\[Elise's POV\]
Pain radiates through me. Everything hurts, from my hair to the tips of my toes. It's a burning pain that flares with the slightest of movements, and it makes me wonder if William and I went too hard earlier.
Groaning, I attempt to move my body in hopes of finding a position that would help relieve the pain, only to find that I'm being held in place by something.
Eyes flying open, I begin to look around me, only to find that I'm not on the balcony of William's family's penthouse. Instead, I'm what looks to be a cathedral with rows of pews that are occupied by the cloaked bastards that we are hunting.
They sit and watch me as I continue to take in my surroundings until I understand what is happening. This was another glimpse into what the enemy was doing, and although it felt like I was in my body, I was actually in the body of their next victim.
No. I hiss inwardly, trying to figure out what I could do to help whoever this person was, but I was nothing more than a spectator to what was happening.
Looking down, I find that the person's body is completely bare and covered in slashes that allow their blood to flow freely onto the marble slab they are lying on. If I had to guess, I was sure that the same diagram I saw on the night of Serenity's birth was beneath them and that soon they would suffer the same fate as the last victim.
Where is this? I hiss, deciding that if I couldn't do anything to save them, I could at least try to get an idea of where they were hiding to stop this from continuing.
I knew it was a cathedral; that much was certain, from the pews to the vaulted ceiling with the depiction of a beast that resembled a large wolf with glowing red eyes and wings. But that was all I could get from this.
Was this somewhere near Emerald Moon? Was it somewhere far away? How could I determine exactly when I couldn't even see the outside of the place?
Panic growing, I continue to search for something—anything that could give me an idea—but stop as a shadow begins to cast over me.
Snapping my gaze in the direction it is coming from, I feel my eyes widen as my father stares down at me with a look of amusement on his face.
“Well, well,” he chuckles, leaning in close as he examines me. “It seems that you hid something from me.”
Eyes widening, I try to determine if he is talking to the person I'm possessing or to me. Since this shouldn't be anything more than a vision, there was no way he sensed me, right?
“Don't try to hide,” he continues, lifting a knife and placing its cold metal against my throat. “I wonder,” he continues, pressing it down harder so pain radiates through me from where it cuts. “Do you also feel what the one you are possessing feels?”
Shit. He was talking to me. He was definitely talking to me, which meant that he now knew I had a small glimpse into where he and his crazy freaks were hiding.
“Shall we test it?” He continues, running the blade along my skin so that a line of fire is left behind.
‘What's happening?’ Anna hisses, suddenly appearing. ‘Where is this?’
‘I don't know.’ I respond as my father continues to stare down at me. ‘But wherever it is, we need to get the hell away!’
Wake up! I growl inwardly, hoping that it will snap me out of this realistic vision. Wake the hell up, Elise!
Closing my eyes, I continue to push, willing myself to wake the fuck up, but stop as another line of fire is drawn across my chest.
Eyes flying open, I watch as my father lifts his knife, positioning it right above where my heart should be, and when he brings it down, pain shoots through me, sending me crashing into darkness that leaves me toppling until I find myself laying where I should be with William's arms wrapped tightly around me.
Gasping, I shoot up, startling the man beside me, but when he jumps up and begins to frantically look around for what has scared me, I just stare down at the injuries that still remain on my body.
“Shit,” I hiss, trying to ignore the muscle and bone I see where that bastard barely skimmed my heart. “He wasn't trying to kill me.”
As I speak, the world around me begins to spin, and I realize that even if he wasn't aiming to kill me, he still injured me enough to do some damage.
“Hey,” I rasp, turning my bleary gaze to William's terrified one. “Do you happen to know a healer who can get here quickly?”
“Why?” He demands as I feel myself beginning to fade. “What the hell happened? How did you...”
“Please, find somebody.” I whisper before the world disappears.
“Elise.”
The voice is soft, and something about it stirs an odd emotion in me, beckoning me to come forward and out of the darkness that is slowly consuming me.
“Elise, honey, please hold on.”
As the voice wraps around me, warm hands touch me, tethering me to wherever it is that I currently am and pushing away the chill that is slowly flowing through me.
“Who?” I whisper, trying to pry open my heavy eyelids. “Who are…”
“Elise.”
Slowly, the world around me begins to come into view, so I can see that I'm laying in a field of wild flowers where a soft breeze brushes against me and the warm sun shines down between the swaying branches of trees.
My body feels light, and as I begin to sit up, I take in the person beside me, who I can only assume was calling me.
She's beautiful, with glowing blue eyes and dark, wavy hair that dances around her lean frame. And she's staring at me with so much emotion that I don't even need to think for a second about who she could be. How could I not recognize her when she looked so much like me and Denali?
“Mom?” I whisper, trying to fight the torrent of emotions that are beginning to erupt in me before anger takes all their places. “Why?”
Why was she here after all this time of being absent? Was this a final grace from the Ggoddess before I was sent to hell for all my misdeeds? How fucking ironic that this was happening.
“After twenty-four years of absence, you’re here now.” I sigh, getting myself together. “Then go on.” I continue. “Tell me you're sorry for not being a part of my life and for getting rid of me. That’s why you’re here, right?”