37. Adelaide

37

ADELAIDE

As the words leave my lips, I feel a sudden, searing pain behind my eyes. The world around me blurs, and I'm gripped by an overwhelming sense of terror. Something is wrong. It's like a dam has broken inside my mind, releasing a flood of sensations and emotions I've never experienced before because they aren't mine.

"Adelaide?" Corvus's voice sounds distant, muffled, as if I'm underwater. I try to focus on his face, but my vision is clouded by a red haze. His features, usually so sharp and clear to my vampire senses, are now distorted, wavering like a mirage in the desert.

I blink rapidly, trying to clear my sight, but the red doesn't disappear. If anything, it intensifies, deepening to a crimson so dark it's almost black. A warm, thick liquid trickles down my cheeks. With a shaking hand, I touch my face, pulling it away to find my fingers coated in blood. The sight of it fills me with dread.

"Oh God," I whisper, panic rising in my throat like bile. "Corvus!"

This isn't some external force attacking me. This is coming from deep in my soul. It's me, and yet... not me. A door has been opened in my mind, revealing a room I never knew existed, filled with shadows and whispers and a power that scares the shit out of me.

A memory flashes through my mind, vivid and frightening - the bathroom mirror earlier with the reflection that wasn't mine. The woman, the vampire, with blood-red eyes and a cruel smile. Crimson. Crimson Sha— . It echoes in my mind, growing louder with each repetition until it drowns out everything else.

I can feel it now, pushing at the edges of my consciousness, trying to take control. It's like there's another person inside my head, clawing her way out. Her presence is both familiar and alien, like a half-remembered dream suddenly coming to life.

"No!" I yell, clutching my head. The pain is intensifying, feeling like my skull might split open at any moment. "No, no, no. This isn't happening. This can't be happening."

Corvus is saying something, his hands on my shoulders, shaking me gently. But I can barely hear him over the roaring in my ears. The room is spinning, reality seeming to warp around me. The walls of my bedroom stretch and contort, shadows dancing at the corners of my vision.

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the world, to focus on pushing back against this other me. But when I open them again, it's like I'm seeing through a red filter. Everything is bathed in a crimson glow, pulsing in time with my rapid heartbeat.

"Adelaide, look at me," Corvus's voice finally breaks through the chaos in my mind. His face swims into focus, his expression showing his concern and fear. I've never seen him look scared before, and it only adds to my terror. "What's going on? Talk to me."

I open my mouth to respond, to beg for help, but nothing comes out.

Horror washes over me as I realise what's happening. I'm losing control, losing myself to this other entity. This vampire in the mirror. It's like watching myself from outside my body, powerless to stop what's happening.

"No," I whisper, fighting to regain control of my voice. Each word is a struggle, like swimming against a powerful current. "Corvus, help me. I can't... I can't stop it."

I feel like I'm being torn in two, my mind a battlefield between the two parts of me. Part of me wants to give in, to let this other, stronger version of myself take control. The power she offers is alluring, promising strength beyond anything I've ever known. But another part, the part that's still me, fights desperately to hold on. I can't lose myself. I won't.

"Stop what?" Corvus asks, his voice tight with tension. His hands are on my face, his thumbs brushing the blood away.

"I don't know," I choke out. Each word feels like glass in my throat. "It's?—"

My words are cut off as another wave of pain washes over me. The blood flowing from my eyes intensifies, and I can taste it on my lips, metallic and warm. It should disgust me, but a part of me revels in it.

The soul seems to hold its breath, teetering on the edge of a precipice. One step, and I could fall into an abyss of power and darkness.

With a cry of defiance that seems to shake the foundations of the tower, I push back against the invading presence in my mind. "No," I growl. "Fuck off!"

The struggle is intense. It feels like my soul is being ripped to shreds and put back together. Every cell in my body screams in protest, caught in the crossfire of this internal war. The images that flash through my mind are horrifying and haunting. Battles fought in shadow, power wielded with ruthless perfection, a legacy of blood and darkness.

