Chapter 79 - 78: I NTR’ED him?![GTG]
"Huh?" Ryan croaked, his voice a dry rasp against the sudden silence.
The world had tilted on its axis a moment ago, the ground rushing up to meet him in a sickening blur. But meet it he didn’t. Instead, he hung suspended, a heartbeat away from a crater, his body a marionette with its strings inexplicably cut.
His gaze flickered upwards, heavy and disoriented. There, a hand stretched towards him – Helen’s. But her beautiful face, now mirrored the one she wore the night she attacked him. Her eyes, vacant, were fixed on something beyond him, just like the other girls.
Following her line of sight, Ryan twisted his neck with a groan that sent a spike of pain lancing through his skull. And there it was. The source of the sudden shift in gravity, the reason the world had lurched into a frenzy.
"What the..." he breathed, the words catching in his throat. Disbelief widened his eyes until they threatened to pop out.
"Lucas?!" It wasn’t a question, but a strangled cry of astonishment.
Yes, it was Lucas, the golden boy, the protagonist with a destiny etched in the stars. But this wasn’t the cocksure hero Ryan had come to expect. This Lucas was a storm cloud, a tempest brewing behind furrowed brows. His handsome face was contorted with a fury that seemed to emanate from his very core.
"What have you done to them, Ryan?" Lucas growled, each word a low rumble that vibrated through Ryan’s bones. It wasn’t a question – it was an accusation, laced with a venom that sent shivers skittering down Ryan’s spine.
"What do you mean, ’what have I done’?" Ryan sputtered, indignation battling with the cold tendrils of fear slithering up his spine. "Why are you trying to kill me?!" The question hung in the air, a desperate plea for reason amidst the burgeoning madness.