The Creatures Series

Tenth Dark

Tenth DarkCreatures of the Dark

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##### Tenth Dark #####

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True bliss is blood and fire, where bones turn to ashes in a breath away and tantalizing eternity comes uninvited. Then the shadows rise from red pools, unleashing silver kisses that make the world shatter. Stolen skins and dancing hands in the dark forest, cruel to the very glow, replace every fantasy in dark minds into a level-up abyss.

I place myself over the next toneless thing the corner of my eye can find before both are half-closed, and then I rest against the hard superficies like the corpses that are sleeping around me.

Everything is dark and too much for me now.

Just woke up from the counterfeit life and killed so many.... Moreover, the problems haven’t been solved yet. How can I even overcome this event? How can I be sure that this isn’t another brand now form of fabrication itself? If only I can unseal myself, then I don’t have to worry about such trivial affair.

My seals....

My keys....

They are all each in the hands of my family and friends.

Those who I trusted.... Can I trust them one more time?

Was the news of their betrayal real?

Only one person can verify that.

But where is he?

Valline has been out since the last time he visited the empty me. My memory has returned, or more suitably called entered, as I’m still not myself. Not even close. Did he notice it as well? Is that why he was giving me time?

Then why is he delaying now? Where is he now?

I close my eyes fully to turn on my sight-seeing. When I open them again, the sight in front of me is already traveling in the speed of light, in a fuscous way. The fog around my rims even wavers this time due to the urgency.

He can’t be far from the Blancort’s resident. He’s a family core, so he can’t travel farther than his own family ground. And there’s only one resident for him to stay.

Merely seconds has passed and the forest’s coast can be spotted very soon. The trees begin to grow up to a substantial verdant number, until it decreases for the green grass to vegetate. Lastly, the tall and firm pasty walls of Blancort Residence are raked out by my sight. I don’t even waste time as I slither through the bulky concrete and have those familiar voices chorus through my hearing range like videos that are play at the same time.

“....can’t believe we’ve been free from those infiltrators for years. Good grief, I’m not even sure I can handle....”

Marlynda Blancort.

“....therefore, let’s test if the lock is still running and if the spell is still active. We don’t need another mistake....”

Freddrickson dé Blancort.

“....due to that matter. And do not try to sneak in again. The north underground tunnel is dangerous; who knows what will happen if....”

I’m guessing this voice belongs to Carvel Blancort.

A few dozens of voices come along as well, but none of them is Valline’s. I can feel his blazing aura’s intensity, but I can’t see him at all. He even hasn’t uttered one word since I’ve started sight-seeing this manor, which makes it harder for me to find him. Where he is?

I don’t have a connection with him, so I can’t send him any thoughts. And if I force it, the rest of the clan might hear me out. I can bet that they must have thrown at least a celebration after my ‘death’ was announced. If they know I’m still around, they’ll gather even the butlers and maids to look for me at every corner of the universe.

I can see them, but they can see me. But where is Valline?

Closing my sight away from all the animation around me, I try to focus on oneself only. That once bright light is located beneath all the darkness in the world. Where it is? Being too deep as if trying to hide from me.... I can see one that shine like a sun, but it’s not in somewhere usual.

Then, I recoil Carvel’s words.

“The north underground tunnel is dangerous.”

There is a very reasonable matter why he interdicted whoever tried to enter the area.

I reconnect my sight and zoom at the underground tunnel. The place is dark; really lack of light for something Blancort that even the small light bulbs are off. Good thing there’s something shining in front of me that can guide me to my destination. The light is laminating from the other side of a square, making it glow even from afar.

The metal door looks heavy enough to make a talking gorilla get tired just by catching the sight of it, but I can easily pass through it by my vision. Though, I do have to make sure that there’s no trap before and after the door until I finally pass it.

It’s like heaven inside. With white and sparkle dust as background, white flames that incinerate the antique golden torches, thousands of roses in shade of paper, an igniting well-crafted chandelier, and a biggest bed ever that covers in layers of white clean fabric.

I circle the bed with silent steps, perceiving a figure that’s hiding inside the clean curtains.

That lime tinge.... My sight can't be wrong. I almost jumped when I see his facial structure.

"Valline."

Like an angel, he lies over the bed, looking so peaceful in his sleep that it doesn't look like he's aware of my presence. Everything of him is in white, just like the room. Even his suit. I touch his hand softly, but there’s no reaction.

He is no longer a child, I’ve noticed. The round and childish face he once had has turned to an adult's. Five years really has passed. Those thoughts run through me when looking at his face one last time, before I stand.

It's like blinking to clear the view when I step back from the side of the bed. White glowing ropes are tangling around us like spider webs, connecting each other until they reach the morning sky-painted ceiling.

I reach out to touch it unconsciously even though I know what will happen. Why is it so inviting? Then it hit me like a reflex. There's a spell that's keeping Valline from waking up, locking him along with the white room.

No wonder.

This spell is very special. Not only that it can’t easily be detected until a creatures is near enough to see it, but it’s also too beautiful to resist. If I’d barged in without checking first, I’d be caught by now.

To cast such a tricky trap, it must have been Freddrickson who did it. Though I can’t really figure out what’s the motive just yet.

With a mental wave, I neutralize the spell without letting the caster realize that his spell is no longer active. The action is as tricky as Freddrickson’s spell, but it’s a good thing that I’m experienced with complicatedness.

My gaze falls down to the blinking Valline. He begins to let out a groan and take a sitting position on the bed, try to process what’s happening. The flickers on his eyes give it up. That’s when I slowly project myself from his side.

“What happened?” I ask him carefully.