But slowly, painfully, I begin to regain control. It's like climbing out of a deep, dark pit, clawing my way back to the surface one painful inch at a time. The red haze starts to recede, the world coming back into focus. The blood flow from my eyes slows, then stops altogether. I slump, feeling his lips on mine.

"Addy?" he murmurs against my lips, his arms tightening around me.

"I'm okay," I rasp. The terror of what just happened is still fresh, leaving me shaken to my core. But I'm here. I'm me. For now, at least. The room stops spinning, the shadows retreating to their corners. But I can still feel this presence, lurking at the edges of my consciousness. Waiting.

"What happened?" Corvus asks softly, his hand gently stroking my hair. The tenderness in his touch is at odds with the strength I know he possesses, and it helps to bring me back to the present me, to remind me who I am.

"I don't know," I whisper, my voice hoarse. "It was like there was someone else inside me. Another version of me. Stronger, darker." I shudder, remembering the intensity of her presence. I try to gather my thoughts, to make sense of what just happened, when a sudden gust of wind rattles the window. The glass pane shudders violently. A vicious storm of thunder and lightning has suddenly descended upon MistHallow.

But this is no ordinary storm.

"Zephyr," I whisper, somehow recognising the unique energy signature of the Dark Fae prince.

Before I can move, Zaiah and Ignatius step out of the pocket dimension and into my room, with me naked on top of Corvus and covered in my own blood.

"Adelaide," Zaiah starts, his eyes darting between Corvus and me. "We felt something. Are you alright?"

I open my mouth to respond, but the words catch in my throat. How can I explain what I don't understand myself?

The window bursts open with a crash, and a whirlwind of leaves and shadow pours into the room. It swirls around us, a miniature tempest contained within my bedroom walls. As suddenly as it began, the wind dies down, merging into the form of Zephyr.

His purple and silver eyes lock onto mine. "What happened?" he demands, his voice as sharp as a blade.

I look around at the four of them - Corvus, Zaiah, Ignatius, and Zephyr - all gathered here because of me, because they sensed something was wrong. Their concern, their protection, is comforting but overwhelming.

"I..." I start, but the words won't come. How do I tell them about the presence in my mind? The blood, the visions, the terrifying power I felt?

Corvus, sensing my struggle, steps in. "Something strange happened," he explains slowly. "She was in pain, bleeding from her eyes. She said it felt like there was someone else inside her, trying to take control."

Zaiah's brow furrows, his ancient eyes clouded with worry. "Another presence? Did you recognise it, Adelaide?"

I shake my head, still unable to find my voice. The memory of that other self, so familiar yet so alien, sends a shiver down my spine. "No, and yes. It was me. It was another me."

I can see their confusion, but I have no other way to explain it.

Zaiah steps forward. "May I?" he asks, his hand hovering near my forehead.

I nod, and he places his palm against my skin. Warmth spreads from his touch, soothing and calming. For a moment, I feel the djinn's power flowing through me, searching, probing.

His eyes widen slightly as he pulls his hand away. "There is something there," he murmurs. "A great power. It's dormant now, but..."

"But what?" Zephyr demands, his patience clearly wearing thin.

Zaiah shakes his head. "It's not a threat. At least not to Addy."

A heavy silence falls over the room. I can feel their eyes on me, filled with concern, curiosity, and something else. Fear, probably. All of this is not what they signed up for. Mind you, it's not what I signed up for either, so I can't blame them if they run and hide.

But when I look around at these four extraordinary beings, each powerful in their own right, each connected to me in ways I'm only beginning to understand, I feel a surge of emotion. Gratitude, fear, and something deeper, more complex because they aren't running. They are here with me, and they aren't leaving.

Corvus pulls me close, and I feel the others gathering around us. A circle of protection, a barrier against whatever darkness is trying to claim me.

But as I close my eyes, I know that this is just the beginning. The battle for control has only just begun, and the stakes are higher than any of us could imagine.

In the depths of my mind, in that dark room newly discovered, something stirs. Waiting. Watching. And I know, with a certainty that chills me to my core, that this is far from over.