Death of a King

Chapter 12

The Toby took a step forward, leaning it's ghostly pale face towards my own. His arm shot out to the side, a single finger pointing into the distance, "It's because of him, isn't it?"

I looked to my left but what met my eyes had my body throbbing violently.

There sat Dustin, perched atop his bloody throne, the same vapid look staring on. This time was different though, now the thorns didn't just pierce his skin ...

They went through him.

Points as sharp as needles protruded from his arms, legs, and chest, each one glistening in that same dark red color which stained everything else. But he sat unmoving, as if this pain were nothing new to him. As if he's been suffering it for years. He drew in a hollow, damp breath, the very movement causing those thorns to sink deeper.

"You chose him over me." The Toby whispered, now standing right behind me. He placed his hands on my cheeks from behind, his fingers digging into my cheeks. Suddenly, he was yelling, "You chose him over me! Your own brother, how could you?!"

I tried so desperately to tell him how it broke my heart to see his missing eyes. To see that blood, to see that pain. But I couldn't. My silence was absolute, I'd never have to chance to tell him that it wasn't my fault. I wanted to go back for him, to take care of him, but I wasn't allowed.

His nails on my cheeks turned sharp, pinching at my skin. When he spoke next, I recognized the fear in his tone and finally realized that his anger from before had nothing to do with my absence.

"Don't you understand? Kidnapping you wasn't the worst part, taking you wasn't a trap." He whispered, his voice swallowed by terror, "The whole compound is his trap. He controls it, he controls us. And when the time comes for him to take his place as ruler ... we all die."

My gaze swung back to Dustin who sat disturbingly still on his throne. His head was propped up in one hand, the elbow of that arm falling victim to a particularly ghastly looking thorn. But he paid no mind to the pain, he only watched us with eyes that didn't fully see.

He looked lifeless ... but that made him all the more terrifying.

The Toby had to be lying. This Dustin, he wasn't the same as the one I've been living with. The real Dustin would never be so heartless.

"You still don't get it. This man, the one you see before you, is the real Dustin. A future Dustin. One more brutal than you could ever imagined." He hissed back, "All of this, even you, it's all just a game to him. A game he's been playing for a very long time, one he's had far too much fun with."

If his words were true, and Dustin truly is playing a game, then I have nothing to fear. Games can be won, no matter who you're playing against.

I jerked my face away from his grasp, surprised when he released me willingly. Much like the skeletal rider, the Toby tilted his head in confusion, "There is no winner. There is only death." He paused for a moment, then reached for the hem of his shirt, "See for yourself."

He pulled his shirt up, revealing red streaks running down his stomach and chest. My eyes followed the blood trails to their source, a large empty hole where his heart should be. A scream gurgled up my throat at the sight of the exposed tissue, ripped flesh, and torn vessels that still pumped blood. The Toby offered up a wicked smile and those black eye sockets nodded towards the throne.

I convinced myself not to look while I held down the heave threatening to surface, but my curiosity betrayed me. I glanced sideways to where Dustin sat.