Page 29 of Surviving Hallow Hill
Of everyone in this room right now, I know he will understand the most. Of course, Rue and Styx have gone through their own brand of torture, but Sia was there with me. He never replied any time I screamed his name, but he was there. I don’t know what he saw or heard, but he was there in that room with me.
When Dr. Hyde dug his knives into my body and injected me with who-the-fuck-knows-what, Sia was there.
I pushed the memories far away and held on only to my anger. It was easier to be mad than to face what had happened, to face the truth that I was little more than an experiment to Hyde. It was demeaning and shameful and that’s why I never spoke about it.
Being in pain again forces me to confront those memories. It forces me to confront what I know weren’t delusions, but the presence of my most holy figures.
Sia would understand that, too.
I know he would.
I don’t know what Hyde injected me with. Shifter blood? Ancient blood? I’m not sure. The only thing I am sure of is that those Sia and I worship the most visited me with a message. And I won’t rest until we’re all safe and out of the Hallow.
I won’t rest until Hyde’s blood coats my hands and his soul is ripped apart by the Reaper’s fingers.
And itwillhappen. I refuse to accept any other outcome other than Hyde’s death.
Because of what he did, what he’s doing, and whatever sick plans live inside that brain of his.
He will die for crossing me.
My Holy Lady of Death and Darkness demands a taste of his blood.
And who am I to deny her that?
“I’m fine,” I say with more conviction than I actually feel. “Just... bad dreams.” It’s not shame that keeps me from telling him the truth. Hell, it’s not even Styx and Rue’s presence in the room that keeps me from saying the words.
It’s the feeling inside my own body, my own soul. Like an echo of the pain Hyde put me through still lives there. It’s a phantom thing, sneaking like a snake through my blood. Something I’ve shoved away and ignored until now, but I know it’s there.
In the aftermath of what he did, something is awakening inside me. I just don’t know what it is yet. And I want to come to terms with it myself before I let anyone else in on the tumultuous emotions and confusion that rattle through me.
And they’ll just have to live with that.
Sia doesn’t look convinced, but he gives me my space and helps me to my feet.
“We need to keep this alive and chained so Hyde doesn’t suspect anything,” Styx says while hauling the bloody body towards a corner of the room. Rue follows with a long rope of steel chains. I don’t know where the fuck they found half the stuff they have, but I don’t question it and watch as they chain the poor remnants of the hybrid monster to the room. “Since it has a GPS tracking system, we’ll have to carry it with us in a bag wherever we go, or keep within a ten-mile radius of where we chain it.”
Great. More fucking baggage.
“We have to avoid east of this place, though,” Rue chimes in. “When we went to get these things, there was just something about that location...”
“Bad news,” Sia agrees, nodding his head. “There’s water in that direction though. Felt it in the breeze.”
The inky water... I remember spotting it, but it didn’t seem as special as Rue is making it sound...
“Okay. Where’s Kira and the other bitch?” Not that I care about the other bitch. I do care about Kira, though. I start to dress, fighting not to wince as the muscles in my back scream in protest.
“They’re keeping watch outside.”
I clap my hands together once I’m dressed, feeling reinvigorated. “Let’s talk about getting those collars off you, and then we can plan on escaping this hell-hole, yeah?”
Sia smiles. “Sounds like a fucking plan.”
