white tongue snaked out from behind the jagged teeth as he licked his cracked lip. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. The thin skin stretched back across his face in a snarl.

I backpedaled away and switched course to the living room. The sounds of sniffing and animalistic growls followed me as I ran for the door. I fumbled the locks, my hands shaking.

Something hard crashed into my back, crushing me against the wall. A thin hand wrapped around the nape of my neck, pressing my face harder into the wall. The man's frail body pressed against my back with unnatural strength.

"You're mine, witch," he growled.

I struggled under his weight. I twisted my hands up, hoping to find something solid to dig my nails into. But there was nothing but the stinging, sharp blackness. Pinned to the wall and hopeless, I felt his acrid breath hot against my jaw. My stomach churned at the rotting stench.