Labyrinth: Into the Malignant Book 2

Cry for Me

  There's a small update after this authors note.  WARNING: THIS UPDATE HAS MILD SENSITIVE CONTENT. IT HAS SCENES OF DEPRESSION AND WORDS TO DISCOURAGE POSITIVE FEELINGS. RATED 4/10 ON A SENSITIVE SCALE.

Elliana

Everything was cold. I felt as though I should be shaking to get the heat back into my body, but it was gone and I didn't want it back. My surroundings were dark and I could vaguely make out the trees. My clothes were torn around my legs and stomach like a wild animal sliced me open. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and looked around. Everything was under such a dark shadow that I couldn't tell what was up and what was down. As my eyes roamed over the ruins, I saw dark eyes looking directly at me.

"So she's finally awake. How does the cold feel? Makes you thirsty for more huh?" The vicious creature began walking towards me before moving to his hands and feet. His body movements were like that of a snake with arms and legs. I tried to push myself away from the horrific creature, but he snatched my ankle, resulting in the drawing of my blood. "I'm not supposed to let you leave yet, you see, everything you went through in the Malignant was a trial. The king was just seeing what would work the best and he chose the birds nest. You remember don't you?" How did he even know I was there?

"I read your mind, remember? I know you better than you" I looked around finally and felt myself crumble. "Oh don't worry, you can cry. We all cry so why not you? Not that your warmth is gone, all you have is despair. Crying is comfort right? Crying is cold comfort; didn't you know that's what the small pools were made of? Past Wanderers cold comfort" He crawled over me as tears leaked from my eyes. "Go ahead, take a good look around. There's no way out" His cold hand snatched my chin and made me see my surroundings. The tree limbs creaked together tightly, intertwining so that the space I was closed off from the outside.

A sob choked in my throat as I closed my eyes tight. I felt so defeated. "Feel stupid yet? You should feel stupid. You trusted a serpent, fell into the hands of a man with a poisonous touch, went through all the trials that caused you pain and deterioration, yet you still can't make it out alive. You should be ashamed. Nothing you do and did will help you. Nothing will work. You're just as worthless as before because strength is something you don't and will never have. That darkness in you? It will never leave. So go ahead and cry. Cry for yourself and everything you never had to lose because everyone outside of this little trap won't care about you. You're on your own and you've done a terrible job at holding yourself up in this place. There's no way out so cry...cry" I cried.

I felt a cold hand on my cheek and trail down my neck. "There there little princess" the Wanderer drawled and snickered at my emotional state. I reached up to the Wanderer and trailed my finger down his neck. He pulled so many memories through my head that one in particular stood out. It was a way out of this mess. The Wanderer's eyes never looked away from mine.

I slowly reached up with both hands and reached for him neck. I focused on his neck and the skin on my hands. Anger was filling me and I dug deep down to trigger my Intangible. My hands began to feel numb as they wrapped around the Wanderer's neck. Right on time, the Wanderer's smug expression began to fade as his throat began to close with the poison from my hands.

"What are you doing?" He hissed as he jerked away from me and clawed at his throat.

"There are a few things I learned during my trials in the Malignant, one being that poison does mix well in me. Have you ever felt the effects of a Serpent, Malvant, and Intangible? I have. It hurts enough that I thought I'd share it with one who craves pain. How does it feel?" I asked the Wanderer as he stumbled backwards and slammed into the limbs behind him. I pushed myself to my feet and staggered away from him. The Wanderer hit the ground hard as his body gave out on him. He thrashed around before crawling towards me. He cried out halfway to me and reached his claws out to snatch me, but crashed to the ground unmoving.