A jerking motion roused Ava from a deep sleep. Her body rocked back and forth, her head lolling to the side.
It was difficult to come to complete consciousness. She opened her eyes halfway to the vine design in the window and knew she was still in the tower room on the island. Her eyes struggled to steady in the movement, until she finally realized her arm was being tugged at from the side of the bed.
She turned her head to look, but the room was pitch black save for a little light from the moon. Then, her eyes adjusted to something next to her bed, dark and out of place. It could not be made out, but it was more than some obscure object in the shadows — it was making sloppy gushing sounds — only inches away from her.
Ava tried to scurry away from it by first pulling her arm back to her but couldn't. Her arm tugged and emptiness washed down through her the more she rocked, the more it continued. Drowsiness came back to her, but she forced herself to stay alert to the thing next to her out of terror and an insane curiosity. Finally, just as her eyes adjusted again, it rose an inch.
The eyes came over the mattress and she was looking at Layton.
His tongue was lapping away at her arm, her arm that she couldn't feel or move; it was shredded. He had to have been enjoying himself by her bed for a while now. His eyes stared back, unblinking, as he continued. A piece of leaf fell from his hair, down between his unmoving lashes and lay on his eye... where it stayed, like it had fallen down on a glossy piece of glass. And he continued his empty gaze. Continued his lapping.
"Ehhahhh!" Ava screamed and tried to jump away from him, suddenly afraid of losing her humanly bounds to this earth again, but her other arm stopped her where she was. She whipped her head to it hysterically — it was chained to the bed.
He let go of her arm and blood gushed from his open mouth. She began thrashing wildly in terror, kicking her legs at him and screaming until the cuff broke from her wrist.
"Shhh." He came after her, wrapping his arms around her until she was crushed against his chest. "It's okay."
YOU ARE READING
Vitality (Vitality Series #1)
RomanceA violent passion. A dangerous bond. A nightmare that will change everything. To Ava, love is about as real as fairytales. But it might be that fairytales, myths, and magic have some truth to them after all - as well as the monsters that lie in the...
