Chapter 11: Bound to Her Shadow

 Ellie's hands still shook.

Ben's arms around her felt warm, solid—alive. But no matter how tightly he held her, she could still feel Victoria inside her skin, like ghostly fingerprints burned into her soul.

"I own you now."

The words echoed in her mind, crawling beneath her flesh like a sickness.

Ellie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push the memory of being possessed out of her head. The way her own lips had been used against her, the way Victoria had made her touch Ben—taunt him—like a puppet.

She felt violated.

And worse—powerless.

Ben exhaled against her hair, his grip tightening. "We're getting rid of her," he muttered, his voice laced with a fury she rarely heard from him. "I don't care what it takes."

Ellie swallowed, her throat dry. "How?"

The question lingered in the air, unanswered.

Because neither of them knew.

Then—

The room shifted.

The air thickened, growing dense, charged.

Ellie's breath hitched.

Not again.

"Ben—" she started, her voice tight, but before she could even move, an invisible force slammed into her.

Hard.

She was ripped from his arms, thrown back against the mattress, her body pinned by a pressure so cold it burned.

Ben lunged for her, but the moment he touched her wrist, something shoved him back.

"Ellie!" he yelled, his eyes wild.

Ellie thrashed, but it was useless.

A breath—not hers—ghosted over her lips.

"Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily?" Victoria's voice was thick with venom.

Ellie's heart pounded against her ribs. "Get. Out."

Victoria laughed.

The sensation of icy fingers trailed down Ellie's throat, over her collarbone, slow, taunting.

Ellie shuddered, her rage bubbling into something sharp. "You're pathetic, Victoria."

The temperature plummeted.

"Excuse me?" Victoria's voice was suddenly laced with something deadly.

Ellie clenched her jaw. "You're just a jealous little girl who can't accept that she's dead."

Victoria's presence tightened around her, a crushing weight pressing against her ribs, forcing the air from her lungs.

"You don't understand, do you?" Victoria seethed. "This isn't about jealousy, Ellie. This is about justice."

Ellie gasped, fighting against the invisible grip. "Justice?" she spat. "For what?"

Victoria's fingers—ice-cold and wrong—slid over Ellie's cheek, tracing the curve of her jaw, her lips.

Ellie jerked her head away, but the touch only grew bolder.

"For what was stolen from me," Victoria whispered darkly. "For him. For my life."

Ellie's pulse spiked. "You think I stole Ben from you?"

Victoria's grip tightened.

"You stole everything from me, Ellie."

Ellie gasped, her vision dimming at the edges. The weight of Victoria's hatred, her obsession, was crushing.

And then—

Something changed.

The cold shifted, curling around her in a way that made Ellie's stomach twist.

A slow, sickening caress slid down her arm.

Ellie froze.

"Let's see how much of you I can take," Victoria purred.

Ellie screamed.

Ben lunged forward, forcing his way through the invisible barrier. "Ellie!"

His touch—warm, real, his—shattered the icy grip around her body.

Ellie gasped for breath, her entire body shaking violently as Victoria's presence ripped away.

The temperature in the room snapped back to normal.

Ellie collapsed against Ben's chest, gasping, her body still tingling from the ghostly touch.

Ben cupped her face, his eyes furious. "She's gone. You're okay."

But Ellie wasn't okay.

Because Victoria's voice still lingered in her mind, a poisonous whisper curling around her thoughts.

"You can fight me, Ellie. But in the end… I always get what I want."*