forum Blood Oath (O/O CLOSED)

Started February 21, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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I shook my head after a moment—he shouldn’t have to do this for me, no matter how desperately I wanted him to. “Did I—Did I wake you up?”

“Nah,” I responded nonchalantly. “You didn’t, don’t worry. I was already up.”

My brow furrowed, chest heaving from the residual panic the dream had brought on.

“Why?” I asked quietly, “What happened?”

Suddenly, my eyes shot down to my chest. Panic surged through me, but I quickly tore my gaze away again, drawing my knees up to my chest and hugging the blanket tighter around me. Shit. Had Kaden seen?

I quirked an eyebrow, unaware of the panic Elliot felt.

“Nothing,” I answered, shaking my head. “Needed to drink water. I’m glad I did, though.”

I sensed an untruth, a few unspoken words…. but I didn’t press. He hadn’t pushed me, so I wasn’t going to push him.

“Alright…. I think I’m fine now.”

He hadn’t seen my chest. Relief practically crushing the air from my lungs, I smiled the tiniest bit. “Thank you, really.”

“Hey, we’re best friends,” I shrugged, trying to make him feel better. “I’m always going to watch out for you. Even if you’re tougher than I am.”

“Me?” I almost laughed aloud. “That’s not true and we both know it. But thank you. Get some sleep, okay?”

I laughed, though mine was sarcastic.

“Elliot, you got an A ranked bondmate,” I reminded him, almost mentioning Prince Colton but stopping myself subtly. “You were strong enough to summon Scylla. Even the top mages didn’t achieve that much. Don’t think too little of yourself.”

I shook my head slowly, securing the blankets subtly around my chest. “It’s too late to have this conversation. Go get some rest, Kaden.”

“All right,” I ruffled his head. “Goodnight, Elliot.”

“Goodnight…” I murmured and watched him leave.

Colton’s POV:

I woke to my body burning, aching as if every bone had been broken. I could faintly feel the hands of that freak on me, her icy cold voice lulling me into oblivion.

”Key…” I whispered, holding he’d respond. Hoping he would come for me.

Within seconds, I could hear flapping of wings and suddenly I was no longer pressed against the cold, hard wall, but the soft skin of my bondmate.

”Colton… I’m so sorry…” Key pulled me close, licking me. **”I don’t know how long I was in that sleep…”

I could barely hear him at that point. All I knew was, before I lost my consciousness, that I wrapped my arms around Key, clung to him tightly and begged him to never leave me again.

Murmurs swept through the room, carried in by a harsh, shockingly cold wind. The whispers increased, almost whipped into a frenzy by the unity of the two… and slowly, a hairline of light appeared in the distance; a way out.

I woke up with the wind in my face, tucked safely in the paws of Key. I could feel his harsh breathing, his tired wings.

Key…” I murmured weakly. I had never felt so pathetic in my life before. ”Please. Rest.”

We’re almost there,” Key responded, not slowing down. ”I’ll get you to the healer in no time.”

”No,” I argued. ”Not the healer. After you’ve rested, you’ll take me to Elliot’s.”

Key didn’t respond to my saying he should rest. He continued flying, his guilt seeping into my skin. He blamed himself. Of course, he did. We were supposed to protect each other. If Key sensed the love I sent towards him, he didn’t show it. He continued to flap his wings in the dark night, holding me tight.

For the second night in a row, a awoke to the sound of my own screams.

My hand flew to my throat, the blankets falling off my torso, my mouth handing open while I gasped for breath, shoulders rising and falling.

You’re safe, I tried to tell myself, but Scylla beat me to it. She went up on her back legs and pressed her paws (which had grown considerably in the past seven days, since Colton had left) to my chest.

”Breathe, Elle…” she consoled, carefully wiping my tear-stained cheeks with the tip of her wing. ”You’re going to be okay…”

I hugged her to my chest, sticking a choked sob. “I don’t want to die, Scylla…” My fear reared it’s ugly head.

”And you won’t—I promise,” she answered in a slightly wobbly voice.

