False Confidence

Amends

Azriel Haung
(TW: TORTURE)

"Awww poor pup..you're bleeding..." Natalia cooed, nuzzling the side of my knee with a deceptively affectionate vigor. I shook viciously, the knife moving agonizingly slow against the sensitive skin. She hadn't quite applied enough pressure to break skin, but if I continued this uncontrollable trembling, it would surely draw blood.

I didn't see why I tried anymore, to prevent further wounds. Perhaps it was the innate survival instincts, screaming at me to prevent yet another cut of her knife. Even if I had ceased the tremors, it would not stop her from slicing the soft flesh all the same. The entirety of my thigh had been cut up in a similar manner, her deft hands taunting and teasing with sharp blades.

"So pretty...you could have been a disciple if not for the thing between your legs." Natalia mused, scrunching her nose at my bareness. I hadn't the energy to feel the humiliation of it all, simply lolling my head to the side so I wouldn't have to see the mop of auburn curls and sickly pale skin. She tutted in offense, digging in the knife while ferociously pulling it across my skin before retracting the cruel weapon.

I choked out my pain, trying my best to keep the screams deep in my throat. Only heavy grunts came slipping past my lips, the nagging flame of anguish flaring from my leg.

Natalia's thin lips curled into an oily grin, her cold hand swiping across the expanse of ruined flesh, bringing up her now bloodied palm for inspection. As if it weren't already a sickening display of sadism, the woman simply cupped her hidden cheek with it beneath the veil, reveling in the feel of blood against her skin. The feeling of my pain, so fresh and real.

"I need...more!"

~

I awoke cold with sweat, my skin damp and trembling. The loud gasp I had released was nothing short of terrified. Despite the stillness of my room and the familiar scent wrapped around me, I could not shake the fear that had its vice grip on my racing heart. Slight shaking had quickly formed into teeth-chattering tremors that shook the mattress. The air couldn't pass through my lungs fast enough. The dark colors of my room were whorling into inky blackness, the pressure in my chest begging for release.

"Az.." A voice probed with aching concern.

"Azriel." It repeated, sounding more comforting, as if realization had finally set in on what was occurring. My rapid panting had finally taken to slowing, the pitch black splotches spotting my vision, ebbing into nothing. After a long moment of simply letting my breath ease into normality, I directed my weary gaze towards the owner of the voice.

Wren was still on high alert, with eyes widened and brows furrowed, anyone with a nose could smell the worry off of the male. I offered up a weak smile in reassurance, as if to tell him that everything was alright. From the glint in his brooding eyes, I could tell he didn't believe me whatsoever.

"Nightmare." I rasped, sitting up slightly before a large hand clung on to my shirt.

"Lay down, it's still nighttime." Wren insisted, his voice husky from the late hour.

I hesitantly heeded the advice, rolling on my side to cup the plush pillow to my cheek. Exhaustion was still present, making my eyelids feel similar to lead yet the fear of Natalia meeting me on the other side of consciousness remained. It made finding sleep, once more, fairly difficult.

Wren didn't say anything more, the mattress springing back up in the absence of his weight. I grimaced slightly, feeling unbearably cold with the absence of his heat.

The disappointment was short lived, a form coming to lay on the opposite side of the bed. There was an appropriate space between us from what I could gather, not close enough to be touching but in reaching distance of one another. Yet close enough to the extent that all I smelled was him, all I heard was him—with every soft inhale and exhale as well as the faint beat of his heart.