The Pure Ones

Chapter Eighteen

MATIAS' POV

From the ground floor of my home and office, I gazed out of the window and silently took in how vastly different things were compared to just a week ago. At that time in the morning of such an upscale district, people would already be up and about and going on with their days. Nobles would be taking leisurely strolls along the streets and catching up with friends, families would be on their way to church and men would usually be networking and discussing business. But instead, the road stood empty and lifeless, the dried-up blood splatter on the pavement was an eerie reminder of the recent horrors that had rocked the kingdom.

Our home had been invaded by monstrous creatures whose existences we had never been able to fathom up until that moment. The nightmarish beings had taken countless lives, so most people had retreated underground to hide from the murderous fiends that sought after our blood.

Just as my cigar took its last breath, an otherworldly wail reverberated through the air and filled me with an intense feeling of fear and dread. My body trembled as I shut the window with a bang, I wrapped my hands around myself as I took deep, calming breaths. I heard a faint creak of wood as Pascal pushed open the trapdoor that led to our underground chambers, he peeked his head through the space and with a worried expression, begged me to join him down there.

"I'll be there, sweetheart" I told him as I composed myself and got rid of the cigar in my hand. His head disappeared once again below the door and shortly after, I climbed down the ladder and shut the door above me. The small room was dimly lit, a few candles being the only sources of light. Our house was built centuries ago during one of the many great wars that Bravenik had fought throughout her history, and just like a lot of houses built that time, they came with their own secret bunkers. Although not very large in size, the room could fit about fifty people if we were all tightly packed, it had one small bed and three chairs in it. Most of the similarly built houses were connected through the underground spaces, the passages were also linked to the palace. But the number of people lucky enough to live in such buildings were so little, I had no idea how the average person was getting by. Food production had completely frozen, crops had mostly been ravaged by the beasts, scholars had already predicted a famine on the way and Pascal and I were surviving on a near empty stock of fresh fruits.

I collapsed unto the small bed from exhaustion, my thoughts alone had worn me out. Pascal crawled on top of me and sat on my stomach, he tilted his head with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

I sighed before I managed a weak smile. "No, but you make it a little better" I said as I laced his fingers with mine, he looked away flustered before he gently rested his head on my chest. I traced lines up and down his back as he lay on top of me, the very fabric of reality might have been ripping to shreds but at least I still had him.

He got up suddenly and stared at me with suspicion as he sniffed the air.

"Up there, you were smoking, weren't you?" he questioned me.

I blinked back at him, "No"

"Liar"

"Just one"

He eyed me even closer.

"Four"

"FOUR?!" he screamed in disbelief as he frustratedly got off of me, I scoffed at how he could be worried about something like that at such a time.

"It's the end of the fucking world! Why does it matter?!"

He threw a pen at me, "It's not the end of the world!"

"Come on, even you don't believe that. Let's take a look outside, shall we?" I pointed up.

He froze for a few seconds, "W-we'll figure something out" he stuttered. "And you are killing yourself!" he threw another pen at me.