Secrets Don't Stay Dead
I gasped awake but the minute I inhaled deeply, I choked on my pain.
The entirety of my body hurt to the point I was momentarily convinced I was being torn apart. Every muscle and joint ached as though I had been beaten from the inside out.
My chest heaved in and out. The dry air felt thin and foreign as it rushed into my lungs. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the agony would subside. It didn't.
Blinky rapidly, I slowly managed to push away the fog in my mind as the clarification of my situation settled in. As the pain simmered in, I became acutely aware of the cold sensation beneath me, pressing into my bare skin.
“What the,” I uttered a groan involuntarily. I was lying on the floor, completely naked too. Shards of dirt clung to my pores, stinging softly.
A wince eased out as I struggled to sit up. My body was protesting and my hands trembled as I tried to push myself upright.
I wasn’t in the forest. I wasn’t in the dreamscape. I was back in the den. Looking around, I found myself to be a few feet away from the passage I entered through. Except, it was sealed shut with steel doors.
“Right, I shifted,” I reminded myself, uttering to no one in particular.
It was very clear to see there wasn't anybody else in the room with me. I could feel it. I recalled the argument, the frenzy, the violence. Khalid.
I took in a shaky breath and held it still. I killed him. The thought haunted me, singing like a broken song in the corners of my skull. His neck had snapped beneath my hands, and I shifted in the name of his blood on my hands according to the girl haunting my dreams.
My chest clenched, a sickening twist of guilt seizing my breath. I killed him. Yet I could feel something else pushing the thought aside, worrying about other things, festering about certain things.
“Did they lock me up?” I whispered, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.
My thoughts circled back to the doppelganger’s words, each one a new shard of cold, puzzling truth.
“Beast and Sorceress...when they decided you were too dangerous as a whole.”
I dragged my hand through my hair, tugging at the roots. For weeks, I’d been stumbling through this twisted turn my life had taken, trying to make sense of the strange changes happening around me. But all along, they had known. They knew what was really happening, and they kept it from me.
Their reasons whatever they might be had long strayed from any faux intention to protect me. How could they be trying to protect me from myself? It just felt like they'd long rejected what I was and they would rather have me incomplete and under their thumbs than a threat.
I scoffed. My parents had quite the explaining to do. The bitter taste of betrayal settled on my tongue, harsher than any wound I could’ve imagined. My teeth clenched. Ethan lied to me too.
“Liars,” I hissed. I wasn’t sure if I was talking to myself or the walls, but it didn’t matter. I had to get out. I had to get out of the den and confront them. All of them. Starting with my green-eyed soul bond Ethan Stark.
My fingers were itching yet again. Quickly I rub them together hoping to calm down. They itched the same way before my apparent shift, I barely had any more fight left in me to transform. I only had the strength to hunt for answers.
I staggered to my feet, every dragging step a reminder of the animal that still raged inside me, scratching at the edges of my mind. The anger, the need for answers, the fury at my ignorance, it was overwhelming. I was torn between wanting to escape and wanting to destroy everything in my path.
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms as I glared at the metal doors, the cold steel reflecting the sterile light in the den.
Then, I heard a faint sound, a rhythm I couldn’t ignore. Heel-thumping footsteps. My ears honed in on them immediately, cataloging every detail. The soft scrape of boots against the stone floor, the steady pace, the way the air shifted with her movement.
Abigail.
Her scent, pomegranates, kiwi, and a secret third thing I couldn't decipher wafted toward me in what felt like a thread of fragrance. It was too vivid to miss. I pinched my nose. Hearing her walk, I could almost see her through the door, her figure solidifying in my mind’s eye as she neared.
I straightened my back as I waited. When She moved close enough to hear me, I spoke. “Where’s Ethan?” My voice was hoarse yet oddly steady. As much as I felt like I was falling apart, I didn't want it to show.
Abigail didn’t respond. Her footsteps slowed as she reached the steel doors, her silence deliberate, almost calculated. The sound of keys jingling permeated the space, followed by the heavy click of the lock. The door creaked open, and she stepped inside.
She's donned in black from her turtle neck top to the loose-fitted sweatpants around her hips. Her hair sat tight in a bun on her head, highlighting her deadpan expression and muted eyes.
She didn’t look at me. Instead, she tossed a bundle of clothes onto the floor at my feet. “Get dressed,” she directed flatly, her tone devoid of emotion. “You’re coming out.”