Whitethorn Academy

Chapter Forty-One

Everything was hot and cold, all at once. My bones felt like they were nothing but ash, but I shivered violently.

"Shit," a voice said, sounding slightly panicked. "Selene, can you hear me?"

I had no voice. I was nothing but a thought trapped inside a charred mess. But even as I had the thought, I could feel the pain beginning to creep in, coating every inch of me. Wherever the searing heat had touched, there was now nothing but unending pain.

Hands. There were hands on my skin and I cried out against the pain, the first noise I could make.

"I know it hurts. But I need you to drink this for me, okay?"

Something cold pressed against my lips, before a liquid poured into my mouth. And I choked, suffocating as the liquid slid down my throat, like shards of ice, as they raked razor-sharp claws and they tore me apart.

"There you go. It'll stop the pain, okay? I promise."

Slowly, the pain ebbed away, chased by the ice-cold feeling spreading through my veins.

"She's more stable now. There's definitely less pain." The voice with me was speaking, but they weren't speaking to me. There was a pause, as if someone I couldn't hear was replying. Then, "Yes, I will monitor her. She doesn't need the nurse. It was just a build-up of magic. She's fine now. I will keep you updated."

A silence fell then, broken only by my labored breathing. Though the pain was less, every part of me still ached.

"Alright, this might hurt a bit," the voice said again. But the pain had lessened enough that I could finally make out who it was. Alek.

And then I was being touched again, hands sliding underneath me, against my back and behind my knees. I let out another whimper of pain against the movement and the touch against my skin. Whatever he'd given me had stopped most of the pain, but not all of it.

I felt myself being placed against something soft before I finally faded away. The pain ebbing enough to let me lose consciousness.

I was back in my bedroom at my mother's house. Except it was empty. A shrine of what is used to be. The bed, stripped, along with the dresser, devoid of all my belongings, was all that remained.

Someone had removed the curtains from the window, and light flowed in. Outside, I glimpsed the line of trees that surrounded the small side yard.

The body I inhabited, not Alek this time, felt worn out. Exhausted. A worn letter, as if read a million times, was in my hands.

"I'm so sorry, Selene. I thought I had more time. But I don't. The ways I've failed you are too many count. I hope this message gets through to you. Please, don't find me. It's too late. Keep yourself safe. And know that beyond anything, I've loved you. Even if I could not show it, even though I've kept you at arm's length, know that I've loved you. Be safe and well."

With a shaking hand, I pressed the letter between the mattress and the box spring, a few tears slipping down my cheeks and splattering against my pants.

I'd barely had time to conceal the letter before a figure entered the room, nearly blocking out all the lights coming in from the kitchen.

"Your time is up, Natalie. I know she's alive. You've protected her."

My blood ran cold as I looked up into the cold, unfeeling gaze of my step-father. But he seemed different. Taller, more brutish. Colder, even. Gone was the man sitting in his recliner, chain-smoking cigarettes. And in his place stood a worse monster. One who was after my mother.