Accidental Surrogate

#Chapter 179 — Bound Trigger warning — Assault (non-sexual)

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’t let that happen." He explains, using a tone much too gentle to be trustworthy.

It’s as though he’s trying to 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 others without bringing harm to myself.I was so preoccupied with this statement that I almost missed the second piece of information.

"Exposed to what?"

"You do, it just hasn't shown itself yet."

The second priest sighs, keeping his distance but watching me with sharp eyes.

"At least not in ways you understand.Tell me, have you never noticed how much stronger 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 hawkish gaze 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 I have 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 is right - 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 be pleasant, 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.I know 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 blood runs cold, and my pulse races, triggering a strange new energy deep in my bones.

It pulses through me like a bolt of electricity, a wild thing writhes just beneath my skin, feral and rabid — begging to be free.

I hiss, my body shuddering with

men look at each other with

spot on — another week

"I’m sorry, child."

professes gravely,

this

I’ve ever

at me to run, to get away at

men intend will be far worse than anything

isn’t

larger and stronger than I am bearing down on me.I try to scream, but the second priest clamps his hand

teeth into his

me away from the door,

legs, and I’m lifted off

screams muffled and garbled as the priest continues to smother

tang fanning the

fighting for air and struggling to focus on

know what to do or how to fight them — I’m powerless in their strong grips, and they seem completely unaffected

feather swaying in the wind

distant keening pierces the air, sounding

cries are deeper than my own, thick with grief and pain more complex than

with

"It’s too much."

"Just a little more."

floating above me,

"We're so close."

no idea where these sounds are coming from, and

focus, and i’m nothing more than a pawn in their game —

the

other sits on my kicking legs, pulling his tool bag

cloth, it’s pearlescent sheen glimmering like

looks soft and airy, but when they begin wrapping it around my body, it tightens around me with the unyielding

fabric, winding it round and round like

my sides and my legs tightly

and soon they’re wrapping my head, as if they intend to

before the silk falls over my mouth, the priest finally

closes over my gaping lips, locking

breathe, though I don’t

of my nightmares come to life - my mind is awake but I’m trapped in my own body, unable to

endings and muscles to move, to do something - anything! But nothing happens because this isn’t a dream from

and I strain to identify the sounds: the clink of glass? The jostling of beads?

pungent, herbaceous fragrance a moment before drops of moisture

objects are laid over my body, stones or crystals placed in deliberate patterns on my head, chest, arms

cocoon, that foreign electricity in my veins warning me that I won't

I’m running out of time, but I refuse to give up hope

to chant then, speaking a language I do not

around the small room, carrying arcane power older than the world