Adhira:

My eyes fluttered open again. This time, I was determined to find a way to avoid any encounters with Nyx for as long as possible. She was starting to act up out of boredom and it seemed as if she wanted to play with her prey before the kill. And I wasn't willing to take that torture any longer. She didn't even let me take a proper nap last day. The emotional strain was too much to handle. And I needed rest. I was certain that I would never stand a chance against her and this was a punishment bestowed upon us for our carelessness.

I walked in a direction completely away from the hill and the tower. I walked through the dense trees to find a quiet spot. I just wanted to nap before she found me. I picked up my pace to jog through as the wind blew across my face. Canopies hovered high above me, possibly covering Nyx's line of view.

The gravel and coarse soil crunched beneath my sandals. I slowed down as beads of sweat began to gather on my forehead and my breath heaved. I had covered a considerable distance. Walking around a boulder, I found the mouth of a large cave made of stone. I hesitantly took silent steps to explore the insides. The light seemed to reach in, dimly illuminating the dead end. Nobody was around and so I decided to lay down on the side to conceal myself.

I dozed off with my head against my knees and my back to a dark corner. My breath slowed down and my fatigue pulled me into sleep.

Survival. Survival. That was all that ran through my mind. I knew it was an innate instinct to want to survive... although I had absolutely no reason to. Was I scared of death? Maybe I was. Nobody knows what lay ahead of permanent sleep. I've heard terrifying stories of people feeling pain even after they're deemed dead. Going to heaven after seemed like a hoax to make the idea of death less dreadful.

The heaviness of my grief suffocated me as I walked through the rubble of my home. Empty roads, the stillness in the air and the eerie silence. Soon, anticipation replaced the sadness. A shiver traveled down my spine as I realized there were no people in the rubble.

Not a word left my mouth as I looked around, frantically searched around. I sprinted away from my home and whipped my head left to right trying to find anyone. Silent madness filled my head as I longed to see the people who were wiped without a trace.

Tears fell as I began shoving rubble aside near an unknown house like an insane person. I longed to see some life, some noise, or someone's voice. Just about anything to save my sanity. I screamed in frustration only to not hear my own voice.

The nightmare immediately dispersed as I was jolted awake by a voice. Relief immediately filled me at the sound of a voice.

"No, please don't hurt her. I'll do anything," she begged.

"Oh sure you will," a gruff voice taunted her.

The enormous man came into my line of view as he stared at me with a sneer. I gulped looking at the sheer size of his stature. He was surely a shifter and had olive skin and brown eyes. The girl who tried to stop him looked human with blue eyes, unnaturally pink hair, and pale skin.

I was certainly confused until he grabbed me by my arm and shoved the girl away forcibly. It was then that I knew something was terribly wrong. He pinned me against the wall as I began to struggle in perplexity.

"I wonder who's toy you are. But you sure do look more interesting than the one that I was given," he smirked.

I still shook my head not quite catching on with what he wanted. The dream probably fogged my brain.

He eyed me down and tore my shirt down the middle. Horror and realization hit me making me scream my lungs out.

"I didn't even hurt you yet. How feisty, " he chuckled.

"Nyx. Nyx. Nyx. Please find me," I whispered as tears rolled down my cheeks.

He cackled, "You're Invicta Nyx's plaything? I might be more exciting than her, don't you think?"

I spat at his face and screamed, "Keep your filthy paws off me!"

He wiped it off and glared, "You bitch!"

He slipped his hand down my pants as I struggled in disgust, "You think you're tough? I'll tear you from the inside."

My breath got shallower as he slipped his finger in. As I prepared to receive the sharp pain from his retracting claw, he was pulled away and I fell to the ground on my fours. I scrambled away unscathed physically and almost sobbed in relief. There stood Nyx looking absolutely livid and murderous, holding my perpetrator by the scruff of his neck.

"How dare you touch what's mine," she all but growled. The hair on my neck stood as I quivered under the authority of her voice and so did he. The pink-haired girl tried to hide near a dark corner.

"I-" He didn't get to finish before she broke his neck at an odd angle. I never screamed louder before. She then plunged her hand into his chest, plucked out his beating heart, and crushed it in her hands. The squish of the organ between her fingers made me want to hurl. My ears rang as I began to hyperventilate and panic.

Soon she was grimly dragging me along with her bloody hands as I muttered, "No. No. Please. No." continuously as if that would ease my situation and make her show mercy on me for an unknown reason that seemed to be lost in my chaotic mind.

She stopped by a stream, "Wash up. You smell like him."

I quickly stepped into the water despite the cold temperature of the stream. I felt ashamed of the turn of events due to my carelessness and I shut my eyes as the ring began to die down in my ears.

"Stop overthinking," she said.

"You killed him. He was one of your people," I murmured.

"And I will over and over again if he dares tread this land alive."

She stepped into the water and began washing off the blood as I tried not to retch the contents of my stomach. I just stood still in the stream with my arms around my torso. She scoffed and approached me as if to help me wash up. She proceeded to tear off the remains of my shirt as I tried to turn away from her reach.

"Stay still! Why would you run off the path? Do you know how dangerous it is?" She rebuked me as she sat me down in the water.

"Take off your clothes," she instructed.

"What... no! You can't make me do that," I protested.

She glared, "You know I can make you do anything. You're not in control here."

I shuddered and proceeded to strip my clothes with trembling fingers. With every layer off, I shrunk down into water hoping to cover up. She watched me with her predatory eyes as I tried to diminish any fight left in me. It was pointless. I was supposed to be dead in the first place...

"Don't fight me, " she instructed as she reached out to wash me thoroughly. My eyes burned with unshed tears as she gently rubbed every inch of my skin making me feel violated. The helplessness settled in as I surrendered to her demeanor and raw power. 

She closed the distance between us and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "It's no longer my intention to cause you harm. You don't have to be scared."

I slumped forward in exhaustion and my forehead pressed against her sternum. My tears began to flow and I sobbed against her as she held my naked body against her clothed self. My legs gave way and she had me upright.

I had absolutely no idea where she found a blanket for me but I was exhausted and numb from pain. I just wished that things could've been done differently. She just bridal-carried me up the hill as my cheek rested on her shoulder. My long, wet hair hung and fluttered in the gentle breeze.

My mind swirled with the mess of emotions and pointless prayers hoping that this was just a dream. Hoping that maybe humans managed to reverse the situation of diminishing wildlife on the planet. Hoping that this was just a simulation to teach us our consequences... To make us beg for forgiveness from these superior creatures.

I let out a dry laugh as I thought about the accord that the governments of the world created to cut the remaining forests to accommodate the excess population. I closed my eyes and recalled the immense protests that rang all over the world against this... the amount of effort that it took to make the entire world stand up against it and to finally abolish that accord and bring in control of the population.

I thought we were heading toward a brighter future. But, look where we are now... We're stuck in a curse. We're paying for our actions.

I began slipping from reality.  Soon I was lost in a disturbing abyss of sleep in the arms of my nemesis.

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