Broken - Joyce Raley (speld decodable readers txt) 📗

My adrenaline pumps into overdrive, the man chasing me laughing, getting closer. He's not human. Too strong, too fast, too intelligent. He seems to be holding back, enjoying the chase. If I weren't so frightened it would make me sick. He's not quite....right. Maybe it's his non-human instincts. I don't know.
Suddenly his laugh is right by my ear. It sent chills down my spine, giving me goosebumps. I can see him reaching for my arm, so I immediately stop running. He whips past me and turns around a few yards off. Then I realize that I'm in the forest. How did I get here, I wonder vaguely. I look around, searching for the city's lights. There are none. The man smiles and I realize just how horribly beautiful he is. It's not right. Yes his features are agonizingly breathtaking, but I know better. His jet black hair comes down to his shoulders, encasing his perfect face in shadow and making his red eyes stand out. His dark clothes are thick, but don't quite hide his flawlessly toned mucles. His skin is pale but radiant at the same time.
Abruptly, he is by my side again, wrapping his arms around my waist. "No!" I scream, his arms are like ice. "No, let me go!" He laughs meniacly and smiles as if this is a fun hobby. I pull at his arms, trying to rip myself away, but they are like iron bars.
"Young girl, you think you can get away from me that easily?" His soft satin voice makes me freeze. He lets go with one arm, making sure the other still holds me securely, and brushes a cold finger down my cheek. I realize that I was crying, my vision bluring. He sighs and brushes my hair away from my neck and breathing in deeply. "My, my!," He whispered, "You smell devine!" I took in a sharp breath as he brushed his lips softly along my skin.
"Let the girl go, Marquez." A calm voice sounds from behind, and the man holding me turns.
"And then what?" He asks, his voice dripping with menace. "She already knows that I'm not human. There is no turning back." He pulls me around to face the man that had spoken. I gasped softly. He looked just like Marquez-apparently that's his name- except his hair was blonde, almost white, and cut short. He steps forward, and in one long stride he stands in front of the two of us.
"That may be true, but you are done with snacking in this town. The humans are not happy with you. They are suspious." The whiter-haired man looks down at me with warm golden eyes and smiles. "Come to me, little one." Marquez let go of me, muttering something that I couldn't understand. I glanced from him to the other, unsure. I couldn't think straight through my already fragmented mind. I can never make sence of anything around me.
"Listen to him, Freya." a sweet voice whispers in my mind. Ah, he is back. The Voice. I listen to it and walk to the other man. He holds out his hand and I take it, giving him my trust. My voice has talked me through many situations. I trust it, though it must mean I'm insane. I already knew that.
"Good girl." His voice strangely matches the one in my head, soft and sweet like honey. He pulls me into his arms, gentley hugging me, while he looks at Marquez. "She was mine to begin with." His voice was suddenly angry. "You knew that." Marquez just snorted in amusement. "Yes Alec, I did. I was hungry and she just so happened to cross my path." His face suddenly morphed into a hideouse creature. Nothing I have ever seen or thought of in my entire life that ever frightened me couldn't compare to this. Even the bravest, strongest man would be terrified of this. His face resembled every horror movie character come to life. There are no words to explain the pure terror that this face could do to someone.
Too scared to even scream, I buried my face into Alec's chest and gripped his thin white shirt. Alec's hand moved up to the back of my head. He growled like a wolf, it came from deep in his chest. That alone could scare the living daylights out of anyone, including myself. I let go of him and took a terrifyed step back-or tried to. "Freya, trust him, or you will die." My voice said urgently. Another chimed in, "Yes Freya! He is your only hope for survival!" This one was female, her voice sounding of bells. I have about five or six voices in my head that help me at different times. I trust them all very much.
Alec suddenly put me behind himself as Marquez sprang at him. I stumbled back, my vison blurred even more with fright at the sound of their horrid growls. Without realizeing where I was headed, I fell into yet another person's cold arms. I looked up at her face and gasped again. She was beyond breathtaking. Her orange-almost red-hair draped down her back in waves and her hazel blue eyes beamed at me. She helped me stand and I got a look at her figure. She had perfect curves and her slender form gave her the look of a super-model. These beautiful people made me feel uterly plain and ugly.
I turned at a cry of pain. Alec had been bitten and was writhing on the ground. His arm sizzeled as Marquez smirked and stood by my side once more. He smiled the most beastly smile I'd ever seen, but I was relieved that his face was now normal, as was Alec's. I took a step toward's Alec but the woman held me back and glared at Marquez. "You will not have this girl! She may not belong to me, but I will protect her with my immortal life!" Agin I was shoved behind her and fell into yet another person's arms. Seriousely? All my confusion was breaking me down. I felt my mind shatter into more fragments and my thoughts became scattered. Four more people stood beside me and fell into fighting stances. But i couldn't tell what they looked like, the pain in my head wasexcruciating. I slumped from the arms of whoever held me, falling to my knees. I put my hands over my ears and let loose an agonized, blood curtling scream. Everyone around me froze in place and looked at me. Alec was up again and he fell to my side. "What happened Freya?" His voice was anxious, I could barely hear it over my screams.
"It hurts! It hurts!" I shrieked. Alec had me in his arms in an instant. "No! It hurts so much!" I struggled to get away from his icy grasp but he held me tight.
"Freya!" Six voices sounded all at once, all concerened. Alec's voice was the only one I could hear clearly. "Freya," He said, "Freya, what hurts? What's wrong?"
"Broken!" I choked out through my screams of torment. "Please, make it stop!" Alec looked more than worried now. "What's broken? You need to tell me Freya. Calm down." I couldn't calm down. Every time this happens, waves of pure unstoppable pain rip through my body and especially my head. The only thing I can do is scream and wait for it to pass.
"Freya..." I had quieted and was now sinking into unconciouseness. Finally, the pain would stop, but as I slowly lost my train of thought, I knew it could be days before I woke again. Maybe longer

