Page 17 of Bleeding Love

I opened my mouth to say that I didn’t fear pain when something sank into my neck and stars exploded in front of my eyes. My head spun, all thoughts slipping away while my blood turned to molten lava that burned through my veins like the fires of hell. The pain was like nothing I ever felt before, all-consuming and endless, sinking deeper and deeper until it seeped into my bones.

When she finally released me, the rain had stopped. She kneeled beside me, caressing my hair like my own mother used to do when I was young. My forehead rested on her shoulder and my blood coated the front of her dress, but she didn’t seem to care as she hummed a quiet, unfamiliar melody.

I tried to pull away, but my body felt strange. I could feel my hands and my legs, but at the same time, they didn’t feel like mine. I finally drew back, but must have moved too quickly because I fell on my back…ten paces away from the woman.

“Slowly,” she cooed as she got to her feet. Despite the darkness, I could see her face clearly now, smell the blood on her dress, the mud on her skirts, and her strangely cold, spicy scent. Wrinkling my nose from the overwhelming sensations, I tried to get to my feet. The movement was so fast that my head spun from the blur of colors the world turned into. I caught it in my hands just as she reached me, wrapping her arms around my waist to keep me steady. “I said slowly. This will take some getting used to, but you are doing better than expected.”

“What is happening to me?” I asked, and even my voice sounded different. Deeper somehow, quieter, and very, very sharp. I opened my eyes just as she smiled at me.

“I gave you power. Now you must learn to wield it,” she replied, taking a step back. “Dawn is near, so let’s take care of your business before we leave.”

“Business? Leave?” I echoed, trying to remember what I was supposed to do. There was a strange fog in my mind that was making it hard to think, and the dryness in my mouth was driving me insane. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this parched.

“Get up, amor. It’s time for your revenge.” She smiled, patting my cheek.

My eyes widened while the words echoed in my empty head. My memories from the hours before rushed in, flashing mercilessly before my eyes. I squeezed my head and screamed, trying to blink away the sight of my mother’s dead body.

“Come along,” the stranger said again, and this time I obeyed without thinking. “Do not be afraid.”

I nodded, and then we were running. No, running was not the right word, for we were faster than the wind. The world was a blur, and the only solid thing in it was her hand tightly gripping mine. It looked like she was gliding over the muddled path, her steps light as a feather, and her eyes locked ahead like she held no fear of tripping. Even when I stumbled or leaned too far to the side, she just tugged me and we continued on.

The distance that had taken me twenty minutes before felt like a heartbeat now. One moment we were running through the old path connecting the village and my home and the next, we were standing in front of the house of my nightmares.

The windows were still lit up. There were sounds coming from inside, sharp and cruel, interrupted only by a weak mewing and whimpering. The snap of a whip cut through the night, filling my chest with dread.

“Go on then,” the woman said, letting go of my hand. I choked at the loss of contact, staring at her pleadingly. She only smiled. “You are strong now, amor. Punish them. Only then will you be free.” I opened my mouth to tell her there were too many of them, but the sharpness in her red eyes stopped me. “For your mother,” she added, and I sucked in a deep breath, tearing my gaze away from her.

I took a step toward the house, then another. Before I knew it, I was at the door with a hand reaching for the doorknob. Nobody heard me approach.

“Please…” a voice begged from inside and immediately recognized Eela’s pleading tone. It sounded broken and deranged, almost like she didn’t know what she was begging for. The only answer she got was a reverberating snap.

I put my hand on the door and pushed. The wood cracked under my fingers before it flew off its hinges and landed heavily on the floor. I stepped over the threshold and looked around.

I saw my father first, standing in the middle of the room with a horsewhip in his hand. My brothers huddled close, their faces ashen. There was a body slumped by the wall—her hand twisted at an odd angle and a puddle of blood already staining the floor. Livia.

Another body huddled in the corner, covered in blood and bruises, but her heart was still beating. She raised her head ever so slightly, one bloodshot eye staring at me through strands of matted hair. Carilla.

The third body was hung between two of the roof beams, wrists raw from where the rope had rubbed against them. Her dress was hanging torn around her torso and her back was whipped so viciously, I could see her bones through the mangled flesh. Despite her being alive, she wasn’t long for this world.

The smell of blood, pain, and violence cracked something inside of me. The fog lifted, and I saw what I needed to do—what I had sworn to do. Kill them all.

“You’re back,” my father spat, running his hand over the whip until his fingers were stained in red. “Forgiveness is too good for you, worm.”

“I seek no forgiveness.” My voice came out surprisingly firm, its sharpness startling even my father. His jaw tightened before his lips curled into a sneer. As if on cue, my brothers moved, fanning me.

‘Let them come,’ I thought, expecting panic to rush in, but all I could feel was calm. And hunger. I was so, so hungry, I could barely focus.

My eldest brother attacked first, but before he could even lay his hands on me, I had my fingers wrapped around his throat. Slow, he had been too slow somehow. I waited for his eyes to widen with the realization that he had lost before I ripped his throat out. It was so easy, like pulling on a weed from the ground, and the feeling of his warm blood trailing down my hand was as lovely as my mother’s rare smiles. He dropped to his knees, hands covering his neck while he tried to stop the bleeding, but in just a few seconds, he fell to the floor, twitching and gurgling until his heart stopped.

I looked at the others, but they just stared with such profound shock that I would have laughed if I could remember how. Then they attacked together, swinging their knives and axes like they were fighting off a rabid bear.

Slow, too slow.

I grabbed my second brother’s arm as he raised his knife and I ripped it off with frightening ease. He was still screaming when I did the same with his other one—he loved to use his hands to choke the women while he fucked them without mercy. My palms tightened around his head next. His body fell to the ground first, his mouth still gaping in a silent scream as I let it drop next to it.

Something sunk into my back, sending ripples of pain through my body. Twisting around, I found my other brother’s ax embedded deep in my flesh. Distantly, I knew that a blow like this would have been fatal, but my mind now insisted that this was nothing. Inconsequential. It was the hunger that was the problem.

I reached over my shoulder and pulled the ax out, tearing more skin and muscles. I could feel them healing even as I dropped the blade in my feet. My brother stared with horror.

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