Eventually, she urged me to go and grab a drink of water. It was safe to leave my rook without my binder—Andreas and Kaden had long since left for some slumber party. It was just her and me… And Colton’s empty bedroom.

Sighing, I stood, cradling my bondmate in my arms as I slipped from my room and into the kitchen.

Key easily opened the window to Elliot’s room and set me inside, shrinking himself so he could nestle in my hair. I appreciated the gesture.

My knees almost buckled from underneath me, my vision went white, but I managed to stay upright. I needed to see Elliot. I wanted to know if he was safe.

Finally, I opened my eyes, wincing at the blinding pain of the light. I immediately shut my burning eyes. A full week in total darkness… it wasn’t a surprise my eyes needed to get used to bright light. Shaking my head and blinking slowly, I finally opened them again, adjusting neatly.

I looked around, the bed unmade as if someone had just gotten up from it. Elliot. He probably went to get a glass of water. Preparing to exist through the door, I looked at the body mirror on the wall. My sunken eyes, bruised up body. I looked absolutely horrible—right after a mission gone wrong. As if I’d been tortured. That wasn’t what caught my attention, though. It was the reflection of something under Elliot’s bed. Something blue. I shouldn’t have looked, but I couldn’t help myself.

Before I knew it, I was staggering towards the bed, knelt down slowly and took out the things that caught my attention.

And the second I did so, my world shattered into tiny, tiny pieces. Because what I was holding in my hand shouldn’t be in the possession of a male. I thought what I went through, I couldn’t go through something worse.

I was wrong.

“She was right…” I whispered, my head hanging, an invisible being squeezing my heart, suffocating me. ”Mistress is always right…”

I placed my fingertips lightly on the curving point of our kitchen tap, closing my eyes and tapping into my power. I imagined opening a up a pair of floodgates just enough for the right amount of power to trickle through….. And I succeeded. Thirty seconds later, I found myself with a perfect, gently spinning sphere of moonlit water.

I loved the sensations that came when I used my power—the sheer quantity of magic at my disposal. Rushing through my bloodstream, flooding my entire body. God, it felt so freeing. Like I was riding smoothly across the waves of my little cove at home, the wind whipping my hair back like a sail.

Eventually, though, I let the water trickle from the air into my mouth, offering the rest to Scylla when I was done. By now, my frenzied heart had slowed, my body and mind sinking into the calm, serene atmosphere that the night alone had cast over me. Soothed, my mind set straight, I headed back to my room with Scylla, a soft yawn escaping from my mouth.

But when I turned my doorknob and slipped inside, I almost screamed. There, in the middle of my dinky lit bedroom, was a tall, dark figure. Stumbling backwards in shock, I hit blindly for the light switch—and froze.

“Colton?” What on earth was he doing here, in my bedroom, at three in the morning after having been gone for a whole week?? The first thing I noticed was how haggard he looked, how beaten up. My worry surged, and I took a step forward. “Are you——“ Then, my eyes fell on the object in his hands.

And the blood drained from my face.

I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding, stilling my body, fighting against the tremors I wasn’t aware of.

Clenching the chest binder in my hands, I slowly stood up, almost losing my balance but finding it in the end. I turned around, finally locking eyes with Elliot.

How stupid was I? Why hadn’t I realized this before? The way his—her voice constantly changed. The way she messed up every time I made contact with her. Why didn’t I realize this before? How utterly stupid I was. She was right. That woman was right. I didn’t know this… human in front of me. Not even a little bit.

“You lied…” I found myself whispering, fingers never loosening the hold on the chest binder. “Everything about you was a lie. God, I can’t beleive it.” I let out a dry laugh, leaning against the bed for support, my vision going white. I blinked, shaking my head immediately. “And I believed you. No questions asked, I believed you.”

No.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. He wasn’t supposed to find out this way—Nobody was supposed to know.

A sob caught in my throat just as Scylla’s tiny claws tightened around my shoulder. I’m going to die, I kept thinking, over and over again. Theyre going to kill me.

