Page 11 of Above All Else

“AHHHHHH.”

Tossing the soaked sheets off of my limbs, I clambered out of bed, my heart detonating in my chest, stripping away my breath. The cold floor seeped into my feet as I scuttled away and jerked to a stop, my back striking the wall.

“His suffering is almost over…”

I jumped in place at the hard, gruff voice in my ear, my feet sliding across the floor as I spun around.

“... but yours is just about to start.”

A beast advanced towards me, his horns dropping elongated shadows on the walls, the black goat’s face staring at me with steadfast eyes.

I whirled on my heels with a high-pitched squeal and bolted for the closed bedroom door, my fingers grasping the cold brass.

His large hand wrapped around my wrist, yanking my control from the handle, and pressed me hard into the closed door. An arm dug into the back of my neck, pinning me tight.

My stomach bubbled as my breaths heaved in my chest.

I don’t want to die.

“Hi, June. Where are you going?” His hard voice splintered the ice coursing through my veins.

That voice…

I stomped down on his instep with my bare heel. Shooting, bright agony chased up my heel and into the back of my knee.

Was he wearing steel-toed boots??

“Let me go.”God, please. “Please.”

“Now, why would I do that?”

Thick arms enclosed around me from behind, and a gloved hand covered my mouth.

My feet left the floor as he dragged me back toward the bed and threw me on top with a twist. My back hurtled onto the wet mattress with a sickening slosh.

The beast laughed.

My heartbeat wracked against my chest in one abrupt hit, as though a knife had carved through my ribcage.

“Ahhhh.”I drove my fist forward, using the techniques I had learned over the course of six months. My knuckles skimmed his chin, scraping against the sharp, pointed mask.

The man grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head, his other gripping my face, his fingers digging into my cheeks, my nostrils flaring.

I bucked as the beast drew closer, his features distinguished as he stopped a shallow breath away. “His death was painless, I assure you.”

With a subtle turn, he forced my head to the side, my gaze landing on Ethan’s still frame.

Ethan?

Tears boiled in my eyes, oozing out of the corners and into my hair.

“You slept right through his attempts to warn you.”

A sob snapped free. I wailed, my temples pounding as I jerked and bucked.

The man held on, my strength no match for his, the length of his body pinning mine.

“I’ve waited for this for so long.”

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