A human figure, with its arms and legs twisted, was descending from the stairs in the dead of night. Even with no audio, Lana could see the figure’s veins pulsing under his skin.
The loud vibration of the wooden stairs highlighted the pressure with which it was descending.
Due to the darkness of the night, it was difficult to make out the figure’s distinct features, yet Lana’s heart tightened instinctively.
She could practically sense the aura of death clouding the figure.
With each step the figure was taking towards a room located on the ground floor, Lana could feel her heart beating rapidly.
Though she wanted to stop the figure, she remained rooted on the spot.
Was some unknown force binding her to the place? No... it was raw fear.
Seeing a possession was common, but the fear pulsing under her skin... couldn’t become common at all.
Yet, to know about the future, Lana followed the figure whose hands and legs were bent at a strange angle while he was using his legs and hands to crawl.
Soon, the horrendous creature reached outside the room, and the door flew open, as if an invisible force was controlling it.
An eerie expression appeared on the figure’s face. Once inside, the grotesque creature slowly started to crawl on the wall.
The room was a master bedroom, with a floor-to-ceiling window right in front of a bed, which was located on the right side of the room.
On the bed, two human figures, unaware of the impending danger, were sleeping peacefully.
There was a cupboard adjacent to the floor-to-ceiling window and right opposite to the entrance where Lana was standing, watching everything unfold with terror in her eyes.
A low guttural sound escaped the creature’s throat, and suddenly, the scene, which was mute, became audible to Lana.
The faint humming of the air conditioner, coupled with the soft breathing of humans sleeping on the bed, made Lana have an ominous feeling.
’No... whatever I am thinking won’t happen...’
The next second, Lana heard the sound of bone cracking, like a crack appearing on glass. It was a horrifying reverberation, the kind of sound one would absolutely fear.
Yet nothing could come close to the visuals visible to Lana.
The horrendous creature settled at the corner of the wall and started to laugh, a laugh filled with dark promise, and in between murmured.
"Serán condenados. Se pudrirán para siempre. ¡Miserables, que perezca toda la humanidad y que sus almas no vuelvan a encontrar la paz!"
After staying by Lucian’s side for a long while, Lana had become well versed in Spanish, and she understood what the creature was speaking....
To be precise... it was cursing.
You will be damned. You will rot forever. Wretched people, may all of humanity perish, and may your souls not find peace ever again.
The words cause chills to break out all over Lana’s body.
The next second, the see-through floor, ceiling, and window with fluttering curtains started to vibrate.
Cracks resembling spiderwebs started to spread across the window glass, and the next second, thousands of glass shards, like the millions of stars in the universe, flew toward the couple sleeping on the bed.
"No!" Lana yelled and tried to rush toward the human figures, but it was too late; the jagged glass shards embedded themselves in the sleeping couple’s bodies, earning a sharp, ear-piercing scream.
The agonizing scream brought a huge smile to the creature’s face, and the next second, it jumped down from the wall, while the couple with blood dripping from their wounds tried to take the glass shards out.
"Xander? What are you doing?" A slightly familiar voice echoed in Lana’s ears; her head turned toward the source of the voice.
Only the lady in front of her didn’t resemble her poised and elegant self; a glass shard was struck at her cheeks, the moonlight seeping from the now glassless window, reflecting a shard etched in Mathilda’s right eye.
Lana instinctively stepped back, and her hands were trembling, while a chill shot through her spine.
"Mother..." The creature drawled, his voice was slow and deliberate, "... you are awake? Want to eat glass with me?"
His question sounded innocent and carefree, like a kid sharing his food.
"Yes..." The familiar feminine voice seemed to have lost its vitality and replied in an expressionless voice.
"What? No! You can’t!" Lana yelled, but her voice fell on deaf ears.
Mathilda, as if possessed or under some spell, descended from the bed, more and more glass shards crunching beneath her bare feet, leaving thin streaks of crimson on the wooden floor.
Lana’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Mathilda walk toward the heap of shattered glass scattered by the window.
The moonlight shone coldly on her pale face, hollowing her features until she looked more like a porcelain doll than a living woman.
Then she crouched down and started to eat the glass shard.
Lana’s heart was hammering with fear, and she almost wanted to run away.
A faint streak of dark blood started to slip from the corner of Mathilda’s mouth. The creature named Xander also started to eat the glass shard as if he were enjoying a delicacy.
Piece by piece, Mathilda ate the glass shard till she started to cough blood, and eventually, even when she collapsed, she used her last ounce of strength to eat shards... till she couldn’t anymore.
Bile rose up Lana’s throat, burning with the sour tang of dread. She clutched her own stomach, fighting the nausea that surged as she watched the ghastly scene unfold.
The crunch of glass between Xander’s crooked teeth punctuated the suffocating silence.
"See, Mother," Xander whispered hoarsely, his voice gurgling as if it were coming from the bottom of a well. "Hurts less... after a while." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveI★Fire.net
Suddenly, he looked toward the bed, and an eerie hollow smile appeared on her face.
"Father..." he drawled, "You are awake? Why don’t you try to eat the knife in the kitchen?"