Page 27 of Ethereally Tainted

The image of her soft, pale cheeks lightly dusted with freckles has remained etched in my mind. They seemed to dance across her two different colored eyes. I felt mesmerized by the one eye with a gray color to it, a shade that reminds me of silver, and the other eye with a more golden hue to it in her brown eye. At that moment, I was overcome with emotions I had never experienced before, my mind blank, and the entire world seemed to be spinning in a vortex. All because of the newcomer. She’s been on my mind the entire day, making it hard for me to concentrate on anything else.

A thudding sound echoes in the room as my knuckles continue to strike the lawyer’s face while she occupies my mind. The blood is spraying onto his expensive suit from his bleeding nose. I tense up from my actions and from her, feeling my cock straining against my boxers, adrenaline coursing through my body at the freedom of this act of violence.

And then, a series of shocks are sent through my entire body, hurting every cell, and for a second, I think it is because of the images of her, but I’m soon pushed against the floor. A satisfied smirk appears on my lips as I watch the lawyer lying unconscious in a suit that looks like it has been dipped in blood. The work I’m surrounded by fills me with admiration, and I find myself feeling a sense of peacefulness, even as I’m being dragged away from the room.

The meeting is officially over, and I smirk to myself.

Chapter 10

Naya

Disorientation fills my wakingconsciousness until I don’t know what’s real or not anymore. Shining through the window, a beam of light slim and smooth, gushes through the room’s imperfections and overpowers the beasts of the night. I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes as I clear my head.

After the nightmare, the ridges on my shoulders are high and defensive, as if that haunting nurse is just around the corner, waiting to drag me back into a deep slumber. But the blinds are open, and so I know it was only a dream.

Nightmares have been a normal occurrence in my life for the past few years, so they are nothing new. Back at Grimhill Manor, I would often drift off to sleep, only to be awakened in a panic by the sound of my own screams in another room, the monsters from my dreams shifting in the darkness.

Typically, the sun’s bright rays ease the pain of a terrible nightmare, but not this morning. Everything in my room looks exactly how it did the day before, with light gray walls that are more prominent and furniture arranged in the same way as it has always been. As cold and impersonal as usual.

Most of all, it’s empty here and therefore void of people, with loneliness emanating from every corner. The feeling of relief I have right now, being in this current state of solitude is one I’ve never experienced before. If the nightmare had become a reality, and I’d opened my eyes to a sterile hospital room with a nurse standing inside, I don’t know how I would’ve reacted. The mere thought of it causes me to shudder involuntarily.

With my eyes fixed on the window outside, I let the blanket slide away from my body, revealing the T-shirt with a cat print. The shirt belongs to one of the clothes they provided me with here, and despite it being a childish shirt, I find the cat kind of cute. At least I’m not forced to wear tight dresses or other fabrics.

This room may not have the best view of the outside world, but it certainly has a better one than the one at Grimhill Manor, which is perfectly suitable for me.

The uncertainty of why I’m here is eating away at me, and I realize I must figure it out before I can find a way to escape and move forward. No matter what I face, I will find a way out of my current situation. It is no longer a question ofifbutwhenI will escape. I need to explore more and maybe find some paper to write my ideas on.

The sun never shines so brightly at Grimhill Manor as it does here, especially since trees block the sun’s rays, creating a shadow that casts darkness and chilliness as it passes through. Staring at the Saturday sunlight beaming the floor, I’m mesmerized and caught in a trance. I always wish summer could last forever, but unfortunately, we are already at the end of July.

A trail of lights extends toward the door from the window, illuminating the desk and bed, while the rest of the room remains dark. It looks different but pleasant, and my heart is full of desire to be out in the open right now, able to feel the sun on my face without fear of being caught by the master.

Terror causes blood to course through distant capillaries until I feel beaten by a drum. It’s a fear of falling victim tohiswrath again, and I know he’ll be furious when he finds out I’m not there at Grimhill Manor.

I am still determining if he chose to send me here voluntarily, and if he didn’t, I know he will undoubtedly look for me in all possible places. He will never let me go. He lets no one leave Grimhill Manor unless a doll master has bought them. I will always remain his doll, and no matter how far away he is, his claws have already dug deep into my mind, never to be forgotten.

When an unexpected knock comes from the door, it startles me, resulting in a loud screech escaping my throat. After a few moments of waiting, the sound of the beep of an accepted ID badge is heard, and the door slides up to reveal a security guard. It’s the same guard who knocked me to the floor after believing I tried to escape, and if I remember correctly, his name is Ray. He appears to be a strong guard, yet gentler than the other guards; even though he tackled me, his approach was not as ruthless. His presence is marked by a gentle hum of tranquility, indicating that his intentions are pure and peaceful, and that he’s just trying to do his job. I can respect that.

“It’s time for your appointment. Come with me.”

His demand is so puzzling that I cast a glance at him, but I don’t dare defy him, knowing that severe punishments always followed when I defied the master at Grimhill Manor. Punishments that would leave me limping for days, slowly healing, and with a black eye or broken arm. I don’t want to experience yet another round of pain and bruises, not when my body is in the process of finally healing from the last onslaught.

Even though Mr. Ricci still frightens me, this place is much more pleasant than Grimhill–there is no longer the constant fear of being subjected to abuse here. I’m thankful that the air here doesn’t carry the smell of death. When you are raised in a place of death and sorrow, you grow to accept it as a part of life. Despite this, the misery of loss will always remain a great weight in my heart.

I trod lightly across the floor, the cold biting at my toes, so I hastily put on my socks before following him out of my room. When the door slams shut behind me, I feel my heart jump as the loud noise reverberates through my body, making the guard watching me arch an eyebrow in surprise.

Too damn paranoid.

“Guess you will need to handcuff me?” I ask with as much sarcasm as I can muster before holding out my arms in case he needs to do so.

The corners of his lips curl into a small smile, which quickly disappears. “Not if you behave,” he affirms with amusement, and I nod.

Yeah, I can definitely grow to like him. Other guards wouldn’t have been so lenient to let me have my freedom. His voice is deep, steely, and authoritative, a tone one might expect from a commanding officer in the military.

As I allow my arms to drop, a burning sensation radiates through my skin at the crease of my arm. I recognize the small stick from a needle in my skin. It’s the same type I got a few years ago from the hospital when one of the doctors took a blood test to check my values. I still have flashbacks of that time in my life when my mother regained custody of me, and we had to go to the hospital to make sure my grandparents weren’t giving me drugs. The irony is that she was the addict, not my grandparents, but my mother always needed the upper hand. She had to show me who was in charge and who owned me.

The doctor ran the blood tests, which came back negative, just like I expected. But it was all about power for her. My grandparents would never give me drugs. They loved me fiercely.

Unlike my mother.

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