Chapter 101: The Beast Unleashed
JAYCE
I paced my room like a caged animal and my claws scraped against the stone floor with each restless step. The sound was grating and sharp and it echoed off the walls and it made my skin crawl even more than it already was. The candles were too bright and the shadows were too dark and the silence was too loud and everything irritated me and everything made me want to scream.
I had been restless all day. My skin was crawling and my muscles were twitching and my mind was racing with thoughts that I could not control. My wolf, Jaden, was clawing at the inside of my chest and he was snarling and growling and demanding to be set free. Something was wrong and something was building and something was about to break.
Let me out, Jaden growled inside my head. His voice was deep and feral and hungry and it echoed through my skull like thunder. Let me out now.
No, I said, trying to push him back down. I cannot. You know I cannot. You know what happens when I let you out.
I do not care what happens. I need to be free. I need to hunt. I need to feel the blood on my teeth and the fear in their eyes.
That is not who we are.
That is exactly who we are. You are just too weak to admit it.
I stopped pacing and I pressed my hands against my temples and I tried to push him down. I tried to control him. I tried to keep him contained. But he was too strong. He had been building for days and now he was breaking free and I was losing the battle.
Let me out, Jaden snarled. Let me out or I will break out myself.
You cannot do that.
Watch me.
I doubled over in pain and I felt my bones beginning to crack and shift. The sound was sickening and it filled my ears and it made me want to vomit. My fingers lengthened and my claws grew sharper and my teeth sharpened into fangs that ached to bite. My skin rippled and tore and my eyes turned black and I lost myself to the darkness.
"Stop," I said but the word came out as a growl that was barely recognizable as speech. "Please. Stop. Do not make me do this."
The beast did not listen.
It was too strong and it had been waiting too long and now it was breaking free and I was a prisoner inside my own body. I could see everything and I could feel everything and I could hear everything but I could not control anything. I was trapped and I was helpless and I was terrified.
The beast roared and the sound shook the walls. The windows rattled in their frames and the paintings fell from the walls and the furniture trembled as if it was afraid. The candles flickered and went out and the room plunged into darkness.
The door burst open and a servant ran in. She was young and small and her eyes were wide with terror. She screamed when she saw me and she tried to run but it was too late.
"No," I screamed inside my head. "Run! Get out of here!"
But the beast was faster. It lunged and it grabbed her by the throat and it lifted her off the ground. Her feet kicked and her hands clawed at my arm but she could not break free. Her eyes were filled with tears and her voice was choked with fear.
"Please," she whispered. "Please, do not hurt me."
The beast growled and its grip tightened and she cried out in pain.
I fought with everything I had. I pushed against the walls of my own mind and I screamed and I clawed and I begged for control. But the beast was too strong. It was too hungry. It was too angry.
Then Darlington ran in.
He saw the servant and he saw the beast and he saw me. He stopped in the doorway and his eyes were wide and his face was pale and I could see the fear in his expression. But he did not run and he did not scream and he did not call for the guards.
He stepped forward slowly and his voice was soft and calm.
"Jayce," he said. "It is me. It is your brother. Let her go."
The beast hesitated and its grip loosened slightly.
Darlington stepped closer and he kept speaking and his voice cut through the rage like a blade. "I know you are in there. I know you can hear me. You are stronger than this. You have always been stronger than this."
The beast growled and it did not release the servant.
Darlington reached out and he touched my face and his hand was warm and steady and it did not shake. He looked into my eyes and he said, "Fight it. You are stronger than this. You are stronger than the curse. You are stronger than the beast."
Something flickered in the beast’s eyes. Recognition. It knew him. It knew his voice and it knew his touch and it knew that he was not a threat.
The beast howled and it released the servant. She collapsed to the floor and she scrambled away and she disappeared through the door.
But the beast did not stop. It turned and it lunged at Darlington and it pinned him against the wall. Its fangs were inches from his throat and it was growling and snarling and I could not stop it.
"Jayce," Darlington said. He did not scream and he did not fight and he did not try to push me away. He just looked into my eyes and he said, "I know you are in there. Come back to me. Please. I need you."
The beast hesitated.
Something shifted in its eyes and something changed in its posture. The rage flickered and faded and for just a moment, I was in control.
Brother, I said inside my head. I am sorry. I am so sorry. I did not mean to hurt her. I did not mean to hurt you.
I know, Darlington said. I know you did not. Just come back to me. Please.
The beast howled and it released Darlington and it collapsed to the floor. I lay there gasping and shaking and my body was screaming and my mind was spinning and I could not move.
Darlington knelt beside me and his hand was on my shoulder. "It is okay," he said. "You are okay. You are safe. I am here."
I looked at him and I could not speak.
But I knew one thing.
The beast was not gone. It was waiting. And it would come back.
Comments