Stone Cold

39

The door flies open and instantly I'm jerked up.

"I'm back."

Neveah. 

My eyes trace down below her and I see the body. 

"Guards!" Jillian shouts as I try to break free. 

I watch as they all attack Neveah and growl in pain as a high pitched sound fills my head. I fall to my knees weak watching as Neveah kills all of the guards instantly. She looks up at her mother and I and I stare at her. Her eyes are black as night. Jillian yanks me to her chest and presses a knife to my throat as Neveah is instantly in front of us. 

"I will gladly kill him." She growls and Neveah smirks. 

~~

"I will gladly kill him." I stare at her with a smirk ready to feel her blood between my fingers. I grin cutting in between the two of them and grabbing my mother's throat. Shane is released and he lands on the ground.

"Neveah!" He exclaims as I clench my fist around my mother's throat. She stares at me with a glint in her eye. 

"I'm glad you've finally realized the truth of just exactly who you are." She bites out

"Neveah!" I snap my attention to Shane as he stares up at me.

"Let her go Neveah! Don't stoop to her level." He says and I snap my gaze back on my mother.

"Neveah listen to me. You are not a monster!" He shouts

"This is exactly who you're meant to be." My mother says

"You're uncontrollable. Free." She says

"Neveah!" Shane exclaims and I snap my attention to him tightening my grip on my mother's throat. 

"Do it Neveah. Become who you are meant to be. Finally be free." She says 

"Neveah don't listen to her!" 

"This is your destiny. Kill me Neveah, show the world who you are. Show me who you are!"

"Do it Neveah! Kill me! End my reign, prove you are the true weapon. Prove you are Stone Cold." She hisses and I call on my power.

"Neveah don't! You will not come back from this!"

"Darkness is not a bad thing. Darkness is strength." my mother says 

"Neveah!"

"He used you! He lied to you! Betrayed you!"

"Neveah!" I look over at Shane.

"You will be free Neveah. Free from answering to anyone."

"Neveah, please."

"Prove you are not their pet." She says and I look back at her.

"Neveah don't do it!" Shane shouts

"He's still trying to tell you what to do. Trying to keep you as a piece in their game! They'll always tell you what to do until you prove yourself to them!"

"Neveah please."

"The more lives you take the stronger you become. Don't you love to feel the power. Add me to your list and you will be all powerful." She hisses 

"And when you end me. End him." She growls as I feel the power reach my finger tips. I snap my attention over to Shane hearing his heartbeat. He stares at me.

"You will finally be free! No more choices."

"Neveah." He whispers and I remove one of my hands from around my mother's throat. She grins seeing the light around my hand.

"Neveah!" Shane shouts as I plunge my hand into her chest. She coughs as I rip her heart out and she falls to the ground. I stare down at the beating heart in my hand. The blood slides down my arm and I watch as the snake's head has fully formed. I stare at it in wonder then slowly close my fist around it.

"Neveah!" I release the heart and turn to look at Shane. He's on his feet now.

"Don't try to stop me from doing this!" I shout 

"I can't Neveah. This is only you. Only you can decide what you do." He says

"I can look into your eyes, and know you are not evil." He says and I look down at the heart then back up to him.

"I need you to hear just one thing before you choose your path." He says and I clench the heart some as he steps towards me. He stops and holds up his hands.

"I just need you to listen." He says.

"Neveah I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I didn't believe in you, that I betrayed you, lied to you. Not everything was a lie though. I wasn't always lying to you Neveah." He says and I clench the heart as he takes another step toward me.

"I was scared Neveah. I was scared you'd fall to darkness, scared you'd go mad if you knew the truth. What I didn't realize however, was that darkness is inside each and every one of us. Mine showed when I hurt you and continued to betray you. Mine showed through my weakness. My weakness that is causing a wedge between us. Your brother was protecting you from darkness, he falsified everything to protect his little sister from the lies. He protected you from a far unbearable distance for years upon years and I couldn't even protect you with you by me side." He says and my grip loosens some on the heart.

"Neveah, I'm the one who loved you yet pretended there was nothing there. I'm the one who lied and betrayed not only your trust, but your heart, over and over again. I'm the one who couldn't stand up for my own damn mind and see that darkness isn't a side. Darkness and demons are apart of us. Light even resides in the darkest of times and people. Darkness isn't all evil and light isn't all good. There's no true title for either. We just say light and dark but there is an in between. There is a balance. It's our actions that make us dark, not our parents or our powers. You and I are different. We're not human, but that doesn't make us monsters. Neveah I lied to you, I know I did. I know I was wrong and I'm begging for you to hear my apology right now. I'm the one who was too much of a coward to tell you that I was fuckin' in love with you. So I just pushed away. I was the weak one. You've always been so strong." He says stepping toward me.

"You love me?" I ask and he nods stopping an inch before me.

"And I'm so sorry my only way to show that was to betray you over and over again. I tried to fix it. I left Ace alive, told him where they'd take you. Everything back fired though. I got played by my own weaknesses. I am who brought you to this fate. You can change it though." He says and I look down at the beating heart. I blink looking back up to him, my vision clearing some. 

"Don't do this Neveah. Start over." He says gently pressing his hand to my cheek.

"Know who you are." He says 

"What if this is who I am?" I ask backing up

"Then we'll make it work. I'm not leaving you again. I can't. Where you go, I will follow." He says and I stare down at the heart.

"Just be sure it's the right decision." He says then drops his hand and steps back. I turn and look at the mess behind me. Bodies litter the floors, blood staining the tile. I did that. I look down at my arm the snake starting to fade some as I hold my mother's heart loose in my grip. I turn to face Shane and hold the heart up.

"This is my decision." I whisper

~~~~~