Arielle
My heart raced as Damien dragged me to the priestess apprentice, Beatrice. This apprentice was another person who hated me with everything she had, and I knew that whatever this was, it couldn't end well.
"Please, don't bring me to Beatrice, she would hurt me," I pleaded.
"Hmmm," Damien grunted and ignored me.
He walked inside the manor, and all eyes were on us. He suddenly became rougher with his hold on me.
"Please, please don't do this," I whispered.
But he didn't look back. He stopped at the shop and pushed me inside, not caring about my footing.
Beatrice looked up as soon as I entered, and her plain face contorted into irritation. She lowered her spell books and glared at me.
"Beatrice, start the procedure." Damien closed the door behind us and folded his hands.
I stood there, not knowing what to do. In the centre of the room, there was a large table with strange equipment. I took a step away from Damien to the table, wondering what they were but before my fingers could touch anything, Beatrice screamed.
"Don't touch it! I don't want your cursed hands defiling this shop!" She stormed towards me and stopped at my face.
I held my breath and stared at her. "I am sorry. I only wanted—"
"I don't care about what you want. Don't move; don't touch anything. Don't speak until I tell you to, don't breathe like you own this space, are we clear?" She glared at me.
"I—"
"Are we clear?" The look in her eyes was menacing as she drew closer.
"Y—yes." I nodded.
Her gaze lingered on me for a second before she walked away. "Alpha Damien, I have already started with the mixtures." She reached under the large table and brought out a hot container.
I glanced at Damien, and it almost seemed like he was worried until he looked away with disgust written on his face. "How long till it's completely mixed?" Damien grunted.
"Not too long, I will begin mixing the rare herbs and medicine," she confirmed. Beatrice brought out a black book and started dropping herbs in the pot.
Her eyes went to me and a sickening grin spread on her face as she slowly steered her mixtures. A foul smell escaped from the container, and I shuddered.
I didn't want the Hex gone, but I couldn't refuse. Not when Riley's life was on the line.
I glanced at Damien, and he was visibly sweating as he stared at Beatrice. His behaviour was becoming more and more unpredictable.
"It's done!" Beatrice grinned, cutting through my thoughts.
She poured a green liquid from the hot container into a glass cylinder and silently muttered spells. "Now, she will drink this." She placed the cylinder in a bucket of water to cool.
Damien drew closer. "Proceed."
Beatrice bowed her head, but I saw her grin. "Yes, your grace!" She grabbed the glass cylinder with the green liquid and came to my direction.
Panic settled into me. I couldn't take it.
"Wait, please stop!" I took a step back, but Damien stood right behind me and grabbed my shoulders firmly.
"Don't even think about running!" He growled.
The hot green liquid bubbled right before my eyes, causing my soul to scream in fear. What if this killed me?
—I didn't have time to make up my mind when Beatrice suddenly grabbed the back of my neck.
I held my hands out and tried to push away; "It's too hot! It will burn my tongue! Wait!" The foul smell made my eyes water. It was nauseating… but my struggles were useless in her hands.
"I have cooled it down, witch! You will drink it!" she hissed.
"Drink it, Arielle!" Damien threatened and my heart skipped in fear.
He may have not said it but I heard it. I had to do this for Riley.
I stopped resisting and Beatrice pulled my hair as she brought the liquid towards my lips. "Now drink!"
I couldn't cough it out. The foul slimy liquid caught at the back of my throat and burned even as it settled in my stomach. And the moment it did, I felt something move within me.
She released her hold, and I fell to the ground, gasping for air.
My body became hot, and it was hard for me to breathe.
"Argh!" I wreathed in pain as the fire took over my whole body.
Beatrice towered over me and enjoyed the show.
As my eyes slowly moved to Damien, I expected him to be grinning at my pain, but he wasn't— if anything, he didn't look well either.
"Alpha Damien!" Beatrice panicked and rushed to his side. "What's wrong?!"
"Fuck, it's the connection. I can feel—Argh! I can feel her pain!" He grunted.
"Shit!" Beatrice rushed to the table and brought out another cylinder with a blue liquid. "This will neutralize the effects!" She forced the liquid into my mouth as I agonized on the floor.
It took a minute, but the pain slowly began to reduce.
"We are not done yet, witch." Beatrice snarled at me.
"What next?" He stood tall and glared at me.
"There's still one more," she said excitedly. "The electrocution chair."
Deep down, I knew Beatrice wanted to kill me with these experiments. She was enjoying herself too much.
"No, we won't do that. I will feel that—" Damien held his head and winced in pain. "That shit still hurts. We will do it later; she should go back to her quarters."
Beatrice looked disappointed. She nodded and glared at me. "Get up, witch! Leave my quarters!"
"I will come back for you later, don't even try to escape!" Damien growled at me through his pain.
I slowly stood up from the ground with wobbly legs and turned to the door.
"Are you all right, my alpha? Should I prepare something for…"
As I left the room, the pain that lingered in my body and my legs trembled. Black dots danced in my vision and all my body wanted was to drop to the ground, but I kept pushing it.
I thought I could get back to my room in one piece as this was my only problem until I was halfway through the corridor.
"Hey, hey, what do we have here?"
"Looks like she's drunk."
I heard male voices behind me, and I recognized them as the cruel workers of the manors.
Slowly I turned and tried to shake my head at them but my movements were no longer coordinated. "I… I am not… I just—"
"She's fucking hungover!" They laughed.
I tried to speak once more but my tongue felt too heavy. It was almost as if every part of me was shutting down.
"Perfect for us. I've always wanted to fuck her."
My heart skipped in fear and my mind screamed for me to get the hell out of there. But the effect of whatever Beatrice had given to me, only got stronger. The more I tried to push it, the harder it became.
"Don't worry, we are going to make you feel so good… you won't even remember a thing…"
The horrors of what they were planning to do to me lingered, but I couldn't do anything as my body began to succumb to the dark. I tried once more to fight but I went down on one knee and fell to the ground.
My body didn't respond to me.
"Please…" I slurred as they came closer, but it was too late.
The last thing I remembered was the scream in my head as my body totally shut down.