It was his father. Alden. His father's head.
The lifeless eyes stared at him, the mouth frozen mid-expression. Julian staggered backward, clutching his chest as if he could shield himself from the reality, but the image burned itself into his vision regardless.
His body trembled uncontrollably. "Father… no… this… this can't be…" His voice broke, barely audible over the roaring silence of the void.
The woman—his mother—tilted her head slightly. However, she offered no words.
Time seemed to stretch, each second a torturous eternity. Julian wanted to speak, to scream in rage—but the void swallowed all sound. All he could do was stare, heart hammering, body frozen, trapped between disbelief and horror.
Then, suddenly, the silence shattered. Her voice—sweet, velvety, and impossibly familiar—cut through the void like a knife.
"Dear Julian," she said, her voice sending shivers crawling up his spine. "Look what I did."
She held the head out, and Julian's stomach twisted.