He looks at my direction and instantly recognizes me. “A lot, for short,” he mutters. His voice sounds sorer that when he projected himself in the Rainfold’s Frontier Forest.

“Do you want to wait until you regain yourself, or do you want to share me the details now?”

He looks up at me instantly, with blue eyes that can’t be any more alive. “Alright, I’ll tell you now. But you have to share yours after that.” He ends those words with a smile. It looks slightly different from what I’ve last remember, though.

Valline shares me an experience that much more suitable as a dark tragic tale. Even after the news of my 'death' had reached him, he still can't accept it even though his family has tried to convince him so. Then, when he finally let their words sink in into him, he tried to kill himself because he can't stand to that fact. The Blancort can't lose him, of course. And that's why they lock him up in this white room, casted the slumber spell so that he wouldn't try to escape.

Luckily, he was able to project himself before me when my memory still hasn't returned. The action was to make sure that I'm still alive, and no one knows about me except him. The next few projections happened because he's a core family, which made him able to cast so many powers undetected, even after being weighed by his grandfather's spell.

"Listen,” I mutter warily once he has finished his story. "I need to know...." I look at how Valline's eyes shows how much eagerness of hearing my side of story and stop myself before I can do something stupid.

How can I trust him now? He's no longer an innocent child that I can fool. What if he’ll lie to me?

“ What is it? ” He cupped my hands in his, making me notice how big they ’ ve become. Making me notice that he ’ s no longer the child I once knew. The little angel has become ─

I drop on the floor groaning in pain, but bit my lips quickly to stop my voice from squeaking out.

Angel....

Minny....

Elevator....

Blood pool....

All are include in the memory of her death.

My head hurts. So much.

Even just by thinking about it.

“No! Stop it!” Valline orders.

Stop? How can I stop? This kind of memory can’t just freeze like that. Once it starts, it will continue till the very end. Because this type of memory is called Traumaté.

“I said stop it!”

I can feel a wave of power that follows after his words this time. He’s using his authority as a descendant of the core family member to gain control over other weaker wizards. And he’s using it on me right now.

But it’s useless. His ability won’t work on me because I’m not a Blancort.

Suddenly, I feel my body being release from something I can’t even see. It happen as if someone just snapped their fingers and every pain I’m feeling is gone and I am released to the floor roughly. Finally, I can breathe again. I’ve stop suffocating, but I can still feel the inside of my chest rushing wildly.

My sight is back and focus again, being welcomed by a view of a pair of shoes standing in front of me. I lift my head to spot quite a familiar face with eyes glaring at me. We are not alone. Now, everything makes sense.

Our eyes are locked as I stand back to my previous spot. The presence is unexpected. Sneaked in before I can notice the aura? Looks like the Blancorts are stronger than I thought. If the annoyed-looking figure that stands before us can even attack me mentally without letting me realize it, then that means Valline must be much more threatening than the rest of them.

“What a surprise to see you here, Carvel. I’m guessing you already know how I am. But I’m afraid that I’ll have to make one more killing today, since I can’t risk letting you spread the news about my presence. Much to anyone and anything.” My voice is as emotionless as my bored mood can take me. I don’t feel like completely myself either when I find my eyes still narrowing him.

Carvel grins his teeth while shooting more daggers to me than he already do with his eyes.

“You can’t kill me, Noirmelns,” he mentions my family’s name as if it’s poison. “Remember the treaty you’ve made with our grandfather. If you do, then it’s the same as stating a war between two families.” He knows how well his position now. Even if Valline doesn’t help him, he’s still so sure that he’ll stay alive.

“Well, then I just have to make sure that no one will ever find your dead body.” I tilted my head to the right, still narrowing him.

“You still can’t do that; you’re too smart to do something so reckless. Therefore, you’re just bluffing in the hopes to scare me off.” Carvel clenches his jaws.

“Good observation,” I compliment him. “But not enough. You still forget to the possibilities. I know you can just run off and tell the rest of the family. Or, you might just send them a warning from your family connection right as we speak.” My face half-facing Valline while my eyes are still locked with his relative, as if he knows that I’m asking the truth silently.

“No,” Valline mutters after a few seconds.

“That will be risky enough. Your black tentacles will strangle me to death even before I finish doing either of the progresses,” Carvel says, gesturing to my perfectly solidified shadows that are ready to strike him from behind and all directions.

How funny, I think while inspecting his body movement detailedly. He doesn’t even shiver when I threaten him. Maybe he just missed the fight that almost broke into a war before the treaty was made.

Then I finally break off our eye contact and turn to Valline. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to actually kill him,” I say with a thin smile on my lips, know that he will be concerned of that. “It will only leave a bloody mess and raise suspicions toward where he has gone to.”

“What are you going to do to him, then?” He asks.

I lift my palm up to the height of my face. “This.” In a reflex, I put it in front of Carvel’s face, shocking his eyes like something horror just stare right into his eyes. And I’m not even touching him. He freezes like a statue for a moment, before finally take one last breath and—

He falls to the floor with a soft ‘thump’.

“Erasing his memory. Once he wake up, he will not recall any incident within the 15 minutes he has before he passed out. My shadows will take care of the rest.”

“You still haven’t told me your side of a story just yet,” Valline remains me while my shadows are doing the deed.

“Oh, I’m sure you know just how well what happened,” I say turning back to look at his face again. “You’re a core, after all.”

“I know that. But still, my grandfather is strong. As strong as a Blancort can be. I was still feeling dizzy even through all the protection and looking around.” There’s a wrinkle between his eyebrows when he replies to me.

I decide to make it short and as detailed as possible, up to the very recent activity of mine. “Decision has been made, and the last Rainfold is now on the run,” I tell him before my projection goes through the metal door like a ghost.