"It's so cold," I whispered, my teeth chattering together. "So cold."
I allowed the darkness to consume me, to destroy whatever light was left in my body. All feeling of happiness left until I felt nothing. No emotion was left in me.
I felt my body sway slightly, the dizziness hitting me like a wave as my body fell.
I curled myself up into a ball, trying to get warm. The cold consumed me, its tendrils seeking out every inch of my body.
"It didn't have to end like this. It was such a shame I was never allowed to know you," the harsh voice laughed. "But when you've been exiled by your own kind, everything taken away from you, it was hardly expected that I know you."
I squeezed my eyes together as the sound of footsteps reverberated off the wooden floorboards.
A cold hand twisted through my hair, brushing against my neck.
A snarl escaped from the man. "Upiri markings."
I shook even more under his touch, feeling myself sink lower and lower into the darkness.
"No…" I felt myself whisper, the words barely forming as I trembled. "Please….no…."
A searing pain shot through me as the man pressed his icy fingers against the mark, and I screamed out loud, using all the energy I had left.
"Clare?"
I wanted to open my eyes, find out whose soft voice had addressed me, but the pain was too intense.
"God no, Clare!"
Something happened in front of me, the scuffling of feet alerting my ears to what my eyes did not want to see.
I don't know how long it lasted. Soon though, everything was quiet.
I was starting to drift off into unconsciousness, the darkness all consuming now, when I felt the world tilt slightly.
"Clare? Can you hear me? Please, Clare, answer me!" This voice was soft and husky, full of panic and worry. His hand was in my hair, but softer, gentler.
"It's so cold…" I mumbled one last time, before my mind went black.