Reapers - Master of Souls (Reapers Chronicles Book III)

8-Pain (1 of 2)

NP: Standing at the Edge of the Earth by Blessed Union of Souls

This had suicide written all over it. Still, I forced my legs to move faster, using everything I picked up from Alessandra. I tried the Diviner's Charm, the Transference link to warn Vincent. Nothing seemed to work.

As I reached the castle's courtyard, my eyes were already frantically searching for them. The twins were on the ground. Vincent, Pilgrim and Adrianna—whatever she was—were nowhere to be found.

I did a mad dash to the twins. Darius was crawling towards his unconscious brother. It was true that I hated them for torturing Vincent, but brothers would always be brothers. I totally respect that.

I propped him up and helped him reach for his brother's hand. He looked awful. And this time, I could tell it wasn't all Vincent's fault. His left eye looked like it had been stabbed by a pen. Repeatedly. Left a messy hole too.

After a few shakes, he finally opened his good eye.

"Darius!" I called.

Darius opened his mouth, but only croaks came out of his throat. He looked terrified out of his mind when he saw my face.

"Adrianna did this to you?"

He answered with a croak.

"My master; where is he?"

With his head lolling from side to side, he trained his eyes towards the castle.

"The castle?" I asked.

He gave me a slow twitchy nod.

Wasting no time, I took off.

The foyer was empty, but there was blood smears on the rubble. I climbed over the ruins and searched for any sign that Vincent had been here. Instead, I spotted another trail of blood leading to the main hallways. Warily, I followed it.

The trail disappeared in front of the archway to the ballroom. The double doors were slightly ajar. From the narrow crack, the room looked bleak and gloomy. Without the lightings, the grand decorations, the sound of merriment, Death's throne room might as well be an empty catacomb.

Standing at the steps of the dais was Vincent with his back turned on me. In front of the throne was Adrianna. Pilgrim Reaper crouched at her feet, moaning.

"Look, Vincent," she murmured, her soothing voice resounding. "Watch him suffer. He deserves it. My death was his doing. Your pain, your loss was because of his whims, his thirst for power."

Vincent didn't say a word. He was shaking.

Adrianna kicked Pilgrim in the stomach. He flipped and curled into a fetal position. Blood sputtered from his mouth. His face was almost beyond recognition with all the wounds and the swelling. Like Darius, his left eye was bleeding profusely. Some kind of serial killer signature, I guess.

"Enough!" Vincent snarled.

"What?" Adrianna's head whipped to his direction. "What did you say?"

It took Vincent a few seconds to respond.

"I s-said... that's enough, Adrianna."

"Stop?" she sneered. "Stop?!"

She pulled Pilgrim to his knees. With a swift backhand, she sent him flying across the room. His back crashed against the wall and he stayed up there.

Adrianna kept her arm up. She had somehow pinned Pilgrim on the wall without actually touching him. Her fingers moved as if she was strangling someone invisible, the veins on her forehead bulged with effort. Her eyes glowed with hatred.

Pilgrim could only groan and fumble on his neck. His face slowly turned pale, his eyes wide as he gasped for air.

"Do you know what he did after he had collected my soul the last time I died, Vincent? He let me loose to wander the world of the Living for ten years!  No matter how many times I tried, I could not cross over! Until I started to become tainted. Until I had nearly lost my sanity! And for what? So that I could track the soul that he had been pining on for eternity? The one soul that could give him power to return to the hell from whence he had hailed?"

Vincent shook his head. "I'm sorry, I wasn't able to help you. But I'm here now... so you can stop."

Adrianna glanced at Vincent."Do you really want me to stop? Do you want to always stay afraid?"

Again, Vincent didn't answer, but I knew all too well what his answer would be.

"See?" Adrianna smiled at him tenderly. "No one knows you more than me. I am doing this only because I wish to take your pain, your fears—all of them—away, so you would not have to face them anymore."

Carefully, I parted the door. It made a slight noise, but none of the two seemed to have heard it. Holding my breath, I slinked inside and sneaked behind the tables.

A thousand questions crammed inside my mind as I crawled behind them, none of which I could answer. As I ran out of tables and chairs for cover, I tried to calm my breathing without success. I drew out the Helcium shard, my heart pounding against my ribs so hard I thought I was going to faint.

If Adrianna could beat up Death like this, what more could she do to me? Or Vincent?

"But..." Vincent lifted his gaze. "If he dies, I die. We'll all die. And the whole world—"

"Are you not tired, Vincent?" Her kind eyes searched his face.

The resignation in his eyes was undeniable. There was nothing there but misery and pain—the very same load I had sworn to take off his back. Bang-up job I was doing so far.

I should have done better. I should have stayed by his side even when it hurt, because I promised. But I fell short. And now, he was... giving up.

"B-but it's different now," he murmured. "I'm not alone. Not anymore."

A tear suddenly rolled down my cheek.

Adrianna looked around, smiling ruefully. "Really? Because as far as I can tell, no one is here but us."

Clenching my teeth, I launched myself towards her. She lifted her free hand and motioned. Suddenly, I was suspended in midair.

I flailed my arms and legs, but it was no use. It was Hector's lab all over again. Trapped, useless me.

"Forgive me," she told me with a hint of empathy. "But I cannot allow you to damage this... form. You could say I have developed a liking to it."

I figured Vincent had this coming. But his face didn't look it. He actually believed—or at least hoped—Adrianna was back. He was that desperate.

"Adrianna." There was a hint of warmth in his voice whenever he said her name. Something in me ached. "Let her go."

"It's not her, Vincent!" I fought harder, hoping she would tire soon and lose her grip on me. "It's not Adrianna! I'm telling you the truth."

He kept his gaze fixed on Adrianna, confusion registering on his face.

"Just this once, Vincent! Believe me!" I pleaded. "Think! Just how did she suddenly get back from the dead and conveniently waltzed her way here? She's a Swarth! The monster!"

My throat suddenly tightened. I couldn't speak.

"Such hurtful words," she sighed, shaking her head as she made a grasping motion. "I understand now, Vincent, why you are still miserable despite having a new familiar. She does resemble me in many ways. But we are far from similar."

I opened my mouth to gasp for air. Nothing was coming in. There was only pain while my throat tightened further with every second.

To be continued...