Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (40 page)

   My mouth parted slightly
in horror
, it was in that moment that I realized there was a fate worse than death
,
and that I was facing it. Renewed strength
filled
me; I shoved violently off of him as I tried to
pull
free of his
tight hold. Pain surged through me as his claws ripped across my throat,
and
t
ore
into
my skin.
Blood spilled over me, but
he had not expected me to react
at all so
I
was able
to wrench free of his tight hold.
Shock radiated over his face for a moment, and then the black lines surged to the forefront again.

   I stumbled back, trying to catch my balance as I slammed
off of
one of the tables. He lurched at me, leaping forward with a snarl that caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.
G
rabb
ing
hold of the closest thing to me
,
I lifted the microscope and swung it at him with the full force of
my
might. Pain radiated through my arms a
s
the jarring impact of microscope
,
verse face
,
slammed through me.

   His head snapped to the side, but his forward momentum was barely knocked off balance as he
plowed
into me. His arms wrapped around my waist as we fell back.
I took most of the impact of the hard floor as my body bounced painfully off of it.
A startled cry escaped me, I wanted to scream but he was on top of me, tearing
ferociously
at me. My shirt ripped beneath his savage assault
.
H
is face was a mask of fury and blackness
,
though he was enraged
with
me
,
he did not shred my skin. It was apparent that he was able to keep enough rea
son to not kill me now;
that would ruin all of his wonderful
future
plans for me
.

   I tried to fend him
off
, tried to deflect his hands as he pushed and pulled and grabbed brutally at me
.
H
e seized hold of my
hands
and slammed them over my head with one of his hands.
He was so strong, so unbelievably,
inhumanly
strong.
It seemed as if he had a million hands, seemed as if he were everywhere at once as he leaned over me, leering with vicious intent.

   He grabbed hold of my cheeks, squeezing painfully.
I winced in pain, wishing that I could slap his hand away, wishing that I could slap
him
.
“By the time I’m done with you you’re going to be begging to die. Begging for me to kill you.”

   I
had no doubt that he was right as I glared at him
,
b
ut he was going to get one hell of a fight before then.
He grabbed hold of me, hauling me to my feet by my wounded throat. I tried to pull away from him again, but he held tight.
His nails were sharp against my brutalized skin; his hand was tight in my hair as he jerked it sharply forward.

  
He had only dragged me forward ten feet when the low growl pierced the air. I tried to turn, tried to see where
the noise
had come from when I was knocked violently aside. A small cry of surprise escaped me as I bounced
roughly
off of one of the tables and fell to the ground. The flashlight went
tumbling
into the darkness. Its beam bounced around the room, flashi
ng blindingly over the walls as it spun. I didn’t know what was going on,
could barely make out anything as I blinked rapidly
against the flashing brilliance
.
T
he sounds of a brutal assault were loud in the room.

   I scurried away, scrambling on my hands an
d knees as the table next to me
skitter
ed
into the blackness.
I jerked back, frightened of getting hit by the heavy piece of furniture as it was kicked violently back at me.
My heart pounded with fear as I searched for the door, but my vision had been compromised
by the
flashlight. I couldn’t make out anything within the room. My
skin crawled
with horror.
I could hear the violent sounds of punching, the grunts
and snarls
of the fighters
, the
cracking
of furniture and bone
s
as the
fighters
rolled and tore at each other.

   I didn’t know who my savior was, or if they were
even
winning, but I did know that I had to get the hell out of here, and I needed help. I had just regained my feet when I was hit from behind by one of the bodies. I staggered forward, but my leg twisted beneath me and I found myself back on my hands and knees again.
Pain blasted through my palms and bruised knees. I struggled to get away but one of the fighters was still half on top of my awkwardly twisted foot.

   A startled cry of terror escaped me as hands clawed at me, trying to gain purchase
in
my hair or ruined clothes. I fell, rolling out from underneath them as someone reared out of the night. Fury and fear pulsated within the room; whoever had been seeking me was knocked forcefully aside.

   That was when I spotted the flashlight. I scurried forward, crawling swiftly across the floor as I reached for the small
,
gleaming torch. My hand seized hold of it as an echoing snap resounded through the room
.
E
verything went silent
. I froze, my hand wrapped around the handle
of the light
as I waited breathlessly in the dark.
I had never heard that sound before, but I knew instinctively that it had been the sound of a breaking neck.
I didn’t know who had won
,
I
didn’t know if Ian was going to grab hold of me again. I didn’t want to move, didn’t even want to blink. I was afraid that any small movement would reveal my location
and that the assault would begin anew
.

   Something moved within the room.
My heart leapt into my throat. I couldn’t stay like this forever, I had to move. I had to
know
.
I spun suddenly, flipping over as I aimed the beam in the direction of
where I had last heard anything
. I had hoped to use the flashlight to blind
whoever was left with me
, even if it was my savior
. Instead, it revealed a horror far worse than anything I ever could have imagined. A horror that left me cold, empty. Dead inside.

   Ian was on the floor, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. His
dark
eyes were open, but unseeing. In fact, they would never see again
. His mouth was parted slightly;
the right side of his face had caved beneath the force of numerous
, furious
blows. Blood was splattered over his face, his clothes, and the ground. Though the sight of his mutilated body was disturbing
,
it was nothing compared to the sight of the person sitting over him.

   Cade’s shoulders were hunched, his head bowed. Blood splattered his clothes
; it
s
treaked over
his hands and arms. I stared silently, breathlessly, afraid to move even an inch. There was something wild, something savage about him that frightened me. Something that I did not recognize
but that instinctively terrified me
.

   And then he turned toward me. A small mewl
of horror
escaped me, my hand shook on the flashligh
t a
s I took in
the sight of that blood splattered face
. I didn
’
t recognize the eyes gleaming out at me,
barely
recognize
d
the beloved face I knew so well.
Because that face no longer existed. It had been replaced
by
the monstrous, nearly unrecognizable face before me.

  
Black, everything about him was black
.
F
rom his
entirely black
eyes
to the black veins standing
starkly
out i
n his face. 

  
Primitive. Violent. Deadly. Those words screamed through my mind as I gaped in revulsion at him.
Inhuman
also.

   I felt something inside of me breaking, splintering,
and
shattering into a thousand pieces as bits of my heart and
soul disintegrated. His eyes narrowed. He didn’t seem to recognize me as his
completely onyx
gaze slid slowly over me from head to toe and then back again. He shuddered, rage blazed from him as his eyes
returned to l
inger upon the ruined remain
s
of my shirt.
The blackness had been slowly receding from his face; it surged back to life
,
rac
ing
through his veins once more
as his eyes
found
my bloody neck
.

  
I was ashamed
of
the soft whimper that escaped me.
Ashamed
of
the complete lack of control I suddenly had over my body, ashamed by the crushing sense of defeat that descended over me. His gaze came slowly back to my face
; he stared at me for a long moment before the black slowly started to creep out of him
again
.

   My heart was breaking, my body felt numb. I felt deadened and empty. I didn’t understand any of this; I just knew that there was a strange
sense of finality
enclosing me. A strange sense that this was the end, it was all over. That there was nothing left within me.