“Give that back—“ I found myself hissing, reaching out towards the binder with one arm and desperately hugging my chest with the other. My whole body had been doused in a bucket of ice water, flooded by utter panic, until there was nothing I could do but force angry words to fly from my mouth.

“Now, Colton.” My voice, through shaking violently with absolute terror, hardened.

I pulled it away, my face twisting coldly at her reactions.

“You lied to the authorities,” I repeated, forcing my voice to abandon the hurt and pain. “You lied to the court. You lied to me.”

Dropping the binder to the floor, I slammed her to the wall, my expression furious.

“Was it fun? Fooling everyone, fooling me?” I continued, the ache I was feeling vanishing as if it was never there. “You must have thought it was so easy wrapping me around your finger, getting me to trust you. Well, Elliot, I must ask—how did that feel?”

My back slammed into the wall, and immediately, he was keeping me pinned down. I took in a gasping breath, my vision unfocusing for a moment, everything around blurring for a few seconds from the force with which he’d shoved me back.

I acted completely on my desperation, which swelled into an immense crescendo. Grabbing hold of his arm, I twisted him around, wrenching him forward, then drove my foot into his stomach hard enough to send him stumbling back.

“Fuck. You,” I spat, balling my hands into fists. And all of a sudden, the false rage I had counted to poorly mask my actual emotions was real, a wildfire tearing through me. “You’re asking me how it feels? Well, how does it feel to watch your father murder women who try and undergo the Oath. How does it feel to hear their screams, their pleas for mercy? Do you enjoy the sensation of power it gives you, watching them beg?” My mouth twisted into a snarl. I was already far gone, my death sentence signed and sent in—I might as well go out with a bang.

“Do you like watching them write in pain as fire devours their skin? Or do you hide in your room like a coward, too afraid to face your psychopath of a father?”

Scylla, reacting to my fury, spread her wings and hissed, baring her fangs.

My vision went white, but not because of what I was feeling, but what was going on at this moment. Had I been at full strength, I wouldn’t have felt anything.

I fell to the floor, too weak to support my own weight. I hissed, her words hitting deep. Before I knew what I was doing, I moved so I had my hand around her throat, eyes losing focus but hand maintaining its strength.

She was right. She was right. Shewasright. What was I expecting? Mistress couldn’t have been wrong.

“Ah, so you’re just like them,” I hissed, my voice dripping with acid. “Just because I’m the prince, suddenly I have the power to change the laws. I can change absolutely everything with a snap of my finger, can’t I? I can just go up to my father, with no fear for my life, and tell him to discard the laws, can’t I? You have absolutely no idea how many times I’ve begged my father to change the stupid ways of the academy, how many times I’ve stayed up entire nights, wishing I could have changed the fates of those women who were murdered for wanting to be something they couldn’t be, desperately hoping to see anything but the look in their eyes right before their light died. But suddenly, I’m a coward, right?” I shook my head, laughing bitterly, emotions going out of control. My hold on her loosened, everything crashing hard. “Whatever. I’m the Prince. I enjoy forcing my will on others. I enjoy the thrill it gives me, thank you for reminding me that. And most of all, girl, thank you for reminding me once again that trusting in someone is utterly foolish.”

I stepped back, Key immediately taking the opportunity to increase his size, steadying me in case I fell. Metaphorically, I did. What did I expect, anyway? It has always been too good to be true for me.

The moment Colton let go of my throat, his words hit me like a slap to the face. No, worse than that. Each carefully aimed verbal weapon sank deep until guilt and shame stiwated my gut. But I held my own. I kept my chin up and my arms in a defensive stance.

”Trusting someone? I am the exact same person as I was the last time I talked to you.” Sparks practically flew from my eyes, and around us, the pipes in the walls began to groan, the water coursing through them reacting to my distress. “How did I betray your trust? Did I belittle you? No! Did I force you into any situations? No! All I did was pretend I was the opposite gender—and what, you’d prefer I’d have told the authorities? That way I’d die nice and fucking early?”

Scylla was in the midst of trying to plead with Key, show him my side, and I didn’t have enough concentration left to stop her.

