Romans & histoires Haunting Adeline Content Warnings

Present day 2 years later, in 2017 Adeline’s POV: I awoke suddenly with a distasteful sensation. The domino effect of first seeing where I am; home? Check. What’s that awful smell; alcohol breath? Check. That toe curing sensation; migraine. Lavishing, amazing, lovely! I would say I would never go within a 5-meter diameter with alcohol but who am I kidding, I’ve said that since freshman year in university.

She's not moving, just looking into the air like she's having another vision. I want to touch, to shake her so she can tell us exactly what she's seeing because I know it has to do with me. "Don't." Cassandra reads my mind and warns me against. Seconds later Nikolina is out of her trance with a gasp. She's breathing fast and gasping for her. I immediately know that whatever she saw was very bad because Nikolina looks like she's seen a ghost. "Sister," Amelia places her hand on Nikolina's shoulder. "What did you see?"

After dinner, the cup of milk appeared right on schedule. I lifted the cup, took a couple of sips, and kept the liquid in my mouth. Faking a trip to pour some water, I silently spat it out into the kitchen sink. The faint, bitter aftertaste clung stubbornly to the back of my tongue. I poured the remaining half-glass of milk into the sterile vial. At 1:00 am, thinking I was fast asleep, Alice slipped quietly out of bed. My eyes were cracked open just enough to see her grab her phone and walk out into the living room.

Adeline blinked, rubbing her eyes. “Odette… you’re home already?” she asked, yawning. “Yes! How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call me first?” Odette asked. “I came from the supermarket… and I forgot my phone,” Adeline replied, her eyes filled with sadness. Odette frowned. “Adeline… are you in trouble?” Adeline nodded. “Then tell me. What happened?” Without saying a word, Adeline suddenly wrapped her arms around Odette, holding her tightly. She broke down, tears pouring out as the fear she had been holding in finally spilled free.

Dad's hair turned gray overnight, and Mom lost her mind. They sold the villa and lived in that dark basement, spending their days guarding my portrait in the filth. And every year on my birthday, two aged figures would always appear at the cemetery by the seaside without fail. They would kneel before a joint grave, weeping uncontrollably while staring at the tombstone bearing both my name and Katrina's name. And next to our name, carved in smaller letters, there was a line that said, "May we never meet again in the afterlife."

"Where are the elixirs?" A tall shadow on the floor crossed Adeline's barely open eyes. The shadow was of a bulky man, his frame strong and sturdy, and on his hand was a whip. When his deep voice reached Adeline's faraway consciousness, the hairs at the back of her neck stood up. She clenched her fist in anger, despite losing every inch of her being. "We... don't have... such thing," Adeline replied in a hoarse voice, gritting her teeth.

"Elias, she’s so hungry." "She’s gone, Clara! That isn't her!" I shouted, though I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince. That was three nights ago. Since then, the haunting has turned aggressive. We tried to sleep in the living room, but the smell followed us—the cloying, sweet scent of lilies mixed with something sour and metallic. We found tiny, damp handprints on the glass of the television. They weren't made of dirt. They were gray, smudged traces of something that looked like ash and formaldehyde.

said Eve, looking upset and angry. "But...madam..." Eve turned her head and gave a sharp look, "Get out of here!!!Get out!!!" The doctor and several nurses could only shake their heads. "Adeline! Look at them thinking you're gone! Come on, baby, wake up! So that they know and don't make fun of you...that..you..you..are gone! Really, you're still alive right, dear...Adeline? I promise after this I'll take you away from this town! We'll leave all the bad memories here. How do you like it? Isn't that what you always wanted, isn't it?" Eve exclaimed as she sobbed and clasped Adeline's cold hand.

I am not certain if this means she despises me more than I know, or—the latter. For this being before me—my breath is harsh against my lips, my wolf is a feral spark in the glint of my eye— will either guide me, or I will fail, and fall. Fall. Falling. gods, I am falling. I stare at her, watch her breathe, delicate and alluring yet bold in her venture into the bowels of the endless. My eyebrows gather. No ordinary being can be here, at this moment as I am. Adeline was no ordinary being. She was bound to a being of chaos, that is what gave her access to the endless.

The expanse above us was a gorgeous shade of blue, and if I kept my back to the bruised streaks of violet forcing their way from the south, I could almost forget the impending doom hurtling towards us. "You okay?" Lillith asked, stopping beside me. Her almost waist length hair was down, neatly brushed and pushed back over her shoulders. "Yeah. Tired is all." Tired of running from the Sades and their Shadow Men. Tired of seeing their victories heralded in the darkening sky and the used bodies left in their wake. Tired of missing Nick, of not knowing where he was or if he was even alive anymore and tired of feeling like a pale skinned, violet eyed freak.