Page 37 of Red's Beast

Part of me didn’t want to answer him, but he’ll just ask until I do.

Once again, the sound of a distant howl reaches my ears, and I can't help but yearn to be outside, breathing in the fresh, open air.

After waiting for what feels like an eternity, a deep sigh escapes me as I realize he isn’t going to respond.

"I guess you found out what you wanted to know and now I’m utterly alone again.” Resting my head against the cold stone wall, I gaze up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

This is going to be a long night. One I will never want to return to.

Lillian

At some point, I fall asleep, but when I wake up, I find that I’m stiff and uncomfortable. Thankfully, my hands have not moved from my lap and there are no more burns.

Vague memories of my dreams come to the forefront of my mind. I feel every touch and caress, as if the man of my dreams was trying to soothe all the pain away. He had been so delicate as he had kissed me. The one thing I remember clearly is him holding my wrists and telling me that soon it would be over.

I crack my neck to the side, hoping it will ease some of the pain, but then I hear screams, which causes me to look at the stairs.

What is going on?

The door at the top of the stairs swings open and hits the wall. Someone comes down the staircase face and whirls at the bottom.

Corbin stands there for a second, panting for breath. “Did you do this?”

"What are you talking about? I've been down here the whole night. See these cuffs? I can’t escape them. They’re silver.”

“So, it was your grandmother who did this?” Alana comes further down the steps and into view with tears in her eyes.

“Did what? Can someone please explain what is going on? I’ve been trapped down here and have no idea what happened.”

Corbin reaches up and rubs the back of his neck with the palm of his hand. “Someone or something nearly ripped my father’s intestines out last night. He has a horrible wound on his stomach that is deep.”

“Corbin, are you serious?” I ask with a scoff. “Grandmother wouldn’t do that, nor could she. She can shift, but that’s maybe once a month at most. Considering she did it the other day, she can't do it this soon. She’s too weak.”

He strides toward me and squats down in front of me. His eyes are glowing fiercely. “If I find out you are lying, you don’t want to know what I will do to you.”

Corbin reaches out, trailing his fingertips across my cheek. “I’ll make you pay in more ways than you can imagine.”

Finally, he stops tracing my face and reaches down to undo my cuffs. Not once does he squirm or scream from touching silver. It doesn’t make sense and now that I think about it, his father didn’t balk when he touched it either.

“Why are you not screaming out in pain from touching silver?”

His eyes widen, but only for a moment as he takes a step back. “That is not your concern.”

He allows enough room for me to stand, but I struggle to rise and end up falling forward onto my hands. The feeling of sickness swarms my stomach.

Corbin shows no sympathy as he nudges me with his boot. “Get up.”

“I can’t.” Darkness begins to engulf my vision. “I’m passing out.”

The last thing I see before everything goes dark is Corbin’s boot moving closer.

As I awaken sometime later, it is already dark out. My hand instinctively grabs at the soft covers beneath me as I try to figure out where I am. It’s a bed. A very nice soft bed.

But this isn’t my bed nor is it the one at my grandmother’s.

I sit up but pause immediately, inhaling deeply and getting a good nose full of Corbin’s scent. Scanning the room, I realize that I’m in his room.

“Why did he bring me here?”

---