The air was still, unnaturally quiet, as I stood in the ruins of the Vancourt mansion. The once imposing structure now looked like a carcass, its grand walls cracked, its windows shattered. The weight of what I had just done hung over me like a fog I couldn't shake off. The curse that had bound the Vancourts for generations was finally broken, but in its place, there was only devastation.
The mansion was no longer the symbol of power it once was. The walls that had witnessed so much darkness now stood hollow, as though the very life had been sucked from them. The eerie silence was all that remained of the grand halls where so many sinister rituals had been performed. The grandeur of the estate—its portraits, its secrets—was gone, reduced to ashes. I had broken the curse. But the price was steep.
I staggered out into the cold night, my body heavy, exhausted beyond belief. My muscles ached from the exertion, and my mind felt foggy, as though I had just woken from a long, unsettling dream. My heart was still racing, and my thoughts were scattered. But I could feel it—the weight of the curse lifting, leaving a hollow emptiness behind.
It was done. The Vancourt legacy had crumbled, its dark hold over the family shattered. Ryker, the patriarch, once so powerful, was nothing more than a shell of the man he had been. His family's influence, which had seemed unshakable, was reduced to nothing. The mansion, once a fortress, was in ruins.
But the cost of this victory was too high.
I couldn't escape the sense of loss that lingered. Despite the victory, despite the knowledge that I had freed my children from the same fate that had nearly claimed their father, I couldn't shake the feeling that something had been taken from me. The curse had drained me in ways I hadn't anticipated—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I walked back to the guest room where Kaius and Amari were resting, hoping that somehow the battle I had fought had truly set us free. But as I entered, I froze.
Kaius was sitting up in bed, his face pale, his eyes wide with a strange, unblinking intensity. His hair was damp, as if he'd just woken from a nightmare—but his expression was far from ordinary.
"Mom?" His voice was hoarse, almost hollow.
I rushed to him, but before I could ask, I saw the drawings scattered across his lap—horrifying sketches of figures with hollow eyes, twisted, dark forms that I knew all too well. It was the same imagery he'd been drawing for weeks now, but it was worse than ever.
"Kaius, what's wrong?" My heart clenched as I took his hand, feeling the coldness of his skin.
He looked up at me, and for a moment, I thought I saw something else in his eyes—something ancient, something that didn't belong.
"I saw them, Mom. The spirits... they're still here. In the walls... in the shadows." His voice trembled, but it was more than fear I heard in his words. It was as if he were speaking from a place I couldn't reach, from a place outside of him.
I held him tight, my mind racing. The curse had been broken. The mansion was no longer its prison. So why was he still seeing these things? Why was the darkness still clinging to him?
"Listen to me, Kaius. It's over," I whispered, trying to soothe him. "The curse is gone. You're free. You and Amari—"
But he shook his head violently, his eyes wild with terror.
"No, Mom. They're still here. I can feel them. They won't leave. They're inside me now."
My stomach twisted as his words sank in. The curse had been broken. Or so I thought.
I looked over at Amari, still sleeping peacefully on the bed beside him. She didn't seem affected. But Kaius... something had changed in him. Something I couldn't explain. I had feared this, had feared that the supernatural forces we'd faced would leave a scar deeper than I could see, and now I was watching it unfold before me.
I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't let him fall victim to whatever darkness was lingering. But deep down, I feared it might already be too late.
I pulled Kaius into my arms, holding him close, feeling the weight of his trembling body.
"We'll figure this out, okay?" I whispered, though I wasn't sure who I was trying to reassure more—him or myself. "We'll find a way to make this right."
But even as I said the words, I knew that this wasn't over. The curse might have been broken, but the consequences—the scars left behind—were far from gone.
The price of freedom was always higher than we imagined. And I couldn't help but wonder what else I had to give before this nightmare truly ended.
I lay with him that night, my heart heavy with worry. The battle had been won, but the war against whatever remnants of the curse still lingered had only just begun.
And as I looked out the window at the crumbling ruins of the mansion, the shadows seemed to stretch just a little bit longer, as if the darkness was waiting for us to make our next move.