What…
Vince froze in shock as he looked at Nora, his mouth nearly dropping to the floor, eyes wide with disbelief. The air stayed still for only a few seconds before he felt it, an old, familiar pain.
It was the same pain that had haunted him since he was seventeen, back when he was a hurt and angry child. The pain of losing his father to that demon, the rage of never finding him again, and the hopelessness that followed. The memory clawed its way back, the image of people devouring endlessly, consumed by their own gluttony.
With his weak, aging body, the pain overtook him fast. Groaning, Vince grabbed his balding head, feeling every pulse through his fingertips. Why… why! This pain shouldn't be here anymore! I left that mansion! I left being a Stacker! I found peace with Nora, I left it all behind!
But the pain didn't care. It surged through him like fire, cruel and familiar.
Nora! His thoughts screamed her name. He turned toward her, hoping to see her warm face again. Instead, he saw her lifeless body. Her eyes had lost their light. Behind her, a dark fog began to form, purple, pink, and white all twisting together into a thick yet weightless mist. It shimmered unnaturally, shifting like liquid light.
"What the hell…" Vince stepped back, heart pounding. He turned toward his grandchild, gone. Vanished.
Even with his brittle bones, Vince forced himself to stand. The fog stayed fixed behind Nora, creeping forward with slow intent. Pointing a trembling finger, he shouted, "W-Who the hell a-are you!" The fog didn't stop. It moved like it was alive, folding and rippling until a shape began to form inside it. The instant the silhouette took shape, a deep, sick chill ran through Vince's spine. The pain that had racked his body now burned behind his eyes, threatening to burst them.
He knew what stood before him.
It was a god.
The god's form was never clear, only a suggestion inside the mist, its colors flickering and divine. The chair Nora sat on warped, transforming into impossible shapes: pieces of wood gleaming like gold, shards of pure wealth, fragments of something human yet unreal. The fog thickened, coiling around Nora's body until only her mouth remained visible.
Then she spoke. Her voice was lifeless, hollow, and final.
"You haven't slept like I said."
Vince froze as his ears began to bleed, dark red dripping down his neck. His mind spun with confusion. Slept? I slept every day! But the thought cut off, struck by one final question that echoed inside him.
Have I?
Darkness swallowed him whole. Vince screamed into the void, "Nora! Please, come back, please, my love!" There was no answer. Only silence, then faint music from somewhere far away, the same song from the ballroom decades ago, now warped and distant.
A deathly stench filled the air.
It smelled like death.
The stench was thick and rotten, unmistakably the smell of a corpse. Vince wanted to cover his nose, but his arm wouldn't move. It hung in the air, twitching, then started moving on its own, swaying, spinning. His feet followed, tapping against the floor like he was dancing.
He could hear the faint rhythm of others around him, the ghostly steps of dancers long gone.
THUD!
The sound jolted him awake. His eyes widened in horror. He wasn't in that distant city with Nora. He wasn't watching her die. He wasn't in the black void. He was back in the mansion.
What the fuck!
The thought tore through his mind. He never swore, not even in his thoughts. That wasn't him. He was Aden, composed, proper, a man of calm words. But Vince was back, and every nerve screamed.
A cold grip held his hand. He looked down ,and froze. He was holding Nora.
Only, this wasn't the Nora he'd known. Her skin was bone-pale, her lips gray, her flesh already crawling with insects. She was dead.
A strangled scream tore from his throat as he dropped her body. Around him, people began collapsing, one by one, drained of color, falling like lifeless dolls.
"AHH!"
Vince fell to the ground, clutching his head as pain ripped through his mind. Aden! I'm not fucking Aden! But Nora… my beloved…His voice cracked into a sob. Years… years wasted! How am I back? How am I breathing? The thoughts split apart in his head, warring for control. Aden's sorrow, Vince's rage ,they clashed violently. You walked in a body that wasn't yours! Vince's mind screamed. I don't care about your love life, I never did!
Yet part of him still ached for her. The grief bled into him like poison, mixing with his anger until it became something unrecognizable.
Memories came flooding back faster than he could breathe, his father's death, the darkness of Koburn, the days spent cleaning the church floors. Rage followed, raw and wild. The same rage that once consumed him.
The rage for Nora's death for Aden. The guilt. The tears.
Vince forced himself to stand. The ballroom was silent now. Everyone had fallen. Every dancer lay dead. He walked to Nora's body and knelt beside her. Her eyes, once warm and alive, stared blankly into nothing. Vince reached down and gently closed them, his tears falling onto her face.
He gritted his teeth, trembling, standing among the corpses. Raising his gloved hand, he looked down at the marking etched into his skin. The engraved woman stared back at him.
A single drop of blood hit the mark, and it began to glow.