MARIAN.
Everywhere was dark.
I felt as though I was sinking, and the more I tried to get out of whatever I was drowning in, the deeper it sucked me in. The pain I felt just a moment ago was completely gone, replaced with a void feeling.
"… an? … rian? Marian?" The voice slowly grew louder as it kept calling my name. It was a low soothing voice which was ironic considering the fact that I was sinking even deeper.
Slowly, my eyes fluttered open and I couldn't see anything. The darkness had fully consumed me. "You don't need to see me." The voice came again, and there was something about the voice that made me feel like I was saved.
It was as if redemption had finally found me, and I couldn't wait for it to fully claim me. Anywhere, regardless of how dark, would be better than returning to that hell hole.
I thought about Malcolm and my stomach twisted. I never want to see him, or my mother, or the three alphas I'd just met, but turned out to be just like the monsters I grew up with.
"W—Who are you?" I managed to ask, something huge was stuck in my throat, and my lungs screamed for air, but in a place like this, it was a miracle that I could even breathe.
"There is a lot to say but so little time, Marian Alford." The voice responded, and from the sound, I could tell it was a female. She spoke as though she knew me, I hadn't given her my name and she already knew it.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept you here." She said, pity coating her voice. I opened my mouth to speak, but she was talking before I could breathe a single word. "This is your destiny, and you must fulfill it."
The words rang in my head like bells, the chiming growing louder and louder as her voice grew distant. She was talking, I knew that, but I couldn't hear a single thing she was saying.
Suddenly, the darkness I was drowning in exploded, spitting me out as if it was rejecting me, and I felt cold clinging to my skin, tearing past every single barrier and making its way to my bones.
The tingling sensation of pain that I recognized gripped me like a vice, brutal than ever. "WHAT DOES SHE THINK SHE'S DOING?!" The familiar voice made my stomach sink with despair.
My throat closed up at once, and I felt the urge to barf, but I knew now wouldn't be the right time. I was lying on the floor, and it was cold and hard.
The smell that hit my nose as soon as I regained consciousness was enough to let me know that I was in the dungeon already, and before I could start playing back what had happened in my head, something really hard slammed into my stomach.
My eyes flew open as my frail body flew across the dungeon, hitting a wall so hard that I heard my bone crack. Pain coursed through my whole body, and I shivered.
Blood exploded in my mouth, the metallic taste made it hard for me to hold back my vomit as everything came pouring out of my mouth, the smell pungent as I gasped.
"Eww." My mother's voice came, annoyance evident in it, and I shriveled internally. I knew what would come next. "She's so disgusting, I wish I could kill her."
My teeth clattered, and it took all that I had in me to get my act together. The dungeon was unbearably cold, I was freezing as I slowly lifted my gaze to meet the cold, deathly glare of Malcolm and my mother.
"We should get away from her or she's going to infect us with whatever disease she has." My mother spat, venom in her voice. My eyes stung with tears, but I knew shedding them would be a complete waste.
Crying never solved anything, it only worsens the matter, and I am in enough trouble as it is.
"You're right." Malcolm responded, pulling my mother close to him, and kissing her so passionately that I felt another barrage of vomit ready to make its way out of my mouth.
I can never get used to seeing my mother with a man that was supposed to be my boyfriend.
"She's so riddled with diseases, she looks like she will die any minute now." Malcolm laughed, the sound mocking, and my mother joined in.
I hated how weak and helpless I was. I hated the fact that I couldn't stand up for myself. I hated the fact that everyone who had walked all over me was getting away with it.
I hated my life as much as I hated myself. Dying would have been better, I remember begging the moon goddess, but even she seemed to have abandoned me.
The thought of it was funny. How bold of me to assume I was abandoned when I wasn't even accepted in the first place.
"You're such an eyesore." My mother sneered, and I lowered my head, staring at my vomit on the ground and my shaky hands gripping my torn dress.
My lips were pressed tightly shut, but what I hated the most was how I never stood up for myself. How I let everyone do whatever they wanted with me.
Years. I spent years loving this man. I spent years doing everything I could just to be with him. I spent years believing he was the one for me. What a waste of time.
Before I could caution myself, a small laughter escaped my mouth as the remaining tiny pieces of my heart broke even more.
"What are you doing here?" I had no idea where I found the courage to speak, but I liked the feeling of finally talking despite knowing that it would put me in even bigger trouble.
"Haven't you had enough? Do I have more lashes?" I asked, lifting my gaze, the sad smile still plastered on my face. "Or have you come to flaunt your disgraceful relation—"
THWACK!
The sound echoed through the small room, the sound splitting as flickers of light bursted across my vision, dancing in mockery of me. Everywhere went blank for a split second, and then, I felt pain before I tasted blood.
I spat, my saliva blood red and mixed with a tooth that had fallen off due to the impact of the slap. My body shook violently as I lifted my gaze to see my mother's chest heaving with every breath she took.
"Who gave you permission to speak!" She snarled, her voice sharper than knives. "How. Dare. You?! How dare you think you have a right to talk about us? How dare you think you have a right to call what Malcolm and I have disgraceful?"
My ears were still hot and ringing but I could make out every sound she made, every word she said.
"Look at you!" She spat at me, saliva hitting my face. "You are the disgraceful one here. You're the taboo, you should never have been born." Her voice was growing louder now, her words more hurtful.
"You should have died even before you were born! Your father died because of you! You killed him with your rotten luck, and those horrible eyes of yours."
"Did you know? Only abominations like yourself have eyes with different colors. And you dare open your mouth and speak about us." She was hysterical now as her foot kicked me back, causing me to fall flat on the ground, her heels digging into my stomach so many times that I lost count.
I knew I was unwanted. I knew I should have died. I knew that the color of my eyes was an indication that I was an anomaly, and I shouldn't have been allowed to survive.
But….
Hot tears trickled down my cheeks as I thought about the kind of life I lived before my father died. How my mother had at least tolerated and pretended to love me.
…. I loved living. I wanted to live. But things were different now, there was nothing I wanted more than death.
"You're lucky the Alphas made us spare you before you died." Malcolm said, and the world stopped at that moment, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
The alphas… had asked them to make sure I survived? Why?
"If you've managed to catch the eyes of the Apex Three, then you might be useful after all. But…." Malcolm's voice trailed off, and the air snapped as I looked into his eyes.
His eyes were dark, completely cold, and I knew that he would kill me right here and now at the snap of a finger.
"…. If you've drawn their attention in a bad way, you would be sorry you survived, Marian Alford." He gritted, the words grinding between his teeth as he spoke. "I'm going to make sure that even death abandons you."
Chills snaked down my spine, and I felt goosebumps cover my skin. My heart stopped beating, I forgot how to breathe completely as I lowered my head.
I caught the eyes of the Apex Three? What does it mean?
No matter what it meant, I knew it would never be a good thing. Catching the eyes of the ruthless, most powerful group of alphas in all of the world was never a good thing.
I shivered as I thought about it. "You better pray that they don't back out of our deal because of you." Malcolm's voice resounded in my ears as sheer black fright swept through me.
My stomach remained clenched tight as icy fear twisted around my bones, making it impossible for me to steady my erratic breath.
Forget the terror I've had to deal with in this pack with my mother, the bullies and now Malcolm, catching the eyes of the Apex Three means it's completely over for me.
This is it. This is where my doom plays out.