Kept: A why-choose Rapunzel retelling (Forbidden Fairytales) by Evelyn Flood

Author:Evelyn Flood [Flood, Evelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

26 - Zella

I wake up alone.

Stirring, my eyes blink open to the clean white ceiling overhead. I turn my face to the side, but there’s no one there. Ryder escorted me to my room last night, refusing to engage further after our argument in the kitchen and nudging me into my bedroom with a clipped ‘goodnight’.

I did not, in fact, have a good night. I had a sleepless one, tossing and turning mixed with nightmares. I saw Ethan, reaching out for me with his hands on fire. Ryder, small and frightened in a dark room as people advanced on him. Dante, his smooth face twisted and tortured as if he could feel the fire crawling over him as his face melted into grotesque shapes.

My whole body aches as I try to roll out of bed, but I’m stopped by a sharp and sudden pain in my abdomen that makes my body hunch over. It lasts a few seconds, enough for me to realize exactly what this is. My eyes squeeze closed just as I feel the wetness between my legs.

Oh, no.

Ripping the covers off, I let out a mortified squeak at the drops of red covering the clean white bedding, frantically counting days in my head until I come to the inevitable conclusion that yes, this is that time of the month already. Just in time for me to fold over at the second spike of agony that drags across my lower half, reverberating up into my back.

It spreads down to my thighs, and I stumble into the bathroom, holding onto myself so I don’t make any more of a mess than I already have. It takes me a few tries to work out the shower, and my hair trails out as I yank off my dress and climb in, letting the water wash over my stomach and thighs. When the pain hits again, this time working up my upper thighs, I can’t hold back my groan.

I sit down on the floor of the shower, and the water flows over me as I contemplate my options. The pain continues until tears track down my face, washing away in the spray of the shower when I tilt it up.

Finally, the water begins to run cold, and I climb out. I’m shivering all over, the pain starting to increase in waves of agony that make my eyes blur as I grab my dress from the floor and try to tie it around myself. I don’t have any packs here to help.

“Stupid,” I groan as I stumble back to my bed. “Stupid, Zella.”

I fold over from the pain radiating from my abdomen, losing track of time until there’s a banging at the door. “Zella?”

Maverick sounds worried. I didn’t come down for breakfast. Weakly, I raise my head. “Don’t come in!”

“Why?” he calls out. “What’s the matter?”

I’m too embarrassed to answer him, burying my head into the pillows instead.

The banging intensifies. Much to my mortification, I can hear Ryder and Enzo out there too, demanding to know why the door is locked and calling my name.

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