Chapter 6 When Red Runs Dry

The forest was eerily quiet at night, the only sounds being those of animals and the crunching of dried leaves and branches beneath our feet. The sky was gray and overcast, the air heavy with the damp scent of an impending rainstorm. Moonlight was hidden behind thick, dark clouds, leaving us to stumble forward in near darkness.

“Eliza, you do know the way, right?” I asked, breaking the unsettling silence.

“Yeah, I remember. Just stay close behind me,” she whispered.

We approached a broken-down shed with a red door. It seemed out of place, sitting alone in the heart of the forest like a forgotten relic. Fresh footprints surrounded the shed, going to and from its entrance. The building was small, barely big enough to hold anything of value. Its door was shut tight.

Eliza grabbed the handle and tugged, but the door wouldn’t budge. We circled the shed, searching for another way inside.

“Hey, El, there’s a small crawl space here. We can squeeze through.”

“Nice, good job, Maddox,” she said.

We crawled through the tight opening and landed in a dark, musty room.

“I can’t see a thing,” Eliza muttered.

“There are stairs over there,” I said, pointing toward the faint outline of steps descending into the darkness.

We carefully climbed down the stairs, which seemed to stretch endlessly into the ground, until we reached a heavy steel door propped open by a large stone. The smell of decay hit us immediately—a sickening stench of rotting flesh.

“That’s disgusting,” Eliza said, covering her nose with her sleeve.

“I don’t like this. Eliza, I think we should leave,” I said, uneasy.

“No, we’ve made it this far. Let’s keep going,” she insisted.

The silence of the corridor was shattered by sudden, frantic banging.

“Help me! Please, help!” A weak, broken voice echoed through the hall.

“That’s... that’s isaac ,” I stammered, my heart pounding.

We bolted down the long corridor, which opened into a massive room. At its center was an altar, and tethered to it was isaac .

“What is this?” I whispered, horrified by the sight before me.

“Isaac !” Eliza cried, rushing toward him.

“Help me, please,” Isaac begged, tears streaming down his face.

A white stream of particles rose from his body, swirling toward a statue of a woman looming over the room.

“We need to help him!” Eliza screamed. “Maddox... Maddox!”

I snapped out of my daze. Isaac's hands and feet were bound to the altar with thick chains.

“Eliza, wait!” I called as she charged toward him.

Around the altar was a wide circle of white sand.

“If we step over that sand, we’ll probably trigger some kind of alarm,” I warned.

“Then how do we help him?” she asked desperately.

Before I could respond, I heard footsteps and hushed voices approaching.

“Someone’s coming. Hide!” I grabbed her hand, and we ducked under a table in the corner of the room.

“This one put up a fight,” a deep voice said.

“Yeah, they always do. ‘Help, help,’ they cry. ‘Why are you doing this?’” the man mocked, laughing cruelly.

“How much longer will this one be up there?” the other man asked, gesturing toward Ethan.

“He’s about done,” came the reply.

“Oh, good. Then I can have my fun.”

A flash of white light shot from the man’s palm, striking Isaac's head. His body went limp. I stared, frozen in shock, as the life drained from his eyes. Tears streamed down my face, and Eliza’s trembling grip tightened around my arm.

“Magnus is going to be pissed,” one of the men said.

“It’s fine. He was about to die anyway,” the other replied nonchalantly.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You’re twisted, Matt,” the first man said.

The sound of heavy boots echoed through the room as Magnus entered.

“What happened here?” he asked sharply. “Why does this one have a hole in its head?”

“The ritual was completed, sir,” Matt said. “I disposed of it.”

“I’ve told you before, Matt, don’t act without my permission. One day, you might destroy something important,” Magnus growled.

“Yes, sir. It won’t happen again,” Matt replied nervously.

“Take it to the others,” Magnus ordered coldly.

The men united Isaac's lifeless body and placed it on a rolling table. As they wheeled him out, I felt rage building in my chest. What do they mean, ‘it’? That was a human life, and they snuffed it out like it meant nothing. My fists clenched tightly as a sharp pain coursed through my chest.

Eliza and I waited until they were gone, then ran. As we fled, I glimpsed into another room where bodies were piled high—Daniel, Sasha, Todd, Matthew. Tears blurred my vision as we scrambled through the crawl space and back into the forest.

"So, this is how you got in," a voice said.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but there he was—standing, waiting. Magnus.

"I must say, I'm disappointed, boy. I left plenty of crumbs for you to follow, to get you here, and the one you picked up on was the broken crawl space in the shed."

He laughed softly, a hint of amusement lacing his voice.

My body froze, fear paralyzing me completely. I could barely breathe.

