Feral Hearts

Chapter 3 Victoria's POV

I was trapped in the deep abyss and I'm not able to moved or able to grab any reason to justify why I am here.

I struggled and tried to find a little light to lessen the flood of panic crawling within my heart.

Then, I blinked my eyes for a couple of times to lessen the tension but suddenly I felt warm and thick liquid flowing against my calves.

I shivered and as I raised my head I saw this silhouette of a man.

Turning his back on me, this man trekked through the floating graveyard. Hundreds of corpses floated by, bumping on his legs as he sloshed through the remained of the blood flood.

And as far as I could see, there stretched a sea of corpses which made my mouth hanged open.

The power radiating on this man made my knees trembled.

But suddenly the man changed into a beast,

a black spider which then I realized that I was trapped within his web.

"Tori wake up!" My eyes flew open in panic but unexpectedly I saw Lily leaning herself forward while her face is painted with excitement.

"What?" I muttered and she just shrugged her shoulders while showing me her widest grin and I wanted to smack her head for that.

"Lily, how many times do I need to warn you that even though I have this thin fabric I can still—“

"Yeah I know Tori! You can still see me, and blah blah blah, I get it. But guess what!" I rolled my eyes hearing her change the topic like a b***h.

"Should I forgive you for waking me up?"

"Oh, I know you would, because you love me."

I sighed but deep inside I felt relief because luckily, she saved me at the right time.

Though, I hesitated to call those dreams nightmares.

Still, I did not want them, they were scary, and I would wake from them sweaty and with my heart thudding.

And yet...

In all of the dreams, at the end I remember how my mother would step close and gaze directly into my eyes. And then I would be small, like a baby which was held close in her arms.

My mother would cradle me and kiss my forehead as she whispers soft, pleading words, and words that I won't recall when I woke up in the morning.

But right now?

I fought each nightmare alone.

I am alone.

"Wait aren't you going to change your..." she motioned her hands towards my clothes and I stared at her unmoving.

"Why should I?" I innocently uttered and her forehead knotted.

I don't see anything wrong with my clothes.

This assassin suit makes me feel comfortable and this suit reminds me of my father.

I begin my quest for revenge. At first, the suit doesn't feel like mine, it exists in the shadow of my hatred.

But throughout my journey, I learned that I should fight and find my sense of justice, metaphorically filling out a suit which resembled my father's suit makes me remember that I had uttered a promise.

My suit becomes my own and changes to reflect what I have become.

My suit represents that even in death, my father's legacy guides me through life and vengeance.

"The king is here and yet here you are! Taking all your time sleeping and damn! You will show yourself like that?"

"W-Wait what are you talking about?" I murmured nervously which halted her from talking.

"Did I say something wrong—"

"Why are you telling this to me right now Lily?" I asked.

"Why? Because I wanted you to move your ass and prepare yourself Tori! The king might be here anytime soon and here you are—"

"I'm not playing around Lily. And I don't care if your KING is walking around naked or waving his hands and sniffing for his mate! I won't help him and that's final! I can kill for him and I can hunt for him but damn it! It's not my job to find his mate. If his mate runs away then it's up for him to hunt for his mate alone."

I am frustrated as f**k.

If only I can tell her everything but knowing Lily she won't shut her mouth about this matter.

She is dying to see me having my own mate and it's difficult for me to say it to her frankly that I am not her.

I don't need a mate.

I need justice!

"You should listen to your words Tori!" She said before snorted sarcastically and that made me speechless.

"You are filled with hate and it’s killing you, now you should try to look at yourself; you are using this suit to cover your true nature."

For just a second, I simply could not breathe, I had to look away from her eyes and focus my vision on her hands.

"I have known you for so long Tori, but this suit and this fabric is pushing you away from your reality. You are totally numb, you are unhappy and you are—I'm sorry Tori but you are being unreasonable. Look, the king needs her mate. If you don't need one then no one is forcing you! But please this is the only thing we can do to help someone who hope for his mate so just please lend a hand Tori," she said and I can sense it she's frustrated.

And yet, I unconsciously averted my eyes away from her.

I just don't know how to react after hearing those words from her mouth.

But one thing is for sure I can feel the ache, the ache of being stabbed from within.

And here I am thinking that I am numb.

But why am I hurting like this? It's just words.

Yeah words...

But it can wound me like a dagger being dragged down on my flesh.

"You want me to help him? Then fine! But tell me how? Tell me how can I help Lily? Knowing that your king's mate is a witch then it would be difficult. We all know that witches are good at hiding. Even I, myself can masked my scent. It is easy for us to do that because we are raised to be like this to survive Lily. And if the king's mate hates him then all I can say is that being part of this chase is a waste of time." Her mouth formed an ‘o' and I just turned my back and face the window.

"How c-could you say those words like it's nothing important. All I want Tori is for you to reconsider. If his mate is a witch then maybe you can recognize—"

"Lily let him grew his own balls to chase his own mate alone. He is an alpha king! Then let him sniff around. After all, he was able to find our village and murdered my family. So maybe he can find his mate without our help."

It’s a good thing that I can't see her face or her reaction because knowing her, at anytime she would scream at me.

"So, you are not planning to help—"

"I won't help him even if he begs for it. He can rot in hell Lily but that mate of his is my kin, I won't act against him and I won't put him in danger."

I gritted my teeth waiting for her response but she responded me with silence.

And when I turned to face her I am startled to see a manly figure beside her while Lily is bowing her head in submission with her hands trembling in fear.

"L-Lucas—wait you found Tori's sleeping quarter," Lord Edward walks in with his bright smile plastered on his lips he wasn't aware of the tension.

"You," his deep and cold voice send shivers in my spine and I held myself at bay.

I just hope he won't see what lay beneath my calm and determined expression. All of which I had pulled around like a cloak. It was a sea of aloneness, hatred; bewilderment and terror which promised to smash and drown anyone else who comes near me.

Feeling his presence at close makes my memory bolted like lightning flashing trough my head.

I saw bodies of my parents curled together in deep slumber.

The headless bodies freshly decapitated and the thick, dark blood gushing from their wounded bodies.

“You are a witch.” It is not a question but he stated it merely in act of spitting dirt from his mouth.

My head is buzzing uncontrollably because of hate but I made sure to hide my emotions from his scrutinizing eyes.

I looked straight into his pale blue eyes ringed with cerulean as I fought to find my voice. He stared at me, cold and silent, as grim and dark as hell itself.

His malice rolled through me as his hatred filled the room.

Scarlet ringed his frosty eyes while the silence seemed to stretch into forever, thickening with each second that she stood in it without saying anything. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to break the silence.

What should I say?

There were a thousand things but nothing came out.

The longer he stared at me, the stronger a feeling grew, until I was close to looking away from him, unable to hold his gaze as my insides churned.

Hate.

I know that this thin fabric is covering my eyes yet it started to itch.

The man before me was no different from the one that I met from the past.

“I thought I eliminated all your kind?” His voice darkened as he eyed the handles of two blades strapped to my lower back.

“I see, I failed to do it and it seems you serve now as one of the assassins that my kingdom feeds. But why did you choose to serve me? Where in fact you hated my existence.” My hatred that I tried so hard to contain got the better of me as I stood up and took a hard step towards him.

“I don’t serve you King Lukas; I only serve your people. Now tell me, how does it feel to fail? You thought you murdered all of us?”

“Did I?” He chuckled mirthlessly and she felt her hatred increases.

“I seem to see you turned into one…” he murmured before adding the last phrase that made my eyes widen.

“A murderer under my own command, now how does it feel?”