-c- But…it couldn’t be real. Could it? It didn’t make sense. What could it mean?

…Nina shook her head. It’s not real. It’s just a nightmare and nothing more.

-c- Each night the cycle repeats and each night the voice becomes louder and clearer. The mantra of “…rise…consume…” echoed in her head. Each night she felt the voice encourage her to hurt those who hurt her. Each night the dream felt more real. The line between dream and reality became so blurred it felt less like a dream and more like she was recalling a memory of an actual event.

-c-

-c- In the midst of the mad and the macabre, she heard it. A voice coming from within herself. Not her own voice but another.

‘…Rise…consume…’

The sinister voice echoed in her head. She hated it. She feared it. And yet, she felt drawn to it. The voice grew louder and louder until it was too loud t on beat. And then…

…the scene changes. The room transforms. Her wounds vanished, her tormentors erased, and she was bathed in blood she was almost sure wasn’t her own.

-c-

-c- …her life was never that easy. Cruelty and deception was always around the corner. And sadly for Nina, she fell into the trap again. He brought her into his family and seduced her with the promise of joining them. They hid their true intentions with care and love, promising they were the only one who could make her feel this way.

And as she let her guard down, she felt herself become frozen. Stripped down to her most vulnerable state. She felt herself bare. She -c-