novel-bin Chapter 40: Wish
Chapter 40: Wish
Chapter 40: WishAutumn stared blankly at the fire crackling in the corner. She hadn’t spoken in minutes. Mango had draped a blanket over her shoulders.
"Rest," Mango urged softly.
But Autumn’s voice came clear now, too clear.
"No. I am not going to rest. I am going to see her."
"Autumn..."
"I need to look her in the eyes. I need to know if it is really her..."
Everything was noise and silence all at once.
The cheers, the whispers, the gasps...all muffled, like she was trapped underwater.
Autumn did not remember her knees buckling. Did not remember Mango catching her. All she could feel was the shattering ache in her chest, as if someone had reached in and cracked her ribs open just to see if her heart would still beat through the pain.
"Easy now," Mango whispered, her voice a low hum.
Autumn couldn’t speak again.
Couldn’t scream anymore.
Her voice seemed to have developed an auto on and off mode.
"I should be happy, right? I should be grateful. My sister is alive. That is supposed to be a miracle, isn’t it?" She laughed...a bitter, ragged sound.
She turned towards the hearth and without warning, reached in...fingers closing around a burning piece of firewood.
"Autumn, NO!"
Mango lunged, grabbing her arm, but it was too late. Autumn yanked the searing log from the flames, the skin of her palm blistering instantly, but she did not let go.
She held it like a torch, like a weapon. Shaking. Teeth clenched. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I gave up everything to live in a world without her...I gave up my childhood because I believed I did not deserve it...I punished myself because I failed her," she whispered, voice splintering. "And now she comes back? Just like that?"
Mango looked at her with a heavy sigh. She opened and closed her lips but could say...nothing.
"I
"IT FEELS GOOD!" Autumn grabbed her own hair, yanking hard enough to tear strands free. "I want to hurt! I want to feel something that makes sense!"
Her chest heaved. The room spun.
Then again...she crumpled to the floor, fingers clawing at her own arms, leaving red welts.Mango dropped beside her, grabbing her wrists. "Stop. Stop. Look at me!"
But Autumn thrashed, nails raking down Mango’s forearm. "LET GO OF ME!"
A thin line of blood welled on Mango’s skin.
Silence.
Autumn froze.
"I am sorry," she whispered, voice breaking. "I am sorry, I am so sorry, I am losing my shit...I didn’t mean to...
Mango didn’t let go. "I know."
Autumn screamed again, this time into Mango’s shoulder, teeth sinking into her fabric. "I want to kill him," she snarled. "I want to rip his heart out and make him eat it."
Mango held her tighter. "I know."
Her fists pounded against Mango’s back, weak now. "What did I do to deserve this?"
No answer.
The fire spat embers.Autumn’s breath hitched...once, twice...then stopped.
A whisper: "I want to die."
Mango flinched. "Don’t say that."
"Why not?" Autumn laughed, hollow. "It’s true." She slumped forward, forehead pressed to the floor. "It was always better that I died instead of Autumn...my father was right! "
Suddenly,Autumn’s fingers dug into Mango’s shoulders like claws.
"Do you feel that?" she gasped, pupils blown wide. " You can’t? "
Then
A spasm!
Violent. Uncontrollable.
Her entire body jerked, muscles locking as if electrocuted. Mango tried to hold her steady, but Autumn wrenched free with a snarl, stumbling backward...and slammed herself into the wall.
THUD!!!
Her skull cracked against the stone.
THUD!
Again.
THUD
Blood streaked the plaster.
"AUTUMN, STOP!" Mango lunged, magic flaring at her fingertips...a soft golden glow meant to restrain, to calm but Autumn shrieked and batted it away like smoke.
Something was happening.
Something was getting worse.
Autumn clutched her chest, nails tearing through fabric, through skin. "He is... He is... "
And then... Sheer agony.
The mate bond snapped taut in her chest... And she felt it... Clear as a day!
Kieran’s teeth.
Lyla’s skin.
His mark sealing itself into place.
"NO!!!!"Autumn’s voice shattered.
A howl ripped from her throat.
And it shook the walls. Rattled the windows. A sound so raw it seemed to tear the sky open.
Mango recoiled, hands clapped over her ears. "GODS HAVE MERCY! "
But mercy wasn’t coming.
Autumn thrashed, body contorting, screaming like her soul was being flayed alive. "GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" She scraped at her own chest, drawing blood, as if she could peel the bond away with her fingers.
Mango tackled her, magic flaring brighter again. "I have got you, I have got you... "
" Nooo! Please nooo! " Autumn arched, spine bending unnaturally, and threw Mango off with inhuman strength. The magic splintered like glass.
Blood in her mouth.
Blood in her eyes.
She felt it...him giving away that one thing that was supposed to be hers and only hers alone...
A choked gasp.
Autumn went limp.
Eyes open.
Unblinking.