All Chapters of Survive Me, Darling: Chapter 21 - Chapter 29

The moment I ran back into the ballroom, I slammed the door shut behind me, the splitting bang drawing every eye to me. My chest thumped frantically. I was out of breath, but I forced myself to straighten up, my skin itching with an ugly sensation as I recalled the man’s eyes—red eyeballs that sparked fire. Everyone was already seated at the tables, the guests in the gallery above, watching us like this was a damn cinema show. From what I’d seen earlier, they were probably not human. I stole a brisk glance at their faces. As I’d suspected, they looked unreal… yet human. “Are you okay?” Kim asked the minute I reached her table and slumped into one of the seats. She, Rick, and two other male players, were feasting on the crisp skin of roasted quail. The wild and unfamiliar scent pushed bile up my throat. “Hey,” Rick mumbled with a mouth full. “Why did you go in there?” Kim resumed eating. “I heard it’s prohibited.” “Those people up there aren’t human,” I whispered to

Stella’s death started something more than inhumane. For everyone, for the evil system itself. And for me. Something shifted in me after watching her helplessly lie in her own pool of blood. She only did what she had to do to survive here and while that god walked away unharmed, she paid with her life. By morning, her body withered away into dust, leaving only dried blood. I sat under an oak tree, numbed. The once white dress on me was now red from wine with injuries littered across my once flawless skin. The garden smelled soft and citric, a sickening contrast to the doom this place was. The sun smiled down on my face and for the first time in my whole years of living, if it was possible to rip the sun out of the clouds I'd be making haste to do just that. I turned away from its light only to see Lucan standing a few distances away with a strenuous look etched into his face as he folded both arms across his chest. “I’ve searched everywhere for you.” He mutte

LUCAN. “Are you okay?” I was trying hard to ignore the commotion rolling out behind me, until her voice filled my chest, loud and insufferable. From the corner of my eye, I watched her wipe the dark red liquid trickling down that guy’s nostrils, concern flashing low on her face. She complained earlier of losing someone, the ache was fucking visible in her pale eyes that were already wrinkling at the sides in just some hours since last night’s madness, and yet, there she was curdling up to someone else. He muttered something low to her as her hand slowly reached to tug her sleeve down her wrist before her lips moved in a quivering ‘Thanks’ Concern brewed care which eventually sprouts love. Love itself was a cruel weakness that shouldn’t matter in a world like this but there she was, showing everyone around her the one weapon that could ruin her. Despite how much I wanted to turn a blind eye to her— I knew I'd still see her. Earlier, she’d pushed my buttons and made me snap a

OPHELIA.I had just puked water in his face. I gaped at him with a mortified expression, scared he’d react with irritation or try to dip himself to wash up but instead, he was cupping my soaked face, his palm cold beneath my warm skin. “Hey.” He stared at me with intent, it was as though he could read right through me.He didn't have to be here and I wished he were far away. I needed to breathe. I couldn't be this confused at this early stage in a world I hadn't yet understood.He was hard to comprehend and I should be caring about my survival; not whatever this was.“I’m sorry” I said quickly. “For throwing up in your face” He simply stared at me.“Thank…” A loud wail behind us cut my appreciation off. The water rippled as I turned around to see the boy I’d saved being pulled by the hair into an iron-caged carriage. What was happening?There were men in dark steel masks and an outfit that could pass for what people wore in the gothic eighties.I took in my environment. It wasn't

The ground was hard and cruelly cold beneath the sole of my feet as I hurried out of the four walls of that devilish enclosure. It seemed like a cult. A cult with unwell people and I wanted no part of it, I wanted no part in whatever those men just threw me in. My skin crawled with disgust at being licked as I ran into the night, my head whipping back occasionally to be sure I wasn't being pursued and I didn't stop looking behind me until I tripped on my own foot and tumbled down rough grounds, my body hitting with reckless abandon against several road bumps. Pain radiated through me and an agonizing scream left my lips, the birds in nearby trees flapping away. It was as though the wind held my weight and was effortlessly letting me roll over and I only stopped when my body lodged against a large rock. I lay there for a couple of moments sobbing from both ache and dizziness that followed. I was furious at myself for ever begging that god for a second chance and equally furi