Evaline:
Darkness didn’t fade all at once. Instead, it crept away slowly, reluctantly, like it didn’t want to let go.
The first thing I felt was the weight.
It pressed down on from all sides, heavy and suffocating, as if my own body no longer belonged to . My head throbbed dully, each pulse dragging further out of whatever deep, unnatural sleep I had been trapped in.
Cold ca next.
This wasn’t the gentle chill of winter air or snow beneath my boots - no. This was different.
This was biting, sharp, and unforgiving. It seeped into my bones, wrapped around my limbs, and refused to let go.
A weak breath left as my consciousness sharpened just enough for awareness to begin forming.
Everything felt... wrong.
Too heavy.
Too slow.
Too cold.
And wet.
The dampness beneath soaked through my clothes, sending a violent shiver through my body. My skin prickled and my muscles protested even the smallest attempt to move.
And that’s when I felt the burn for the first ti, both at my wrists and my ankles. It was a sharp, searing sting that made my breath hitch as my senses struggled to catch up.
My mind lagged behind for a mont...
Then it hit .
I was bound.
My eyes flew open, but there was nothing to see, only pitch black darkness. It was so thick it felt like I had never opened my eyes at all.
Panic flared instantly.
I tried to move and made a mistake. Pain shot through my wrists the second I shifted, the tal digging cruelly into my skin.
Silver.
The realization struck hard and fast.
Even without a wolf, I carried their blood. And silver, it didn’t care how much or how little. It burned anyway.
A muffled sound escaped as I instinctively tried to pull away, but the restraints didn’t budge. They held firm, unyielding, forcing my arms painfully behind my back while my ankles were secured just as tightly.
My breathing grew uneven. It was either too fast or too shallow.
Focus.
I needed to focus.
I forced myself to still, even as the cold bit deeper into my skin.
My senses, they felt... dulled. Muted. Like soone had wrapped a thick layer between and the world.
I strained to listen, to sll, to see, or to feel beyond my own body. But there’s nothing, just emptiness and cold.
The air was heavy with moisture, thick enough that each breath felt slightly heavier than it should.
A basent?
A cellar?
Sowhere underground.
Sowhere isolated.
My heart pounded harder as I tried to guess exactly where I was locked up.
I reached inward instinctively, toward my power, and it flickered weakly for a second or two. It was barely responding, feeling like a dying fla struggling against the wind.
A hollow ache settled deep within .
No.
No, no.
I tried again. Pushed harder. But nothing.
Either the silver, or the drug, whatever they had given ... it was suppressing everything.
Even... the mate bonds.
My breath caught at the sudden emptiness that greeted when I reached for my mates, for that steady, constant thread that always existed between us.
And found...
Silence.
The bonds were still there. I could feel them, but they were blocked... just like my power and senses.
It felt like I was trapped behind a wall, screaming while no sound could pass through.
Fear tightened around my chest.
A muffled sound escaped again, only now I realized why it sounded so weak. A cloth was tied tightly over my mouth.
Of course.
Of course they would make sure I couldn’t call out.
I was completely restrained, completely silenced, completely... defenseless. The thought sent a fresh wave of panic crashing through , but I forced it down.
Forced myself to think.
Think.
What happened?
I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring the throbbing in my head as I tried to piece it together.
Charles, his house, his grandmother, the kitchen, the adows, the hot chocolate.
My breath stilled.
The chocolate drink... and that feeling of wrongness that had been creeping at the back of my mind the entire ti.
We’re it my instincts trying to warm ?
And I... I reacted too late.
A wave of frustration and fear twisted inside .
Stupid.
I should have listened. I should have...
My thoughts cut off abruptly as a new realization struck - Charles and his grandmother - where were they?
My head snapped slightly to the side, even though I couldn’t see anything.
I strained my senses again and tried to see or listen harder, but there nothing. No breathing, no movent, no voices.
I was alone.
And sohow, instead of making feel relieved, it only made it worse. Because if they weren’t here...
Then where were they?
They had been with . Whoever had done this, they wouldn’t have just let them go.
A cold dread settled deep in my stomach.
Please be safe... I prayed.
I needed to stay calm. Needed to think of a way to get out of this situation and survive.
I took a slow breath through my nose, forcing my racing heart to steady, even as the cold and pain refused to ease.
Ti passed. Or maybe it didn’t. It was impossible to tell in the darkness. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes like hours.
And just as the silence began to press too heavily against my mind, I heard it... footsteps.
They were faint at first, but then beca clearer and louder. They echoed softly against what sounded like stone.
My entire body went rigid. Every muscle tensed despite the pain it caused as the sound grew closer, asured, unhurried.
My pulse roared in my ears.
I tried to turn my head toward the direction of the sound, but it was hard to tell where it was coming from in the suffocating darkness.
Then a soft light suddenly flickered in the darkness. It was small, weak at first, but then it grew strong enough to push back the darkness just enough to reveal shapes, shadows, damp and cold stone walls just as I had guessed.
And then... a figure stepped forward.
The light shifted and fell across their face, letting see clearly who it was.
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