The Dread of Dmaned

I entered the room, ignoring my father, who stood up upon seeing me. I walked towards the man, my eyes fixed on him.

"Who sent you?" I asked, my voice firm and commanding.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, his voice shaking slightly.

"Why did your partner attack us?" I asked, my tone unyielding.

His answer remained the same, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Who in the House of Aestherisin is helping you?" I asked, my patience wearing thin.

"I do—" I kicked him hard, cutting his sentence short and sending him flying into the white marble wall.

"Answer me," I said, walking towards him, my fangs growing, my nails extending. The beast roared louder than ever before, solidifying my conclusion that the one most forbidden desire I had was not hurting a human, killing him, much less torturing someone.

But this was easier, as I no longer wished to fight against my beast or stop it. Elara's fighting figure flashed in my mind, along with my mother's worried countenance. This man had caused two of the most important people in my life to feel distressed, even trying to kill one in the process, along with me.

Perhaps it was the bond that formed between us when I drank their heart blood, perhaps it was my feelings for them. But I was feeling extremely angry, unleashing my beast completely, as I kiked him again, causing him to crash against the wall again.

Then, I picked him up from his hair, dragging him towards the chains hanging from the ceiling, tying him there. I opened my hand and slapped him across the face, opening a deep gash from his ears to his lips. I repeated the process, making his face a bloody mess, scathing one of his eyeballs out in the process. His miserable screams filled the room as I continued down on his body, feeling myself become one with the beast, my thoughts unhinged now, madness flashing in my silver eyes.

"Stop, please, I will talk," his crying sound resounded in the room.

Even then, it took me a few more minutes to get my bearings and understand what he was saying. By the time I paused, everything from the top of his head to above his legs was mutilated, his body now full of red meat and fresh gashes, causing black blood to mix in between, leaking from the gash that had sliced through his heart. The white marble tiles around us were painted in red and black, a gruesome sight.

I stared at him, my eyes filled with madness, daring him to say another word to waste my time.

"We are scouts," he said in one long sentence. "We were dispatched to keep an eye on things in the House of Aestherisin and report any strange moments back. When we saw that blinding flash atop the castle, we knew something was happening and decided to act on our own to eliminate the threat, so that we could be rewarded after returning with the head of the next head of House Aestherisin."

"You delude yourself," my father snickered behind me. "Had they not gone to the garden, your partner would have met his demise searching for them, rather than meeting them."

"Now, tell me, how did you enter?" he asked.

"We had help from inside," the man said.

"WHO?" my father's voice thundered in the room.

"Vestian Aestherisin," he said, causing the room to drown in silence.

"YOU DARE LIE!" Father roared, and it was believable, for the man whose name he had taken was not only an elder in the house but also the brother of the head of House Aestherisin.

"I will never, please believe me," the man cried, sounding miserable.

I was in my mind now, though still raging, I had achieved my goal, as I and my beast had become one, making me more unstable than ever.

"I will excuse myself, then, as you deal with the subsequent matters, Father," I said before walking out of the room.

My mother stood outside, "This is going to be a long night," she sighed.

I walked back down the hallway and found my way back to the room where Elara slept.

My mind was in shambles, unable to form any coherent thought. The mood and scene under which my beast had merged with me were making it hard for me to control my violent tendencies. I wanted to hurt someone, to feel them tremble before me.

I reached the bedside and her innocent sleeping face calmed me down. I first went into the washroom and washed my hands, the flesh and skin under my long nails falling off as I retracted them, along with my fangs, with great difficulty.

I then walked out of the room and laid on the bed, before holding Elara in my embrace. I did not know how and when it happened, but she had a special place in my heart. I wanted to protect her from everyone, even from my own self, so that she may remain pure.

She hugged me in her sleep, her company making me calm, and I drifted off to sleep.