Page 45 of Marked for Extinction
Like caught prey, I stared at him, unsure of how to move, unsure of what would set him off.
“I-I’m sorry.” What else could I say? I wasn’t even sure what set him off to begin with.
“You shouldn’t be, sweet. But they will be, just you wait and see. I’ll kill them for you, Inés.”
My breath stuttered.
He laid on top of me a few more moments before he removed himself and went back to sharpening his blades.
I continued to lay there on my back, trying to catch my breath and understand what just happened.
“Get some rest, Inny. Your body needs it.”
I blinked a few times and quietly got up to go back to the makeshift resting area I woke up in. There were dead leaves and moss in a small patch. I sat down and ran a hand down my face to try and collect myself.
“They won't hurt you anymore. Go to sleep.”
Biting the bottom of my lip, I held back tears of frustration and confusion as I did as he bade and closed my eyes.
Sleep came faster than I anticipated, my limbs feeling heavy as I floated somewhere in dreamscape.
It was her face I saw. The woman he called Katherine. She was laughing in my face as she pulled my arm out of socket and I cried out in pain but the sound was muffled. No one heard me. No one was there to save me. I was utterly alone and the helplessness I felt threatened to drown me.
I jerked my body and struggled, trying to get away from her claws when someone heavy pinned me down.
It was suddenly warm. Too warm to be true. We were surrounded by snow, weren’t we? I felt like I was on fire!
“Inés. Sweet. Come back to me.”
His voice against my ear sparked a not so distant memory, one where I told him the same thing.
I cried in my dream. I screamed out and called his name.
“Inés,” he whispered against my face and suddenly my eyes snapped open. Vik was there with his mask and I screamed.
He slapped his hand over my mouth and my eyes widened in fear.
“You’re not there anymore, Inés. I killed them all. Don’t you remember? I killed them. I killed them to get you out. To keep you safe. You’re out of there. We escaped,” he rambled, slowly removing his hand once he knew I wasn’t going to scream anymore.
We stared at each other and I told myself that it was just Vik behind the mask. The man who comforted me while we were both being tortured. The man who held me when it felt like I was breaking into pieces.
What was wrong with me? So what if he wants to wear the stupid thing? Maybe he was trying to find some sort of semblance of comfort too. Who was I to judge?
Vik rolled off me and returned to his position behind me. I turned to my side away from him with my arm under my head. Were these nightmares always going to plague me now?
I tossed and turned on our makeshift cot. I couldn’t go back to sleep, too afraid of what I would see behind my eyes. Groaning, I got up and wrapped my arms around myself as I walked toward the entrance.
“What are you doing?” Vik barked out.
“Getting some fresh air,” I spat. What was his problem? Couldn’t I walk around a bit?
“...the fucking blood. I feel it stitching. The itch. Always itching. Fucking Ares…”
Ignoring his mumbling to himself, I stood a few feet from the entrance and stared out at the snow.
It was amazing how much different the climate was here compared to our home, Black Hollow. Though our community was mostly underground, the snow didn’t reach us even when the seasons changed.
The sound of a sharpening blade echoed throughout the cave again, grating on my nerves and making me grind my teeth.
