dark places - jb & ag {completed}

{fourteen}

Three times. They'd cut my wings off three times. Every time they would pull them out, new wings would grow right back, without even a minute's delay. All had white feathers, no hint of black ones.

"Are you sure she's your soulmate, Justin?" I heard the fading voice of Justin's mom asking. They weren't that close to me, but the room was so silent that I was able to hear them. Or maybe they were close, I had no idea, I was too weak to even try to figure out their exact location.

"Of course I'm sure, Mother," was Justin's whispered yet frustrated reply.

"I don't know," his mother said. "I'm giving her one more chance. If the next wings grow in the same way, I have to do what I have to do," she said. Something told me that it wouldn't be good, and fear crept into my heart all over again, right then and there.

"But, Moth–"

"No buts, Justin!" his mother interrupted him, her voice strong and speaking volumes of how much power her words had. "If others learn of this, they'll wonder why I didn't do what I'm supposed to do the second I saw the white feathers. They'll question if I let her go with them after three times just because my son thinks she's his soulmate."

"She is my soulmate, Mother," Justin insisted with a firm voice, sounding as if he spoke the words through clenched teeth.

"We'll see," his mother replied. "She's too weak to grow new wings again, so we will have to wait. For now. If they still grow in with white feathers, you know what we will have to do."

"Yes, Mother." Justin's voice held some kind of sorrow, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that his mother was promising to do something to me if my new wings also had white feathers – wondering if it could be worse than everything they'd done so far.

I couldn't help the fear inside my heart as it changed to pure terror. I dreaded what was to come my way, and the fact that I didn't know what it was made it even more horrifying.

How much I wanted to look at Justin, to see him, see what his eyes held. Maybe they would give me any kind of explanation, any kind of answer about what was to happen to me later, but opening my eyes seemed like carrying tons of weight, and I simply couldn't do it.

I was exhausted, drained. I had no energy to do anything, no power or control over my body. Even when Justin untied my restraints and carried me, I was like a limp noodle in his arms, my head dangling back and my legs dangling down. There was no hope for any inch of my body to move in any way under my orders; it was just – lifeless.

I felt as Justin placed me on soft material that I knew to be the same silky sheets I'd slept on before, realizing that he had carried me to the room I was in before I was dragged to the Converting Room.

And then I felt him as he placed a kiss on my forehead, a soft and warm kiss that lingered for more than just a moment. After that I could no longer sense him in the room, could no longer feel his presence or smell his sweet scent of musk and sandalwood.

Time went by, and I still felt the same heaviness in my body, though I had no idea why I couldn't fall asleep. Sleep had always taken over me whenever I was tired, and this time I was completely worn out, but I still couldn't fall asleep.

Slowly, I felt like I was getting my energy back, because lifting my arm a bit didn't feel like carrying the weight of a mountain in it, and opening my eyelids didn't take as much effort as it had before.

However, when I opened my eyes, I saw the last person I thought I would see: my best friend.

"Sophie!" I whispered, reaching with my hand to touch her. She wasn't within reaching distance, nor was she making it any easier for me to do so – she even took a step back.