Page 14

SCARS OF SHADOWS

Isolde

Darkness slithers into my soul until I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t anymore. Fear is a palpable thing twisting inside my veins, like fire that only grows until it’s inextinguishable.

Soon, it will claim my heart, and I will fall apart.

Right in the house of the two devils that have haunted me for an eternity.

Endless halls stretch before me, the ceilings higher than anyone could reach, with chandeliers hanging from them in a move of utter elegance. Vintage, medieval, gothic—those words describe this endless castle that’s been in their family for centuries.

They might have lost their parents and been thrown into the foster system at an early age, and then been adopted by my family, but they never once lost their right to this place.

This haunted, dark castle, with spirits surely roaming around the halls right this moment, as I rush past the gazillions of paintings depicting their not-so-noble heritage.

I arrive at a grand staircase, my heart pounding harder than ever in my throat with the reality that I know she’s behind me. Somewhere, somehow, she’s behind me.

Ready to pounce on her prey.

The grand staircase is made of marble, covering two halves of the hall below, with the chandeliers casting an eerie glow over the surroundings. The light flickers, wavering like the flames of a dying candle, and I begin my descent down the stairs, careful not to slip on the marble.

One misstep and I would be dead, head cracked open on the floor below.

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind me causes something to take root deep in my stomach, an unsettling sensation that’s far from welcoming. Making it to the last step of the staircase, I finally dare to look behind me, even when I know I shouldn’t.

It feels as if my heart has been ripped out of my chest with the sensations that overwhelm me when I stare at Celine in all her dark glory, an eerie smile stretching her lips. Her eyes flicker behind me, and confusion washes over me for a second.

She looks so deceiving, and the way she stares at me makes a tingling sensation take over between my legs. I’m wet, I know it, and I fucking despise it.

But it’s not me, her sole focus is on—it’s something behind me.

Gulping, I barely dare turn around in fear of what I will see, but I force myself to take a steady breath.

Steel my spine.

Turn around, slowly.

And this time, it’s as if my limbs have been ripped into thousands of pieces, not only my heart. There in the shadows, hiding behind the pillars, is another more menacing shadow.

No, not hiding . He’s stalking, waiting for me to make the move.

The past comes pushing back at me, and no matter how hard I’ve tried to keep it buried, it simply isn’t enough.

The shadow is unmoving, but I feel his gaze on me.

Heavy, heady, with an undertone of something possessive that makes my palms clammy.

I can’t breathe anymore—he has sucked all the oxygen out of the room, like a vampire feeding on blood.

At the top of the staircase, Celine chuckles to herself, but I don’t dare look up at her. My gaze is locked onto the shadow waiting in the darkness, never once letting my gaze move from him in fear that he will pounce.

This is too much. Entirely too fucking much, and it feels as if my limbs will turn to jelly, breaking apart. I will remain this fragile, pathetic little human being.

“Are you scared?” he muses, and I watch as the shadow moves, arms crossing over each other. His muscles are bulging, even more so now than when I last saw him three years ago.

When I sent him to prison, along with his twin.

Hearing his voice makes something flutter inside me—something I long thought dead.

He steps out into the light, a violent force of nature, ready to drag me underneath the storm he embodies.

It takes a while for me to gather my voice, heart in my throat and utterly terrified of what this entire encounter means. “You think I’m scared?” A step closer to him. “No, I’m fucking terrified of having you in my vicinity again.”

I hear Celine’s footsteps as they descend the stairs, her high heels clacking and the sound reverberating through the abandoned castle. They’re slow, deliberate, just as her entire being is.

Vernon steps out of the shadows, staring at me with those intense eyes. And it’s at that moment I see them—bright and clear. Like thunder in a storm. Brown, dark, molten, all him .

Fuck, I didn’t think about how it would feel to fall into the depths of those eyes again.

The tension is so fucking palpable in the space, I don’t know what to do—how to breathe, act, even exist.

He is still partly hidden by the shadows, yet it’s his eyes that are the most visible.

