{"id":590,"date":"2026-02-20T10:32:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:32:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T10:32:33","slug":"betrayal-part-2-chapter-17-a-blade-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=590","title":{"rendered":"Betrayal Part 2 – Chapter 17, A Blade in the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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My world swam in a hazy blur of orange streetlights, casting long, twisted shadows on the gritty concrete beneath my feet. The insistent, frantic beat of the music still pounded inside my skull while the frosty night air raised goosebumps on my skin. Rune\u2019s fingers dug into my elbow as he loomed beside me, holding me in a vice-like grip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two dark figures, a man and a woman, their features obscured by the shadows that writhed and twisted around us, stood in front, blocking our path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is your last warning, hestkuk<\/em>! Go home before we have any trouble.\u201d Rune\u2019s voice was a low growl, a grounding anchor against the chaotic, drug induced vortex that swirled around me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust let her go.\u201d The man\u2019s voice was distant and muffled. \u201cShe\u2019s been through a lot. She isn\u2019t thinking straight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaven\u2019t we all?\u201d Rune sneered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sudden flash of light sliced through the thick, dizzying haze. Squinting, my eyes strained, desperate to find clarity in the disorientating gloom. There it was again, silvery, metallic, and sharp. The blade of a knife snapped into focus. Held firmly in Rune\u2019s fist, it caught the soulless light with a glint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man\u2019s shadowy figure took a step toward Rune. As he moved into the light, his features solidified, his leather jacket a dark silhouette against the haze behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmund!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His gaze flickered towards me for a fleeting second, his long hair tumbling loosely around his shoulders, before his attention snapped back to Rune. He raised his hands out in front of himself, his palms open in a silent plea. He was smaller than I remembered him; his eyes barely reached Rune\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, there\u2019s no need for any trouble,\u201d Asmund said, his voice trembling. \u201cJust let her go. Let me take her back home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rune barked out a harsh, wheezing laugh. He stepped into the smaller man\u2019s space, his face looming, staring down at Asmund. \u201cGet out of here, little man!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet her go!\u201d Asmund repeated, more firmly this time. \u201cI\u2019m not leaving without her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world tilted around me. The streetlights blurred, but I forced my eyes onto the two men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAsmund, be careful!\u201d the woman called out urgently. Her voice was crisp against the rumble of distant traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Asmund, be careful,\u201d Rune said in a mockingly high-pitched voice. \u201cIt would be a good idea to listen to your friend and fuck off.\u201d<\/em> He spoke slowly now, his voice low. \u201cThis one\u2019s coming with me and I don\u2019t see you doing much to stop her. If you had the balls to do anything, you would have done it by now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease, look at her. Can\u2019t you see she isn\u2019t well?\u201d The woman called out, pleading from within the spinning haze. \u201cShe needs help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rune glanced in her direction, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. \u201cLook, sweetheart, she\u2019s exactly where she needs to be!\u201d He gave my elbow a sharp tug, jerking me against his side. \u201cAren\u2019t you, Wallflower?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glancing towards Asmund, visions crashed forward from the dark recesses of my mind. I saw him with Lela, their arms wrapped around each other, the perfect portrait of deceit. Then the musk of his aftershave filled my nostrils. The memory of his body pressing down on mine as took what he wanted from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyes shifted to Rune. His features were hard, his eyes intense and firm. There was a cold, brutal simplicity to him. He didn\u2019t need to hide behind lies. He didn\u2019t even pretend to care about me. There was no love in those eyes, only the promise of escape and oblivion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My jaw fell open. My dry, swollen tongue fought to shape the words. My throat cramped tightly as I tried to shout out. Go! Leave me! Anything, but the only thing that spilt from my mouth was a choked, unintelligible slur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen now,\u201d Rune said, \u201cyou and your rocker boy hero are going to turn around and quietly find somewhere else to be. I\u2019m taking the Wallflower back to my flat and finishing the night with a bit of fun.