A strange stillness settled over the dim room, like the calm before a storm, a cold before the heat. Jian sat across from Viola, hands folded on the table, her gaze unwavering. The flickering candlelight casting strange wavering, dancing shadows that seemed almost alive, twisting over the cracked walls and across Viola’s hollowed face as blood streams down her gorgeous blue eyes which has now turn pitch dark as that of the forsaken night. The usual, guarded calm Jian wore was brittle tonight, fragile against the intensity smoldering in Viola’s eyes.

But this was not the same, detached coldness Jian had braced herself for. No, Viola’s gaze was different, raw and feverish, as though torn open by some deep agony and regret buried far too long. The sight of it tugged at something long-buried within Jian, a flicker of pity, unwanted, unwelcome.

Viola’s hands tightened around the edge of the table, the knuckles stark against the dim light, bones almost pressing through her skin, fingers trembling, slick with blood where her nails had dug in too deep. Jian could see the pulse there, erratic, as if her very blood was rebelling.

The light flickered, deepening the shadows like a heartbeat, and for a moment Jian thought she saw something, a silhouette lurking just beyond Viola’s shoulder. But it was just the shadows, folding around her like they too bore witness to her torment.

“Jian… I… I’m a monster,” Viola whispered, her voice barely a sound, more a scrape of anguish that scratched the stillness.

With a shudder, Jian’s stomach twisted, yet her face remained a mask, calm, indifferent. The flickering candlelight cast her features in stark relief, revealing the tension she struggled to mask.

The walls began to groan as though burdened by Viola’s confession, and Jian watched as the dim light played over Viola’s form,

Thump! Thump!

The ground began to rumble intensely as Jian’s jaw tightened, as she looked at Viola whose shoulders trembled, her pale bloodied skin seeming to drain of color until she looked almost ghostly under the dim light.

Black veins pulsed beneath her skin, as if like maggots crawling on the surface, spreading like ink in water, crawling up her arms, snaking across her neck, her face. Her eyes turned inky black, hollowed pits where blue once sparkled, as if the darkness had finally devoured her soul.

And yet, beneath the revulsion, Jian felt something unexpected, a twinge of unease. As if some dark, unspoken truth was on the verge of breaking free, something far worse than what she’d ever expected to find in Viola.

A faint Sizzle! sound began to hum in the air between them, warping like heat rising from the desert sand. Jian’s surroundings blurred, her vision darkening as though shadows were seeping in from all sides. She blinked, and when her eyes opened again, she was… somewhere else.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

A New Space Entirely.......

...........

Outside the underground camp, under the gaze of the red moon light and the misty red fog in this forsaken night,

A dozen of military soldiers were standing on guard in the entrance to the camp

As in that moment one of the soldiers who was lighting a cigar in the corner as the rest where standing at the entrance guarding

Standing at the corner, he caught a glimpse of some strange looking figure who was heading his was as it walked in an unsettling posture which wasn't humanely enough

Growls! Growls!

Upon reaching closer, Growls were being heard as the figures were getting clearer

Standing at the corner with the cigar half lit on his mouth, he looked

and unconsciously the cigar fell from his mouth....

.............

She found herself in a new place unfamiliar to her as the darkness lifted, replaced by dim, greenish light casting a sickly hue over peeling walls. Jian’s heart skipped a beat as she took in her surroundings, a corridor, shadowed and worn, exuding a damp, stale smell of age and neglect. Her footsteps echoed hollowly as she moved forward, each step drawn forward by a pull she couldn’t explain.

Is this… Viola’s past?...... The thought was cold, unwelcome... Dragged into her memories?...... A little pissed, Jian’s mouth twisted with distaste. She wasn’t interested in Viola’s memories, her anger had burned too long, too deep. Yet, something held her here, as though an invisible force kept her rooted to the spot.

Soft whispers drifted through the air, indistinct at first, but they grew sharper, louder, until they were biting words etched with cruelty, laughter filled with malice.

Shadows flickered in her peripheral vision, young figures with blurry, ghostly faces. Jian could feel their stares, feel the coldness of their taunts that lingered in the damp air like the taste of metal on her tongue.

A younger voice, a voice trembling with fear and desperation echoed down the hallway. Jian followed the sound slowly as each step felt heavier than the last.

The whispers grew, turning sharp, piercing, twisting the air around her. Jian could feel the weight of each word, could almost feel it pressing in, bruising her skin.

A girl stood at the end of the hallway, small and pale, her eyes filled with a helpless terror Jian recognized all too well. The girl’s shoulders were hunched, as if shielding herself from the harsh words slicing through the air like knives. Her lips trembled, but she held her ground, a hint of defiance hidden beneath the layers of hurt.

The younger Viola’s voice trembled as she whispered, almost too quietly to hear, " I wanted to be recognized by you guys, I just… wanted to be liked. Why can’t you all just stop ".

The laughter turned sharp and metallic, echoing with a cruel, biting tone. It twisted and coiled around the young Viola, who stood as if anchored in place, her slight frame shrinking under the weight of their taunts. The air around them warped, shadows stretching and bending, taking on distorted shapes that seemed to watch, silent and merciless.

Jian stepped forward, each movement heavy with resistance, as if she herself was wading through Viola’s pain. She felt the old anger flare, a simmering rage bubbling up. But beneath it, something else stirred, a ghost of pity, perhaps, creeping uninvited into her heart

......

In the densely quiet space, where each whispers sends chills down your spines. Viola’s form flickered, a faint, broken specter trapped within the echo of her own suffering. She looked up, her eyes haunted, pleading.

Viola’s gaze didn’t waver, and in her eyes, was a reflection of her wounds,

A silent wind emanated in the empty space, as it echoed, as if moving to Viola

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Just as the Thumping! sound vibrated the space

The world shifted, as if darkness swallowing the light around.

A pained voice came through in the empty space, a voice pained by regret and longing, as it sounded faint and broken.

" Please… make it stop "