They sear over me, steadily strangling me.

A suit stretches over his muscles, and the heady scent of musk washes over me when he shifts closer.

I hold my ground, even when my instincts tell me to run as far away from here as possible.

“You should be scared, my traitor,” he whispers, and his finger reaches up to trail my cheek with a predatory smile curving his lips.

I notice the intricate tattoos that span his hand and extend to his fingers—sharp and flowing lines like thorns, creating a black, abstract design that feels almost gothic.

He probably got it from his time in prison.

Strangely, it stirs a feminine appreciation within me.

“We will corrupt you and claim your soul for an eternity this time. Never again will you be freed from us: we will embed ourselves in your blood as you have ours.”

“You’re batshit crazy,” I exclaim, a breath wooshing out of me right as I feel a presence at my back.

It’s her—so close to me once again that I can feel the warmth of her body seeping into mine. Her hand rises, fingers reaching toward my face like Vernon’s. Hand coming closer to my throat, goosebumps spread over my spine as her breath is hot against my ear.

“You made us like this.”

Then her hand clamps around my throat. It’s a vice around my neck, cutting off my air as the oxygen is completely knocked out of me, restricting me from uttering a syllable. My vision swims as I stare at Vernon, his gaze intensely on mine with an insatiable hunger that will never be quelled.

My world crashes around me, desperately trying to breathe properly with both of their presences haunting me. The air is charged, electric, suffocating me as Celine’s unrelenting grip continues, and Vernon’s fingers trail my cheek, slow, deliberate, studying me, as if waiting for something.

What is he waiting for?

“Now, this is how it’s going to go,” he murmurs, eyes staring deep into mine. “I’m sure my dear sister already told you that you’re going to run from us,” he smirks. “But not here.”

“Where?” I rasp, when all I really want to do is escape.

Leave this shitty town and everything behind. Heck, even leave Casper behind. I don’t need his toxic abusiveness.

All I need is to start over.

I make a silent promise to myself—when this is over, when I get out of here, I will leave. And I will never fucking return.

“Outside,” Celine whispers.

That’s the moment Vernon grabs something from the inner pocket of his suit, and I can’t see what it is because of the darkness. Soon, I can’t see at all as something is tied over my eyes.

A kiss on my neck causes my legs to squeeze together, and the feminine chuckle has my chest heaving with the need I want to ignore. Silk wraps around me once more, tying together my wrists behind my arms, leaving only my legs free.

A ghost of a touch lingers on my thighs, rough and masculine, pushing my legs apart. A sharp breath escapes me, the sensation unexpected. The kisses land on my thighs, pushing them more apart until I’m fighting to hold my balance. Celine’s touch on my back is the only thing keeping me standing.

I feel Vernon’s fingers trailing closer to my folds, causing heat to thrum low in my stomach. Celine’s touch on my back can only be seen as either grounding or trapping me.

Like a spider weaving me into her web, preparing to keep me forever.

Warm lips press to my inner thigh, the scrape of teeth making my muscles twitch as they touch my clit.

Grazing, leaving a shudder running rampant through me.

His grip is firm, forcing me to stay open for him.

Celine’s hand releases my throat, sliding lower, her touch like a feather as it reaches my waist, keeping me trapped for her brother.

“You deny us, yet your body is begging for us. How is that working for you?”

I’m about to snap back with something sharp when molten heat presses against my clit, stealing the words from my tongue. A whimper claws its way up my throat, but I bite it down, refusing to give them the satisfaction.

He’s right there with his lips, licking and sucking, all the while I can’t breathe even when Celine’s hand is gone. I’m fighting to stay afloat with the current taking over me.

He flicks his tongue over my clit. “So quiet,” he muses. “That won’t last very long.”

As he dives in, I’m falling over that cliff. My breath comes out in short, ragged spurts, as Celine holds me trapped while Vernon feasts on me. My body betrays me as I arch into the touch I know I should resist, and when my legs start trembling, I can’t hold it back anymore.

