Chapter Four

"Why should I give her my blood?" Her voice was colored with vicious wrath as Marie spit forth her words. "In light of all that she will do? Max, you are unable to see through her falsehoods. Did you fail to see that?" Marie questioned, her eyes beaming with a mixture of frustration and anger.

"You..." There was a start from Max, but Marie interrupted him with a raging scream.

"Yes, It's me! I want her ded, Max. She attempted to ruin all that we had, even you, she has taken away from me. Is it now your expectation that I will rescue her?" Marie asked, her voice low and dangerous.

The sound of Max's hand crashing into Marie's face was loud in the otherwise quiet room, the power of the hit sending her flying backwards onto the bed.

Pain lanced through Marie's cheek, a white-hot flash that seared her flesh like a branding iron. But it was the treachery, the absolute despair that knifed through her like a razor, that drove her rage blazing like a wildfire.

Her lips parted in a wordless gasp, her hands balling into fists as she attempted to gather back her power.

Did Max just slap her?

“Even now, you still don't repent?!” Max growled, his fist clenched.

"Repent?!" Marie shouted, her voice burning with venom. "I have nothing to repent for. It's you who's the traitor, Max. You who've turned your back on the visible truth."

But Max was immovable. His lips curved into a nasty sneer as he raised his voice in a demand that seemed to reverberate in the quiet. "Guards!"

Marie's blood raced cold as the door burst open, showing two ladies and a guy in nursing uniforms, their expressions stern and stone.

"Hold her down," Max instructed, his eyes like shards of obsidian in the faint light of the room.

The three rushed with the fast precision of seasoned executioners, pinning Marie down to the bed. She tried against their grip, her body flailing and twitching, but their hold was firm.

"Draw her blood," Max growled, his voice low and menacing. And in a single, vicious movement, the needle found its target, piercing the flesh of Marie's arm with ruthless efficiency.

Fear seized Marie's heart like ice claws as she wrestled with the three, her thoughts racing in a frantic fight for survival. “Max, please, you really can't draw my blood, I beg you, I'm pregnant,” she cried, her voice tremulous with panic. “It's our child”

Max's laughter was icy and vicious, his remarks dripping with hatred.

"Pregnant?" he snarled, a cruel smile arching over his face. "Don't be ridiculous. You haven't been able to give me a child all these years, and now you suddenly claim to be pregnant? Do you think I'm a fool?" He drew closer, his eyes flashing with hate. "No, you're simply desperate for anything to rescue you. But that won't work, Marie. Your blurd will flow, whether you want it or not.”

“Max please…!” Marie wept as she struggled.

“Even if you die today, you must give Lena a blood transfusion” Max sneered bitterly as he shifted his sight towards the woman who was carrying the syringe. “Draw all her blood out, draw as much as you can!”

“Max!” Marie wept as tears streamed freely. “You're really going to do this?.. This is our child!”

Max's face was a mask of callous indifference, his remarks tinted with the delight of a sadist. “Perfect,” he muttered, his eyes riveted on Marie with a predatory glitter. “Use your child's life to compensate for Lena's child. An eye for an eye, a life for a life.”

Marie's cries tore through the air as the needle dug further into her skin, a violent piercing that mirrored the cruelty of Max's remarks. But all her efforts, despite her pleas, the soldiers held her fast, their hold unbreakable.

“Please…” she implored, her voice lowered to a desperate whisper. “Please, Max. Don't do this. It's not too late to stop…”

But Max merely chuckled, the sound a chilling echo of his depravity. “It's already too late, Marie,” he remarked, his tone devoid of any empathy.

Bag after bag was filled with Marie's blood, the red liquid pouring through the tubing like a river of death. The color drained from her face, her eyes hazy and unfocused as life was slowly stolen from her body.

“Max,” one of the guards replied, his tone thick with reluctance, “I don't think she can survive much more.”

But Max was persistent, his lips curled into a nasty sneer. “She has enough blurd to save Lena,” he spat, “and enough life left to regret her crimes.”

“Max, is Lena's life the one that matters?” Marie managed to let out. Her voice was low, she was plainly dying. “Is my life and the baby's that worthless to you?”

“Do you even think you deserve to be compared to Lena?” Max remarked, his voice devoid of feeling. “Draw more!” He remarked to the woman with the syringe.

Marie attempted to beg for her life but no words came out. She was very weak, physically and emotionally. This was a guy she had adored for five years. Is he even worth it??

****

Marie eventually found the ward where Lena was. She was about to barge in quickly, but she paused. If she did, she might do something truly nasty she might regret.

She stood, trembling slightly, her breath coming in jagged gasps. She peered through the little window, seeing Max brush Lena's hair with a tenderness that made her anger boil.

Marie's head pounded, she felt dizzy and queasy. Tears tried to stream over her cheeks, but she fought them back, not wanting to exhibit any evidence of weakness.

“No,” she murmured, her voice raspy with rage. “No, no, no.”

The doctor's words rang in her head like a funeral lament, each phrase a hammer blow to her soul. “The child is gone, please accept my sincere condolences…”