“So fine. Report me to the authorities,” I snapped, “To your father, even. But do me a favour? I want you to look me in the eyes when they chain me to the stake. I want you to look at me the whole time while I burn.” Obviously I had absolutely no intention of sticking around for long enough to happen, but if I could manage to convince him to keep my secret….

“Maybe then you’ll know what it means to die because you didn’t want to be alone in life anymore.”

I clenched my fists, breathing getting heavier. My head pounded wildly in my head, bones aching. I could hear silent whispers in my ears, urging me quietly. I could feel those cold fingers on my lips, those nails on my shoulders, touching me, pushing me over the edge.

Oh, Colton…

Poor, poor Colton…

You think that boy cares about you?

There’s no one who cares about you…

Stay strong, Colton. You have to…

I took a deep, shuddering breath, my hand fisting my hair. I tried forcing her out of my head, but it was like she’d snaked her way in. I couldn’t escape. I was trapped, hearing her voice over and over again, mocking me, inviting me. Over and over again and I felt like I was going crazy and I just wanted it to stop so why wasn’t the Mistress helping me? She promised—she promised and I’m here and I’m suffering and she’s not here.

I couldn’t hear anything other than my silent, raging battles. I couldn’t feel my body giving in to my weight, to the torture, and I couldn’t feel Key abandoning the conversation with Scylla to prevent me from falling. All I knew was that I’d finally been knocked down, and it wasn’t because of that wench or the fact that I had been held against my will, for an entire week, tortured. Not entirely.

What caused me to finally lose my mind was the girl pretending to be a boy.

Almost immediately, Colton pushed his hand into his hair, breathing heavily as if trying to force something out of his head. A moment later, he swayed and collapsed against Key.

Shocked, I stared at them both, before it all became too much. I sank to my knees, my head in my hands. Trembling from suppressed sobs, I tried to breathe, to manage even the finest inhale, but my throat was closing up, mouth going dry.

Scylla ran and leapt into my arms and, not caring about the retribution, I grabbed her and fled the room, stumbling out and sinking down against the exterior wall of my bedroom.

“Scylla—“ I was suddenly crying, tears pouring down my cheeks as I clutched my bondmate to my chest. “Scylla—I’m going to die. They’re going to kill me—I’m going to die before I can see my family again.”

It was over now. The plan to change the law was finished. My life was going to end.

And I was going to die at the hands of the boy I’d fallen for.

She plagued my dreams now. Her icy touches, her cold voice. Her cold, but affectionate voice. The way she held me, almost like I was a toy, so why was I craving her touch again? Her cruel laughter rang in my mind and I immediately snapped my eyes open, sitting up straight, taking harsh, deep breaths. What was happening to me? What was I becoming?

“Cole, you’re awake,” my father's voice reached me and almost robotically, I looked at him. He had a worried look on his face, but I called it fake. Her voice just kept on ringing. “I’d been so worried… what happened out there? Who did this to you?”

I wanted to confess, but suddenly a deep desire to protect her flashed through me.

“I don’t remember,” I lied. “I was trying to find clues when they ambushed me, kept me blindfolded the entire time.”

The king heaved a sigh.

“Well, now that you’re here… I must speak to the other A,” I forced myself to stay still. “I waited until you came back. I need to talk to you both.”

I didn’t refuse.

“Soldier, escort Elliot into my throne room.”

Without even asking me how I was feeling, he lead me off into the throne room.

How many times must she be right? I was merely a pawn. Nobody cared. Nobody ever will.

Except her.

I had locked myself in my room for the whole night, packing my bags, getting ready, trying to figure out the least conspicuous time to make my getaway. I hadn’t gotten any sleep after Colton’s discovery, of course I hadn’t. And not once since then had my hands stilled their panicked trembling.

I’m going to die.

Those four words were now my personal mantra, emblazoned into the forefront of my mind. And oh, how they burned.

I’m going to die at the hands of Colton Miller.

But despite the fact that he was destined to be the reason that I was to meet my end so soon in life, worry for him gnawed at me. Every passing second, my mind was fixed firmly on him, sometimes with fear, sometimes in anger, sometimes with guilt, and other times…. I was concerned for him.

