I just hoped Lumière was safe.
Right now, nothing else felt real.
The world around us twisted. Dark. Tight. Like something was pressing into our minds from the inside out.
Lucen was first to buckle.
"No. No—I… I am divine, I-Im not afraid.." he muttered.
But his voice cracked.
He stared into the corner of the room, at shadows I couldn't see.
"Too dark," he whispered. "Not again… not again…"
The man's voice cut through everything.
"N̶̠̪̺̿̑̍̓I̵̩̮̞̍̒͘G̴̡̢͚̅͑͝H̴̢̺̪̍̽̿T̴͇͎̾̓M̶͎̬̥͗̑͑A̵̼͉̓͛͘Ȑ̷̘̲̬E̷͎͇̓̄S̴̻̙̝͝ͅ," he screeched, then started laughing.
Unstable. Guttural. Wrong.
Aelira stood paralyzed.
"M-Mom…?"
She spoke so soft, I barely heard.
"Don't go… please don't take the car…"
Tears welled in her eyes. Her knees gave out, but she caught herself on one hand.
"No…"
The man stuttered as he walked.
"B-b-b-broken LITTLE DOLLS! T-THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE, PRRRRETTY ON THE OUTSIDE, SCRATCHING A-AND S-S-SCREAMING IN THE INSIDE!"
I couldn't breathe.
A voice in my head whispered:
"They never cared."
I dropped to one knee.
"You made them obey," it hissed. "Not love you."
The man let out a shrill, rising scream:
"Y̷̰͇̖͗̄͒͒͝ͅE̴̢̡͈̱͎͒̅̌͜S̵͖͈̒̍̚!̸̩̮̫̈̽͊̿ ̸̝̹̞͛͝K̵͈͗̏̕Ī̸̖͉̒͘͝͝N̷̦̐̎̅G̴̝̝̾͂͜!"
Then giggled like a child.
I squeezed my fists, trying to block him out.
"You're not real," I whispered. "You're not right."
"WRONG!" he screamed. "I'm m̷̡̜̤͆̍̀̓̾͜o̷̠̓͊̇͗͝r̸̤̠͍̖̞̔͌͋̚e̴̩̓͛͆̒͠ REAL than your f-fake little 'YES' WORLD!"
I stood.
Shaking. Sweating.
But standing.
"I said shut up."
He tilted his head, intrigued.
"S-say it again, KING OF Y̸͎̘̘͔̬̼̳̙̅̓͜͜E̶̢̘̟̠̩͖̟̒̆͗̈́̈́̀͘̕S̶̛̱̜͐̓̽͋̚̚͝͝Ș̷͛̍͑͠S̷̨͚̰͌̿̎͑̚!"
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
The walls shook.
Even he flinched.
Then... that smile.
Wide. Twisted. Knowing.
He stepped forward slowly, dragging a blood-rusted dagger along the floor. It screeched against the stone.
"Y-you wanna know my name?" he grinned, voice twitching. "Y-you wanna know w-what nightmare s-sleeps in your soul, Great Yes King?"
He raised the dagger and pressed it to his own neck, laughing.
"My name is Veyne."
His voice deepened. Twisted. Calm and cold.
"Born in flames. Fed on fear. S-stuttered into this world b-because it never let me scream loud enough. So now…"
He opened his arms wide, eyes wild.
"I CAN SCREAM LOUDER THAT IT DID!"
Silence.
Then—
"I'm ending this," I said.
Lucen stood beside me, pale but burning.
Aelira wiped her eyes and took a breath.
"I'm not scared anymore."
Veyne didn't flinch.
He giggled.
"C-come then," he hissed. "B-break me. I d-dare you."
We took one step forward.
I held out my hand and tried.
"Sit."
Nothing.
Of course.
But he stepped back.
He knew.
And that was enough for now.
---
[To be continued…]