\u201d He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as they slid to the woman. His voice dropped to a low, predatory rumble. \u201cOf course, sweetheart, if you ditch Axl Rose, you\u2019re welcome to come back with us. You\u2019re a bit plain for my usual tastes, but you\u2019ll do. I\u2019m sure I can put you to use once I\u2019m done with this one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmund\u2019s body jerked forward, but Rune was faster. His stony glare snapped back to face Asmund. His arm flicked out, flashing the blade in a tight arc that grazed Asmund\u2019s cheek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My ears pounded with the deafening thud of my own blood. My knees trembled weakly. Again, I tried to scream at Asmund, a desperate plea for him to run, to leave me here. I didn\u2019t want him. I didn\u2019t need him. But again, all that escaped my throat was a dry rasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve been more than patient with you.\u201d The corner of Rune\u2019s lips turned up as he spoke. \u201cYou either get out of my way now, or I\u2019ll drop you here and step over your twitching body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease! Put the knife away,\u201d the woman screamed, her voice raw with panic. \u201cThere\u2019s no need for it. People are watching!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rune just sniffed. \u201cYou think people around here give a fuck? You could be bleeding out on the pavement, and they would walk right over you. They wouldn\u2019t even look down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He raised the knife, bringing its point just a hair\u2019s breadth from Asmund\u2019s throat. Asmund\u2019s body was quivering, his eyes darting wildly from side to side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electricity crackled in the air, raising the hairs on my arms. Colours twisted, warped and bled into one another. Red eyes burst into life all around me, filling the darkness with glittering pinpricks of burning crimson; their persistent cackling laughter had become a constant, static buzz in my ears, forcing out the woman\u2019s screams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The laughter exploded into a frantic roar, and Rune moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Releasing me from his grip, he shoved me backward. My back struck the cold, wet brickwork of the club with a shuddering thump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big man lunged forward in a sudden blur, too quickly for my eyes to follow. He left only a trailing smudge in my vision, but the sound that followed was sickeningly clear. A heavy crack as Rune\u2019s forehead slammed brutally into the bridge of Asmund\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time seemed to slow to an agonising crawl as my muscles locked. I wanted to scream at Rune, tell him to stop. But it was useless; my body refused to obey. I was frozen to the spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmund reeled backwards, his hands raising, clutching at his face. A guttural gasp escaped him as the impact threw him off balance. Blood, glistening darkly, was already beginning to ooze between his fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo!\u201d the woman\u2019s cry pierced through the voices of the creatures that were now screaming at me, but it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmund was still stumbling, still dazed from the first blow when Rune struck again. It was a savage attack. Grabbing the collar of Asmund\u2019s jacket with one hand, Rune yanked him forward onto the blade. A dull thud as the steel punched through leather and buried itself in Asmund\u2019s gut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asmund breathed a hushed, rattling groan. His body crumpled forward, his knees hit the pavement, and my reality shattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman\u2019s screams, raw and shrill, pierced my eardrums with an agonising screech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every muscle in my body immediately seized, straining to rip themselves from my bones. The searing, white-hot blaze of agony erupted inside me, an inferno that scorched every millimetre of my body. My teeth ground down, biting into my tongue. I tried to scream, but my jaw clamped shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dirty glimmer of the streetlights smeared into filthy streaks of orange. The colours and shapes that slid in front of my eyes congealed into a thick, oily darkness. The world imploded, sucking everything into a deep, featureless, suffocating vacuum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWallflower! For fuck\u2019s sake! You stupid bitch! I\u2019m not taking the rap for this shit!\u201d Rune\u2019s voice was a distant, fading murmur from somewhere beyond my horizon. \u201cYou want her? Have her! She\u2019s as fucked up as your boyfriend now. No use to me like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The choking, cloying blackness pressed in around me. The screams faded into the distance. The rumble of the traffic was little more than a muffled hum. One final flicker of light shrank into a vanishing speck before it was gone altogether, leaving nothing but darkness and silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My world swam in a hazy blur of orange streetlights, casting long, twisted shadows on the gritty concrete beneath my<\/p>\n

Continue readingBetrayal Part 2 – Chapter 17, A Blade in the Dark<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-betrayal-part-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Cover-Book-2-NEW-JPG.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":592,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}