Eren's POV
The mansion groaned under the weight of the blood moon, its walls alive with a sinister pulse that mirrored the chaos inside me. I could feel it in the air, the tension thick as if the very house were preparing for the ritual. And I, as always, was caught between what I wanted and what I was destined to do.
Sarah was standing there, her back pressed against the bookshelf, eyes wide with fear and something else—anger. I had seen it in her eyes before, but this time it was sharper, more piercing. She knew. She knew....she knew everything. How could she not? And that made this harder than it had ever been before.
"Eren," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Whats happening?"
I stepped forward, my heart heavy with the weight of my silence. I wanted to tell her everything, to make her understand, but the words stuck in my throat. How could I explain the centuries of bloodshed, the pact that had bound my family to the demon, the curse that held us all captive? How could I explain that her blood was the price we had to pay for immortality?
"It's the blood moon," I said, my voice low, barely above a whisper. "It's the night when the pact must be renewed."
She recoiled, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "What do you mean? Renewed? You—this family—the curse... it's all real, isn't it?"
I nodded, my throat tight. "It's real. Every word of it. My family's immortality, the s-… all of it."
The mansion shuddered beneath us as if the walls themselves were responding to her words. The sound of distant growls echoed through the halls, and I could see the walls beginning to pulse, as though blood flowed through them like veins. It was the house, the living entity that had always been a part of us, feeding off the ritual, growing stronger with each passing year.
"I never wanted this for you," I murmured, my gaze falling to the floor. "I never wanted you to be a part of it." i lied
But she was already part of it. She had been since the moment I brought her into this house, since the moment we were bound by the vows of marriage. The demon had claimed her the moment I had touched her, the moment I had given myself to her.
And now, it was time to deliver her.
The blood moon loomed high in the sky, casting a pale red light through the windows, as if the heavens themselves were watching, waiting for the ritual to begin. The mansion seemed to pulse with anticipation, and the air felt thick, alive with power and dread. Sarah's breathing quickened as she took a step back, her gaze darting around the room as if searching for an escape. But there was no escape.
"We don't have much time," Axel interrupted, urgency in his voice. "You need to get her out of here, Eren."
I turned sharply to face him. "She can't leave," I said, the words bitter on my tongue.
The pact needed to be renewed, and the demon would not wait. If the sacrifice wasn't made, the balance would be shattered, and the consequences would be catastrophic—not just for the Blackwood family, but for everything tied to the demon.
Her face crumbled as the truth sank in. "Eren," she whispered, stepping closer. "I thought you loved me. I thought everything we shared was real... but none of it was real to you, was it? All you wanted was your immortality, your power."
Her words cut through me, deeper than any blade. But they were true.
She continued, her voice thick with emotion. "What do you want from me, Eren?" she asked, her tears pooling in her eyes. "Do you want me to just accept this? To accept being a sacrifice?"
I flinched at the pain in her voice, the look of betrayal in her eyes. But I had no answer.
"I don't want this," I murmured, though the words felt like a lie. "I never wanted this."
But the mansion was calling to me, the demon demanding its due. There was no escaping the blood moon, no escaping what had already been set in motion. And no matter how much I loved her, Sarah was bound to it all.
I reached for her trying to feel her touch again but before I could touch her, the door slammed open. Eleanor and Victor stood there, their faces cold, knowing the moment for saving her had passed.
"Get her," Eleanor ordered, her eyes blazing with hunger, the hunger for what was rightfully hers. The sacrifice was at hand.
The mansion groaned again, louder now, as the blood flowed more freely. The moon was nearing its apex. It was time. I couldn't breathe. This was it. The moment I had dreaded. I looked at Sarah, and for the first time in centuries, I saw a woman—truly saw her. The love I had for her, the life I had imagined we could have..... all of it was slipping away.