KISS KILL

He kneels down beside me, and I feel his breath over my ear. It is cold like the floor beneath me. “Oriana, you are a pureblood. You are one of Odon’s children. He will protect you, as long as you are faithful.” A hand strokes my hair and clears it from my face. From beneath my lids I see the light coming through. “You need only tell me of his whereabouts, and then you may go.” I am not listening anymore; I won’t think of the one he’s talking about or what he asks of me. The light is so blinding. I tightly close my eyes. It’s hard to forget where I am. It’s hard to think of anything else but the fear. The hand clamps down on my hair and lifts me by the neck in one sharp jerk. My eyes snap open and I find myself gazing into two pale eyes. His face seems to lack any features: his nose and lips are so white that they blend into the rest of his face. There are two black holes for nostrils, yet no shadows cast upon his face to define anything else. Is he another Odonian? I can’t seem to identify him as anything, and his features are so smooth that if tried to recognize him again, I would not be able to. He grins, yet no wrinkles line his lips, if they can be called that. I can only identify the smile by the gleam of white teeth overlapped by flaps of bleached skin. The sight sickens me, and he chuckles. “My dear, do you hear what I am saying?” His face is close to mine, and I struggle to wrench my hair free but he snaps his hand, pulling at my scalp. I cry out, and two tears escape my eyes. He stares at me in silence a moment longer. I say nothing. With a sigh he tosses me by the head to the floor. As I reach down to catch myself, my hands make an echoing slap on the floor. “There’s no use wasting any more energy.” He takes a few casual steps to the edge of the room. “Administer the device.” The words have no meaning to me, but the hint of amusement in his voice frightens me. “What are you going to do to me?” My voice is trembling, and I sound like a rodent squeaking. “Now you speak?” he replies with mild surprise, “Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I don’t have any more time for this.” A door opens, and I look up to see a woman, her face a pure white light. Yet my gaze is quickly captured by the glint of something held in her hands. My lungs constrict at the sight. It’s a large needle. I begin to scurry frantically away from her. I break into a sweat that makes my hands and legs slip upon the floor. There is a high-pitched hum in my head as the room grows brighter. I must still be trying to escape because the guards grab hold of me. One latches onto my head and offers it to the woman. I yell in a rage, kicking and jerking, but I am not strong enough. I know my screams are loud; they echo through the corridor, but no one will be coming for me. Above all the noise, I can hear him speak. “He will come for her. I am certain.” The needle enters my neck, and I feel something forced into an artery. It sends a chill throughout my body, so cold that it burns. My eyes swell with a pressure and feel as if they might burst. As I slip into an unconscious oblivion, the man’s last words invade my ears. “Now we wait …”