Chapter 35 - Torture
Demetri sure knew a thing or two about causing pain. I saw it in his eyes as he watched me, cruelty radiating from his every pore, and lacing his words as continued to speak.
'I was going to kill him.' The wooden floor was hard against my back as I lay there, breathless. I tried to heave myself to the side, but I had barely raised my arms from the floor when they dropped beside me, as I let out a cry of pain.
And I'd thought not being able to move was torturous. This was worse. For while I was still unable to move, this time I not only had no strength, but was taken over by pain. Though it was nowhere near the agony of his bite, I still suffered.
'Until I realised something.' Something in his voice changed. My eyes flicked from the ceiling to his face, curious despite my minds surety that I didn't want to hear what he had to say.
'His was the spirit that I had observed in your body.' Ok, that was not what I had been expecting. But while this was simply strange to him, it meant so much more to me. Events over the past few days suddenly made sense. Not all of them, but some of them.
Paul had imprinted on me. That was why his touch was such a relief, so fulfilling. And why the thought of him in pain was so unbearable. But it definitely didn't explain why he'd been so violent towards me in the last week. Things still didn't make sense.
The very thought of me being an imprint, Paul's imprint, was so very strange. It made sense, but then it didn't. My mind just couldn't seem to grasp it, to find a way to look at it where everything was clear. It was kind of nice though. To know that he cared. To know that he was there. To know that he felt as I did.
But I was abruptly yanked from my confusion by Demetri's next few words.
'But that wasn't all that I realised. I realised death wasn't punishment enough for him touching you, and trying to steal you away.'
'And so I was left contemplating the best way to torture him.' I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, wanting to be anywhere but here, listening to this. But the darkness only fuelled the parade of imagined tortures that filled my vision, and I tore my eyes open.
'And it came to me in a stroke of brilliance.'
'You.' He looked at me meaningfully as he said this, his voice full of something kind of like excitement. Even though I was stuck, immovable on the floor, I couldn't stop the impulse to raise my eyebrows.
'What?' I had no idea what he was talking about. He was only too delighted to explain.
'I'm going to hurt you, in order to hurt him.' My mouth dropped, as I froze mid breath. My heart thumped haphazardly, once again increasing its pace. The rush of blood in my head, the loud pulses which resounded in my ears, was all too familiar.
I tried again to move, possessed with the unreasonable urge to reach Paul, somehow feeling that he would save me. But I couldn't. No matter what I did, I couldn't even roll over. All I achieved was a few more gasps and exclamations as my body throbbed with pain.
Demetri started forward, as terror began to weave its evil tendrils through my heart. But he didn't approach me. He walked past me, and I painfully turned my head to watch as he instead approached Paul. I'm guessing they talked. Or rather, Demetri made some cruel comments and Paul didn't respond. Part of me felt for Paul; he must be in lots of pain to be prevented from phasing.
But the rest of me was starting to freak out. I was willing to bet a lot that Demetri wouldn't go half way in his punishment.
Which meant that he was going to bite me.
I'd somehow managed not to fall into hysterics, but I estimated I was about one evil look away. And as he turned to look at me, anticipation lighting up his face, I lost all of my reason.
'Please.' I sobbed, as he crept forward. In just moments he was standing next to me, looking down at me hungrily.
'Not again.' He crouched down, blocking Paul from view, and I saw in his eyes that deadly look.
'No. Not again!' My voice was louder now, but he only smiled. A cruel smile that I never wanted to see again.
I wanted to fight. This stupor was a thousand times worse than being given the chance to fight. It enhanced the feeling of having no control, of being weak, to the point where my heart felt fit to burst from the terror induced.
'NO. You can't!' My cries only seemed to energise him. It was sickening. His right arm snaked around my waist, his hand resting on my back, as he lift me until my face was level with his. I was barely a foot off the floor, my left hand still touching the floor boards, but it felt as if I was seconds away from falling to my death. It pushed me over the edge.
'PLEASE!' It was almost a scream, but still he seemed unaffected, except for a slight widening of his malicious grin. My head fell backwards as he leaned into me, the movement causing pain to lace through me, which coated my next exclamation.
'NOT AGAIN! NO!' I was screaming now, petrified, but still intensely focused on his movements. I screamed as I felt his cold lips on my neck. My gaze fell on Paul, and our eyes met, before Demetri's teeth grazed my neck, and my eyes no longer saw the room around me, as I screamed again.
However, that scream was nothing compared to the hair raising, bloodcurdling scream that escaped me as his teeth sunk into me, and the unbearable agony began.
Scream after scream was torn from my throat, each as horrifying as the last, as the agony ripped through me. Excruciating pain, that didn't fade, but only seemed to grow.
Eventually my screams died out, but still I was agonized by the piercing bite.
The pain continued on, and it still burned as I faded away.
I'd thought I'd given up before. I'd thought denial was the answer.
I was wrong.
This was the answer. I'd stumbled upon it briefly before, that day in the warehouse, and later on when I lay on the road. And I had found it again.
It was glorious. No feeling. No control over my body. It wasn't my body. It was completely separate.
It was more than just ignoring my problems. It was removing myself. Retreating into myself.
No emotion. No feeling. No pain.
At first everything was dark. And that was nice. It was as if I was sleeping. I liked sleeping.
And then the world appeared again. It was like watching a movie. There was sound, and sight, and smell; not that there was much to smell.
I didn't wonder about why anything happened. It just did.
I watched, detached, as wolves burst in through the doorway and approached us. I saw that there were arms around me, but I couldn't feel them. I heard the snarls and growls of the wolves, and tried to follow the action as they attacked the pale man. It was difficult; they moved too fast for me.
I didn't find it strange when the wolves suddenly disappeared. It was just me and the pale man. And that was fine, because I no longer felt.
The pale man looked angry. He was pacing, and it was getting a bit boring. Then I started watching the sky. It was changing colours as the sun set, and for once it wasn't cloudy, so I could actually see the sky as it changed. At first it was a yellow-blue. And it was pretty. But it was even prettier when the orange glow set in. It was mesmerizing, and I found myself enraptured, and peaceful. It was the closest I had come to feeling in a while, and I let it fill me up, revelling in the feeling.
That was until I found myself violently flung back into my body. I gasped, the shock sending my mind reeling. It was almost dark, and the world was full of shadows. I was sure that Demetri was here somewhere, but I couldn't see him. My mind was scattered, the sudden influx of emotions and feeling an overload after my stasis. But above all, it was the pain that was consuming.
It wasn't that the pain was terrible. It was still the pounding ache that filled my bones, flaring to life when I moved. But the sudden onslaught after that blissful nothingness was too much.
And the fear. My heart was racing, ready to leap out of chest. I didn't like it. I wanted to go back. Back inside myself. But I couldn't. I couldn't find the way.