A DARK AGE: CHOSEN BY THE GODHEAD

CHAPTER 001: LET THEM TAKE YOU.

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XENIA'S POV
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The creaking sound of the door invaded my ears as I entered the house—my so-called home.

My eyes moved through the expanse of the inner walls. I had to be very careful. If someone had waltzed in to set some traps? I’d be dead.

This house needed a lot of renovations, but I couldn’t risk being a target. For now, living as a fugitive was what I could afford, especially when I had this mark.

“Father, how long are you going to make me wait?” I murmured, my fingers tracing the intricate design on my neck, covered by the scarf.

It was a beautiful mark, but in this world, it attracted death and the inhabitants of hell.

This was my fifth month without a single word. I couldn’t stay in this place for much longer, and I didn’t want to.

These monsters were on to me, breathing down my neck, and it was only a matter of time. “Would I make it through? I have lived and worked like them, but I still can’t help feeling like I’m being watched.”

I had been complaining for the past two weeks after every shift.

I dropped my sack on the table and loosened my hair, allowing a wave of red hair to fall down my back.

Tiredness seeped into my bones. “I can’t keep doing this. It’s hard. Everyday.” I could feel the tremble in my voice

They were brutal, all of them. They make me work so long and pay so little, but it could be worse. They would instantly kill me if they saw my mark—the mark of the Godhead. I was the very last of a few.

Xenia, come to me…

Goosebumps filled my skin when I heard it. The voice I had been waiting for. His voice.

“Now?” My eyes flew to the clock on the wall. It was a few minutes to nine p.m., and the curfew raid would be on.

My eyes went to the book on the shelf. It needed to be hidden, and the windows had to be barricaded.

No one could know a human was living here.

I turned the lights off and covered every open space.

My heart raced excitedly, “You took so long, Father.” I muttered, running up the stairs and into a room by the left.

The room had no windows, and it seemed like a space was created in the wall of the house. It was the perfect hideout, my secret place.

My palms were sweaty, and I knew why. Hearing that voice in five months was like being doused with cold water. It was refreshing, but it also hurt.

Contrary to what I felt, tears flowed down my cheeks.

My knees buckled when I entered the room, “Why did you leave me so long? I was scared. They almost had me.” I couldn’t control the rush of sorrow that flowed through me.

I had missed the feeling of his voice, and at the same time, I was tired.

I wanted to run a knife across my throat countless times or jump off a building, but I could never bring myself to do it.

My soul was burdened. I didn’t want this. No one would want this. To carry the burden of the whole world.

I am with you always till the very end of the age.

“I know! I know you are with me! It’s hard to believe when I can’t see you, Father. It’s really hard. I can see my enemies, those monsters, surrounding me from all sides, but I can’t see you.” It was my anger and my frustration speaking.

They took the rein no matter how hard I tried to hide them.

I wasn’t angry at him; I was angry at myself and my weakness.

Benadam, the hero would never have felt this helpless or weak if he had been here. He was strong, and everyone knew it.
However, I was the only one left, and I would never be able to do what he did.

I drew in a deep breath, “Just let me die.”
I wished I hadn't said it.

At that moment, my throat hitched, and my breathing stopped.

Pain, raw pain, ripped through my skull. My fingers clawed at my neck. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.

“What the…” My mind tried to form words, but the pain prevented a straight thought.

I shut my eyes tightly, willing the pain to stop.

It wasn’t coming from any part of my body but from my chest.

Deep within me, like something clawed at my heart, my mind. Something dark and twisted. I knew this feeling, but I had never felt it this way.

Grief weakened my very soul, and it was the first time I felt such vivid emotions, such raw intensity.

These weren’t mine. They belonged to someone else.

What was this person going through to feel such a thing?
Piercing cries filled my ears and came from my mouth, but the voice differed from mine. It was painstakingly familiar.

Benadam? Why was he crying?

The Benadam I knew was a man of courage, and he would never succumb to such weak emotions.

“Father, I don’t want this.” His voice was breaking, every word spoken with sorrow. “However, I will do only what you want.”

I took in the memory. This was Benadam’s body; I was feeling his pain, and it wanted to kill me.

This felt so much like death. Everyone knew what Benadam wanted to do, but I never thought he had felt such sorrow.

I was selfish. If he felt this trying to save me, then I wanted to do more. I had to do more.

I knew what I wanted to do. “Father, I understand.” Tooth and nail, I would fight alongside his needs and wishes.

The air instantly filled my lungs, and my eyes opened; I was back in the room.

Before I could make sense of what has just happened, a bang reverberated around the wall of the house, “Get out of the house, Unclean!” A voice shot from the lower floor.

The voice jolted me from my reverie.
I hated that word, but I understood that the voice meant danger.

They were here, those inhumane monsters. They had broken into the house. The footsteps from outside told me I was surrounded.

“Father, what would you have me do?” I asked him, and the word I had waited five months to hear would finally come. I would rip them apart, dagger in hand, and move to another location.

Let them take you.

Wait, what?