King of the Empire ✓| #2 |

Prologue

The hallway was dark with a dim light at the far end. I had no clue how I just ended up here. The humid air wasn't something pleasant either.

I walked forward, reaching for my gun, tucked in the back of my pants. I took it out and aimed it forward. Something was very wrong with this entire situation.

Maybe it was the small noises of chatter in the background.

Maybe it was the fact that apart from my mind, everything else felt slightly numb. I didn't feel my legs or my arms after the gun was aimed. As if I was programmed to do so.

As I stepped closer to the light, two long hallways on both sides appeared. I looked to the left, seeing an almost identical hallway to the one I had just come from. The hallway on the right was shorter and had a door at the very end.

I contemplated whether it was a good idea to choose either of them but took a turn to the right.

My steps became harder and the space around me felt as if it was going to squeeze me to death any second.

I tried to open the black wooden door but had no luck. It was bolted from the inside. I looked back where I came from only to see nothing but pitch black.

I wasn't scared. I wasn't even remotely nervous but it did creep me out just a bit. I looked back at the door, which was now slightly opened.

I pushed it forward, revealing the bright white lights inside. The room, or whatever it was, was white from ground to ceiling. There were no windows, no doors. Just an empty, white space.

As I took steps forward, my heart began to clench. I frowned at the feeling.

"Liam!" A faint voice screamed behind me. I turned around but saw nothing. I looked around and up, seeing nothing. I was alone. I was most likely hallucinating.

"Liam!" Now a voice, equivalent to a crowd of people, screamed. Sweat tickled my forehead as I tried to keep calm.

This was freaking me out more than I thought it would.

I walked forward, trying to keep whatever was behind me where it was.

"Liam," I stilled.

I knew that voice. I could recognize it amongst a crowd of a million people. I didn't even realize how my heart started to race. I turned around but saw no one. I turned back around and started walking again.

"Liam!" That same voice screamed my name behind me.

No. No. No. It wasn't her. It was just my mind. Just my mind imagining her. She was dead. She was fucking dead.

"Liam, please help me!" I looked back and met her eyes. I dropped the gun out of my hands before I could even realize what had happened.

"My love," she smiled at me. Her hair was straightened, and she wore a white suit with white high-heels. She walked towards me before her hand touched my cheek. My eyes filled up as my heart shattered into a million pieces.

This isn't her, you moron.

She's dead!

"Liam," I touched her waist and scared myself with the fact she was real. She wasn't a spirit. She was real and standing right in front of me. I cupped her face before a smile tugged my lips.

"My love, what-"

"Ti amo," she whispered. The words slowly picked up every shattered piece of my heart and slowly put it back together. My eyes slowly blurred from the tears. I leaned down before I pressed my lips to hers. Her small hands wrapped around the back of my neck, making the hairs there rise.

"I love you, Cel. So fucking much." Her smile was enough to melt me. Enough to destroy anyone who ruins even an ounce of her happiness. Enough to know she was the one for me.

"I have to go." My smile slowly dropped as her words settled in.

"No. You can't." She caressed my cheek.

"I'm sorry, Liam." I would've held her tight, I would've trapped her to myself but my body didn't respond to my brain. I was locked. I stood still and was forced to watch her walk away from me.

Again and again and again. Over and over.

But she never made it. She dropped to the ground before I could get to her. Before I could make sure she didn't hit her head. To make sure she still had some faith left.

I couldn't make it.

I cried, balling my eyes out as I caressed her cheek. She lay in the giant puddle of her own blood as my clothes soaked all of it. I glanced back where I previously stood and each time I saw the same.

The gun.

The gun that I shot my girl with.

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