Page 4 of Blood Claims
Her sly grin spoke volumes.
“Clever girl, but alas, no. I have to remove the curse from you, or you will only end up getting in the way of things. The compulsion to go to them each night and having the ability to make things happen in your favor would complicate what is to come.”
I frowned.
“There is nothing to come, not for me. The deal is that I hand this over and get to go on with my life, that was what you promised,” I said, making her laugh.
“Did you really think that was all I would need of you?” she said, laughing with her back to me as she rummaged through something in the mess of things on one of the shelves. Of course, my blood ran cold at her words before I looked to the beaded door. But then she turned to me and warned,
“I wouldn’t try it if I were you.”
It wasn’t the threat that made me scream, but it was the face of the witch that had delivered it. One that had now changed. Starting with that darkness around her eyes as it branched out, seeping into her skin like some evil essence lived beneath her flesh. It rippled down her cheeks, like insects crawling in her veins, making me take a cautionary step back as my breath left me.
I turned and ran toward the exit but the second she threw out a hand, all those beads just latched on to me, quickly pullingme back through the doorway. The cord they were attached to now wrapping around me and tangling me up like some human sized spider web. But it was when I felt the ones around my neck tighten that my panic doubled.
Then they all moved in tandem until I was forcefully turned around so I was back to facing her. The true nature of evil was one I could no longer hide from as the beads dug into my throat, keeping my head held up. Her sinister smirk deepened as she walked toward me with that glass ball in her hand. One that I could see was like a fucking storm caught inside it. A darkness swirling faster and faster the closer she brought it to me.
“Time to say goodbye to your good luck,” she said before touching the ball to my head.
It took me back to when she had first grabbed me, when evil took me in its icy grasp. That same sensation of cold dread infiltrated my soul, leaving it stripped bare and open to the same forbidden otherworldly essence. And once again it felt like being…touched by death.
This brutal cruelty of hers quickly left me hanging there in her trap, unable to break free and being choked every time I tried. Then she used her hand, commanding the beads to loosen at my bag so she could lash out with her claws, cutting not only through my sweater but also my flesh. The searing pain hit me, making me scream in agony as my side was sliced open.
“Ooopsie,” she mocked, holding her clawed hand to her mouth, my blood now dripping from her thick black talons.
The bag was now in her hand and she opened the flap. I held my breath as I knew this was it. The moment of truth, because I had royally fucked up by trusting her. Just like Victor has said I would.
“Excellent, my master will be so very pleased,” she said, making me force down the pain long enough to grit out,
“You… you have what… what you want!Now let… me go!”I shouted, making her laugh and say,
“Not quite, I do, however, hope he won’t mind if you’re a bit broken, I will just have to say you fought me.”
“What are you…?” I never got to finish asking, because she seemed only too happy to tell me everything anyway.
“Turns out it’s not just the dagger he wants… oops, didn’t I mention that part? Seems like this curse is afflicting more Vampires than you thought. A curse I will never rid you of, not when it’s been so useful to me and continues to offer you up as bait,” she said, nodding to the top of the door and making the bead strings snap tighter. Meanwhile, the pain quickly merged with confusion, as I spared a moment of the horror to question what she meant by that.
This thought process died the second her hold on me tightened painfully. A click of her fingers was all it took for me to truly believe I was going to die. Then she started drawing in two fingers, bringing me closer, and I was practically choking on my last breath as I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs.
My eyes watered, making the sight of her blur slightly as she pulled a necklace from her pocket. The black gem there glinting under the candlelight. It was one that she then dropped to the floor, right by her foot, as I got closer.
The sight of my desperate struggles only fueled the evil glint in her eyes, telling me she was enjoying what she saw far too much. And this wasn’t the first time I had seen a cruelty like this.
A need to feel powerful was only found at the expense of hurting others. She was a psychopath, through and through, and unfortunately, this wasn’t my first rodeo.
Which meant I wasn’t surprised when her eyes turned crimson and maleficent before she said,
“Or maybe he finds you a bit more than just broken.”
Then the noose around my neck tightened further as she said…
“Maybe he just finds you dead.”
2
FIRST TIME FEAR
VICTOR
