Page 73 of Tainted Serenity

Seeing this side ofthe castle-like manor causes shivers to spread through my body, making every hair stand on end as I await the worst to come.

My eyes are stuck ahead of me. This was where the van arrived in the cold winter month of December, hands behind our backs, as Emilio Ricci welcomed us to the dollhouse. The mere thought of him makes my blood boil until I’m clenching my jaw.

“Fuck!” Daxton curses to himself, gripping his hair with such force I imagine it will soon rip off his scalp.

There’s a ringing in my ears, and I’m quite sure I can hear the beating of my heart— a dull thumping that vibrates throughout my body. It’s discomforting, but what is even more unpleasant is the way there are at least fifty guards lined up in front of the gates leading to our fading freedom—the only way out of the encirclement of the imposing wall.

In the cold night, the wind grabs my dress and hair, which makes me shudder, and I feel the earthly scent of forest surrounding us—something of moss and newly falling rain that intermingles soothingly.

It’s anything but.

I squint to see better, noticing how the lines of guards move toward us at a high speed. Adrenaline courses through me, making my heart pump all the faster as I become unable to move for a second, frozen in place.

Chaos breaks out everywhere as the guards shout to each other, moving closer, intent on capturing us alive. The chaos mixes with mayhem in a catastrophic way that will leave devastating consequences, almost like tsunamis destroy entire villages in their wake.

I take a step back, and for each step I take, the guards take two more. The impending doom hangs over us like a thick fog.

“We got to run!” Grey shouts, his voice panicked as he desperately grips my hand tighter in his.

Our hands are clammy as they press together, and we dare not turn our backs to the guards as we begin our ascent up the hill toward the rear of the castle.

The cold wind becomes even stronger, gripping my hair in a wild cocoon as my body struggles against gravitation.

How did they know where we were?

“I’ll check the morgue,”the guard stated to another.

Were they looking for us then?

“The cameras,” I gasp out loud, filled with horror as my eyes open wide while staring at Grey.

In the darkness that ensues, his raven-red hair cascades over his eyes, and the darkness will soon deprive me of seeing anything in front of me.

“What about them?”

One of the two men next to me speaks, but I cannot make out who it is because the blood is rushing so hard in my ears that it feels like they will explode. We continue up the hill, the wind howling like a turbulent tempest, making us all take an extra breath.

“Arthur has cameras everywhere.”

It dawns upon me that Arthur must have seen us through them. That fucker watched us, let us believe in the hope of escaping before crushing it under his foot, leaving no crumbles left.

The reap wind is the only thing I can hear, growing more forceful with each passing second until it makes me stumble backward as I lose my balance. Darkness descends over my surroundings. Grey’s hand is ripped from mine, no longer holding onto me in a secured grip. A scream tears from my throat as I desperately try to figure out where he is.

No longer does the moon shine down its flickering light on the forest, heightening my other senses as my vision becomes obscured. I hear the guards clearer, their feet stomping against the cobblestones as they approach, but I cannot hear Grey or Daxton.

I am all alone in the shrouded darkness that leaves a sinister feeling within me, an instinct that tells me whatever it is that’s coming, it’s coming with ill intentions. Staggering backward, I decide that the only option I have is to move toward the castle and enter its eerie halls. That will buy me some time until I figure out what to do.

Somewhere far away, a wolf howls once more, sending a spine-curling feeling inside me. I shout one last time for Grey, my voice turning hoarse, but he doesn’t reply. Panic grips me like a poisonous vial, and I have to force my body to keep moving forward, barely even recognizing which way is which.

While the wind grabs hold of me once again, I stumble and fall with determination, a dangerous plan forming in my head. I scrape my knees on the cobblestone, leaving a burning sensation that I shove away as I rise again and work to keep my balance this time.

The wind is too strong up here above the trees, threatening to overturn everything in its path. It sweeps through the forest below with a force so strong I hear leaves rustling along with the cawing of crows seeking shelter elsewhere.

Nothing can protect me up here from the wind that carries whispers of fragmented secrets.

The guards struggle to ascend the hill, giving me a small advantage as I force my body forward, aching and hurting. It’s as if my soul and heart recognize Grey’s absence. Where the fuck did he go?

It’s dangerous to be separated, especially now that everyone is looking for us. If we are caught, we are sure to be led to our execution, or worse, suffer as dolls for an eternity.

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