Pain was the first thing I became aware of. Not physical pain, though that was there too…hot and searing in my core. It didn’t compare to the other. This pain was staggering. My heart had been flayed open and my soul had been shattered, scattered in millions of tiny bits that drifted lazily inside my body, carving away pieces of me as they went. My breath came in broken, ragged sobs as hot tears spilled from my eyes to flood my cheeks.
Someone was screaming. Haunted and hysterical wails carried through the air that chilled me to my very bones. It wasn’t until sometime later that I realized the screams were my own. Even then, I couldn’t stop them.
Eyes squeezed shut, I thrashed and lashed at the hands that attempted to touch me. The touch was gentle, probably even meant to be soothing. I rejected it anyway. Something in the back of my twisted and tortured mind told me this was a friendly. This touch meant me no harm. But, that didn’t matter to me now.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Behind my sealed eyelids, his face floated before my eyes.
Nikolas. Strong jaw, perfectly curved cheekbones, crooked nose, and the most amazingly beautiful blue eyes. His face was still breathtaking, but in his beauty lay my horror now as his electric blue eyes slowly closed, chest stilled with the absence of breath.
I screamed again. I screamed and wailed as my throat burned and ached with the force of the sounds my broken heart and soul demanded of me, sounding like a banshee hailing an impending death. They were the only sounds I was capable of making, screams and wails…and sobs. So, I made them until I exhausted my vocal cords. But, that only meant that no one else could hear my cries, no one but me. The screaming went on for an eternity in my head. Then, at last, eternity ended.