Page 21 of Bloody Valentine

We arrived at the pine tree, and I grabbed the other end of the rope, threw it over the branch, and pulled the weight of the woman up until she was swinging like the doe back at the chapel.

Her hands were angrily slashing through the air, and her blood soaked the ground below her in a beautiful shade of crimson. Her wound was angry, and she was nearly dead before I could even finish the ritual.

“Hayes, pay attention. Strip her.”

Hayes winked at her glazed face before pulling her clothing apart. She shivered and just cried.

It was always different for people in the end. Sometimes, they succumbed like this to their fate. Others would fight to the very end. On the rare occasion, some would beg to ‘just end it quickly.’

“Sanguis tuus nunc noster est,” I said, grabbing the dagger from my bag and stabbing directly into her lower abdomen.

She convulsed for a few moments, wheezing and staring up at the jutting jeweled weapon protruding from her body. Her eyes were still open, still watching, as I yanked down hard, her body opening and spilling free all the entrails and any remaining blood.

Hayes grimaced like he always did. Evisceration was not his idea of fun, but it was how things must be done. “Collect the body. Good job, brother.”

I walked away, using a cloth to clean the red from the blade. It practically hummed beneath my fingers.

“Sanguis meus fratribus meis pertinet. Ego ad Divinum pertineo.”

“My blood belongs to my brothers. I belong to the Divine.”

The slight sting in my hand as I ran the metal over my flesh was always the worst part for me. Those scars opened again and again with each life we took. I bore the brunt for them all. Hayes would have his time, but for every second of my heartbeat, I would take the pain.

After all, it was called a sacrifice for a reason.

Chapter eight

Icouldn’t sleep.

My dreams were filled with those two creepy shadows haunting me, chasing me. I stayed in my dorm, never leaving, fearing those creeps being out there somewhere.

Teagan, my roommate, was worried. I could tell she wanted to help but didn’t know how.

I wanted to tell her about last night. I needed to tell someone. I just couldn’t shake their cold, unblinking eyes and how theystalked that woman. I needed to keep an eye on her today. I had to keep her away from those shadows.

“Uh… earth to Vivvy?”

I shook my head, looking at the cereal in the bowl. My spoon hovered near my mouth, and I tried to reboot my brain. “Yeah?”

Teagan looked at me with caring eyes. “I said, ‘Are you excited about the auction today? I know there’s a particular professor you wanted to buy for the weekend.’”

She giggled, but rage began to infuse into my veins. I couldn’t fucking wait to buy that asshole. I was going to make him feel the humiliation he inflicted on me. I intended to make him endure every ounce of what he made me feel.

I was playing with a fire that didn’t simply extinguish. It continued to burn until there was nothing left to destroy. I knew this, yet I still felt so much excitement about going into this charity auction today.

“You bet your fine ass I do. He will pay for what he did.”

Teagan kept trying to get me to tell her, but I couldn’t admit that I was left half naked, soaking wet, and mortified in his fucking office. I just couldn’t. The auction was happening at the chapel outside the university. You had to go through that ridiculous maze that was used for drunken parties and speak with the creepy priest that everyone said was a schmuck.

“Listen, Teagan, don’t go anywhere at night, okay?”

Teagan shook her head. “Not you, too. You are already buying into the bullshit legends of this place, and you’ve only been here a few days. There are no scary monster-eating students in the middle of the night.”

I forced a laugh, taking a bite of my soggy cereal. “No, not monsters, but people. Something weird is happening at this school. I don’t trust it.”

Teagan looked curious and shook her head. “Okayyy…You seem really spooked. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I thought about telling her…about the shadows, the stalking, and Charli. Everything…but she would just think I was crazier than I probably was.

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