Book Two: The Larkspur's Longing ~ A tale of deep obsession and devotion

Chapter Six: Understanding

Callidus stalked towards the casket, his fingers twitching at his sides. His jaw clenched tightly as his gaze bore into Ferox's vulnerable form, his features contorted with a mixture of loathing and disbelief.

"Callidus, please!" Ferox pleaded, his voice filled with desperation. "I don't understand what's happening to me."

"Since you have no answers to give me, there is no point in letting you continue to waste air."

Ferox whimpered, running a trembling hand through his chestnut brown curls, "...this is...the tombs, isn't it? G...grandfather is buried here."

"All of our unfortunate relatives are in here." Callidus's words dripped with contempt as he loomed over Ferox, "They were keeping you company."

Callidus's icy demeanor remained unyielding as he observed Ferox's disoriented state. The sight of his brother, weak and bewildered, should have brought him a sense of satisfaction, a twisted vindication for the years of pain he had endured. But instead, it stirred within him a burning turmoil, a conflicting blend of anger, disappointment, and defeat.

"You were supposed to stay dead, Ferox. You were meant to be nothing more than a memory, a name etched on a cold, stone casket. But here you are, defying all expectations, alive and breathing. It's an insult to everything I've worked for."

"Callidus, I...I don't understand..." Ferox gasped, his fingers clutching the edge of the casket in another desperate attempt to climb out.

"Of course, you don't understand. You never understood anything. What a privileged, beautiful life you got to live. Everyone adored you."

Ferox stared up at him, and Callidus felt a rush of revulsion at the sight.

"Now that I had finally freed myself from your shadow, you dare to return and disturb the fragile peace I had achieved." Callidus hissed. "You want answers? Here's your answer, you are an aberration, a disruption in the natural order of things. You were never meant to come back to life, to breathe the air that rightfully belongs to me."

Ferox's shaky attempts to escape the casket were met with another forceful gust of freezing air, sending him tumbling back into the plush lining. "No, no." Ferox whimpered, "...please don't put me back. Callidus, please."

"Please?" Callidus echoed with a bitter edge, "Do you really think your pleas hold any weight, Ferox?"

"...Callidus...please, I'm just going to wake up again..."

Callidus's hands slammed onto the edge of the stone casket, the impact sending a jolt of pain coursing through his body. "What do you mean?" he snarled. "Are you so perfect that not even death can claim you? Or perhaps death is as repulsed by you as I am and wants nothing to do with you?"

Ferox fought against the wind pushing him back into the casket, "I...I don't know!" Ferox cried, "Callidus, I don't know! But please, don't put me back...!"

"What do you mean you're going to wake up again?" Callidus demanded. "Explain yourself!"

"I...I can't! I don't understand!"

"You don't understand? You think I understand any of this?" Callidus spat, "You were dead, Ferox. Dead! I never thought I would have the displeasure of speaking to you again."

"I...I don't know how it happened. I don't know why I keep waking up. There's something wrong with me, something I can't explain."

"Something wrong with you?" Callidus echoed, his voice tinged with curiosity and vindication. "So, even in death, you continue to be a source of contention."