Page 40 of Surviving Hallow Hill
I barely hear Rue calling my name. My legs buckle beneath me, and I fall to the floor. The impact against my knees is jarring, and it rattles my skull. The pounding in my head grows all the more prominent, and I clench my teeth, breathing deeply.
What the fuck is happening to me?
“Chère, it’s okay...” I sense the press of Rue’s hands, but I don’tfeelthem. Not really. I can’t feel anything; I can’tseeanything. For a moment, it’s like I’m back in that room, lying naked on a table while my body is ripped into with blades and needles.
The collision of fire and ice in my blood has me dropping to the ground, rubbing my body along the steel. As if that could somehow pull my skin apart. As if that could take out what Hyde put inside. Something that doesn’t belong, something that’s clashing against my magic. Something that lay dormant and is now awake and wanting vengeance.
“Emmera...”I hear the voice echo through my mind, and it’s not Rue’s. Then the scent of orchids hits, and I know with absolute clarity that whatever I saw while lying on that table, my Lady, Styx, and the Reaper? It was all real.
As real as her voice rippling through me now.
“Chère, talk to me.” Rue’s voice cuts through my Lady’s, and my attention snaps up to him and Styx. Even Sia seems to have broken through his haze of agony to loom over me with worry.
Groaning, I push myself up with my shoulder and stand on shaking legs. “I’m fine.”
They give me pointed glares, which I ignore.
Because at that moment, the sliding glass doors open, and a man walks in.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him, but I know him as much as I know the threads of my own soul. It’s in the sound of his footsteps. It’s in the electric golden eyes that I memorized beneath harsh white light, and it’s in his voice when he speaks.
Dr. Hyde.
“Ah, my champions. How are you all doing?”
Dr. Hyde is... very ordinary. He looks like a regular Joe I’d pass on the street. Dull, graying hair, medium build, wide shoulders and flat belly. He dresses in slacks and shining black shoes, a button-up choked up to the neck. The only thing memorable about him is his shining golden eyes.
I stare at him.
This is the man who tortured me, us. This Stepford-looking husband piece of shit. I guess when you look into the eyes of your tormentor for the first time, you expect something... more. Someone big, muscular,evil. In my mind, I conjured him up to look like a mix of Gollum, the Beast Titan, and Frieza.
Yeah, yeah,Lord of the Rings,Attack on Titan, andDragon Ball Zshould probably never mix, but that’s the hybrid I had in mind when I thought of the evil Dr. Hyde.
Fuck, even Two-face fromBatmanwould be better than this... regular-looking dude.
This is who tortured me, terrified me. He’s the reason I’m riddled with anxiety and a clawing need to shred my skin.
I’m insulted, honestly.
Lame-ass fucking villain.
I guess evil comes in all shapes and forms. Even the most average person can hide a psychopath inside.
I shift on my feet and pull my lip back into a sneer. “Dr. Hyde, I presume?”
He smiles. “Correct, dear. We haven’t officially met, have we?” Those golden eyes scan down the line of us, and that smile seems to broaden. “Where are my manners? Marcen, please unchain our guests.”
I stiffen. That’s... unexpected. Either he is underestimating us, or he’s more powerful than he’s letting on.
I wait until Marcen has us all free before I take a deep breath, trying to inhale Dr. Hyde’s scent. Every supernatural gives off a different smell. Hyde smells like a mix of things.
Huh, maybe he doesn’t look like Gollum, Beast Titan, and Frieza, but he certainly smells like ass.
I fight the urge to rub my wrists; I don’t want to show any more weakness when he’s taken so much from me already.
“You all worked beautifully together. It was quite entertaining to watch, though I had faith in you all the entire time. Especially you, Miss Lucero.” He looks at me the way a father might look at his child. Full of pride.
Creepy.
