Break Me, Mate [Extended Sample]

{fourteen}

© 2015 by Nique Joaquin. All rights reserved.

Image is the design on the slab used for the "unlock" later. Please, note, that this is the "unlock" chapter and it will be bloody. So... [WARNING] 

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Since waking up without Maddox has lately become a regular thing, I wasn't surprised when he left me with just a tray of food by my side and a little note telling me that he was in the conference room to finish off the plans for the attack. There was only this day left after all. We strike tomorrow.

Feeling too lazy to see him, I get up and strip out of my ripped white dress and pull on some white workout leggings and a grey sports bra. I work slowly into a few yoga positions. Funnily enough, as I'm doing my little handstands and crow positions, I don't feel calm. I feel strangely... exhilarated. Like I have more to look forward to despite the absence of any real plans for the day. I groan as I lean against the wall to perform a backbend and touch my toes. I hear the sounds of some long unmoved bones click and crack with the action. I hold my position and sigh in relief when the door opens, revealing Maddox wearing a pale blue button down with a pair of ripped jeans.

"Yoga?" Maddox asks as I stretch out of my position and back on balancing myself on my own two feet.

"Why not?" I ask as I walk over to the bed and pick at the strawberries on the tray, placing one into my mouth.

"Ari is coming. You'll be in pain for at least a few days, are you absolutely sure you want to go through with the unlock?" Maddox asks me and I sigh as he walks over and kneels in front of me.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. We were supposed to do it last night." I say reassuringly.

"We had other plans." Maddox says with a happy-seeming sigh, "You don't have to go through with it." He reaches for my cheek.

"I want to go through it, Maddox. This goes beyond the bond I've lost." I mutter and Maddox shakes his head.

"Then let's get this over with. Ari's waiting on us downstairs."

***

Wearing a plain black shift dress, I made my way downstairs to meet Ari. Maddox and I made our way to a room I had yet to see and I was surprised to see that it was an all-black room that contrasted greatly with the usual wooden theme of Maddox's cabin-styled pack house. There were windows at the side but the heavy looking velvet curtains got rid of any light that trespassed. The only real source of light available was a large spotlight at the center of the room. Below it was a rounded slab of pure white marble that reminded me of a few gruesome images in my head.

"What is that?" I asked and I watched Ari walked towards me, she was dressed in a plain white dress and she had a little black dagger in her hands.

"It's necessary. Mikhail told you it was similar to the etching process... the whole ritual thing, right?" Ari asks and I shrug.

"Something like that." I mutter, Maddox squeezes my hand softly and I sigh. "Let's... just get this over with."

Ari nods and she motions to the round slab of marble, I walk over to it and lie down at its center. I trail my fingers around it and feel the intricate carvings, like a giant rounded maze below me. Maddox stands to my right and squeezes my hand harder before moving aside. Ari appears at my side and sighs as she hovers a hand above my eyes. I look straight up and focus on a single light.