Page 31 of Alchemised
She must be on a ship. Crossing the sea. Leaving the cliffs and islands behind.
Where was she going?
To school. Yes, she was going to study alchemy.
There was something wet on her face. She tried limply to lift her hand and managed to smear it away.
Her fingers came away red. Why red?
“Get out!”
The room shook. Helena was picked up by an unseen force and shoved towards the door. She collapsed dazedly, but the jolt knocked her back into herself, remembering.
Ferron. The transference.
Her stomach turned over. If it hadn’t been empty, she would have vomited.
She looked back. He was right there, his face white and terrifying, twisted with fury. The room hummed.
“I said get out!” He looked like an animal, ready to lunge and rip her throat open with his bare teeth.
Absolute terror flung Helena into action. She pushed herself up, wrenched the door open, and fled.
The ground rolled beneath her feet. Her vision was stained red no matter how much she blinked, as if the walls were dripping with blood, shadows turned to gore. She kept smearing her hands across her eyes as she tried to find her way.
All she could hear was her panicked breathing and her feet on bare wood, the iron in the floor like ice.
She reached the top of the stairs. She could feel herself going into shock, her limbs turning leaden, dragging her down. Her body growing colder and colder as a feverish chill consumed her.
She swayed and nearly toppled down the steps, clinging to the banister to keep upright, staring down into the foyer.
The roses rippled as if underwater, floor shifting, and around it circled a black dragon.
It was curled inwards around the table, wings spread out, head curved down so that its tail was caught within its teeth, consuming itself.
An ouroboros.
In her red-stained vision, it looked as if it were swimming in blood.
What if she just threw herself over the balcony?
There was no one to stop her. The secrets Luc had entrusted to her would be safe, and Ferron would have failed.
She leaned forward, hands trembling.
Headfirst.
Dead on impact or Ferron could use vivimancy to keep her alive.
Just a little—
A vise-like grip closed around her arm and wrenched her back an instant before she toppled over the railing.
She whirled and found Ferron glaring at her.
“Don’t. You. Dare.”
She tried to jerk loose, lunging towards escape, but he dragged her back from the railing and down the stairs as she beat and clawed at him, trying to rip herself free. He didn’t stop. He pulled her through the house, practically kicking in the door of her room before shoving her onto the bed.