, I thought peacefully, maybe I wont wake again...

"Freya?" the voice sounded far away, distant, like I was listening through a tunnel. "Freya, can you hear me?" Someone murmured something and it grew quiet. I drifted back into oblivion.
"Freya, you've got to wake up!" The voice was back, and urgent. No

, I thought groggily. It was the voice in my head-one of them anyway. "Freya, listen to me! You've got to wake up!" I don't want to

, I retorted, I have no pain in this dark and peaceful place

. The voice began to get anxcious. "No Freya! Be strong and open your eyes. Everyone is waiting for you to get up again! They're beggining to think that you are dead or dying." I felt myself sigh. It would be great if that were true

, I told it, I wouldn't have to put up with the horrible pain. I would be happy again

. The voice did not answer for a while and I began to slowly fall back into the fog.
"No, Freya, you must wake up! Fight the pain! Fight to be happy again! You can do it!" The voice was now slightly angry. "I believe you can! Do it for Alec. You don't know how much he actually loves you!" I felt a jolt and was ripped out of unconsciousness for a short distance. Alec

, I struggled to remember who that was, Who is he? I can't remember. I could feel the voice inside my head getting more and more upset. "Remember the forest and Marquez. All the beautiful people. Remember the monsters?" I vaugely remembered beautiful faces that made me feel indignant. Yes

, I told the voice carefully, I do remember them, but not well. They are the ones who brought on my horrible pain. I will not go back to that.

Now the voice sounded a bit hurt. "Freya, they care about you very much. They did not mean for this to happen. They have been keeping an eye on you since you left the orphanage and started living on the streets. They were protecting you from Marquez. Please, don't make them upset. Right now you are at their house. Alec has been watching you, hopeing you would recover." I thought about it for a few minutes, or it felt like a few minutes. How long

, I finally asked, how long have I been...asleep? The voice gave a small sigh of relief and said, "Much too long. They can't keep you alive for much longer than this." I sighed and began to strugle back to awareness. It felt like I was trying to resurface out of thick caramell. But finally, I opened my eyes.
It was dark and silent. I lay in a soft, warm bed. It felt as if it were made of satin and clouds. I took a deep breath, for it felt as if I hadn't been breathing for days on end. Immediately, the lights flickered on and I winced. The room's walls were a deep maroon color and they matched the bed. The