Empire of Eternals (Book 1 of The Eternal Series) ✔️

Chapter 38 | Climax

***Hermione Garcia POV***

Did you ever wonder how you'd feel after losing a loved one? I have, twice. The pit full of misery forcing me down to its walls of blackness. The pain, the horror, the fear of reliving that memory, the heartache when you saw them die; it's unforgettable.

I thought I could save them - Jenna and Paige - but it seemed like I was running around in circles. Both times, I had failed to keep them safe, the fear marred onto their faces as they took their last breath, the dread blemishing, dripping from their faces.

I shook from the experience, the wind blowing against my body as my mouth tried to take in all the air in the world, yet somehow my lungs felt like they had closed up, my pounding heart beating like a loud drum in a music performance, the echo of it's beat well heard in my ears.

Reality was a funny thing, but when it slipped away and came back, it was awful. The reality of this situation was that my secret of keeping the dagger's presence unknown resulted in Paige's death. She died believing that I was a liar, the bad guy.

But, it wasn't that, that worried me. It was the sound of her body hitting the hard concrete ground, the side of her head making contact with the pavement beneath her as she drew her last breath, her eyes fully closed - though I couldn't tell if it was from the fear of death or with the acceptance of it - as Josephine unnaturally twisted her neck.

The wail of pain that was going to follow by never left my lips, my body going stiff as the only thing I could do was watch in horror, the purple like hue dissipating from my hand as the pangs of pain consumed me like one of its pain, toppling each other.

The tears blurred my vision - the coldness of the wind blowing against my equally cold face - but, I didn't let them fall. I wasn't going to cry, not today. This wasn't the time to mourn.

Deep down, I knew Paige was okay. She had to be. I could bring her back, using the dagger - though it was only possible if Josephine didn't kill me and take it - I could save her.

But the shadow of death was vividly present.

I lost Katherine, then Adriana, then Jenna, and finally Paige. It almost seemed as if the universe was constantly at a battle against me, destroying the precious things that brought me happiness, sending out its little soldiers to kill them; that soldier being Josephine.

There was only a certain amount of hurt a person could take before they finally cracked, before they came tumbling down, shattering like a mirror smashed across the ground. But, that moment was long past. Now, it seemed I was out of the grief.

I almost felt numb, like a lifeless doll that served no purpose in life, one that you could throw around, tear limb from limb for your happiness. It felt as if someone was tearing the things that made me, me. And the next time something like this happens, I'd be too weak to stop it.

"Oh, come on. Don't look so sad. She deserved it for suspecting you." Josephine remarked, her blue eyes glancing over at me

The knot formed in my throat at the sound of her voice, my chest in agonising pain as I begged myself to not break. The feeling was so horrible, so full of pain that it left me numb. And the person standing in front of me - a smug across their face - made it a thousand times worse.

"What are you doing here?" I gulped

"The dagger, actually." She replied, glancing at the trunk of Paige's car as she advanced towards it, taking punishingly sweet steps, almost as if she was taunting me

"Do you honestly think I'm that stupid? That the second I see the girl that I don't dislike I'll give her the world to bring back the person she loves?"