Tension descended upon the room as the vampires fought against the bloodlust.
Slowly, they began to rise to their feet.
Y, with his blue hoodie and blank iron mask, shook off the effects of the Aura easily. Before long, the four vampires were standing once more. Together, they stared down at the sight before them.
An unassuming opened box, its interior glowing in a dim, otherworldly crimson light. Sitting innocently like it hadn't just brought them to their knees was a single page. Its surface was blank yet it was the source of the light.
Ezra wished his heart was still beating so it could race within his chest and reassure him that he was still alive. When he'd faced the Aura of the book, it had been like being a mouse in front of a snake.
Wisps of shadows danced around the page, intertwining with the now lessened Aura of bloodlust that filled the air. Ezra could have sworn the page was a hibernating monster in disguise.
If not for its Aura and the presence of the smoke of shadows, it could be mistaken for an ordinary page!
Y, with an air of reverence, whispered two words that reverberated through the room, his voice tinged with a mixture of fear and awe. "My precious."
He slowly stretched a hand to the box, his eyes filled with desire.
Just before he touched the page, he hesitated, his hand trembling imperceptibly. With a sardonic chuckle, he withdrew, a knowing smirk playing upon his lips. "Olivia," he commanded, his voice suddenly cold and commanding, "take it out."
"No."
"No?" X turned to stare at her and the chains on her neck glowed dangerously. "Did I just hear you say no?"
Silence reigned in the room. Even the sound of breathing was absent. The two vampires stared at each other.
Ezra's eyes danced between the two vampires. Y mustn't be given an excuse to become serious and abandon his plans for toying with them. The more playful he was, the less likely he was to kill them.
"I'll do it." He volunteered.
"No!" Olivia said sharply, a hint of panic in her eyes. "I'll do it!"
Silence filled the room once more.
Ezra watched with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity as Olivia reached hesitantly into the box.
She glanced at Ezra and Gen before taking a deep breath, a gesture she technically didn't need. With trembling fingers, she grasped the page.
Suddenly, a flash of inky blackness engulfed the chamber, casting everything into shadow. Ezra's senses reeled in confusion and a strange thought entered his mind. How can light be black?
In the chaos, the shadows covering the page surged forward towards Olivia's face.
Whoomph!
The shadows devoured the tattoo around Olivia's neck, leaving behind a bruise.
Before anyone could react, physical red chains coiled out of Y's arms and wrapped around Olivia's arm, severing it with a swift, decisive tug.
"AAARRRRGGGHHHH!" Olivia screamed, collapsing to the floor. She shuddered like she was having a seizure.
But before anyone could intervene, Y's hand shot out like a snake, tendrils of glowing red chains snaking from his fingertips to wrap around Olivia's writhing form.
With mounting horror, Ezra and Genesis crouched into defensive positions. "What the fuck did you do?" Gen snarled at Y.
Y jumped back, his hands raised in the universal symbol of surrender. "Easy. Easy. I had to stop the page from devouring all her vitality."
"Fuck." Gen whispered before crouching to check Olivia as Ezra's eyes remained fixed on Y. He was back to his playful mood. That was good.
Olivia's groans echoed through the room as she slowly sat up, her movements pained and labored. Ezra's gaze flickered to her, and he couldn't help but notice that her red irises were spinning even more rapidly than before.
At this point, he had his theory on what a rapidly spinning iris meant. She was low on vitality. Either that or she was dying.
He gritted his teeth at the thought. In his current state, he needed someone to back him up against Y when the time came. Olivia was the more powerful one of the two but he'll have to do it with Gen.
New glowing red tattoos from X could be seen, twisting like serpents around Olivia's neck and arms. She had returned to her senses, clutching her severed stump, her gaze fixed on the hand still grasping the page that lay beside her.
The inky black shadows that had once covered the page had sunk into the page, solidifying into dark symbols etched on the page's surface.
Y, his movements slow and deliberate, reached out to retrieve the page.
Everyone collectively held their breath as he touched the page, waiting for the inevitable shadows. The page sat lifelessly, without any immediate reaction.
Y sighed in exaggerated relief, which was quickly replaced by a sense of cautious curiosity.
With a flick of his wrist, his chains wrapped around a nearby table and dragged it to them. He picked up the page and placed it on the table.
Gen lent a helping hand to Olivia, assisting her to her feet and Ezra joined them to crowd around the table, their eyes fixed upon the confusing markings on the page.
Lines and dots danced across the page from left to right, forming an unfamiliar written language.
"What language is this?" Gen asked in confusion.
Y's response was a solemn shake of the head. "I don't know." He admitted, as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.
"I have never encountered any language like this before. Even if it were a dead language, I would recognize it. But this? This is something else." Okay. It was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.
"There can only be two possibilities. Either this language is a language that died at least two thousand years ago or it's a language created by the progenitor himself. Whatever it is, I haven't seen it before."
Silence filled the room. Olivia shifted imperceptibly.
"What do we do now?" Gen asked.
Y turned his mask to Olivia. "Decode it." He commanded once again.
"What?"