Page 54 of Tainted Serenity

Now, I understand the gravity of the situation.

I saw him wandering the damp hallways under the castle’s construction, his frame towering in the narrowed space with a knife in hand, coated with a crimson liquid that seeped into his clothes. Into his soul and tainted it.

My soul is as tainted as his, if not more so, after all I have been through while being manipulated as their puppet.

The raven-black hair now reflects crimson hues, transformed into vibrant red streaks after dyeing it. I barely recognize him anymore; he looks so unlike from when I saw him in the backseat of a police car years ago.

Now, I see him becoming their puppet, following their every command while slowly losing himself within. That is the purpose of the dollhouse, and nothing will ever change that.

I saw him at the ball, clad in a masculine suit, as his eyes scanned the crowd while no one else paid attention to him, too busy waltzing on the dance floor.

I noticed.

I thought he was a figment of my imagination at first until his muscular body advanced forward, revealing his frame in the glowering light.

I now realize that they have deceived me. The master and mistress of the castle, along with their daughter.

They tortured me and committed deceit by fabricating lies, fraud, and deception; it drives me into the deepest depths of my soul, where my heart gave up an eternity ago, all in the act of protecting the brother I once cared about.

I no longer do.

They promised to keep the raven-haired man far away from here, locked away in a mental institution, but once again they lied, and here he is. I was a fool to believe a word they said, stupid for listening to their fabricated lies and manipulations.

No one fucking betrays me, and it is time I do something about it.

It is time to take matters into my own hands.

They will face the reckoning.

Chapter 22

Naya

My legs take meas far from the basement as possible; they’re aching, hurting, fucking crumbling underneath my body’s weight. It makes it hard to run as fast as I would have wanted to, but despite that, I feel the lactic acid starting to climb up from my feet to the muscles in my legs. It’s a buzzing feeling that makes fatigue take over, and I know I won’t be able to run much longer. Especially not because my lungs rattle with each raspy breath I take.

I know Arthur is behind me, somewhere here in the endless corridor I’m running through, with such a fast speed I barely comprehend where I’m heading.

It’s been a week since the ball, and Arthur remained unaware about Grey and me, but it seems he has somehow found out about it now.

I am so fucking screwed.

It all started when he barged through the door to my room a few days ago, dragging me down to the basement with a grip enough to scare away the greatest evil. It was shortly after that when he threw me inside a basement cell, leaving me to slowly fester away like a broken doll. The rage in Arthur’s eyes resembled something I can only interpret as a storm during a disastrous tornado, the moments before its destruction spread everywhere.

He knows about Grey and me; he has to know. But how? Surely Daxton cannot have broken my trust in him after slowly becoming closer friends during our time here together. Was it Esther? I recall how she had looked at me with ill intent as I left the ballroom.

I hurry forward, fighting against my body’s fatigue and the overwhelming pain from healing bruises as my eyes catch a surveillance camera up in the ceiling.Of-fucking-course.

With a deranged grin on my lips, I look at the camera’s lens, pointing my middle finger toward it while mouthing the words ‘fuck you.’ It’s bound to cause me more trouble, but Arthur is already psychotic enough.

The gothic layers of the castle send shivers down my spine, making the hair on my arms stand on end with uneasiness. I’ve never been in these corridors before, and it feels like all the passages under the castle-like manor are vast labyrinths that lead to places no one can ever know.

But all labyrinths have their exits and secret passages, which might give me a chance to escape Arthur’s wrath for now.

The unsettling and haunted atmosphere spread through the walls like a sick disease, taunting me and making me wish Grey was here with me right now. The uneven floor creaks beneath my bare feet, scraping against the surface until I am sure blisters form, but I have no other choice but to keep pushing forward.

Down here, the only source of light is that of the torches hanging along the walls. The light illuminates shadows that play with my eyes, making my heart race just a little faster at the possibility that Arthur may be there, lurking and waiting for my return.

I am too damn paranoid; always have been, and I am not sure I will ever stop being that. Danger has always been something constant in my life, along with darkness, and there is no escaping that. Not when the man who has stolen my heart is darkness himself, wrapped in a cocooning warmth that calls for me to enter his lair.

---