Paroxysm ⇢ [Delirium, Book One]

prologue

3rd October, 2016, 11:32PM.

My first thought was of her.

What would she think of me? Would she flinch at the sight of me, eyes glowing and teeth bared, blood running down my chin? Would she recoil at the growl that had just reverberated through my body and broken free like its own living thing? She had always been the bravest person I'd known, but I knew that even that would have been too much for her.

As quickly as it came, the rage and feeling of power disappeared. I whimpered as the glow faded and I gagged at the metallic taste in my mouth. My knees hit the ground and my hands reached out to stop my face colliding with the mud. A sob formed in my chest and forced its way up my throat and out into the cold air. Hot tears burned down my cheeks as I gasped for breath between sobs.

"Come, child," he sounded bored. When I raised my gaze to his face I saw that he was, my fear meant nothing to him. "We've got much to do," he said with a hand held out to help me from the ground. When I took a moment to contemplate taking it, he made a point of snatching it back.

"I can't," I choked out, wiping the blood from my mouth on the back of my sleeve.

"Put her in the other car, Hunter. I cannot bear to listen to her sniffling and wailing any longer," he said, turning away.

I couldn't move, couldn't even think to resist as I was lifted from the ground and carried like a child through the darkness towards the headlights of a SUV. Bundled into the backseat, I stared straight ahead as I slipped away from her, from everything I'd ever known.

"Get some sleep, Maisie," Hunter said, his gaze rising to look at me through the rearview mirror. "You're gonna need it."