Hello lovelies, I would like apologize for the inconsistent updates. Dec is a little busy as in life and the story is officially in its ending arc so it takes me time to plan the chapters and see that everything ties up together well. I am trying my best to update as often as I can. But I hope you understand. Thank you so much for your patience. So grateful to everyone who have been with me on this journey so far and also the new readers who are new to this world. Thank you for all your lovely comments and gems. Truly means a lot to me. Stay safe and happy <3
[Carys] Last time I was here, I was in a hurry to free Ash and make it to the AAC meeting, so I didn’t have the time to explore this world beyond the museum, but… “What in the freaking world is going on here? What… is this place?” I gaped at the floating pyramid that hovered above a castle, casting a glow over the fully operational city that sprawled beneath. The pyramid rotated very slowly, dispersing the whitish blue light across the city. “Blank Space, which no longer looks blank to me.” Ruin raised his voice to be heard through the gushing squalls and our fluttering overcoats. We stood on the slanting top of the tallest turret of the museum, which was probably the highest building around. There was no sun, no moon, no sky. It was nothing like our world. It looked like a city hovering in darkness. As if a part of the earth crust had broken from the planet and was now drifting in far space independently. There were countless such fragmented lands hovering around us, but they
[Ruin]Belladonna scanned the crowd for an easy victim for her little visa heist.I could have stolen two visas, but I didn’t because the thought of witnessing her steal was far more exciting than some twisted fake chivalry. Although I highly doubted if she could steal at all.It was always exciting to see a morally upright person step into moral corruption, however small it might be.Hidden in the shadows, I watched her struggle with her morals before a flicker of determination lit her eyes. Her eyes changed the way they did when she marked me. My heart, if one could even call it that, pounded with the same temptation it had when I burnt the slave brand on her chest. With every choice one makes, they kill a part of themselves. A kind of suicide no one talks about, but is more common than breathing.By not killing her, I killed a part of myself who yearned to drive the dagger deeper into her chest and reach her heart. It was more like an impulse, a primal reflex that set my muscles a
[Ruin]The bones of her hands contorted and twisted, reshaping beneath her skin. Her fingers elongated into sharp claws, more lethal than my dagger.The air around her crackled with an aura that felt strangely familiar, like a forgotten dream. It felt as though I had known that energy for years. Still, I couldn’t recognize it, just like those vague emotions that took over me when I saw her for the first time.A second she was right before my eyes and the next she was gone with a deafening growl. A hush fell over the crowd before it burst into bone-chilling screeches of men as if they were being torn apart alive.I looked around as a sea of men and women ran upstairs in a catastrophic wave to escape the massacre.I got mere glimpses of Belladonna. She was all over the hall. Incessant gunshots and zapping beams of lights were followed by panicked cries of spells.People ducked and screamed out of fear as they hurled out of the hall, pushing each other like cramped cattle within electroc
[Ruin] A scorching pain hit me from behind, spreading from my neck to my knees within seconds. Reality blurred around me as I fell. My face hit the floor, and I remained paralyzed for a few seconds until the urgency of the situation hit back again. Damn it! Wincing at the feverish flood of excruciation that slowly spread through my veins like a numbing poison, I looked at Belladonna. Are you hurt? Are you shot? I tried to speak, but couldn’t utter a word. Breathing heavily, she stood in front of Morana, shielding her from the swords and bullets. She was bleeding all over. The blood-stained cuts on her clothes revealed her deep wounds. My mouth watered as blood trailed down her fingers as she clenched the blades of the swords with bare claws. Blood. I need her blood. Somehow, her blood helped me heal faster. She had suppressed the swords’ movements, but she clearly couldn’t hold on for too long. Not with those wounds. She had reached her limits. I crawled towards her. I ha
[Kian]“So this communication system works on the frequency of nothingness. You mean on the frequency of something that doesn’t exist?” I asked the human scientist, Rebecca.“Well, yeah. Not exactly that. We call that nothingness — medium of space. Some scientists call it dark matter. Like air is the medium on earth and water is the medium in the oceans, which makes life possible. Similarly, the medium of space is what fills the space,” she said.“Isn’t space just… dark?” Levi asked, frowning deeply.“Yes. Exactly. Dark is present non-uniformly in every inch of the space, but it’s all linked together like a limitless fabric of darkness. Darkness is not nothingness. And that’s what makes this kind of communication so robust,” she said.“So you mean to say that as long as a place has darkness, this system’s gonna work?” I asked.“No, if a place is within our universe, our communication will work. Because darkness is constant. Light is variable. We are still finding out what exactly that
[Kian]As I entered the hospital, the staff in my tracks hurried and stood aside, holding their head in a bow.The thick scent of medicine hung heavily in the air. Nausea hit my guts, but ignoring it, I headed towards the private ICU wing of the hospital.My footsteps echoed as I continued down the corridors, which gradually turned emptier and quieter until I reached the decontamination chamber. I put on the gloves and mask before entering it. I shut my eyes and a fine mist of disinfectants sprayed all around me. Once the process was complete, the doors to the other side opened automatically.The nurses in scrubs rushed across the corridor into the ICU ward.Aamna paced near the door of the ICU ward, fidgeting restlessly. Looking completely disheveled, Jackson talked to someone on the phone, peering outside the window. “Thanks, Zion. Yeah. Yes. I’ll send you the details about the meeting. Yeah… um-hm. Alright! Thanks again, man!” Jackson hung up.“Why can’t I enter?” Aamna walked u
[Kian]“So what you mean to say is…”“Yes, alpha. According to the doctors and the healers, as they state in this report…” Jackson showed me father’s medical report. “His highness’ body reached the optimal condition right before his death. The conditions were similar to the deaths that happened from the failure of the rebounding experiments,” said Jackson.“How can they be so sure about it?” I asked.“When his highness’ body reached the optimal condition; even though it was for a few seconds, he came out of coma. Her highness witnessed it herself,” Jackson said.“He… came out of… coma?” I reiterated, making sure I was hearing things right.“Yes, alpha. So… I know it’s insensitive to ask, but… I think we should do an autopsy just to be sure. Because this might not be a natural death. To me, it looks like some sort of planned murder. We know he went into a coma because of the war, but we don’t really know what actually happened to him in the Autumn pack—”I lifted my hand, and Jackson s
[Kian]What was ‘don’t read’ supposed to mean?I stared at those two words and no matter how many times I read them, I couldn’t decipher the meaning behind them.“Your father. He truly loved you,” mother said. “He was always so worried about you. Until his last breath…”The discomfort in my guts intensified at her words. Suppressing the irresistible urge to tear down the paper in my hand, I neatly folded it. Slipping it in my pocket, I got up from the bed.“Kian… do you really have nothing to say? To us? To him? To me?” she said.I turned around to face her. Looking into her eyes, I swallowed the clogging emotions in my throat.I mustered a faint smile and shook my head. “No.”The weight of that one word hung heavy in the air as she looked back into my eyes, attempting to read what I hid behind my facade.She got up from the bed.Tears lined her eyelids as she reached out to touch my hands. I stepped back, avoiding her touch. It took me all my strength to stop my hands from trembling.