Read Online Release In The Dark (DARK erotic romance series) by Natalie Kristen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Natalie Kristen
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arms.
Kara is released into the water,
and the top of the column seals shut. The music changes to a soft,
melodic tune, and the light ripples across the stage, as if trying to
create a magical underwater sensation. But the music, the lights and
Mr Toni's laughing commentary does nothing to relief me of my
overwhelming sense of dread and doom.
I watch Kara's emerald, scaly
body paint begin to change color in the water, and she becomes a
writhing, rippling, cloud of colors. Her costume flashes blue,
orange, yellow, red, the colors morphing and changing with increasing
speed. As I watch her widening eyes and clawing hands, I realize
that the colors are changing according to her fear. As she starts to
panic and her heart rate soars, the colors change faster and faster.
There are low chuckles and a few languid, lazy claps from the
audience.
I snap my head round and squint
hard into the smoke and shadows, but I can't make out a single one of
those cruel, sneering faces. My eyes flick back to the stage, and I
see Kara's eyes flutter rapidly. All the color has leeched from her
face, but her costume is only half gone. There are still large
splotches of body paint all over her body, covering her right breast,
the flat of her tummy and the length of her left leg.
Hurry up, hurry, hurry...
I stand frozen, watching the
paint fade little by little from her body. Hold on, Kara, you can
do it!
At long last, every bit of her
body paint is gone. But Kara has lost consciousness. Her naked body
sinks slowly to the bottom of the column, her auburn hair waving like
seaweeds across her face.
I press forward, bumping into
the girl in front of me. Jennifer turns sharply and hisses at me.
“Hey!”
I hardly hear her. I can barely
breathe, my entire body shaking with cold and fear. “Come on,
come on, save her!” I whisper raggedly, my nails digging into
my palms.
Kara is left lying in the column
as the spotlights train on her. After a full minute, red smoke
shoots up from the vents around the stage, obscuring the column
completely. All the lights boom off for a heartbeat before strobe
lights cut through the darkness. Cheers and jeers erupt from the
patrons but their voices are swiftly drowned out by the rising,
screaming music. The smoke clears suddenly and the column is lit up
by a jagged crack of light, as though lightning has just struck that
gleaming, glass pillar.
I jerk forward, but Kylee shoves
me back with her shoulder. “Stay down,” she says angrily
in my ear.
I stagger back, my eyes wild.
Kara is gone.
There is nothing in that
swirling water but bubbles.
Lots and lots of bubbles.
But no Kara.
I open and shut my mouth
rapidly, a thin wheezing sound squeezing from my throat. Where is
she? What have they done to her? No, no no no!
Jennifer's hand flies to her
mouth and she stifles a squeak. I thud back into place behind her,
sick to my stomach.
Kara has drowned.
A male voice yells out, “Lousy
bitch! I bet good money on that one!”
Someone laughs.
Someone else claps.
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut
for an instant. These bastards! This is just a game to them. They
are losing and winning money, drinking and laughing as we drown in
front of them.
Give me strength. Give me
the strength to survive and do what I need to do in this hellish Pit.
I snap my eyes open with a
shuddering breath. Pam is craning her neck, squinting back towards
the end of the line at me.
I hear her voice in my head: You have to be stronger than your mind.
Swallowing hard, I nod at her.
Raising my eyes towards the
stage once more, I blink at that tall, watery coffin that has just
claimed its first victim of the night. How many more will drown in
that transparent column before this night is over?
The bubbles are rising to
welcome the next girl, who is trying to stifle her hiccuping sobs as
she is being lowered into the water. Her costume is orange and red,
and as she shivers violently, the colors merge and flicker so that
she looks like a
Kara is released into the water,
and the top of the column seals shut. The music changes to a soft,
melodic tune, and the light ripples across the stage, as if trying to
create a magical underwater sensation. But the music, the lights and
Mr Toni's laughing commentary does nothing to relief me of my
overwhelming sense of dread and doom.
I watch Kara's emerald, scaly
body paint begin to change color in the water, and she becomes a
writhing, rippling, cloud of colors. Her costume flashes blue,
orange, yellow, red, the colors morphing and changing with increasing
speed. As I watch her widening eyes and clawing hands, I realize
that the colors are changing according to her fear. As she starts to
panic and her heart rate soars, the colors change faster and faster.
There are low chuckles and a few languid, lazy claps from the
audience.
I snap my head round and squint
hard into the smoke and shadows, but I can't make out a single one of
those cruel, sneering faces. My eyes flick back to the stage, and I
see Kara's eyes flutter rapidly. All the color has leeched from her
face, but her costume is only half gone. There are still large
splotches of body paint all over her body, covering her right breast,
the flat of her tummy and the length of her left leg.
Hurry up, hurry, hurry...
I stand frozen, watching the
paint fade little by little from her body. Hold on, Kara, you can
do it!
At long last, every bit of her
body paint is gone. But Kara has lost consciousness. Her naked body
sinks slowly to the bottom of the column, her auburn hair waving like
seaweeds across her face.
I press forward, bumping into
the girl in front of me. Jennifer turns sharply and hisses at me.
“Hey!”
I hardly hear her. I can barely
breathe, my entire body shaking with cold and fear. “Come on,
come on, save her!” I whisper raggedly, my nails digging into
my palms.
Kara is left lying in the column
as the spotlights train on her. After a full minute, red smoke
shoots up from the vents around the stage, obscuring the column
completely. All the lights boom off for a heartbeat before strobe
lights cut through the darkness. Cheers and jeers erupt from the
patrons but their voices are swiftly drowned out by the rising,
screaming music. The smoke clears suddenly and the column is lit up
by a jagged crack of light, as though lightning has just struck that
gleaming, glass pillar.
I jerk forward, but Kylee shoves
me back with her shoulder. “Stay down,” she says angrily
in my ear.
I stagger back, my eyes wild.
Kara is gone.
There is nothing in that
swirling water but bubbles.
Lots and lots of bubbles.
But no Kara.
I open and shut my mouth
rapidly, a thin wheezing sound squeezing from my throat. Where is
she? What have they done to her? No, no no no!
Jennifer's hand flies to her
mouth and she stifles a squeak. I thud back into place behind her,
sick to my stomach.
Kara has drowned.
A male voice yells out, “Lousy
bitch! I bet good money on that one!”
Someone laughs.
Someone else claps.
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut
for an instant. These bastards! This is just a game to them. They
are losing and winning money, drinking and laughing as we drown in
front of them.
Give me strength. Give me
the strength to survive and do what I need to do in this hellish Pit.
I snap my eyes open with a
shuddering breath. Pam is craning her neck, squinting back towards
the end of the line at me.
I hear her voice in my head: You have to be stronger than your mind.
Swallowing hard, I nod at her.
Raising my eyes towards the
stage once more, I blink at that tall, watery coffin that has just
claimed its first victim of the night. How many more will drown in
that transparent column before this night is over?
The bubbles are rising to
welcome the next girl, who is trying to stifle her hiccuping sobs as
she is being lowered into the water. Her costume is orange and red,
and as she shivers violently, the colors merge and flicker so that
she looks like a
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