SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 84- The Devil's Promise

Trigger warning: violence, blood, self harm
Everything feels like a fever dream, reality and truth have been tainted by the unwilling resolve not to be myself, even in my dreams. My mind, the only space that has ever been mine and mine alone, feels like it has been invaded, and now it is a palace under someone else's control. Just as I feel I will be swallowed whole by the darkness, I'm startled awake by a commotion outside.

    "Master Lucius," I hear a guard frantically knocking on the door.

    "Enter," Lucius answers, and I realize I'm still lying on his chest.

    "Palace troops are storming the compound, we're trying to hold them back but we're heavily outnumbered," he states as he kneels before us.

    "Led by whom?" Lucius asks worriedly, sitting up as I roll off him.

    "The head guard, Nixi, and her brother Arsen," he explains.

    "Daddy," I mutter, and Lucius looks at me nervously.

    "Move the civilian population to the gathering hall, I'm going to the front lines." He explains, stepping out of bed.

    "Consider it done, sir." the guard stands up, saluting him.

    "Shade, you need to stay as far away from this as possible," Lucius begins "The last thing I want is for you to get caught up in this mess," he explains.

    "What?" I ask, stepping off of the bed "What do you want me to do, stay here?"

    "No," he states, pondering for a moment "Take her to special holding," he orders as he grabs a set of daggers from the bureau.

    "You're locking me up?" I ask, trying my hardest to become defensive.

    "It's the safest way, sweetheart. I'm sorry. Now behave yourself." he explains. Suddenly, the ground beneath us starts to shake, followed by a loud crack of thunder outside. In the distance, we hear war cries echo down the halls.

    "Oh my god," I mutter.

    "Fucking hell," Lucius growls, "Go," he commands, and the soldier rushes out. Frustrated, he turns back to me "I can't let them have you,"

    "I don't understand, am I really worth more than all of this to you?" I ask inexpressively.

    "You should already know by now," he sighs. Suddenly, the ground starts to shake again, followed by terrified screams "We need to go," he grabs my wrist, and we start to run down the hall. Thunder erupts from outside as we go, turning corners and trying to get away from the screams, but they seem to be coming from nearly every direction. As we go down a dark hall, we're suddenly met by a bright red ball of fire flying down the adjacent hall.

    "Out of my way!" I hear Desire shout from down the hall "Where the fuck is she?"

    "She got out," I state. Frantic, Lucius pulls me in the opposite direction, and we're met by a group of palace troops.

    "There she is!" the leader shouts, "Capture the man, we need him alive!" They dash forward, and Lucius quickly looks around, seeing a doorway down the hall. We sprint towards it, turning the corner and slamming the door behind us, locking it. Without hesitating, we continue forward, going down dimly lit halls that appear unoccupied. Once it seems we're in the clear, he stops to breathe.

    "Goddamnit," he mutters, trying to catch his breath "They're everywhere."

    "This seems hopeless," I say emotionlessly "Where do you even intend on going?" I ask curiously.

    "There are multiple exits out of this place, at least one of them has to be unblocked," he explains worriedly.

    "Then what?" I ask, leaning on the wall as I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

    "That's what I'd like to know." I suddenly hear from down the dark hall. Startled, we both look and see a man coming into the dim torchlight "My daughter is right, running seems hopeless, so why don't you hand her over."

    "Daddy," I mutter, and I feel my emotions trying to peek through, awash with relief at the sight of him.

    "It's been a long time, Dante. It's nice to see you again, old friend." Lucius says mockingly.

    "As it turns out, Embrose was never your friend, just a tool in your endless plots to overthrow us." my father sighs "Thanks to you, far too many people suffered at my hand, but in the end, you were the puppetmaster behind the entire thing."

    "That may be true, but at least something good came of it. Do you think your daughter ever would have come to be without my influence?" Lucius asks, caressing my face as we hear another crash of thunder outside "Considering the circumstances of Umbree being imprisoned, I think she wouldn't have been born otherwise."

    "Don't touch her," my father growls, drawing his sword.

    "Now, now, Dante, no need to get so feisty." Lucius chuckles, stepping forward and drawing his pair of daggers "I suppose we're just getting started." Suddenly, Lucius slices into each of his arms, and as he gets into attack position, his blood swirls around the daggers. Without hesitation, my father rushes him, swinging towards his chest, narrowly clipping him. Lucius seems satisfied by this, using his blood as a weapon and guiding it toward my father, splitting it into small sections that cut into him like razor blades. He winces in pain but is unrelenting, going at him again, and I watch this back and forth continue, unable to do anything but watch as they hurt each other.

    Suddenly, my father knocks one of Lucius' daggers free, and I hear the metal scrape across the floor towards me. Fighting the mental compulsion as hard as I can, I get on my knees and grab the dagger, examining the smeared blood on it. Knowing I have to distract Lucius somehow, I do the only thing I can think of; preying on his instincts. I grip to dagger tightly and hold it to my wrist, slicing across it as deeply as I can. Quickly the thick, black blood starts to pour out, soaking my arm. I hear Lucius inhale, turning to look at me in horror as I fall back against the wall.

    "Shade!" he shouts, running to me, followed by my father who shoves him against the opposite wall.

    "What have you done?" my dad asks frantically, tearing his pant leg and holding it to my wrist.

    "Lucius," I mutter desperately, my lips becoming cold as my head starts to spin. He tries to get close, but my father shoves him away again.

    "Stay away from her!" he growls, trying to stop the bleeding "You're gonna be okay, just stay awake, okay?"

    "Let him through," I say shakily, and my father looks at me in shock, hesitantly backing away. Lucius rushes to my side and reaches for my wrist, but I pull it back.

    "What are you doing?" he asks, confused as he frantically tries to help me "You'll die,"

    "I'll only let you if you promise to go with him willingly," I state, trying to keep my eyes open "Swear to it." I offer, trying to hold my ground. He looks at me desperately, tears in his eyes as he sees me start to pass out.

    "I... I promise." he agrees, starting to uncover my wrist as I close my eyes, everything starting to sound muffled "Shade, promise me you won't die." he pleads as I feel his blood drip on my skin, stinging as it combines with mine. I can feel my skin start to heal, but the blood loss is too much, and I can't stay awake anymore. As the world around me goes dark once again, I can only pray that when I wake, I will have found my way back into the light.

Soulless Creatures - AURORA