The world crumbled around Grey as the pain consumed him. His brother's lifeless head rolled to a stop at his feet, its hollow eyes locking onto his own. The weight of it—the finality—was too much. Grey stumbled back, trembling, his vision blurring.
Then the darkness overtook him.
He plunged into the void—an endless chasm where light dared not exist. The air was thick and oppressive, pressing against him like unseen chains. His body burned with searing heat, cracks splitting his flesh as though he were made of brittle stone. His mind unraveled, the voices clawing at him, whispering promises of endless torment.
The scene replayed before his eyes, vivid and unrelenting, as if etched into his very soul.
For the second time, Grey watched in frozen horror as his brother's head toppled from his shoulders, the lifeless body collapsing in a graceless heap. The severed head rolled across the blood-streaked ground, its hollow, unseeing eyes locking onto his as it came to rest at his feet.
Grey stumbled back, his breathing sharp and uneven, the world spinning around him. Moments ago, his brother had been alive, defiant, screaming his final words. And now...
"Dead..." he whispered, his voice breaking as the word left his lips. "He's... he's dead."
The reality of it clawed at his mind, shredding through any composure he had left. A cold, suffocating dread coiled around his chest, squeezing the air from his lungs.
"No... no..." Grey stammered, taking another step back, his boots slipping in the growing pool of blood. He fell to his knees, his hands trembling uncontrollably as he reached out, stopping short of touching the head. His fingers curled inward, clawing at the air as though trying to grasp something tangible to anchor himself.
In the suffocating silence, a faint voice whispered in his mind.
This isn't real. It's just an illusion. None of this is real.
But the madness was louder.
"No!" Grey clutched his head, his fingers digging into his scalp as he squeezed his eyes shut. "No! Stop this! Stop it!"
The whispers grew louder, more persistent, but they were drowned out by the relentless cacophony in his head—the laughter, the screams, the memories.
When he dared to open his eyes again, the scene before him had shifted. The blood beneath him rippled like water, turning darker, deeper, swallowing the ground whole. His brother's head remained, still staring, its lifeless eyes now gleaming with something unnatural.
"You did this," a voice echoed, deep and guttural, reverberating through the void around him.
Grey recoiled, shaking his head violently. "No... I didn't mean to... I—"
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears, each pulse a cruel reminder of his existence. The pain in his chest returned, sharper than ever, a searing agony that spread through his entire body.
He screamed, falling forward, his hands slamming into the ground. His fingers clawed at the surface, tearing into the flesh-like substance beneath him. It was as if the world itself had become alive, pulsating and writhing under his touch.
The agony erupted like a wildfire within him, searing every nerve. His body convulsed violently as waves of unbearable heat surged through his veins, his skin blistering and bubbling as if he were being burned alive. Grey clutched his head, his fingers digging into his scalp as if trying to tear away the torment.
"Stop... please, make it stop!" he choked out, his voice breaking into a strangled scream.
His surroundings blurred, the edges of reality twisting and distorting as the void encroached. Madness clawed at his mind, the memories flooding in like a dam that had burst. His brother's voice—pleading, accusing. His father's cold gaze, filled with disappointment. Her laughter, the warmth in her eyes, followed by the sight of her blood spilling over his hands.
"NO! NO! STOP IT!" Grey screamed, shaking his head violently, as if to dislodge the images.
Cracks began to appear along his arms, glowing with an intense, molten light. The fractures spread, crawling up his neck and down his torso, each one a jagged wound that burned with unrelenting fire. His body felt as though it was being torn apart, piece by piece, while the madness feasted on what remained of his sanity.
His nails raked across his skin, drawing blood as he tried in vain to claw away the pain. His voice broke into raw, guttural cries that echoed into the consuming void around him.
"Make it stop... make it stop...!" he pleaded, his words dissolving into incoherent sobs.
But the pain didn't stop.
His body was breaking—shattering under the weight of ruin and madness. The cracks along his flesh deepened, his skin flaking away like charred parchment. His vision swam, the world tilting and spinning as darkness pressed in on all sides.
The whispers began, low and insidious, crawling into his ears.
Bastard... Traitor... All you ever cared about was yourself.
The voices rose, a cacophony of despair and torment, each word slicing through his already fragile mind.
Grey doubled over, his head pressed to the ground as his trembling hands gripped his hair. Tears and blood mixed on his face, dripping onto the scorched earth beneath him.
"Ahhh...!" he screamed again, his voice breaking into an animalistic wail, as though the sheer force of his anguish could purge the torment from his soul.
The madness was all-consuming, a relentless storm that threatened to tear him apart entirely. His body was nothing but a vessel of ruin, his mind a shattered mirror reflecting only pain and despair.
Memories began to flood his mind once again, each one more unbearable than the last. His father's death. The look in his brother's eyes as he struck the fatal blow. The fleeting smile of the woman he once loved, before she crumpled at his feet, her blood staining his hands.
"No!" Grey screamed again, his voice raw and broken. He slammed his fists into the ground, over and over, each impact sending a dull ache up his arms. "I can't— I can't take this anymore!"
His hands moved to his neck, trembling fingers wrapping around his throat. He pressed down, gasping for air as his body trembled violently. The veins in his arms bulged, his skin mottled with crimson as blood trickled from his nose and eyes.
"Pathetic."
Grey froze, his breath hitching in his throat. The agony persisted, but for the first time, he felt something beyond pain—terror.