Dark Enchantment

11

Asher

Elara stood frozen, her eyes darting between the two women on the tables—Millie, helpless and bound, and her mother, who had been drawn back from the afterlife for this moment. The look on her face was a f*****g picture, a perfect blend of horror and denial.

“This is just a nightmare,” she screamed, her voice breaking, echoing off the cold walls. “This can’t be real! My mother is dead! Magic isn’t real!”

I stepped closer, a dark smile creeping across my face as I relished in her suffering. “Oh, but it is real, Elara. Look around you. Feel it. This isn’t some figment of your imagination. This is real.”

She shook her head, her breath coming in ragged gasps. “No! It’s just… You can’t bring her back; it’s impossible!”

“Impossible?” I scoffed, stepping even closer, the distance between us closing like a vice. “Your mother has been dead for over ten years. You think I’d go through all this trouble to orchestrate a lie? You Elara, have refused to accept your true nature for too long. So now, I’m going to give you a final choice. Millie, or your mother. Who will it be?”

Her eyes widened, flickering between rage and despair as the reality of her choice settled in. I could see her stubbornness beginning to crumble. This was her final f*****g chance. I gripped the back of her neck, firm but not painfully, and pushed her closer to her mother, forcing her to confront the truth.

“Look at her,” I commanded, my voice low and dark. “She’s right there, Elara. Gagged and bound, but alive. Look at the tears in her eyes look at the fear on her face. The warmth of her skin. This is the magic you refuse to believe in. Magic 'she' passed down to you.”

Her mother’s gaze met hers, wide and desperate, a tear slipping down her cheek, a testament to the pain of being pulled from the depths of oblivion. “This isn’t real,” she whispered, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her.

“Isn’t it?” I leaned in closer, my voice a seductive whisper. “Your mother wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the power to bring her back. You can be stronger than you are now, you can be powerful. All you have to do is decide.”

I could feel the tension in her body, the internal struggle raging as she processed the impossible. She was trapped between two worlds, caught in a web of grief and denial, and I was the spider patiently waiting for her to make her choice.

“Millie or your mother, Elara. Sacrifice one to save the other. Which heart will you break?”

I nodded to Andre, who stepped forward cutting the cable ties off of Elara’s wrists. Her eyes, wide and haunted, never left her mother's face. Each tremor of her chest told me she was terrified, and I revelled in the moment.

She took a step toward her mother, her fingers trembling as she placed them on the sides of her mother’s face. There was a vulnerability in her touch, a desperate need for connection, and I could see the flicker of hope in her eyes. Carefully, she removed the gag from her mother’s mouth, the silence that followed was heavy with unspoken words. “I’m sorry, Elara,” her mother whispered, her voice barely audible, but it was laced with regret and sorrow. But before she could say anything more, Leon stepped forward, a twisted smirk plastered on his face. He placed a knife against her mother’s throat, drawing a thin line of blood.

“Choose, little witch,” he taunted. “Mummy dearest, or your bully.”

The irony of it all wasn’t lost on me. Here was Elara, caught between the ghost of her past and the living embodiment of her torment.

“Leon!” I snapped, annoyed at his theatrics. “Let her speak.”

Leon shrugged, but he didn’t remove the knife. “Just trying to add some urgency to the situation.”

Elara’s breathing quickened as she looked between her mother and Millie. I could see the gears turning in her mind, the battle between her love for her mother and the guilt she felt toward Millie.

“Stop it!” she cried, her voice breaking. “This isn’t fair! You can’t do this!”

“Oh, but I can,” I told her, my tone icy and unyielding. “This is the reality of our world, Elara. Magic isn’t kind. It demands sacrifice. So who will it be? Your mother, who you’ve yearned for, or Millie, who has made your life a living hell? Decide.”

I took a step back, letting the tension simmer, giving her space to process the impossible choice before her. I could sense the desperation in her every breath, the way her body trembled as she fought against the inevitability of her fate. She had always been strong-willed, but now, she was cornered, stripped of her bravado.

“Time is running out, Elara. Make your choice.”

Elara

I wasn’t a cruel person. I had always tried to stand on the side of light, to believe in goodness and fairness—even in a world that seemed to thrive on hate. But as I stood there, staring at my mother, the very embodiment of everything I had lost, I was forced to confront the reality before me. She looked just as I remembered her, the warmth of her smile etched in my memory, and her voice—the sound I had yearned to hear for so long.

It was her.

When she whispered that she was sorry, I felt the walls I had built around my emotions start to crumble. I wanted to break down, to let the tears flow, to scream my pain into the void. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let them see the weakness within me. I had to hold it together, even as my heart shattered into a million pieces.

Asher stepped beside me, his presence a cold reminder of the twisted game we were all trapped in as he placed a heavy knife into my hand.

“f*****g choose!” Leon snarled, his grip on my mother tightening, the blade digging deeper into her throat.

I felt sick as I watched my mother close her eyes, her breath hitching as she fought back a sob. The anguish on her face was a mirror to my own, a raw reflection of the choice I had to make. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her again.

In that moment, clarity struck me like a bolt of lightning. I had to act, to make a choice that I knew would echo in my soul for the rest of my life. I turned, my heart pounding as I faced Millie whose eyes widened as she realised what I was about to do.

With a surge of desperation, I plunged the dagger deep into Millie’s chest, the blade biting into flesh, the sickening squelch of her blood pooling around it. The moment felt suspended in time, a paradox of horror and relief as I watched the light fade from her eyes, the struggle in her expression giving way to an eerie stillness.

The room fell silent. I had sacrificed one life to save another, but the price was steep. As I looked back at my mother, the reality of what I had done crashed over me like a tidal wave. I could see the flicker of hope in her eyes, but it was accompanied by the stark horror of what had just unfolded.

Leon’s laughter echoed throughout the chapel. “Well done, little witch. You’ve made your choice.”

Within seconds, a coldness washed over me, seeping into my bones like icey water. An electric tingle prickled my skin, sending chills cascading down my spine. It felt as though the very air around me had thickened, charged with an energy that I couldn't comprehend.

“She’s done it; she’s become dark,” one of the older brothers spoke, his voice reverberating with a twisted sense of pride. I could barely process his words as the gravity of my choice crashed over me. What had I done? I had sacrificed Millie, a decision that clawed at my conscience, but I had saved my mother—hadn’t I?

But that fleeting sense of victory shattered as my eyes were drawn back to the altar, where my mother lay. I heard her scream, a raw sound that pierced through the chaos. And it cut deeper than any blade.

Leon grinned, and with a swift motion, he had slit her throat, the blade gleaming wickedly in the dim light as crimson sprayed across the stone. My heart dropped as I watched the life drain from her eyes... Again.

I stood frozen, watching as he licked her blood from the blade, his eyes locked onto mine, a twisted smile playing on his lips. “Look at what you’ve done, little witch,” he taunted, his voice dripping with malice. “You’ve embraced the darkness, and now it’s yours to bear.”

The room spun around me, the reality of the situation closing in like a vice. I had saved her only to lose her again.

“No!” I screamed, my voice breaking as panic surged through me. I stumbled forward, my heart racing, but the brothers closed ranks. I was trapped, unable to reach her, to undo the horror that had unfolded before my eyes.

The coldness deepened, wrapping around my heart. Leon’s laughter echoed in my mind, taunting me, mocking me for my naivety. This was the price of power, and I had paid it in blood.

“What have I done."