one
-Brynn-
Thump
Thump
Thump
Silence infiltrates every corner of my mind, dark claws reach to grab me and drag me into their depths, ready to ruin me. I fight the emptiness, but it’s too strong, too overwhelming, and the alternative, even worse. The more I fight it, the more I feel the pain ripping through me. I feel numb, and at the same time, I feel like I’m on fire. The more I chase the silence away, the faster sharp pain replaces it, darkness turning to light as the black veil behind my eyes rips apart to make room, maybe for something even more horrendous than the darkness. Ares.
Ares the God, is standing in front of me. Because I can clearly see there’s nothing human about him. His honey eyes are now dark, fixed directly on me, like a trace of confusion is shadowing them, but also the flicker of realization of what’s really happening here. His stance is menacing. The metal armor drapes his shoulders, giving him an unearthly glow, while thewarrior braids fall against the steel mask covering his mouth, like he’s built for destruction.
I want to focus on him, but the anguish slashing through me devours all other senses, forcing me to focus only on what’s really happening to me.
I try to move, though it's only my hands, that respond to me. I can’t tell if I’m numb from the waist down, or if the agony is so loud it’s overridden half of my body.
I focus on making sense of things, as if I’ve been gone a lifetime, though judging by Ares’ position, it’s only been a moment. His gaze holds the same intensity, confusion still lingering somewhere within him after he realized he wasn’t facing Cynthia. He was facing me—his little curse.
I want to say something, but nothing comes out except for a wail. The sensation in my legs creeps up my spine, choking my vocal cords. Yet still, the pain doesn’t come close to the devastating effect of failure.
Ifailed.
I failed Elias.
And even if I don’t understand why I am still alive—or if I even am alive, because it sure doesn’t feel like it—the more I look at Ares, the more I see the darkness taking hold of him. I know where this is leading. I can see the shift in his muscles, the dark veins spreading between the ink on his skin.
I can’t really tell if he’s preparing to kill me or stopping himself from doing so. At this point, I don’t even know what I’d prefer.
I’m starting to think I’d like him to end me, because there is no future after this, no matter how things pan out. But then my stupid self-preservation instinct kicks in, and panic replaces the hate. A panic I don’t want but can’t ignore.
I try to look down and see what the fuck happened... and whether I still have the lower half of my body attached or not.But as soon as I try to move, I hear a loud growl, more similar to a wild beast than one of a man.
Ares drops to his knees in front of me, his eyes no longer on me but on the entrance door, like he’s waiting for someone to burst in at any moment. For a second, I contemplate grabbing my sword. I see it lying at the tip of my fingers. I could end it all here and now—one way or the other. But something tells me to hold back.
The second my eyes raise, they meet Ares’.
Damn, they look like endless pools of darkness.
His nostrils flare, like the next thing he’ll do is spit fire at me. For a moment, I even question if he can really do that. Because he sure as hell shoots flames through his eyes, his gaze is burning me with the intensity of a thousand suns, ready to punish me for trying to end him. Truth is, he has every right to.
Still, I’m too proud to say anything, to ask for help, especially as I look down and realize what happened.My body is trapped between wooden boards, one piercing my flesh, and another lodged in my leg as if it had grown there.
The floor gave out when I jumped from the table to take Ares’ head. Maybe that’s what saved my life. But I also know that if he wanted me dead, I’d be dead by now.
Ares comes closer, and I glance at the sword again. But right before I get a chance to act, he picks up on where my eyes are pointing and pushes it away with his hand. Another growl escapes his throat, and for a moment, I’m frozen, trying to read his next move when I don’t even know mine.
He doesn’t keep me waiting. As if he’s pressed for time, he just grabs my arms and wraps them around his neck, like I’m supposed to hold on to him. Which I do because, right now, I don’t have any other plan, and I’d do pretty much any-fucking-thing to get out of the mess I’m currentlyverystuckin.
One of his arms goes around my waist, lifting me slightly. It feels as if I weigh nothing, as he keeps me in a position like I’m levitating, where the pressure of the board in my leg doesn’t feel as excruciating. We lock eyes, and I want to say something, but I have absolutely no idea what.
Do I still want to kill him? Do I want to beg him to save me? Or maybe I just want to ask him what the hell he’s doing.
Still, there’s something holding me back from parting my lips to speak. I’m starting to think it’s the fear that he won’t even understand me, because he’s much more beast than man right now. As if just to prove my point, he starts ripping the floor around me with one hand, while the arm he has around me doesn’t even flinch. Like, ripping the whole damn building apart poses no difficulty for him.
In just a few seconds, there’s a large hole around me, the only thing keeping me from falling to the next floor is his arm, and the damn wood, piercing my leg.
I look down to assess the real damage, and the second I see the blood pooling on the board, my vision blurs. But the game is still on, and that forces me to quickly snap back into focus as I see shadows beneath me.
