Chapter 8: Possession

I pant as I slide to the floor. It happened again. I just got so scared and angry at her that that light came back. This time, I know. I know I'm the source now. The only common factor is me. There's no way that it could have been anything else. I stare at my hands carefully, turning them over and to see if the light will come again. I swallow hard as I hear clacking and stomping from behind the door. Madam knows now. She's coming. I bite my lip and move from the door carefully. I keep repeat in my mind to not make a sound. Don't make a sound. She can't know that this is where I came. I could have hidden in any room of the manor. Why would she assume the most obvious place was where I had come.

I laugh internally at my stupidity. She'd forbidden me from going into the other areas without purpose. I'd have to be doing something for her to even be warranted permission to walk into the living space that was mine before she had ever come around. I trip and fall, then. It's a terrible fall, one that makes me yelp as I fall, and I make a loud thump when I land. My eyes fly wide as the door flings open with a heavy thud.

There, in the doorway, isn't who I expected. It isn't Madam. No, it's a stranger, one that's white as snow, but with strange, black lines that creep towards her glowing, red eyes. "She is quite lovely, Madam. I suppose that it does warrant payment after all." She pulls a small box from her cloak and hands it to Madam, who is standing behind her with a wicked and greedy smile spread across her face.

"Fucking slut deserves to be sold." Madam doesn't seem to regret anything in this exchange, whether it was her apparently selling me or her beating me for my 'involuntary defiance. "I wish you more luck than I've had with her."

There's this glint in the stranger's eyes, one that denotes a cruelty that I've yet to see. "I'm sure that she won't be a problem." She beckons me toward her with a flick of her fingers. I can feel the fear grip me, yet I don't freeze. I slowly get up and walk towards her. When I stand in front of her, it's like my body's in a trance. I can think clearly, but I can't even bat her arm away when she takes my face between her thumb and forefinger. That smile seems to grow, one that scares me even more while I just have to stand here and contemplate the horror that this woman is capable of. "You will do nicely. I'll have so much fun breaking you." She moves away and turns around to leave, looking over her shoulder. "Do you believe in destiny, child?" I hesitate but nod at her. Yeah, I've been stuck in this wretched place, but there's something better out there. This can't be where my life ends. I highly doubt that this woman is it, though. She nods back. "Come, then. We have much to do."

I feel my legs move of their own will, and I want to yell. It seems Madam has traded me to woman even crueler than she, one who seeks to break me, to control every aspect of me, and I was none the wiser until now. I want to cry, to scream, to fight her, but nothing responds. I scream in my mind, thankful that she hasn't taken control of everything that I am. I can still have my thoughts. I still have my feelings. I just can't express them to the world or to her.

"Cinder, child, you must understand that I do not do this for me. I do this for you. I would rather be plotting, myself, than waste so much time on your training. Now, do it again." She circles me, eyeing me curiously.

I nod and grip the daggers in my hands. Biting my lip, I repeat the exercise. I slash to my left as a figure appears out of nothing. Suddenly, the course changes from the last six times that I've ran it. A dummy appears in front of me, throwing me off balance. I backflip out of the way before gutting the stuffed doll. I twirl in a slow circle, examining my surroundings. I don't know how, but I feel something behind me, so I blindly strike at whatever it is. Suddenly, red dust scatters on the floor, and I stare at it. What's going on? I look over to Salem, who has this horribly wicked grin on her face, making me even more confused. "What's going on?"

She laughs off my confusion and just raises her hand. "You're at the next phase of your training, Cinder, love. After a year of steady progress, you have become adept at combat. Now, I believe we should strengthen and train your Aura until it can compete with mine." She snaps her fingers, igniting every bit of the dust on the ground.

I try to scramble to safety, but I'm not fast enough. I throw my hands up to my face to shield it from the explosion. Fire erupts around me. I can feel the heat, but I don't feel a burn. I lower my hands slowly to see the devastation that the fire wrought on the area. The field is littered with burning objects and ash that's being carried away in the breeze. I check my body for any possible damage, and I see nothing. Not a scratch or burn shows in my skin. What? I'm fireproof? This is ridiculous! I shake my head and look at Salem. "Were you trying to kill me?"

She outright laughs. "If I were trying to kill you, you'd be dead. That was just a test, and you passed, love. Now. Scurry on away and do something productive. You've earned this break." She shoos me away, leaving me utter confounded.

She's leaving me alone, to my own thoughts, to my own actions. I stand there, puzzled. She hasn't truly done this in the entire year that I've been under her full command. The utter possession that she's shown has been entirely overwhelming. I barely think of myself as my own person anymore. All that's truly left of my former life, of Glynda is the ankle bracelet that Salem never pays any mind to. She thinks it's just a trinket that I hold onto. I don't think that she even care, either way. As long as she can control me, I'm free to think and feel, as long as it's not in front of her. I sag to the ground with my knees pulled to my chest as I bat at the tiny crystals and get lost in thoughts of what could have been if I was never forced away from Glynda.

A/N: I... don't know what to say about this. I've been planning this chapter for a very long time, but actually posting it is pretty unbelievable. See, this is, like, the 3/4 mark of the entire fic. Idk exactly how this will end, but I know that it's almost over.

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