The whimper does escape me this time, which causes him to graze his teeth against my clit again in approval. Celine’s fingers tweak my nipples, and the need builds inside me.

Along with the desperate hatred I feel fueling my insides.

I shouldn’t want this, yet I do.

It’s a forbidden touch made from the deepest levels of hell, a poison masked as sweetness.

“Such a good traitor,” he muses. That nickname makes my stomach clench with unease, knowing how they both perceive me.

It shouldn’t matter, but it does.

Fingers preaching my insides as I near the edge. An orgasm is close.

“Her legs are trembling,” Celine muses as she sucks on my neck, biting lightly. All the while keeping me trapped for her brother.

Celine gathers my hair in one hand, her touch ghosting over my skin until it feels too much.

Strong fingers caress my ass, until I’m suddenly forced to my knees, ass in the air with my head against the cold marble floor.

Celine’s hand strokes my cheek soothingly, as I feel Vernon’s hand on my ass.

Celine tugs at my hair until a gasp breaks free.

A gust of air brushes against my bottom along with the erupting goosebumps. He strokes his hand across my ass, causing my heart to plummet—I know this torturous game. I have endured it before.

“Count to ten or we’ll be forced to start over,” he commands.

A slap echoes in the air, reverberating through the halls. I’m stunned when his hand meets my flesh once more, and hiss when Celine tugs at my hair until my scalp screams from the invasion.

“I don’t hear you counting.” His words are dark, more ominous inside this castle.

Wetness pools in my lower stomach as I desperately need to look at him, but a goddamn blindfold restricts my vision.

His hand hits my butt cheek much harder this time, and I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do.

“Count, little traitor,” Celine whispers in my ears, and I whimper.

There’s no way out of this—they will get what they want no matter what.

“One.”

Another smack, and Celine’s touch squeezes one of my breasts, her other hand still tugging at my hair into a makeshift ponytail. “Two.”

“We’re going to have so much fun playing with you.” Smack. “You will be begging for death by the end of the night.” Smack. “But we won’t give it to you.” Another slap marks his words.

Tears gather at the corner of my eyes, the emotions overwhelming me. “T-three. Four. F-five,” I bite out, Celine’s hand twisting my nipple.

“We decide when it’s time death claims you.” Slap. “And it’s not tonight,” I hear the smirk in his voice right before the seventh slap lands on my sensitive cheek.

His strong palm strokes my ass, soothing the ache while waiting for my words. “Six, seven. Fuck, I can’t do this.”

“Too late now, darling,” Celine’s voice washes over me like a bucket of cold water.

Another smack hits my ass, causing me to cry out. Then another, and another, until my legs are trembling and I’m sure I will pass out from the intense emotions wreaking havoc inside me.

Pleasure and pain—an intoxicating blend that will surely kill me.

“Count,” Vernon states in his eerily calm tone. “Or we will start over.”

Forcing away the last pieces of my dignity, I pretend to be somewhere else. Another girl in another life, who isn’t haunted by her painful past and stalked by the people she tried to escape.

“Eight, nine…ten,” I struggle.

“You created such a little mess,” he coos, his fingers twirling along my folds, teasing me.

My toes are curling, my spine is arching, and my heart is soaring at this entire situation. I fight an inner battle with myself that I’m losing.

He continues to pinch my clit until it feels as if the threads holding my sanity together will snap, and there is no turning back.

Until…the sensation disappears entirely.

No touch, nothing keeping me grounded. That fall toward ecstasy disappears entirely. A whine escapes me as my hands reach for Celine, holding onto whatever piece of her I can. I feel her kneeling before me and Vernon behind me, yet I’ve never felt as vulnerable.

“You don’t quite deserve the treat to come, now do you?”

I want to protest, but the words are trapped in an endless echo inside my throat, clawing to get free. Both of them shift away from me, their absence leaving me utterly cold and empty. One of them helps me to my feet, holding me steady as they start leading me somewhere. Where, I do not know.

To my fate in hell, I’m sure.