For You

I DARE YOU (ZANYA)

The air was thick with the scent of blooming roses and damp earth as I walked alongside Natalia, my—mother. The word felt foreign, strange on my tongue, but deep down, something about it settled inside me in a way I couldn’t explain. The sun was dipping lower in the sky, casting a warm glow over the garden, but I barely noticed. My mind was too tangled in the whirlwind of emotions I had yet to process.

Natalia walked beside me in silence for a while, her presence calm, patient. She wasn’t pressing me for answers, wasn’t suffocating me with expectations. She was just here. With me. And for the first time since I learned about my origins, I wasn’t overwhelmed with the crushing weight of it all.

“I remember the day you were born,” Natalia finally said, her voice soft, filled with a tenderness that made my throat tighten. “It was raining that night, heavy and unrelenting. Almost as if the heavens knew a storm was coming.”

I glanced at her, waiting. She didn’t look at me, only ahead, her fingers skimming the petals of a white rose as we passed. There was a distant look in her eyes, as if she were seeing the past unfold right before her.

“You came earlier than expected,” she continued, a wistful smile tugging at her lips. “Your father and I had been preparing for you for months, but nothing could have prepared me for the moment I held you in my arms for the first time.”

My heart pounded, my fingers curling into the fabric of my dress. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what. I wanted to stop her from speaking, yet I wanted to hear everything. I had never had stories of my childhood, never had a past to look back on with warmth. And now that I was being given one, I didn’t know how to handle it.

“You were tiny, but so full of life. You barely cried. The nurses kept telling me it was unusual for a newborn to be so quiet, but you…you just stared up at me with those same blue eyes, as if you already knew me.”

I inhaled sharply, my chest aching with something unfamiliar. Longing? Regret?

“I was scared,” Natalia admitted, finally looking at me, her gaze searching. “Scared that I wouldn’t be a good mother, that I wouldn’t know how to love you the way you deserved.” She let out a short, shaky laugh. “But the moment you wrapped your tiny fingers around mine, I knew I would do anything for you.”

I stopped walking, unable to move any further. My legs felt weak, my mind spinning. “Why are you telling me this?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

Natalia stepped in front of me, her expression pained yet filled with so much love it was almost unbearable. “Because I need you to know that you were loved, Zanya. From the very moment you came into this world.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, but I didn’t wipe it away. The emotions I had tried so hard to suppress threatened to consume me, but for once, I didn’t fight them.

“I don’t…” My voice wavered, my hands trembling as I hugged myself. “I don’t remember any of it.”

She reached out, hesitated for only a moment, then gently cupped my face in her hands. “That’s okay, mi amor. You don’t have to remember for it to be true.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, more tears falling. I wanted to believe her, I really did. But how could I, when the only memories I had were of darkness, pain, and survival? How could I accept this love when all I had ever known was fear?

Natalia pulled me into her arms, holding me close. I stiffened at first, unaccustomed to such warmth, such safety. But then, slowly, my body relaxed, melting into the embrace I never knew I needed.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into my hair. “For everything. For losing you. For not finding you sooner.”

The dam inside me cracked, and before I knew it, I was sobbing. Uncontrollably. Years of pent-up pain, grief, and confusion spilled out of me in a way I never allowed before. And Natalia held me through it all, not letting go, not telling me to stop.

She simply held her daughter. And for the first time in my life, I let myself be held.

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I wandered aimlessly through the garden, my thoughts a tangled mess in my mind. Natalia’s words from earlier replayed in my head, each one carving deeper into my soul. The way she had spoken about me—about the daughter she lost—had left me raw. My chest ached with something unfamiliar yet so painfully real. Longing? Grief? Hope? I wasn’t sure. Maybe all of them at once.

A part of me wanted to believe that I truly belonged here, that this family was mine, but doubt clung to me like a second skin. Would they still want me if they knew everything? If they knew what I had done? What I had been forced to become?

And Dante…

I thought about telling him, about confessing the truth that had haunted me for so long. But would it change anything? Would it make me any less broken? How would he see me? As a broken soul? An empty shell?

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t see her until it was too late.

Lucia stepped into my path, her arms crossed, eyes filled with something dark and venomous. The way she looked at me made my skin crawl, but I kept my face blank, unwilling to show any weakness.

"You really think you belong here, don’t you?" she sneered, tilting her head. "Like some lost little princess finally finding her throne. It’s pathetic."

I said nothing. I had learned long ago that silence could be more powerful than words.

Lucia’s smirk widened at my lack of response. "You’re nothing but an unwanted nobody. Dante? He’s just pitying you. That’s all it is. He’s a powerful man, Zanya. He doesn’t fall for weak little things like you."

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms. The hall inside me trembled, waiting to break, waiting to unleash itself on her.

"And your so-called family?" she continued, her voice dripping with cruelty. "They’ll never love you like they should. How could they? You don’t even know who you are. You’re like some empty shell, borrowing another person’s life. It’s almost funny, really."

Still, I held my silence. But inside, something cracked. Something dangerous.

Lucia took a step closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "We both know what you are. A slut throwing herself at Dante for protection. Using your body to secure power."

That was the last straw.

The silent rage that had been simmering inside me finally snapped, roaring to life with a force that even I couldn’t contain. I lifted my gaze, meeting hers with an icy stare that had made grown men cower. Lucia might have thought she could break me, but she had no idea what kind of monster she was playing with.

I took a step forward, closing the space between us until she had no choice but to meet my gaze. "Say that again," I whispered, my voice deceptively soft, dangerously calm. "I dare you."

Lucia’s smirk faltered, her confidence wavering just for a second. But it was enough.

She had no idea that she had just woken the beast inside me. And now, there was no turning back.