Page 65 of Presence

My dress is little more than tattered rags now, clinging to me with wet, icy fingers as I claw my way through the trees. Blood trickles from cuts and scratches, painting my skin in dark streaks under the faint moonlight. But I won’t stop.

“Run, Claire!” I yell at myself, my voice hoarse and breaking.

I don’t know when this will end. Echo didn’t tell me how long I needed to outrun the shadows to earn the deal. Why didn’t I ask him?!

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Tears sting my eyes, and I run so fast I think I’ll die from the effort. Everything’s supposed to feel better in the dreamscape, right? Wrong. Everything is more intense here. Pleasure is bliss. Pain is... worse than torture.

No matter how fast or far I sprint, the shadows are relentless. Their laughter curls around me, and the hissing whispers grow louder.

“When will it be enough?!” I shout into the sky, my voice cracking.

I can’t keep this up forever. My legs feel like lead, and my lungs burn with each ragged breath. The forest spins around me, the branches closing in.

The only response is a low, mocking chuckle that rolls through the night air, chilling me to the bone.

“Enough?” his voice whispers, slithering through the darkness like smoke. “There will never be enough. You can run, but we’ll find you,” they hiss. “We’ll drag you into the darkness, rip you apart piece by piece, and savor your screams.”

My foot catches on a root, and I fall hard onto the cold earth. I scramble back up, but the shadows have already closed in, their tendrils slithering up my legs and coiling around my waist.

“No,” I gasp, clawing desperately at everything around me. “No!”

I don’t want to die. Not yet. There’s so much left to feel, to experience. Those dreamy moments with Echo—the sun’s warmth on my skin, the tremble of my body under his touch.

That first kiss… When I surrendered control and, for the first time, took a deep, freeing breath. I crave more of that. That’s why I did it, why I let go. I need my paradise, the bliss I’ve been chasing. An escape. Freedom. A reason to keep going.

He made me feel alive in my dreams. He brought a happiness I’d never known. Before him, I was so lonely. So damn lonely.

But it’s no use. The shadows pull me down, dragging me with them, their voices echoing in my ears. I breathe them in, taste them on my tongue, and feel them slithering over my wounds, licking the blood away.

Suddenly, Echo is in front of me.

“Did I ever tell you this…?” he muses, cocking his head as his shadow presses down on the wound on my arm. He squeezes, prods, and tears at my skin to make more blood ooze out. “I’ve always loved it when you reeked of fear.”

I can only tremble. I’ve been terrified of his presence for as long as I can remember. But now, he knows my . He can exploit them, torturing me forever.

“No,” I whisper, realizing he wants me to answer. He narrows his completely black eyes.

“That’s what made me play with you so long, my Little Soul,” he says. “Your sweet scent was both a curse and a blessing. A curse because you dangled before me like a ripe cherry, irresistible to bite. A blessing because that taste kept me coming back for more.”

His shadow twists through the air, releasing its grip on my wound and stretching toward him. As it comes within reach, Echo pounces, snatching the shadow with his hand and drawing it to his mouth. His long, slimy tongue wraps around it, licking off every drop of blood.

The low, guttural groan that follows is so deep and animalistic that it makes every hair on my body stand on end.

A predator, my instincts scream. He’s a predator and you’re a prey.

But it’s not the only way my body reacts. Something very dark deep down below likes the way his eyes gleam when he feeds on me. I like seeing how he’s savoring the taste. My nipples harden, my breath getting even raspier than they already are.

“You see,” he continues, his voice a low rasp, “I know your limits. I know how much fear and pain you can endure before you break. And I intend to keep you teetering on that edge for as long as I wish.”

He reaches a claw over to my nipple, running the sharp edge over the center, enjoying it when I gasp. He’s drinking in my every twitch and tremble, his finger tracing it, circling it slowly, deliberately, and my body responds despite the terror twisting inside me.

Is this how he plans to devour my soul? By leading me to the brink of desire, only to destroy me moments later?

Would it be so bad…?

“If your puny friends hadn’t butted in, that’s exactly what would have happened,” he says, reading my thoughts with a sinister smile. “I’d feast on your energy every day, draining you bit by bit until you couldn’t even stand. You’d be too weak to talk, just lying there on your bed, drooling.” He leans in, his eyes gleaming with dark delight. “That’s when I’d reveal my true form. I’d take you to the edge of pain, pleasure, and fear, all at once. And then, I’d kill you.” He takes a deep breath, savoring the moment. “They almost saved you, you know? They really had a chance. But they didn’t realize you didn’t want to be saved. You only met them out of sheer curiosity. The fear you feel right now? It’s your drug. You’d feel lost without it.”

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