Chapter 57: .•24.1•.

Black. He had black eyes. Those previously dark brown eyes of his had turned completely black. There was no sclera around them. No iris. Just...black. Completely black. Devoid of any light. Any soul. And his mouth...it wasn't normal anymore. His lips weren't looking that appealing anymore. Because there were sharp, jagged teeth protruding from in between them. Making him look like the most frightening demon that she had ever seen.

She froze with shock. Horror. Revulsion. She couldn't even move. She could only stare. Her horrified reflection glinting into those black and endless pits of his. It didn't help. The fact that he was still wearing that weird dia de los muertos face paint. If anything, it even made him look all the more horrifying. More difficult to look at.

No. This was the demon's doing, she reminded herself. It had to be. He was toying with them both now. He had just indirectly admitted that he'd been tampering with Nicholas' mind. What if he was toying with hers now too? Making her see Nicholas as a hideous monster.

Her hand tentatively rose, timid and trembling. Reaching out to touch Nicholas' cheek. She didn't get to. Because there was a much larger one firmly wrapping around her slender wrist. Holding it so tightly. He had...claws instead of nails now. And his fingers didn't look normal anymore. They were black. As if tipped in black paint. And they ended in long, sharp and scary-looking claws. The kind that you only see in horror movies.

Her breath hitched within her throat. Staring between those demon-y eyes of his with nothing but fear. Uncertainty.

"Maul her," that dark and gravelly voice said from somewhere into the room. A direct order aimed at Nicholas.

Diana couldn't help but whimper as that grip on her wrist tightened, pulling her closer to him.

"N-no, don't," she futilely tugged at her hurting hand, trying to set herself free. But he only tightened his hold, the girl's eyes filling with unshed tears as that pain intensified. Her bones threatening to snap from the added force.

"Nicholas...please..." she begged, pushing and slapping at his chest to no avail. He wouldn't let her go.

"Please..." she started to struggle and fight harder, pushing and kicking at him with everything she had. Every ounce of power left in her. She squirmed against him, legs kicking in the air and her free hand punching at his chest. It literally didn't do anything to help her case. He was way too strong. And so far gone, apparently. Gone was that sentient Nicholas. That defiant and stubborn vampire. And in his place was this cold and unfeeling creature. This merciless monster.

She loudly screamed as he added just a little bit more pressure, hearing that slight crunch in her wrist. He'd cracked her bones. And it hurt so incredibly much. The pain was almost unbearable. She'd never broken a bone before, so she evidently had no idea what it felt like. Until now. She wanted to scream her lungs out. Throw up.

He finally let go of her hand. The girl only getting to breathe once before he suddenly wrapped his hand around her throat. The girl's eyes immediately widened with utter horror, staring between Nicholas' black eyes.

She whimpered, her healthy hand wrapping around his strong wrist. Uselessly trying to make him let go of her.

"No!" She croaked out, slapping and scratching at his hand. Feeling it squeeze tighter and tighter around her throat. Sweet, merciful God. He was going to kill her. Snap her neck the way that he did with her wrist. She started to desperately kick and punch at him again, unfortunately only managing to land a small slap over his cheek.

He growled with anger, yanking at her body. Effortlessly throwing her across the room. She painfully landed on her back somewhere on the hard-wooden floor, smacking the back of her head against it. Whitish dots immediately filled her vision. The world around her spun for a moment, that pain in her wrist intensifying. She couldn't contain that whimper that escaped her,

tears trailing down the sides of her face as she laid there. Struggling to remain conscious.

"Yessss..."

There was a cruel and mocking laughter resounding in the background, the sound muffled and barely audible. She tried to move, letting out a moan as soon as another jolt of thundering pain flared to life in her wrist. Effectively stopping her. She turned on her side, slowly and shakily clutching that injured wrist to her chest. Letting out small and helpless sobs. It hurt. It hurt so damn much. But she only got to lie there like that for a few short-lived moments as suddenly and out of nowhere, there was a stabbing pain in her right thigh. The forceful pressure making her land on her back again. She cried out, her desperate wail reverberating through the whole bloody manor.

"Yesss! That's it! Hurt her, my slave!" That cruel laughter resounded yet again.

Her vision blurred from all those tears, but she could still see Nicholas' hideous and distorted figure as he hovered above her. Cold and unfeeling. Equally impassive and unaffected by her pain. Her desperate screams.

She forced herself to have a look downwards on her body, only to notice his claws deeply buried into her flesh. Blood slowly gushing out of the wounds and making a gruesome mess on her thigh as he held her like that. Pinned to the floor.

Her head swam again. Inciting that nauseating sensation. She wanted to throw up. She felt so sick, and she could barely breathe through the pain now. There were beads of perspiration rapidly forming on her skin. Her temples. Her upper lip. She turned her head to the side, her chest heaving with every wheezing breath that she took.

Those claws twitched into her thigh and she let out another heartbroken wail, followed by that booming voice.

"Yes! Kill her, my bloodthirsty little servant!"

"Give her to me!"

She could only turn to stare up at Nicholas again, her vision blurring and distorting as her head continued to swim. Battling between reality and unconsciousness.