Lord of the Wicked [✔ COMPLETE]

Chapter 12: A Tragic Reunion

Once Valek stood in front of his duplicate, he came to a halt and stared deep into his eyes and his mouth fell wide open. His face was smudged in black filth and his dirt smeared clothes were ripped and hanging off his body. Other than that, however, it was like looking into a mirror, and though it spooked him, the clone also stirred a curious excitement within.

"Are you real?" Valek asked.

He nodded. "Are you?"

"Very real." A frown appeared as he carefully scrutinized every inch of his face, noticing that not a single feature was different and even every birthmark had the same size and shape as his own. "How is this possible?"

The duplicate shrugged and wrinkled his brows in worry. "I... I don't know." His voice began to tremble and tears appeared in his eyes. "I came here to get help. It's my sister." He took a hold of Valek's wrist and began to pull. "There is no time. Please, you have to help me or she'll die. I beg of you, please come with me."

Confused and uncomfortable as he were with him, Valek ran along with the only mission to save the poor dying girl. They ran across grass and mud, between brick homes and alleys, and it seemed to take forever until they finally stopped running. It was a lone house with a straw roof standing on top of a hill, there was a tiny square garden fenced by bushes, in it were patches of red roses and decorative white gravel. It all seemed perfectly cozy and cute, which somehow made this little house on the hill strangely unsettling.

"She's inside," he said hysterically as he pointed towards the door. "Please, help!"

Valek ran over to the front door. It creaked open, and inside it was damp, dim, and silent, except for the sound of his footsteps slowly knocking on the wooden floor. The dark walls with decorated with dust covered porcelain plates and empty picture frames. The uneasy feeling grew and spread across his every being, making his heart beat loud and fast. All he craved was to run back to Castle Raverik, and that thought made him feel like a coward.

Across from him, in the dark hallway, was a closed door. He opened it slightly and peeked inside. "Hello?" When no answer came, he entered the room. Here, too, it was dark. With a big round table that contained plates and cutlery, he figured it was the dining room. With the next room he entered, he once again called out, "Hello?" And, once more, no one answered.

However, this one was not empty.

On the bed lay a girl whose faced was covered by tangled brown hair. She wore a plain pink dress that had gone ashen of filth. "Hey, are you okay? Are you awake?" With a trembling hand, he reached over and carefully brushed her hair aside.

And, right then, it was the first time they'd managed to break Valek's spirit. A loud scream escaped his throat as he wildly shook the still body of the sister he'd lost years ago. "Cecile?" Tears streamed down his face as he kept shaking her. "Wake up, Cecile." He fell down on his knees and sobbed against the cold flesh of the corpse. "Why won't you wake up?"

Laughter echoed through the room. Valek turned around and faced his duplicate who didn't looked panicked no more. Instead, he laughed and laughed. Inside his eyes was a hollowness Valek had never seen before, like there was no one there, and he knew that he was looking into the eyes of pure evil.

"Oh, I was so worried she'd still be alive when you came here." He shook his head and laid a hand across his chest. "Now, that would've been disastrous, wouldn't it?"

Though there were many things Valek attempted to say, something kept him from speaking and all he could manage was opening and closing his mouth. Nothing, no amount of magic and not even the first time he'd seen unicorns and dragons, confused him more than this. It was something he couldn't grasp, the level of evil he looked at, the lack of remorse, the laughter, he was not only at a loss of words but his entire brain shut down.

"She didn't drown that day, Valek." The clone kneeled above him and peered down at him with a wide grin. "When she went under water, I sucked her into our world, just like you were sucked into Brimstone." He tilted his head and shrugged. "But, she is dead now. So finally, she's lived up to your expectations." He made a small bow and laughed. "Pleased to meet you, Valek, I am King Jerrik. And I am the lucky one who is going to destroy all of Brimstone, and you."

Slowly, Valek rose to his feet. His trembling body made his teeth clatter, and no matter how hard he tried to speak the lump in his throat just wouldn't let him. In a flash of a second he lunched at the monster only to hit the floor with his head. He was no longer there, he'd disappeared into thin air. Through loud cries, Valek picked up his sister and carried her limp, stiff body in his arms across cobbled streets and mud.

In spite of all, he could finally bury his sister.