After coming out of that secret vault, I realised that Venus had brought my mothers earrings along with him after seeing look at it with a tinge of sorrow.
I still didn't know how to feel about all this as I looked at the old man fidgeting with the pair of earings.
On a closer look I realised that the item wasn't all black but had a crimson coloured stone dangling at the ends of it.
He gave a kind smile as he handed the item over to .
"You deserve it," the old man sighed .
I don't know why but hearing that line made sothing in my clam and uncaring heart break as I felt grateful to him for giving them to .
I took them from the old man's hand and held them close to .
Looking at the engravings carved on the earrings, my finges trembled as I slowly shook my head, trying to adorn the beautiful masterpiece.
The design was so delicate, so sharp at the edges that it almost felt alive.
My throat tightened as I clipped them on one by one, the crimson stones dangling softly against my skin.
A soft warmth spread across when they touched my ears, almost like the earrings were hugging .
I didn't even realize I was smiling faintly as I turned away from Venus, ready to head out of this suffocating vault.
But the mont I took three steps forward, sothing inside went wrong.
First, it was an itch on my skin, faint but irritating.
Then the itch spread, faster than I could keep up with, crawling up my arms, my back, my neck.
It was like my flesh was drying up from the inside out, as though every drop of moisture in my body was being awakened.
"What the–" My voice broke before I could even finish.
A sharp, splitting pain stabbed through my skull, so intense that my knees buckled beneath .
My vision blurred, red lines cracking across my sight, as I dropped down hard onto the cold floor.
"AHHHHHH!"
The scream tore out of without control. My fingers clawed at my scalp, digging into my silver hair as if I could rip my skull open.
My eyes burned so much I swore they were lting inside my skull as sothing sharp pressed from within my head, shoving outward.
My head stretched painfully, my skull itself feeling like it was being split apart from the inside.
I gasped, but it wasn't air that ca out, just broken, ragged sobs that echoed through the chamber.
Warm liquid ran down the sides of my face. At first, I thought it was sweat.
But when I blinked through the haze, crimson drops hit the floor in front of . Blood.
My blood.
And then the cracking sound started.
A loud, unnatural snap echoed from my own head.
I felt it, two hard, jagged things pushing out of my skull. My fingers brushed against them, and horror filled when I realized they weren't just tearing my skin apart.
They were growing, obsidian like black bones, rough and sharp, erging like twisted horns from atop my head.
"No… no, no, no!" My voice shivered, my throat paining.
I slapped at them like I could stop them, but they only pushed out harder, tearing my head open further.
"VENUS!" I scread, my voice choking on tears. "HELP !"
I turned toward him, desperate for the calm comfort he always seed to carry, desperate for the kind smile that had given strength monts ago.
But what I saw instead froze to the core.
Venus stood there, not moving, his old hands folded neatly across his chest.
His majestic black robe shifted with the faint breeze of the underground vault, his grey hair glowing faintly under the dim light.
And he was smiling.
Not kindly.
Not gently.
But knowingly.
My stomach almost dropped to the pits of my bile.
"You…" I whispered, my body trembling as the horns pushed out further, blood soaking my hair.
My voice rose into a broken, enraged scream.
"YOU KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN, DIDN'T YOU?!"
The old man only gave a wry smile, his eyes lowering for a mont as if he couldn't bear to look at fully.
The only silence that could be hard were my ragged and pained screams.
Then, he sighed. A long, tired sigh that carried weight…and regret.
"This…" he said softly, almost to himself,
"…was the only way."
His arms tightened across his chest, the robe shifting like black waves around him as he straightened his posture.
The shadows made his face look older, sharper, and crueler.
"This is the only way I could find," he continued, his voice low and cutting, "to make a good enough reason…for killing you."
My heart stopped.
I stared at him, blood dripping down my cheeks, as my body trembled violently on the ground.
"You…" My voice cracked, "…what did you just say?"
Venus tilted his head slightly. And for the first ti since I'd t him, his expression wasn't cold, or kind, or calm.
It was broken.
A sorrowful smirk pulled across his lips, twisting painfully like he didn't want to see it.
His eyes flickered with sothing heavy, with sothing that looked like guilt, but not enough to stop him.
"Forgive , child," he whispered. "But this is where your story ends."
***
A/N: The WSA evaluations are starting soon, I know it's not been a hell of a smooth ride but I hope you can review my book and give a chance to win the contest!!
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