Chapter 18 ON THE BRINK OF DEATH
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SAMANTHA’S POV
I opened my eyes to a “normal” home
I sat on the edge of the couch, my hands folded tightly in my lap as my eyes slowly adjusted to the unfamiliar room. Cream colored walls. A modest ceiling fan humming softly. A framed picture of flowers hanging slightly crooked on the wall. It looked like any regular house. The kind of place people lived quiet lives in. The kind of place Kane would never choose. The kind I once lived in.
I shifted uneasily, my body still tense from the ride. Kate had insisted on blindfolding me before we came here. She said it was safer that way. That no chances could be taken. I understood her fear, truly, but now that I was here, a different kind of fear settled into my bones.
Where was the hideout she promised me?
Where were her brother’s men?
If this was it, then maybe I had given Kane too much credit, or maybe I had underestimated him completely. Either way, I knew one thing for certain. If he wanted me, he would find me. Before I even realized I was being hunted.
Kate noticed my silence and moved closer, crouching slightly in front of me. Her eyes were kind but alert, like someone who had learned never to relax fully.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “My brother and his men should be here any moment now. You’re safe.”
“Safe”
The word sounded foreign in my head. I hadn’t felt safe in so long that I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to feel like anymore. Still, I forced a small smile. It was the least I could do.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice shaky but sincere. “For helping me. I really am grateful.”
She huffed lightly. “You’ve said that more than a hundred times now.” Then her tone shifted, turning serious. “And you know it’s not without a price.”
My chest tightened.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I know.”
The room went quiet again. The fan continued its steady hum. Somewhere outside, a car passed. Life moved on as if mine wasn’t hanging by a thread.
Then it happened.
At first, it was just a faint sting on my arm. Light. Almost ignorable. I frowned and glanced down instinctively, pulling my sleeve aside.
The mark.
My breath caught in my throat.
The symbol burned faintly against my skin, glowing just enough to make my stomach drop. I sighed, what was it.?
The pain came again, stronger this time. Sharp and sudden. I gasped, clutching my arm as heat spread rapidly through my veins.
Then it exploded.
A scream tore out of me before I could stop it.
“Ahhhhh!”
I collapsed forward, my entire body jerking as the pain ripped through me like fire. It wasn’t just on my arm anymore. It was everywhere. Inside me. Beneath my skin. In my bones. It felt like I was being burned alive from the inside out.
Kate sprang into action immediately.
“What’s happening,” she shouted, panic flooding her voice as she rushed toward me.
“What’s happening to you.”
“My arm,” I cried out, barely able to form words. “It hurts. It hurts so much.”
She grabbed my sleeve and pulled it up without hesitation. The moment she saw the mark, her face became sad. The skin around it was glowing angrily, red and blistering, as if something invisible was pressed against it.
She tried to touch it and hissed, pulling her hand back instantly.
“It’s too hot,” she said, voice trembling. “I can’t even touch it.”
I screamed again, tears spilling freely now as the pain intensified. My head felt light. My vision blurred. I was slipping, drifting dangerously close to blacking out.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” Kate muttered, pacing in short frantic steps. “Why didn’t I think of this.
Why.”
“What is it,” I sobbed. “Please. What’s happening to me.”
The burning surged again, cruel and merciless.
“Make it stop,” I begged. “Please make it stop.”
She dropped to her knees in front of me, her hands shaking. “I can’t. I can’t stop it.”
“It’s the mutate mark,” she continued, her voice breaking. “Kane is controlling you from wherever he is. It only stops when you go back.”
“No,” I cried, shaking my head violently. “No. I can’t go back there. I can’t. Please help me, Kate.”
The pain was making me restless, frantic. My skin felt too tight. Too hot. I clawed at my clothes without thinking, desperate to escape my own body.
“Wait,” she said suddenly, jumping to her feet.
She ran to the fridge and returned moments later with a pack of ice clutched in her hands.
“This might help,” she said breathlessly. “It’ll calm it down. Just hold on.”
She pressed the ice against my arm.
The agony tripled instantly.
I screamed so loudly my throat burned. “Stop. Stop. Kate. Please stop.”
She pulled away immediately, horror shown across her face.
“We need to take you back,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I can’t,” I sobbed. “Don’t you understand. I can’t.”
“Then you’ll die,” she said bluntly, tears pooling in her eyes. “Your body will start rotting from the inside. You won’t survive this.”
The pain surged again, relentless. It felt like someone had set me on fire. I bit down hard on the fabric in my hands, trying to keep myself grounded, but it only grew worse.
Kate grabbed her phone with trembling fingers.
“Hello,” she said urgently. “I’m taking her back.”
A voice responded from the other end. Angry. Desperate.
“You can’t,” her brother said. “I’m almost there to take her.”
“She won’t make it,” Kate snapped. “She’ll die before you even arrive.”
“What do you mean?”
“The mutate control,” she said, her voice breaking. “It’s killing her.”
I heard him curse loudly through the phone. His rage spilled through the speaker, raw and violent.
“That bastard Kane,” he shouted. “I’ll feed his flesh to the dogs.”
I barely registered his words. I was drowning in pain. Everything else faded into noise.
“I’m sorry,” Kate said firmly. “She needs to go back now. We can’t risk her life for your obsession.”
“My obsession,” he yelled. “This is about her. She’s suffering there. What’s the difference between what she’s feeling now and what Kane will do to her.”
Kate didn’t answer.
“Bye, Savy,” she said, ending the call.
She turned to me, her face tight with resolve and guilt. “We’re leaving. Now.”
I nodded weakly, tears still streaming down my face. My body felt heavy. Cold. Detached. The pain was still there, but something else crept in beneath it.
Darkness.
As she helped me up, my legs buckled slightly. My vision blurred completely now. The room spun. The last thing I felt was the burning still raging inside me, and the terrifying realization that escape had never really been mine.
Then everything slipped away.