The Obsidian Pillar

Chapter Twenty-seven - The Beast

'You've eaten, haven't you?' she asked him, anger rising in her voice.

He was tired, disappointed in himself and overwhelmed. He didn't want to fight.

'Answer me.' She was trying not to yell, he could hear it swelling in her chest as she tried to suppress it. He realised that Mauden must have released Rosa from the manacles before coming to him. With her gift.

He had undergone the transformation just beneath the tower, unable to make it to the balcony, and had spent the last fifteen minutes dragging himself up the many stairs.

He trudged over to the bed and fell upon it, his face engulfed and almost suffocated by the pillow. It offered comfort and the promise of sleep, its smell was home. But she wasn't about to let him off that easy. He felt her small body upon him, straddling his back, her hands either side of his head.

'Look at me! Did you do it? Did you murder again? Who was it this time? A child? An elderly man? A mother?'

He used the last of his strength to throw her from him. She landed on the floor with a thump, her head grazing the nightstand.

'Rosa?' He sat bolt upright.

She was cradling her head, blood already crawling through her fingers. 'Don't,' she stated as she drowsily rose to her feet.

He watched her helplessly as she made her way down the steps. She can't leave me, he thought fretfully; Mauden wouldn't let her. Her secret would be out then, and I doubt she would want that.

He lay back down amongst the pillows as the murdered woman's whispers taunted him. Why won't she leave me be? Why won't they all leave me alone?

He fell asleep with a full stomach.