Mistakes
*AZURITE*
Ican see the dark wrath in Night’s eyes; his whole body is tense, and his teeth gritted. He exudes so much power and uncontrolled anger that I find myself cowering in the corner of the room. “What did you do?” he yells.
He pushes past me, towards the two men, PJ and his friend Sky. Between them, equally terrified like I am, with a cut on her forehead and her hands tied in silver, is a young woman. She is trembling in fear.
“Why did you bring this whore into my house!?” Night yells.
“She has the correct blood group,” Sky says.
Night pauses, a malicious sneer on his face, and then, without any warning, he backhands Sky so hard the man flies against the wall and then drops to the ground. “She is a marked she-wolf!”
I stare at the scene in front of me, noticing how Night is screaming; furious, more so than ever. He is always an angry and dangerous man. Junior comes running into the room, too, probably to soothe the situation or dosomething. My eyes wander through the room, noticing the small bag PJ usually carries around is on the floor. He must have dropped it during the commotion.
It’s like my body suddenly switches to autopilot.
I can’t save myself anymore. I am not even sure anymore who I am or what I want, but Opal—I mean Annette—is so young and so sad, and maybe she can have a chance. I quietly crawl towards the bag, opening it with shaky fingers.
Footsteps and loud voices reverberate around me. Someone tosses something, and I flinch in fear, but when I gaze back at the scene, it’s still the men fighting. The new woman Sky brought along has been knocked out and is lying on the ground.
I shift my attention back to the bag, and without thinking any further, I grab the key. It’s like an out-of-body experience, like it’s not me doing it, but someone has taken over my body. The guys sometimes talk about their wolf spirits, and I wonder if I have one too, and if I ever will meet her or if I’m truly going insane and all I’ve seen is a dream—a nightmare.
Used to sneaking around, I silently crawl out of the room and down the corridor. I don’t dare to get up and walk, too scared they will notice me. If they do, I can only hope that Night kills me.
“Annette,” I whisper when I find her room. Through the bars, I hand her the keys. “The small one locks your room,” I whisper. “The rusty one is the front door. Leave your room, go down the corridor, through the kitchen, and then out!”
“No,” Annette whispers, shocked. “I can’t… I…”
“I can’t remember my name anymore,” I mutter. “I don’t know who I am. Everything is so blurred.”
Annette stares at me.
“There have been many girls like you here,” I whisper. “They were brought away. Sometimes men come to look at them. I’ve never seen one again.”
Annette swallows thickly.
Looking at her in the eyes, I say, “I was a bit younger than you were when he found me. I can’t remember my old life anymore. Opal, Annette… I can’t remember. You need to be brave now.”
Annette takes a shaky breath, grabbing the keys. “I’m scared.”
“I know, but nothing is worse than what will happen if you stay,” I say. I don’t exactly know what Night does with his gems; there have been whispers about it, but deep inside, I know it isn’t good. I know none of them are with us anymore. “Run,” I whisper. “Don’t hesitate. I will try to keep Night occupied, and if you manage to get back home—”
“I will get help,” Annette whispers, sudden resolution in her eyes. She grabs the bars. “You told me your name. It’s Meg. Meg!”
“Meg,” I whisper. It sounds foreign to my ears.
I turn away from Opal and start crawling back to the room where Night is still going crazy. The slight click of the door behind me indicates Opal is truly leaving. I don’t turn around. I need to use my whole willpower to return to Night.
Something in my head tells me to leave with Opal, but I can’t. There are still gemstones here. I can’t leave when they are in danger. And no matter what, Night’s going to notice my disappearance fast. I can just hope he hasn’t already.
I make it back to the room, returning to my corner and cowering there. Night is still screaming while Junior tries to protect PJ and Sky from his wrath. I don’t know how long they fight, but eventually, they calm down.
“I have had enough,” Night huffs, gesturing towards the she-wolf Sky brought along. “Lock her in somewhere until I knowhow we’ll get rid of her. Then, bring me the other gemstones. We will prepare them for the auction.”
I stay in my position, not moving. Night turns around to me shortly, nodding when he sees me. “Good girl,” he sneers.
Junior and PJ don’t take long, both of them terrified of Night’s wrath. I notice the three gems they bring along. It’s the one I saw last time, the beta male with them. Night looks at them. “Have they not eaten? They are too skinny!”