The Wretched And Devine: Book One Shattered Essence

Emery shivered as a cold chill ran down her spine. The whip was mesmerizing in a terrifying kind of way looking at it made her feel sick to her stomach.  Emery wished she could close her eyes as she swallowed the growing lump of panic in her throat. She had to force herself to tear her eyes away from that terrible thing. Look somewhere else. Anywhere where else she pleaded with herself, please. She turned to bury her head into her shoulder but stopped dead in her tracks as she accidentally made eye contact with the redhead.  Emery held her breath for what seemed like forever as she stared into the cold hollow white eyes. She silently searched them for any sign the redhead could see her. Even though she knew no one could ever see her. There was something about the way the redhead stared straight at her that made emery uncomfortable. The redhead gave no indication that she could see her though as she ran a finger lovingly down the length of the blade of a dagger." I'm going to enjoy breaking you," the redhead said while maintaining eye contact with emery. The pure pleasure of toying with her was obvious in her eyes.  Emery's mouth was too dry to swallow her rising panic as she watched the scene playing out in front of her. If Emery was being honest she was more scared of the whip then she was of the knife. Wisps of black smoke slowly started to cloud Emery's vision. She felt sick with dread that was slowly tying itself into knots then sinking to the pit of her stomach. If she wasn't already asleep Emery would have been worried she was going to pass out. The black smoke had gotten so thick all she could see was a pitch-black abyss. Emrey wished for the blissful nothingness the color black always seemed to bring with it. Instead, there was a flash of blinding white light followed by a splitting pain that sliced through Emery's head and cascaded down her neck. Emery whimpered in pain. Her pulse was beating in her head keeping in time with the throbbing pain located in her right temple. She could feel the hot sticky liquid that covered her forehead slowly drip into her eyes. Each drip burned worse than the one before it. Emery scrubbed at her eyes in her sleep. She wanted to wake up now but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't. There was a thick metallic taste in her mouth and her lips felt fat and swollen like she had been hit. "Please!"Emery cried out in her sleep. Not quite sure if she was begging herself to wake-up or the onslaught of assault to stop. It's just a dream she reminded herself. Just a dream Emery said again and again until it became her own personal mantra.  Emery's back felt like it had been ripped open. Probably with the redhead's whip Emery mused. The nerve endings in her arms and legs screamed in protest and hurt as if they had been broken every time Emery fought against her sheets. Emery screamed inwardly at herself to wake up to no avail. There was the feel of a cold steel blade against her thigh followed by excruciating pain over and over again. Even though she couldn't see what was happening to the brunette Emery was sure she could feel everything that was happening to her and right now it felt like someone was cutting slices through her as if she was a Christmas ham. Emery couldn't bear the pain anymore. She screamed and screamed.  She screamed over and over again until Emery couldn't tell if the screams that echoed through her head were her own or the brunettes. They were a never-ending refrain playing only for her like some kind of twisted personal soundtrack.  With every fiber in her being Emery willed herself to wake up. She needed to wake up. If not she was afraid she would be trapped in this hell inside her head forever. Finally like breaking through an ice-covered pond, Emery woke up gasping for air. Her eyes flew open and her body jerked forward into a sitting position simultaneously.