The Mystical Attraction of Alpha
Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Ella

“It’s all right, Ella” The first priest says, approaching me as one might a skittish horse with slow,measured movements and hands exposed to show he holds no weapon. “We only want to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” I question shakily, my back flush against the locked door.

“You have a very powerful magic inside you, and if it’s allowed to come out you’ll be exposed. We can’tlet that happen.” He explains, using a tone much too gentle to be trustworthy. It’s as though he’s tryingto trick me, to convince me he’s kind when he truly intends malice.

“I don’t have any magic.” I insist, wishing that I did.

Maybe if I was magic I might be able to put a stop to the things happening here – to protect the otherswithout bringing harm to myself. I was so preoccupied with this statement thatI almost missed thesecond piece of information. “Exposed to what?”

“You do, it just hasn’t shown itself yet.” The second priest sighs, keeping his distance but watching mewith sharp eyes. “At least not in ways you understand. Tell me, have you never noticed how muchstronger you are than your peers? That you can hear and smell things from much greater distances?That you can run faster, jump higher,- suffer greater injuries with less pain?” He inquires, his hawkishgaze searing into me, “do they not follow you? Gravitate to your side and obey you as a leader?”

My head spins, making me dizzy with the possibilities. He guesses correctly, but that can’t be because Ihave some sort of special power. It’s just the way things are. isn’t it?

“And exposed to a world you cannot yet join.” The first man adds. “It must happen when the time isright- but that time is a very long way off.”

I don’t understand.”I squeak, a sense of pure dread settling in the pit of my stomach

“We know, Ella” The second man proclaims, “And I’m sorry that this must happen, it will not bepleasant, but it is necessary for the future of our people…

I shake my head, fighting back tears. Their words are triggering every alarm bell in my young mind Iknow what men do to little girls under the guise of necessity, the pretense of helping or protecting.

And I know exactly how unpleasant things can get. My bl00d runs cold, and my pulse races, triggeringa strange new energy deep in my bones. It pulses through me like a bolt of electricity, a wild thingwrithes just beneath my skin, feral and rabid – begging to be free. “No, go away!” I hiss, my bodyshuddering with these new sensations.

The men look at each other with grim determination. “Her timing was sp0t on – another week and we’dbe too late.”

“Im sorry, child.” The first priest professes gravely, closing the distance between us. “We would not dothis if there was another way.”

Raw terror, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, takes over my senses. My instincts arescreaming at me to run, to get away at any cost.

They tell me that whatever these men intend will be far worse than anything the doctor or dormitorymatron have ever inflicted on me. But there isn’t anywhere to run. I’ve got a bolted door at my back andtwo attackers far larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me. I try to scream, but the secondpriest clamps his hand over my mouth before the sound can escape. I sink my teeth into his palm, buthe doesn’t even flinch. He simpły wrenches me away from the door, propelling me further into theroom.

The first man grabs my legs, and I’m lifted off the ground. I thrash violently against their hold, myscreams muffled and garbled as the priest continues to smother me. His bl00d seeps into my mouth,the metallic tang fanning the flames in my already sour stomach. My gorge rises, and I’m gagging,fighting for air and struggling to focus on my escape. I don’t know what to do or how to fight them – I’mpowerless in their strong grips, and they seem completely unaffected by my attacks. I might as well bea feather swaying in the wind for all the effort they expend to contain me.

A distant keening pierces the air, sounding very far away. The cries are deeper than my own, thick withgrief and pain more complex than the sheer fright in my own panicked screams.

“Leon,” A deep voice, tinged with concern, joins the terrible sounds. “It’s too much.”

“Just a litle more.” A second voice, floating above me, replies. “We’re so close.”

I have no idea where these sounds are coming from, and the priests don’t seem to hear them at all.They continue with their task with single- minded focus, and i’m nothing more than a pawn in theirgame – tiny and helpless to stop them.

I’m thrust onto the floor and pinned down. The first priest restrains my wrists while the other sits on mykicking legs, pulling his tool bag to his side.

He extracts a shimmering silk cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like moonlight, glowing in thedarkness. It looks soft and airy, but when they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around mewith the unyielding force of steel. They enclose me in the fabric, winding it round and round like aglittering cocoon.

Once my arms are locked against my sides and my legs tightly shut, Im completely immobile. I can’tmove a muscle in the fabric’s punishing grip, and soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they intend tomummify me alive. Just before the silk falls over my mouth, the priest finally removes his hand from my

mouth. A half second of my scream escapes before the moonlight closes over my gaping l!ps, lockingmy face into the contours of a silent scream. I’m able to breathe, though I don’t understand how.

It’s one of my nightmares come to life – my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable tomove or speak. I can only lie there motionless, my brain screaming at my nerve endings and musclesto move, to do something – anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream from which I canwake, this is real, and it’s only the beginning.

I can hear the priests rummaging around outside the walls of my silken prison, and I strain to identifythe sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads? A bottle unc0rking? FoI all the fabric’s strength, itdoes not stop me from feeling or smelling. My nose is filled with some pungent, herbaceous fragrancea moment before drops of moisture seep through the silk and onto my skin.

Light objects are laid over my body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on my head, c.hest,arms and legs. I’m still desperately trying to fight the cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warningme that I won’t be able to fight much longer. Somehow, I know I’m running out of time, but I refuse togive up hope for escape.

The priests begin to chant then, speaking a language I do not recognize. There words swirl around thesmall room, carrying arcane power older than the world itself. There was only darkness a moment ago,but now blinding light explodes in my vision, blinding me – but I can’t close my eyes against it. The lightis so searing that pain stabs in my head, and I’m sure I’ll never see again.

Soon I realize that the light is the least of my worries. Fire is traveling along the inside of the fabric –but the silk does not burn, only I do. It blazes so hot that I’m sure any tears lingering on my cheeks willevaporate on the sp0t, I can feel my skin blistering, bursting until the flames can move on to charringmy flesh and muscles. I’m dying…

I’m sure of it. I’m dying and I’m not going to escape. There Won’t be anyone left to protect Cora and theother children, they’ll be alone and defenseless.

That same wild energy surges forward, and the priests lose their rhythm momentarily, their chantstuttering before regaining it’s droning force. I try to send another surge, but something is tearing insideof me, more painful even than the flames.

“Leon, I’m serious now, bring her out.” The man is angry now, furious. And the woman is stillscreamning, he Voice hoarse with the effort. “We know what they did, it’s time to stop. She can’t takeany more.”

“Il get the antidote.” The second voice agrees.

I’m breaking, unraveling, and with a violent wrench, my soul is ripped in two. The pain disappears, thelight goes dim, but my c.hest feels hollow. There is no more power pulsing through my veins, and onlynow that it’s gone can I recognize that it was there in the first place. I’ve lost something sacred andintegral to my being, though I don’t know what. I simply know I am no longer whole.

The priests speak softly as they unwrap me, “She was stronger than I expected… remarkable really.”

My face is uncovered, and though I was certain I’d been burnt to a crisp, I feel cold air against mytearstained skin, though I no longer have the will to cry. I stare blankly at the ceiling above me, until oneof the withered faces moves into my line of sight. “It’s all over now.” The priest assures me, soundingregretful, “We’ll take away the memory too. You won’t have to remember this, little one”

His face blurs as a needle pinches my arm, and I return to the present.