chapter 4
820 Words
Chapter 4
The scream ended abruptly.
Not faded.
Not weakened.
Ended.
As though someone had reached down and snuffed it out.
The silence that followed felt worse.
I stood frozen behind the Alpha King.
My fingers clutched the fur cloak so tightly my knuckles hurt.
The king's gaze remained fixed on the doors.
Golden light flickered in his eyes.
The air around him seemed different now.
Heavier.
The relaxed man who had been drinking wine moments ago was gone.
In his place stood something far more dangerous.
Something that reminded me why an entire kingdom feared him.
A wet scraping sound echoed from the corridor.
My stomach twisted.
The noise drew closer.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Like claws dragging across stone.
The king cursed under his breath.
"Stay behind me."
The doors exploded inward.
Wood shattered across the chamber.
I stumbled backward with a scream.
A creature lurched through the doorway.
At first glance it looked human.
At second glance, it looked like a nightmare.
Its limbs bent at unnatural angles.
Its skin hung from its body in gray strips.
Black veins crawled beneath the flesh like living worms.
Worst of all were its eyes.
Or what remained of them.
The sockets were filled with swirling darkness.
My legs nearly gave out beneath me.
The creature opened its mouth.
A horrible shriek erupted from its throat.
The sound felt wrong.
As if dozens of voices were screaming at once.
The Alpha King moved.
One moment he stood before me.
The next he crossed half the room.
His hand wrapped around the creature's throat.
The floor cracked beneath his feet.
The monster slammed into the wall hard enough to shake the entire chamber.
Stone exploded outward.
I stared in disbelief.
The creature thrashed wildly.
Its claws raked across the king's arm.
The attack should have torn flesh.
Instead, sparks erupted.
The claws broke.
The monster froze.
The Alpha King's expression darkened.
"You again."
Again?
The creature suddenly laughed.
The sound crawled across my skin.
Not because it was loud.
Because it sounded human.
"FRA remembers you," it whispered.
The king's eyes narrowed.
My heart skipped.
FRA.
The same name.
The same name that had frightened him.
The creature's ruined face twisted toward me.
For the first time, it noticed I was there.
Its darkness-filled eyes widened.
Then it smiled.
A terrible smile.
"There she is."
Cold terror flooded my veins.
The creature laughed harder.
"We searched for her."
The king's grip tightened.
The wall behind the monster groaned.
"What do you want?" he growled.
The creature ignored him.
Its gaze never left me.
"At last."
My breath caught.
I had never seen this thing before in my life.
Yet it looked at me as if we shared a secret.
As if it had known me for years.
The monster inhaled deeply.
Then its smile vanished.
Confusion flickered across its face.
"No..."
Its head tilted.
"Impossible."
The king's eyes sharpened.
"What?"
The creature stared at me.
Its entire body began trembling.
Not with fear.
With disbelief.
"It can't be."
The darkness inside its eye sockets swirled violently.
The room temperature dropped.
Frost crept across the shattered stone floor.
The creature's voice became a whisper.
"She carries it."
The Alpha King's expression changed.
For the first time, genuine shock crossed his face.
My pulse thundered.
Carries what?
Before either of us could speak, the creature screamed.
Its body began collapsing inward.
Black cracks spread across its flesh.
The king immediately threw it away.
A heartbeat later, the monster exploded.
Dark mist flooded the chamber.
I coughed and stumbled backward.
The king moved instantly.
Strong arms wrapped around me.
He pulled me against his chest and shielded my body with his own.
The dark cloud struck him like a wave.
The windows shattered.
The furniture overturned.
The room trembled.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, everything stopped.
Silence.
Dust drifted through the air.
My ears rang.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
The Alpha King remained standing.
Unmoving.
His arms still around me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then footsteps thundered through the corridor.
Dozens of them.
Palace guards.
The king released me and turned toward the ruined doorway.
His face had become unreadable.
Cold.
Controlled.
Dangerously calm.
One of the guards burst into the room.
"Your Majesty!"
The man stopped upon seeing the destruction.
"The breach has been contained."
The king nodded.
"Good."
The guard hesitated.
"Was it one of them?"
A long silence followed.
The Alpha King's gaze shifted toward me.
Just for a moment.
Then he looked away.
"Yes," he said quietly.
The guard swallowed.
"And the girl?"
The king's voice turned hard as steel.
"The girl stays with me."
The guard immediately lowered his head.
"As you command."
My stomach dropped.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
Because judging from the expressions around me, being ordered to stay with the Alpha King was not a punishment.
It was protection.
- Writer
