Page 44 of Prayer of the Damned
Liam approaches and bends down towards my ear. “Wanna make it interesting, Belle?”
“What do you want?” I growl. God, he infuriates me.
“If you can land one blow, no matter the force, I’ll let you ride my dick today. I hear someone’s prepared herself for me.” He steps back and his mouth curves into an arrogant smile. My whole body tenses up and I stare at Valentina. She fucking told him what happened that night?
A fierce blush floods my face, and I pray someone wipes the sheer shame of my existence off the face of the earth. Fuck. What the hell did I even do to deserve all this evil? I was wrong to trust Valentina. My naiveté has really come back to bite me in the ass this time.
As I look back at Liam, I’m not surprised to see him already coming at me full-force. I can’t bring my hands up to defend myself before his fist is already striking me in the face. I see stars, literally, as I fall backwards. My back hits the ropes and I bounce back in, just to get a kick to the side of my head. My brain rattles around in my skull, and I can swear I hear a cracking sound in my head.
“That’s enough!” Ms. Kingsley’s voice is so dim I’m sure I’ve imagined it. I’m in an aquarium, drowning, drowning, and everyone watches from the sidelines and does nothing. I hear whispers and giggles from afar. My vision goes blurry and my head spins. A light shines in front of me and I reach out for help.
“Bellcolor?” I hear a strange voice calling me, and try to answer, but my vocal cords won’t respond. Only broken whispers emerge from my mouth.
The sound of an alarm splits my head open and I feel the ring trembling under my body. Footsteps running away, lots of them, in every direction. What’s going on out there, beyond the aquarium? I shut my eyes. My eyelids are so heavy and I give in to their desire to close. Maybe that can seal me away from the chaos rampaging outside.
“Belle! Belle!” Someone calls my name, but it’s too late. I’m gone.
Chapter Eighteen
Bellcolor
“You told me she was invulnerable!” I hear Ms. Kingsley’s panicked voice. I try to open my eyes, but it feels like my eyelids are glued together.
“True, but we didn’t say you could use her as a training dummy! Where’s your judgment?” Is that my father chastising her? I can’t identify it. Something in his voice seems strange.
“Everyone, please calm down.” I immediately recognize the Dean’s voice.
“Calm down? How can you expect me to calm down? Libretto won’t be pleased with this!” my father says. Libretto. He keeps getting involved. I still haven’t figured out what he wants from me.
The voices mix together in a raging argument, constantly interrupting each other. I try to move my body but it won’t respond to my commands. Liam was so cruel. Where did that rage come from? He really kicked the shit out of me, but what hurt me most was that Valentina told him I’d lost my virginity.Not just that, she’d made it sound like I’d ‘prepared myself for him’? What’s with that?
“She’s coming to!” I hear the Dean. I don’t want them to know I’m awake – if you could even call it that.
“Bellcolor, take your time.” My father’s voice calms me down. Now I know for sure it’s him.
“I-I…” I try to speak, but my throat betrays me.
“You’re dismissed!” my father sternly declares, and I hear footsteps moving away, it must be the Dean and Ms. Kingsley.
“We have to bring her before the rest of the Council,” I hear a familiar voice say.
“Not in her condition, it’s too dangerous. We mustn’t move her,” my father implores.
“Her condition is the reason we must hurry. I don’t know how this is possible, but her body is dying,” the voice replies, and I hear it moving around me.
Dying? But I’m already dead… aren’t I?
“Alright,” my father groans in submission. “I’ll lift her up, summon the Council.”
“Already done.”
I open my eyes a bit and recognize the blurry lump above me as Simon.
I feel strong hands carrying me. My head lolls back and I whimper in pain.
“Everything’s alright, sweetheart. Dad’s here, I’ll take care of you.” His voice cracks as he presses me to his chest. I want to take comfort in his touch, but his body is cold as ice and I get the chills. It’s so twisted. I try to protest, but he tightens his grip on me and I relax my body. No point in struggling, I’m just making my situation worse.
Nausea overtakes me as we teleport to the Council’s castle, and I shut my eyes tightly when the familiar lump forms in mybelly. Despite the tears I shed last night, they won’t spill from my eyes and I feel that same sense of drowning again.