The moment I laid eyes on him last night, it was clear that whatever version of Hell he’d crawled out of after seven days, it had left its mark on him. I’d seen the unshakable Prince break. What living being on this earth could have possibly caused that??

And he’d come to me. Trusting me, only to find the chest binder if so carelessly left out. He’d gotten back from what must have been torture, and the first greeting he’d received was my shouting and accusations.

That being said, I felt no regret. My life was on the line here, and I was going to do whatever it took to keep myself afloat.

My determination kept me going, as did Scylla. Kept me as strong as possible. That is, until a soldier knocked on my door.

I’m too late.

I sat on my seat in the throne room, eyes screwed shut, trying to block out what I’d gone through. I was so pathetic. All she did was say a bunch of words and I broke like glass. All she did was touch me and I didn’t know who I was anymore. It was just seven days, but she broke me within a span of one. I was pathetic. Weak, sad little Colton Miller. Oblivious, clueless idiot who had no idea he was being lead on.

My father didn’t initiate a conversation with me. I didn’t mind. I wasn’t in the right state to converse, anyway. All I could feel was my body trembling even though it wasn’t. I could feel those cold nails on my shoulders, on my lips, on my chest. I could remember clearly, without missing any detail, about the way she just twisted her hand and broke me in half.

With just one movement, she made me scream.

Then the door opened, snapping me out of my self-hate and misery, and in came my other problem. Elliot. Whatever her name was.

“Ah, Elliot,” my father greeted. “It’s finally nice to talk to another one like my son.”

I felt like someone had doused me in a bucket of freezing water.

Fear ran rampant in my body—by now, the words ‘panic’ and ‘terror’ were barely a fraction of what I was feeling. My blood turned to icy slush in my veins. My heart thundered like a war drum in my chest, pounding wildly. I felt like I was slowly, excruciatingly slowly, being ripped apart from the inside out.

Elliot. For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to think about the twin brother who’s absence had opened up an aching void in my chest. Mother. Father. I was going to die without ever speaking to them again. I wouldn’t even get a single glimpse before flames devoured my body.

In my arms, Scylla quaked in fear. I clutched her to my chest, unable to speak aloud. Scylla. My beautiful bondmate was going to go down with me. She was going to be slaughtered. And it was all my fault.

After what seemed like both a millennia and much too short of a walk, the stone-faced, unresponsive soldier practically pushed me into the throne room. I held my chin up high, arms tightening around my bondmate, and approached the thrones. After returning the King’s greeting and forcing my limbs to respond, to dip into a respectful bow, I fixed my eyes to Colton’s.

I dare you to look me in the eye, I wanted to snarl, While your father reads my death sentence. I. Dare. You.

But I didn’t say any of that aloud. I only stayed silent, ignored the sound of water pipes creaking and groaning beneath my feet, and waited.

I maintained eye contact with her, eyes cold, unmoving. I wanted to gauge her every reaction. From the point when she realizes nobody called her up for a death sentence.

I wanted to scoff. Even after spending that much time with me, she still thought I would kill her. How could I? Even after… this happened, I still cared. I couldn’t have someone I cared about be put to death.

“It’s a bit late, I know, but congratulations on your bonding,” my father started, oblivious to the struggles of both his son and his subject. “It’s surprising you have the same type of bondmate as my son, a Type A, which is completely unheard of. Anyway, that isn’t what I called you up here for. I’ve heard bits and pieces, but Prince Colton sometimes trains you, doesn’t he?”

No, do not say what I think you’re going to say. Keep your mouth shut like you usually do.

“I wanted to personally assign you to Colton,” my father continued, completely, utterly oblivious. “That way, we can ensure you don’t lose control. After all, a fellow Type A should be of help to another, right?”

I stared at him, my gaze calculating. What was going on? What was he planning? He’d never made decisions like these before. What was going through his mind.

“What do you think, Elliot dear?” He tilted his head, asking for opinion but clearly not needing an objecting one.