Obsession

Chapter 25

Twenty-Five

T hough thoroughly exhausted, Ren used the moment of having pacified Grayson to her advantage. She waited up as he drifted into slumber.

Under the veil of the mansion’s shadows, Ren made her attempt at escape.

Quickly, she slipped through the mansion, her heart pounded in her chest. Her footsteps echoed off the cold stone floor, the silence of the mansion amplifying each sound as well as her nerves. She ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She followed the small markings at every hallway and intersection of the twisted maze that she had been living in. Her memories still failed her as she went, a sense of confusion clouding her mind.

As she reached the door, she checked to see if she had been followed. A quick look around and a moment to listen spoke of no one and nothing near her. Ren couldn't see anything to indicate that her trail was being tracked. She knew this had to be the door to the garden because she could feel a slight draft and heard the sounds of the night beyond it. The drafty old door played into her confidence to go ahead and open it.

She opened the door, the one she knew she had seen so many times, but always forgotten the path to reach. It was large with stained glass the colors of night and shadows.

The scent of damp earth filled the air around her as she made her way into the garden, freedom within her reach. The twilight of dawn just cresting the horizon through the trees shed just enough light that she could see clearly in front of herself.

Ren’s freedom was short-lived. Bastian, ever the strategist, had somehow anticipated her move. Perhaps he had followed her through the halls until she left the mansion.

He flashed in front of her and stood in the shadow of the mansion while he waited and watched her.

The sky was still gray, but colors were becoming more vibrant as the light of the sun began to abate the darkness. As the light of the day crested the horizon of the trees and mountains surrounding the lair of the brothers, Ren’s skin began to itch.

As rays of light speckled dots over her skin while the warmth of the sun soaked into her, she began to blister. The pain was intensifying as the skin bubbled and steamed under the glow of the early morning sunshine. The dappled sunlight through the trees was just enough to make her pause.

A large patch of light crowned over the nearest canopy of trees and hit her arm and the sensation felt like it had caught her on fire. The stinging and stabbing sensations took only moments to reach her nerve center and fire to her brain that she needed to run.

Ren made it only a couple of steps before she was halted. Stopped like a bird into a plate glass window, hard and fast.

Bastian’s hand reached out and grabbed her, dragging her under his heavy cloak. She was sure it was Bastian, his cold grasp on her arm was like iron. His touch sent shivers down her spine. She wondered why he would care enough to save her from such pain. Knowing that he enjoyed inflicting it on her whenever he saw fit.

The taste of freedom was snatched away, replaced by the bitter tang of defeat.

“Stupid bitch!” he bellowed.

Ren’s burns started to peel away and her skin was returning to the same average body temperature, rather than the constant burning pain that she had felt only moments ago. Her pale and freckled skin replaced any redness that was left from the sun’s light.

“What makes you think we’d let you leave?! What makes you think you could even survive?! We made you what you are, and you try to turn the gift against us!”

“What gift?” she mumbled back helplessly.

Bastian dragged them toward the door that still sat open.

“This is a curse. It’s no gift.” She choked back a sob.

Bastian said nothing. He hauled her back into the shadows and threw her inside, slamming the heavy door behind them. She fell to her knees with the force of the toss back into the dark and dank hallway of the mansion.

He peered at her with hard cold eyes, huffed and left her in a heap on the floor clutching her wounded arm.

“You will learn, pet. You can never leave. You made your choice.”

Yet, her spirit was not broken. If anything, her failed attempt sparked a stronger resolve within her.

Ren, now aware of the enormity of her situation, was ready to fight for her freedom, no matter the cost. The stink of her burnt skin set her soul on fire and burned it away to a cold ash that she was resolved to blanket her new world with.

“I chose to be in love with you, with your brothers. I didn’t choose to be punished for that.”

“My pet, if I hadn’t loved you, I would have let you burn. Your pain is mine to give. Mine to experience. Mine to revel in.”