EMERY
I didn't know how long I lay there, all curled up on the bed in the East Wing room. Time didn't move the same here; it stretched and blurred. Pain had a way of dragging every second out like an eternity.
My mind was still blank from everything and the shock, the fear, the confusion and the terrifying weight of realising I wasn't dreaming, and I wasn't getting out of here anytime soon.
The room was quiet, and the only sound was the hum of lights above me and the faint throb of my own heartbeat.
Everything was beginning to appear so real to me, and I was living as Elias, struggling with the ill-fated life of being an outcast. What a sad fate the universe decided to give me, but everything felt slightly off.
Griffin was supposed to have me flogged the moment he claimed me. In the book, he had Elias rot in a private wing for weeks before even speaking to him again, but now, he had changed the script, and I had no idea why.
The door hissed open suddenly, and I stiffened, panic rising in my chest. A figure stepped in, and I turned, my voice caught in my throat as I saw who the figure was.
Griffin Lancaster.
My body went cold. He stood in the doorway like a shadow made real with his all black outfits, black coat, black boots, and dark eyes that burned with quiet fire. He didn't look like a man, he looked like something people obeyed, something people feared, and I or rather Elias, feared him.
He was looking directly at me, his eyes boring holes into me. I wanted to speak, but my throat dried up, and my heart pounded hard enough to shake my ribs.
Griffin stepped into the room slowly, letting the door close behind him with a low his. He didn't sit, he didn't pace, he just stared at me like I was a total stranger, or was it like a trash bag?
Then finally, he spoke, his voice quiet and sharp.
"You are different. Something about you is different," he said, and my eyes widened.
"What?" I said, my voice barely a whisper. His gaze narrowed, like he was studying something under a microscope.
"You don't look at me the way you used to. You are not shaking like you should be when you see me," he said, and I almost scoffed.
Was he blind, or was he trying to sound funny? I was literally shaking from his dominant pheromones and his stares and yet he said I wasn't shaking.
Everything was currently a mess. The story was slightly changing; I wasn't expecting to see him here so soon. What happened to allowing Elias to rot a little while before coming to see him to satisfy his urges? Why was he here right now, or was he meant to start his satisfaction now? That thought had me scared.
I snapped out of my reverie when I heard footsteps approaching closer, and my heart skipped a beat when he stood closer to me
"You flinched when they dragged you in here, you looked scared when they wanted you dead, but not right now, not to me. You haven't flinched a bit since the moment I walked into this room," Griffin said, and my throat tightened.
I didn't have the words to say, but I knew I had to answer because somehow my body reacted to his in fear, and no, it wasn't my intention, but this body… Elias has lived his life being bullied and feared by Griffin. His sight made him tremble, and now I could not help but tremble.
My soul and mind might be mine, but this body wasn't mine, and I guess no matter who inherited it, live to face the fear or torture the body has been used to.
"Answer me, Omege," his voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Maybe I have just had enough pain to last me," I said quickly, "everything about you terrifies me, I guess I am getting used to it."
I was expecting a reaction, or anger erupting from within him, and maybe getting the punishment I had always deserved according to the book, but he didn't respond, and that scared me as I felt my hands begin trembling at the fear of the unknown.
I did not know what he was thinking or what was going through his mind for me.
"Why did you do it?" I asked, before I could stop myself, "Why didn't you kill me like they requested, why did you claim, and what purpose do you have for me. Isn't death the best option for me than whatever you are planning on doing with me?"
The words tasted bitter in my mouth, but I needed to know. Elias was scared to find out the answers to why Griffin did what he did to him before it was too late. He endured everything in pain, but I wasn't going to stand still and wait to be used by Griffin until it was too late for me.
I was going to change the ill fate of Elias, and although I trembled at the sight of him and his voice but I was determined to change everything, and I didn't fucking care if I was going to break or bend this body, I was going to make sure he doesn't fear no one especially Griffin.
Griffin tilted his head, his eyes locked on mine.
"Because you stole from me," he answered, and I scoffed.
"I didn't steal from you."
"You did," he said as he stepped closer again, closing the little space between us. I could smell his pheromones and his cologne. The cologne was dark, cold and expensive, and his pheromones were a mixture of sawdust and fresh grass.
Griffin was damn tall, I had no choice but to tilt my head slightly just to meet his eyes, but I didn't back away. Not this time.
I knew Elias wouldn't have dared to look him in the eye, but I wasn't Elias. I was me, and something in him noticed or not, but I could see the flicker of curiosity in his gaze again. Something like a hesitation.
"You know what bothers me?" he said quietly, but I didn't answer. So, he crouched just a little so we were almost eye-level, "your eyes, they don't look like someone afraid of me or anyone anymore, rather they look like someone trying to figure everything out."
He paused, then added with a colder edge, "You are hiding something. Did you actually steal from me, thinking that's the easiest way out of escaping me?" he asked, and my breath caught, but I quickly recovered myself. Hell no, would I reveal myself to him or anyone until I completely changed Elias's fate and returned to the real world.
"I am not hiding anything from you, and no, I didn't steal your ring. Why would I do that?" I said quickly.
His lips twitched into something that wasn't quite a smirk, more like amusement. He stood up straight again and turned his back to me, walking a slow circle around the room, like a predator circling his prey, he wasn't ready to kill.
"You think I am cruel, don't you? You think I am evil because of everything I have been doing to you, right?" he asked calmly, but I didn't reply.
"You think I don't notice thighs, but I do. Every shift, every glance, and every breath people take in my presence." he turned back to me, stopping right in front of the bed again.
"The Elias I knew would be sobbing right now, begging me for forgiveness, but you haven't even shed a tear," he said, and I swallowed hard.
I cried already," I lied, "I cried my soul out, but you just weren't here to see the tears running down my eyes like you always do."
His jaw tightened slightly, followed by silence that was thick, heavy and pressing. Then, without warning, he reached forward and touched my chin. I flinched at the bare touch of his hands on my chin, and he froze for a second before gently turning my face up towards him.
His fingers were surprisingly warm against my skin, and his eyes scanned my face like he was trying to find something buried inside me.
He was too close to me, too intense and too real.
"You are not who you were yesterday," he murmured, and I stared at him, my eyes locked in his. Neither of us moved. The room felt too small, and the air too thin. Then, he finally dropped his hand, and I released my breath that I didn't know I was holding in.
"Eat, and rest. You will need your strength," he said, and I froze, my eyes snapping back to his,
"For what?" I asked. He looked at me for a beat longer before turning to leave.
"For surviving me." And with that, he shut the door behind him, and he was gone before I could speak.
I stared at the space where he stood for a long time, my heart still beating fast, my body still aching from being dragged by the pack people and the guards, but more than anything, I was confused.
Why was he watching me so closely? Why did I feel like he saw something even I didn't understand yet? Moreover, why did part of me feel like the real story had not even started?