Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 91 | A Motherly Hug

Euphemia couldn't breathe.

She couldn't freaking breathe. There was loads of suffocating water surrounding her, crashing violently in waves above her head as some unknown force dragged her down to the bottom, tugging and tugging whilst she desperately raised her arms up, trying to swim out of the dark mass that was swallowing her up.

Mia attempted to scream for help but her mouth opening only allowed the water to choke her, tightening her chest as her lungs begged for air, for any oxygen or release from the prison of water they had been trapped in. She kicked her legs desperately but something kept pulling her down, again and again, even as she managed to tug herself away. It kept coming back, never failing to haunt her and pull her down to the bottom.

"You're coming with me," a familiar voice suddenly hissed, low and malicious, and a shiver ran down Euphemia's spine, making her look over her shoulder for who had spoken, still floating underneath the water. Her body had stopped struggling now, almost as if it had accepted it's fate but fear was looming over her, like a huge shadow enveloping her in it's grip, not letting her go.

Mia was abruptly whirled around, making her scream loudly but only bubbles came out of her mouth, her hair floating out in all directions as she kicked her legs again, trying to escape from this underwater hell but she soon realised that the weight on her foot was that of a person, another person pulling her down and she peered at this mysterious figure, trying to ascertain who it was.

Orion Black. Orion Black glared up at her, his eyes dark and cruel as he tightened his grip on her ankle, tugging her down even further no matter how much she struggled in his vice-like hold, wiggling her foot desperately to try and free herself of the manacle that was his hand. "Go away!" Euphemia shouted at him but he simply sneered, pulling her even further away from the surface.

"You may have escaped once but you won't do it again. I will find you again," Orion threatened her, his eyes narrowing as Mia's breathing became ragged, the water rushing around her, the currents becoming stronger and more vicious as she tried and tried to pull away, tears now pouring down her face (not that you could see them - they just rolled off her cheeks into the violent waves).

"Mia, you can't run. You can't hide. Wherever you go, I will find you. Mia, you need to stop screaming because no one is going to hear you. Mia, you need to-"

"WAKE UP!" Charlus yelled at his girlfriend, frantically shaking her shoulder to try and break her out from her deep slumber as she writhed around on the bed, the covers wrapped around her ankles like manacles as she sobbed into her pillow, moving around like she was trying to gain height.

It was the middle of the night and the entirety of Charlus' bedroom was bathed in darkness, except for the soft glow that was coming from the end of his wand, which he had scrambled for as soon as he heard Euphemia screaming. At first, he had been frightened because he had thought she was actually being hurt but had soon realised that Mia was just having another nightmare, except this time it was much more violent than the ones in the past.

Even though she had been having a wonderful time at the Potters, nightmares had plagued Euphemia's sleep ever since she had been rescued from the wedding. She may have acted like she was alright, Mia may have even thought that she was doing alright, but the reality was that something as psychologically damaging as nearly being trapped in a marriage with one's disgusting cousin didn't just leave one's mind, no matter the situation.

The nightmares hadn't actually been that bad so far - Euphemia had mostly been able to snap herself out of the bad dreams and curl into Charlus' side, whimpering a little but feeling comforted when his sleepy hand would rake through her hair comfortingly. The only occasion when she had been truly unsettled had been when she had accidentally whacked Charlus with her pillow but Mia had managed to wake herself up out of that.