Page 214 of Blood Day
And perhaps he had.
Because I certainly didn’t possess the desire to continue into this shrinking metal tunnel. Every inch forward made me burn more and more, the air seeming to thin with the enclosing space.
I closed my eyes again, my heart hammering in my chest as I forced myself onward.Oh, Goddess. Oh, Goddess. Oh, Goddess.
I knew chanting in prayer was worthless, but I couldn’t seem to stop. The walls were shrinking. I could feel them now brushing my skin. I flinched as something sharp bit through my thin white gown, and winced as it dragged along my skin, leaving a scratch behind that reminded me of lycan claws.
Screws, Cedric told me.Just a little more, sweetheart. You’re doing great.
I ignored him, his words ones I refused to believe. Because they suggested something good might wait for me at the end of this nightmare, somethingdesirable.
I won’t fall into that trap again, I whispered to myself.There is nothing good in this world. Nothing to hope for. Nothing to enjoy.
Nine months ago, I would have agreed with you. But then you asked me to help you. And my world has never been the same.
I stared into the darkness, my lungs constricting on the thick, hot air as my heart skipped a beat.
You taught me how to live again, Lily,Cedric continued.You taught me how tofeel.
Another jagged edge bit into my knees as the space required me to lower to my stomach. It was so small now, barely allowing me to squirm my way through. And it was too dark to see if it continued this way… or became even tighter.
I swallowed, my eyes burning from the heat. My hands moving along the metal, the temperature seeming to increase with each wiggle forward.I… I don’t know… I don’t know if I can…
Another screw dragged along my thighs.
Cedric, I don’t…I nearly yelped as two more sharp ends met my palms.I… I can’t…
You can, Lily. You’re so close.
So close to what?I asked, tears blurring my vision as I fought the heat and the small space and the urge to try to reverse.
But I wouldn’t be able to now. I… I was stuck… I was…I can’t go back…My eyes widened.Cedric, I can’t move back!
If this space became any tighter, I would get stuck.Here. In the vents. In the heat. I’ll… I’ll die…
Then my ties to him would bring me back.
Over and over again.
Dehydration. Confined in a small space. Living. Dying. Being reborn. Just to experience it all over again.
Every part of me froze, my body incapable of inching forward any more, my hands glued to the warm metal beneath me.
Cedric spoke into my mind, but I couldn’t hear him, not over my own thoughts, my nightmarish reality unfolding on repeat as I realized what I’d done.
I’d followed an errant voice, chased a strand of hope, and placed myself in a position far worse than before.Or is it worse?I wondered dizzily.Those lycans were going to shred me apart.
However, then I would have died. Moved on from this world. This life.
Leaving Cedric behind.
But he left me here to die anyway,I thought.Right?
His voice echoed in my mind, or perhaps I dreamt it. No, I’d probably just made it all up, crawling into this tight, hot space, simply because I had hoped he would be waiting for me at the other end.
Yet there was no end here.
Just a closed tunnel lined with razor-like screw bits.
