Chapter 222 Chapter 222

Chapter 222 Chapter 222
Violet

It was time to prove that yesterday's rest had fixed whatever was wrong with me.

I picked up my digital pen and touched it to the tablet.

And my hand obeyed me.

Relief flooded through me as I sketched out a concept for a bracelet, then another for a pendant. They were all normal designs, beautiful but unremarkable, exactly what I should be creating.

There were no wolves, thorns or compulsive repetition or loss of control.

I'd been right. It had just been stress and exhaustion. Nothing supernatural or strange, just my brain and body telling me I needed rest.

I worked through the morning with growing confidence, creating design after design, each one coming easily and naturally. This was what I was good at, what I was meant to do.

By lunch, I had a small collection of concepts ready to present to the team. I felt productive and competent and almost happy.

Maybe everything really would be okay.

Maybe, just maybe, I could get my life back under control.

The afternoon passed in a similar blur of productivity. I attended a team meeting, reviewed some preliminary metalwork samples, and discussed timeline expectations with the project manager.

By the time I packed up to leave for the day, I felt almost optimistic.

I gathered my things and headed for the elevator, nodding to colleagues as I passed. The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside, pressing the button for the parking garage.

As the doors started to close, a hand shot out, stopping them.

Elijah stepped into the elevator, and suddenly the spacious elevator felt cramped and airless.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Heading out home as well."

I only nodded because seeing him brought back everything I had spent the day forgetting.

The elevator doors slid shut, and suddenly the spacious car felt impossibly small.

I pressed myself against the back wall, trying to maintain some distance, trying to breathe normally despite the way Elijah's presence seemed to fill every available inch of space. 

I could feel his eyes on me, could sense the weight of his gaze even though I kept my own firmly fixed on the illuminated floor numbers above the door. The mechanical hum of the elevator seemed too loud in the silence, each second stretching into eternity.

The car started its descent but I felt we were just not moving at all.

My heart was beating too fast, my palms slightly damp. 

Then suddenly the lights above my head flickered.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. The fluorescent bulbs sputtered, dimmed, brightened, then dimmed again. The steady illumination became erratic, throwing strange shadows across the elevator's interior.

"The lift must have a technical issue," Elijah said immediately, his voice carefully calm as he moved toward the control panel. His finger jabbed at buttons, trying different combinations. "But we'll get down at the next floor safely. Nothing to worry about."

But I was barely listening, barely hearing his words over the sudden roaring in my ears.

Because the visions that had mercifully left me alone all day were returning with a vengeance.

The elevator walls seemed to warp, to bend inward like they were made of something fluid rather than solid metal. The space contracted, growing smaller and smaller until I felt like I was being crushed, compressed into an impossibly tiny box.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air into my lungs no matter how hard I tried.

"Violet?" Elijah's voice came from somewhere far away. "Are you okay?"

I couldn't answer or form words. I could only stare straight ahead at the elevator doors as reality continued to fracture around me.

The lights flickered more violently now, strobing in a rhythm that made my vision blur and my stomach lurch.

"Violet, talk to me." Elijah's voice was closer now, edged with concern. "What's wrong?"

But I couldn't tear my eyes away from the doors, because they were changing.

The brushed metal surface was transforming from a solid piece of metal to something more fluid. It was becoming a mirror that showed not my reflection but something else entirely.

I clutched my chest, staring at it as memories of the manor, the mirror and the ornate frame I'd seen in my dreams and visions began to bombard me.

And inside the reflection there was movement. Shadows were taking shape in the depths of the glass.

My bag slipped from nerveless fingers, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Pens and papers scattered across the elevator floor, but I couldn't look away from the doors.

“Violet, what’s wrong? You’ve gone pale.” Elijah asked but I couldn’t hear his words clearly.

I could only stare at the elevator door that now looked exactly like the mirror and in it was the woman from my dreams. 

The witch from the manor was trying to crawl out of the mirror's surface like it was made of water rather than solid glass.

Her hair hung in dark, tangled curtains around her face. Her eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, fixed on me with terrible intensity. Her mouth moved, forming words I couldn't hear but somehow understood.

He is going to kill me. Save me!

Her hand reached through the surface, fingers extended toward me as I plastered myself to the wall behind me.

“No, go away! Leave me alone!” I screamed and Elijah was in front of me.

“Who are you talking to? There’s nobody here.”

But the woman smiled wickedly when he turned his back to her.

Kill him! Kill him!

She repeated pointing a hand at Elijah and when I looked at him, his eyes were pitch black again.

A scream tore from my throat without conscious thought, raw and terrified and utterly beyond my control.

“Nooo! Leave me!”

I fought against the strong arms that tried to wrap around me immediately, pulling me back from the doors, from the reaching hand, from the horror manifesting before my eyes.

But I struggled against his hold with all the energy I could muster, biting and clawing at him.

“Let me go!!”

But he didn’t. I thrashed against his hold as he tried to say something but I was too terrified to process.

The memory of how black eyed Elijah had raised a knife and sliced through my neck occupied my entire mind, driving out all the rational thoughts.

“Nooo!” 

I was screaming, my hair flying all around, my nails digging into his arm. His eyes were black and he was staring at me devilishly.

The woman continued to chant. He will kill me. He will kill you. He will kill us.

I couldn’t tell who either of us was anymore. Reality and the vision was blurring together, my mind failing to tell one apart from the either.

Save me. I will help you. Free me!

She said as she thrashed and banged at the mirror, blood seeping down her arms yet she showed no signs of stopping.