Kai's eyes darted around the cold, sterile room as the door creaked open, revealing the figure from his nightmares. The man who had stood outside the flames that night—his face obscured, but those piercing red eyes were unmistakable. Each step the man took was deliberate, echoing like a death knell against the metallic floor.
"You've found something you shouldn't have," the man said, his voice a smooth, chilling whisper that sent shivers down Kai's spine. "But it's not too late to give it back."
Kai's heart pounded, the memories of the fire flooding his mind. "Who are you?" he croaked, attempting to mask his fear with defiance. "What do you want with me?"
The man's lips curled into a smirk, but there was no warmth in it—only the promise of something sinister. "I am Aric Thorne, a senior operative of the Veilguard," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "And I am here to retrieve the book."
Kai's stomach sank as he pieced together the implications. "The book? You mean… the one I found?"
Aric leaned in closer, his gaze piercing through Kai's defenses. "Yes, the demon's pact. You have no idea what you're meddling with."
Kai's instincts screamed at him to bolt, but he remained paralyzed against the cold wall. "Why should I give it to you? You burned my family! You killed everyone!" His voice trembled, the horror of that night clawing its way to the surface.
Aric straightened, a chilling glint in his red eyes. "You think I did it without reason?" he replied, almost mockingly. "That day, I received news of a demon in human form—a creature capable of wreaking untold havoc. I could not take chances. Your parents were collateral damage in a necessary operation."
"Collateral damage?" Kai spat, disgust bubbling within him. "They were innocent!"
"Precisely." Aric's voice dropped, becoming dangerously soft, almost conspiratorial. "Innocence makes one blind. I did what needed to be done to protect the city from forces beyond your understanding. To kill the demon before it could manifest fully."
Kai's hands trembled with rage. "You think you're a hero? You murdered people in cold blood!"
"Call it what you will," Aric said, his expression unyielding. "But you should understand something about this world, boy. It's not about morality. It's about survival. Those who have power decide who lives and who dies."
The weight of Aric's words settled heavily in the air, suffocating. Kai struggled against the bindings, a mix of anger and fear igniting within him. "I don't care about your twisted logic! I'll never give you the book!"
Aric stepped back, his demeanor shifting from conversational to predatory. "You misunderstand the situation, Kai. I don't need your consent. I will take it, one way or another."
Before Kai could react, Aric's gloved hand flicked open a hidden compartment on his armor. A small device resembling a dark crystal flickered to life, casting a ghostly blue light across the room. "With this, I can extract the memories connected to the book from your mind. No need for cooperation—just compliance."
The very air around them turned heavy with malice as the device hummed ominously. Kai's breath quickened, instinct screaming at him to fight back, to escape. But before he could muster any resistance, the world around him started to fade, swirling into a haze of darkness as the device pulled at the very fabric of his consciousness.
"No! Stop!" he shouted, but his voice was swallowed by the void.
In that moment, he was thrust back into the memories he'd buried deep—the flames consuming his home, the screams of his parents, and the shadowy figure standing at the doorway, eyes glowing with a sinister light. The past clawed its way back into his mind, visceral and raw, intertwining with the current terror of his reality.
As the darkness deepened, a chilling realization dawned upon him: the book was not just a relic of power. It was a connection to the very essence of his being, a binding that tied him to the horrors he had witnessed. And as Aric's laughter echoed in the distance, Kai understood that the battle for his soul had only just begun.
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To be continued…
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