Deceit

Prologue

His words were forever nestled into my soul.

The intricate undertones of his deepened raspy voice had woven its way under my skin, a lingering echo that followed me through to my unconscious thoughts. Like continually waking up in a sweat in the dead of night; looming over my head like a dark storm cloud waiting to pour down from the sky.

Shallow breaths filled my lungs, burning my organs and shaking my system as I stared in horror. My eyes witnessing such terror overtook all my senses, the heightened stench of metallic blood remained embedded in my nostrils no matter how much I scrubbed at my face.

The water turned red, swirling down the drain as my hands desperately fought with the stains now drying against my face and neck. Perfect little imprints, the perfect details of him defiled my skin — a pretty accessory to his heinous crime.

With skin rubbed raw, reddened from my own touch and water-diluted splatters coating the tiles beneath my feet unable to fathom cleaning the swirled mixture from the ground. My chest aches every time my ribs are forced to expand and suck hot oxygen back into the tight caving feeling buried inside me.

Until the old floorboards creaked from somewhere behind me, a gasp uncontrollably tumbled from my lips as my head jolted up in horror. Goosebumps arose across my skin as my eyes met the reflection in the mirror, my own reflection.

Brown eyes widened in permanent horror, glazed with the hope of denial but shimmering with reality as my stomach sank with the sound of a second slow drawn out creak followed by a thud. The remnants of blood still tainted my skin, the side of my face his warm hand had touched as he leaned in to threaten the words now continually swirling my mind unable to forget the dishevelled look in his wild eyes.

Every time I blinked I found myself submerged back in the close memory.

"H-hello..?" I spoke shakily into the daunting air, the singular word hard to push from my body and burned my vocal chords.

Staring through the reflective glass, silence followed but the uncomfortable pit never left my stomach as my eyes waivered back to the once pristinely white ceramic sink now stained with the palest shade of red splattered across the bowl and the tiled backsplash. My breathing was heavier through my nose, breaking out in a sweat as I resubmerged my hands under the scalding water with a thick stream of steam filling the inches above my stained skin.

The feeling of eyes on me intensified as soon as my focus was away from the mirror, my senses burning as my body fought against entering flight or fight mode to defend myself. Or even trying to figure out if I was simply paranoid after what I witnessed earlier tonight, after hearing those words shouted with venom lacing his tone – instilling fear forever in my veins.

But the floorboards creaked a third time. The chance of it being coincidental dwindled quickly to nothing.

Someone was watching me.

My head lifted again quickly, gasping loudly at the sight of him in the reflection of the mirror standing behind me in the doorway to the bathroom with that sadistic grin curled on his lips that my mind won't ever forget.

Oxygen was knocked from my lungs that compressed tightly behind my aching ribcage, gasping to suck some back inside but breathing wouldn't work as I stare lips parted at the man who found amusement in my suffering. In scaring me until I struggled under his intense emerald eyes.

I spun around quickly, back bending over the edge of the sink to press myself away while my heart hammered in my throat and bile threatened to rise. His head tilted chillingly to the side, lips quirked deeper into a smirk of cruelty – he had me alone, he'd followed me.

He was going to kill me.

I was walking evidence to his crimes, he was imprinted on my skin that I'd desperately tried to scrub and now he needed to remove me.

Blood remained splattered across his face making his eyes seem even more bright from the stark contrast from the deep crimson, it was tousled through his messy curls that dangled over his erratic facial features. His white dress shirt was stuck to his tanned skin beneath with large patches of blood that soaked through the material with ease while a thin sheen of sweat now graced his hairline.

Pushing himself from his casual relaxed position against the doorframe, he sauntered forwards with slow well thought out steps while I stared paralyzed with fear but slowly sinking back over the sink as he got closer.

And when there were mere inches between us, my head tipped back against the slightly fogged up mirror to stare in horror. The sight of him towering above me would haunt me until my last breath. My mind couldn't focus, hazy with uncertainty, unsure what he was going to do to me especially after seeing the brutality of his previous actions.

Despite my deep-rooted terror currently pumping through my veins I somehow managed to find my voice in the situation to beg for my life. "Pl–please don't hurt me, I won't say–say anything." I shook my head desperately which only seemed to make his facial features more amused.

When he raised his hand slowly my mind expected pain but was shockingly surprised when his palm still drenched with drying blood cupped my jaw gently and leaned his face in closer so our noses were almost touching.

The stench of metallic blood was strong with his closeness, mixing in with the mintiness of his breath that fanned my face as he slowly lent into the side of my neck and I froze. His curls tickled my sensitive skin, breathing heavily but I could still feel his callous grin.

A devious whisper followed, "you promise, Princess?"

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...

Hey... how yall doing?

welcome to Deceit my loves, I hope you're ready for the ride!

Let me know what you thought of this little prologue, I can't wait to share the rest of the book with you all...

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