“You children act as if we adults have no eyes or ears,” Magnus sneered. “Running around, snooping, gossiping, fighting amongst yourselves.”

Eliza’s hand clutched mine tightly, trembling. Magnus raised his hand, and for a moment, I thought I heard him whisper something before everything went black.

I woke, unable to move my hands or feet. I could hear Eliza next to me, her faint cries confirming she was still alive. I forced my eyes open.

“Boy,” Magnus’s voice was a cold whisper. “Humans are so fragile, so easy to dismember.”

I tried to focus on him, and then I saw it—Bethany. Or rather, a part of her. Magnus held her severed head like a grotesque trophy, her lifeless eyes staring blankly at me.

Tears blurred my vision as my chest tightened. “What... what is this?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “What have you done?”

Magnus’s expression didn’t change. Cold. Unfeeling. “Yes, that’s the expression I wanted to see,” he said softly, his lips curling into a twisted smile. “The expression of hope dying. Confusion. Raw emotion.”

“Why?” I screamed, my voice cracking with anger and grief. “Why her?”

“Why not her?” Magnus replied indifferently, his tone devoid of empathy.

His gaze shifted briefly to the distance, then back to me. “You’ve been a thorn in my side from the very beginning. How many of you must I kill before you finally understand?”

Magnus’s lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “This stupid girl begged me to give her brother back. Cried. Pleaded. Annoying little thing.”

Rage surged through me. “You monster!” I shouted. “I’m going to kill you!”

“Yes,” Magnus said, his voice dripping with mockery. “Just like that. Let the anger take over—just like that day. Do it, boy.”

My mind raced. What day? What was he talking about?

Magnus’s expression darkened. “Do you need more motivation? Fine.” He snapped his fingers.

The doors behind him opened, and Matt entered, dragging Ola and Ren. They were tied up, their faces battered and bruised.

“Maybe this will do it,” Magnus said, smiling wickedly. He raised his arm.

“Wait, wha—” Matt stammered, but it was too late.

A beam of red light erupted from Magnus’s hand, obliterating everything in its path. The blast consumed Ola, Ren, and matt in an instant, leaving nothing but a smoking crater where they had stood.

Eliza screamed, her voice raw with anguish. I could feel her thrashing beside me, her bonds cutting into her wrists.

But in that moment, the world around me faded into silence. Everything moved in slow motion.

The only thing I could feel was the searing pain in my chest, the sharp and agonizing loss. Tears poured down my face, my mouth opening in a silent cry. In that moment, I lost the will to fight. In that moment, I lost the will to live.

Shards of concrete and sand flew across the room, the aftermath of Magnus’s attack scattering debris everywhere.

Magnus stepped closer. “Now, boy. Is this enough? Are you angry enough?”

My vision blurred as a burning heat filled my eyes. Tears streamed down my face.

“Please... kill me,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Magnus’s face twisted in frustration. “No! This is not what should be happening! Get angry, boy. Do it! I have waited so long for this day—I will not accept anything else!”

He turned his gaze to Eliza, raising his hand. “I will kill as many as it takes to make you obey.”

“No! Please!” I begged, my voice weak and broken.

Before Magnus could strike, the room was consumed by a blinding flash of white light. Time seemed to slow as Magnus was blown backward by the force.

Out of the light, a familiar figure emerged.

“Melinda?” I whispered, barely believing my eyes.

She moved at a normal pace despite the slowed time, her tears falling freely as she approached me.

“I’m sorry, boy,” she said, her voice heavy with regret. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Sorry this is all I can do to help you.”

I stared at her, unable to respond.

“You may have lost the will to fight,” she said softly, “but I see a light in you. A light that can change this realm, that can bring the skies crashing down. You must live.”

Her body began to glow, flames licking at her skin. She winced in pain but kept speaking.

“Live, Maddox. Live to fight tomorrow. The world may seem cold and pointless now, but you must endure.”

Time began to speed up as Magnus slammed into the ground.

“Melinda, you bitch! What are you doing?” he roared, struggling to his feet.

Melinda turned to me one last time. “Live for her. For the future.”

In that moment, her body erupted into violent flames, disintegrating before my eyes.

A ripple of white light spread from where she had stood, engulfing me and Eliza. Warmth and power coursed through my body as I saw Eliza glowing in the same radiant light.

“I believe in you,” Melinda’s voice echoed faintly. “Bring the skies crashing down. Free us.”

As her final words faded, Magnus’s furious roar pierced the light. “No! Damn you, Melinda! You’ve ruined everything!”

The light grew blindingly bright, swallowing everything in its warmth. And then—silence. Darkness.