𝐇 𝐄 𝐀 𝐓 𝐖 𝐀 𝐕 𝐄 𝐒 || 𝐒. 𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 || 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐍𝐄||

|𝐎 𝐍 𝐄|

[For New or Re-Readers, this is book 1/5]

"𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐓?"

The grandfather clock chimed eleven times, the sound echoing in the silent room.

“All of it.”

The leather squeaked as the weight on the couch was shifted.

“Do you miss them?”

A small click rose in the air as a pen rolled off the table and onto the floor.

“Yes.”

The floorboards creaked under the weight of a pair of boots on them.

“Will you return?”

Clothing rustled, and the pen was placed back onto the table.

“What for? There’s nothing left for me there.”

His chuckle was dark, veering from the tone of someone compassionate.

“No, there isn’t. You destroyed everything.”

A shudder ran down her spine at his wispy hiss.

“It was your doing. Do not place the blame onto me.”

He laughed again, louder, and more sinister, clamping his hands onto her shoulders.

“Do not lie to yourself, woman,”

She cringed at the feeling of his hot breath on the skin of her icy neck.

“I speak the truth. Your hands were over mine.”

He squeezed her shoulders.

“I was merely steadying them, my dear,”

He whispered to her, grabbing her chin as he turned her head down to the sight at her feet.

Two bodies lay before her. Blood seeped from their lifeless forms, soaking into the wood under them. Their throats were slashed open, vocal cords and muscles poking out through the waves of crimson. The female’s eyes were rolled to the back of her head, her lips parted with a claret-like liquid flowing past her lips and nose. Her hand loosely held the man beside her. His stomach was torn open, his organs torn to shreds beyond recognition. It was a horrid sight, to see all of his organs mashed together like that. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, the dark irises glazed over with a milky tint.

The smell was putrid, the scent of rotting flesh rising in her nose. She held back a gag, fearing if she did, she’d throw up the almost empty contents of her stomach. Her nose scrunched up with revulsion, her stomach churning at the sight.

“St-stop,” She whispered, screwing her eyes shut as her stomach swirled with utter disgust.

“Why should I?” He replied, gripping her jaw tighter and making her wince with pain. “You did this. This is your fault. Your work.”

“It’s not!” She shouted, her body trembling in his grasp. He grinned when he felt her hot tears contrast against the cold skin of his hand.

“Why do you refuse to see what’s in front of you?” He asked huskily into her ear, stroking her soft cheek with a rough hand.

“It’s not true,” She whispered in a shaking voice. His shoulders shook as he laughed, the sound starting out as a small chuckle and rose into maniacal laughter.

“You’re a fool, woman!” He yelled, gripping her jaw so tightly she knew there’d be marks there tomorrow. He could see the fear reflecting in her dimly lit eyes, the trembling in her bottom lip; her body suddenly felt freezing. “Look at it!”

“I refuse,” She whispered, raising her gaze to stare at the red splatters on the wall and on the clock that swung to and fro.

“You resist me,” He whispered, seizing her wrists. She fought against him, the muscles in her arms straining. He laughed at her futile attempts, easily breaking her strength, and rose her hands to her face. Carnage dribbled from her blood-soaked hands, thin lines trailing down her skin. “But you carry the evidence of your actions on your own hands.”

“L-Leave me alone,” She whimpered. His touch danced along her skin.

“Oh, dear...” He sighed. “I was never here….After all,”

“You created me,”

She looked back down at her hands, the icy touch missing now. Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed, balling her hands into fists as she dropped her head into her lap. The blood from her hands was no longer there, the bodies at her feet vanishing with a blink of an eye.

Her body curled in on itself, trying to protect her fragile heart from her daunting mind. She fell to the side, gripping her hair tightly as she landed on the plush leather seating of the couch. She heard the clock chime.

One.

She flinched.

Two.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth.

Three.

She slowly let go of her hair.

Four.

She peeled open her glossy eyes.

Five.

She wiped the tears collected on her eyelashes with her sleeve.

Six.

She looked down at the crescent-shaped marks in her skin left from her nails.

Seven.

She released an unsteady breath.

Eight.

She took the pillow from the ground.

Nine.

She kicked her shoes off.

Ten.

She pulled the blanket over her body.

Eleven.

She closed her eyes.

Twelve.

She was asleep.

|•°|

(Gif not mine)