Black Heart by K. L. Rymer

Author:K. L. Rymer [Rymer, K. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K.L.Rymer
Published: 2019-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

16. Crystal

I feel the ground sink beneath my feet.

That voice... it sounds like Eli’s, but those words belong to someone else. Someone cruel and sinister, and I open the door.

I open to a room of hazy smoke and cover my nose, but it’s too late. It seeps through my nostrils and down my throat, and I let out a racking cough.

Tears drip from my eyes as I peer back up. Eli finally materialises through the smoke, a remorseful expression on his face.

He holds a cigar, and I start to back away, feeling my heart breaking piece by piece.

That’s not my Eli. That’s a stranger spouting cruel words like scumbag and bastard, and I grip my chest.

And White... I never missed that word...

He was talking about my father.

Eli puts the cigar inside an ashtray and rises to his feet, his frozen exterior cracking at last. “Crystal...”

Heavy gasps leave my lips and I stumble out the room, running down a random hall to escape that stranger.

My feet move of their own accord, their direction aimless as I speed through dark, shadowy corridors, then up a set of stairs.

I have no idea where I’m going, so long as I get as far away from that man as possible.

He’d tricked me; I’d been a fool to think he’d ever love a girl like me.

His other words echo through my mind, something about him saying he was in love with me, but they fade to black, forgotten in the painful aftermath of his betrayal.

Now his true colours shine through at last.

I need to get far away from here. There must be a way out of this awful mansion.

I trot down one long corridor, the sound of my ragged breaths bouncing off the walls.

My heart races when I see an open window and I rush forth, gazing over the grounds.

It’s not too far down below. At least fifteen feet. If I try to roll when I land, then I may make it.

So I climb up and place my legs over the window sill, count three Mississippi’s, then haul myself down. My arms shake as I hold onto the ledge, hoarse breaths escaping my lips.

It’s too late now, I’m stuck. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t pull myself back up. My arms are too weak, shaking with the pressure of my body weight, and I grind my teeth.

My sweaty hands start to slip from the ledge, and then a weightless sensation takes over.

I’m falling.

Someone grabs the scruff of my jacket next, yanking me back up to the window, and I come face to face with Eli.

“What the fuck, Crystal?!” he snarls close to my face, and I wince, squirming.

He’s the last person I want to see.

“Get off me!”

Eli grips my jacket tighter, cutting off my airway, and now I’m forced to look into his furious grey eyes. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

I get a whiff of that awful cigar on his breath and push him away, my hands against his chest. “I said, get

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