The next morning, deep in the palace's dark basement, Terracula walked through the stone corridor leading to the cells. The black candles along the walls are flickered with red flames.
Three followed behind her: Akira with calm steps, Steve moving beside him with rigid discipline, and Nyoro yawning, half-asleep. They reached the final cell, where drops of water fell from the ceiling.
In the middle of that cell sat the kidnapped child. His golden eyes were swollen from crying, his body curled into itself like a trembling ball. His bare feet were smeared with dust, and his hands were tied with a rough rope digging into his skin.
He didn't know where he was… he didn't know why he had been brought here… all he knew was that he wanted his mother. The door opened with a harsh metallic creak, and the child flinched violently, pressing himself against the wall. Terracula entered first. Her crimson dress trailed behind her, and a small smile lifted her lips.
She spoke softly:
"Oh… look at this little one. How… adorable."
The child trembled and raised his chin slightly, whispering in a voice barely audible:
"P-Please… let me go back to Mama…"
Terracula let out a short, poisoned laugh:
"Mama?"
She tilted her head as if savoring the suffering of her prey:
"Oh my god… how precious. Akira… why did you bring me a child who's this frightened? I expected something more better."
Akira didn't answer. He stood behind her, his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on the stone floor. Terracula watched him for a moment, then smiled without mercy. She stepped toward the child and crouched. Lifting her hand, and traced a slow line across his chin with her finger.
She spoke quietly:
"Akira…"
He looked at her immediately.
"I want you… to kill him."
Silence fell. Akira stared at Terracula, his crimson eyes started widening slowly.
He whispered, stunned:
"…Why?"
Terracula turned to him, raising her chin slightly with a faint smile:
"Why? Because you are my loyal servant… aren't you? You brought him here… and I want you to finish what you started. You brought him to me… for breakfast. And nothing is sweeter than the blood of a fresh child."
The child shuddered the moment he heard the word. He curled tighter, as if his small limbs were trying to vanish inside his bones.
He raised his tear-soaked eyes towards Akira:
"M-Mama… p-please… no…"
Akira… the one who smiles at blood, who frightens grown men in the marketplace, who mocks everything, felt a sharp squeeze in his chest. He lowered his head quickly, clenching his teeth. His tail moved, not with excitement… but with a strange tension no one had ever seen in him.
He said quietly, but firmly:
"No. I won't kill him."
Terracula raised an eyebrow slowly, as if she hadn't heard that word in centuries:
"What did you say?"
Akira lifted his head slightly, looking at the child again, then at Terracula.
"I… don't kill children."
Terracula narrowed her eyes, studying the creature she had raised for years, suddenly unable to understand him. Her voice turned cold:
"Have you gone soft, my dear? I saved you from death, gave you a new life, and now you hesitate to do something this simple?"
Nyoro suddenly laughed, light but cutting:
"Oh… Akira… the loving little wolf… who would've thought a wild werewolf is scared of hurting a child?"
Akira turned toward him with a harsh glare, but Nyoro only flashed a mischievous smile, enjoying the moment. Steve remained silent, shoulders tense, hands behind his back. Terracula faced Akira again, stepping closer until she stood directly before him, her red eyes are gleaming with restrained fury.
"Disobeying me… is not an option, Akira."
She leaned towards him and whispered with cold finality:
"If you can't follow my orders… then perhaps I no longer need you."
His body froze. His eyes widened, as if her single sentence had knocked the breath from his lungs.
"You… would abandon me?"
The words escaped him without thought. Terracula didn't respond. Her gaze alone was enough answer.
Akira clenched his teeth. His hand moved to the dagger at his waist. He grabbed it, then turned towards the child.
His footsteps were heavy and hesitant. The child pressed against the wall, and began to scream again with a breaking voice:
"Mom! M-Mom!! Please… no… Mom!!"
The boy's pleas crashed inside Akira's head. He stopped in front of him… raising the dagger slowly. Terracula watched eagerly, her eyes unblinking, as if she's witnessing a sacred ritual.
But Akira's hand froze in the air. Something inside him snapped. The child's small screams… blended with other screams… ancient ones… buried deep.
He saw himself at four years old… his face smeared with blood and dirt… kicks, blows, men shouting… and his own voice howling like a broken pup:
"Mamaaaa!! Mama! Don't leave me! Please… Mama!!"
It was the same scream. The same plea. The same trembling. Akira tightened his grip on the dagger… but his hand wouldn't move. He could neither lower it nor raise it. He stood trembling, breath uneven.
He lifted his head toward Terracula and whispered:
"I will never kill him… not ever."
Her eyebrows rose, not with surprise… but with cold annoyance. She stepped towards him slowly.
"Remember, Akira… you are not human. And not a fully wolf, either."
She approached him until her shadow covered his confused face:
"You are a monster. And that means… you must act like a monster."
Then she turned away with complete indifference. Before reaching the cell door, she stopped.
Her voice was low, without looking back, carrying a soft but loaded threat:
"Take the child to the upper prison… I'll decide later what to do with him."
Then she left… leaving him standing there, the dagger still trembling between his fingers. His breathing was heavy, and his heart struck against his chest with a force far too harsh for someone usually so mocking.
The child kept crying quietly, without screaming. Behind him, Akira heard Nyoro chuckle softly, his voice dripping with mockery:
"How gentle you are… Akira."
Akira leaned down and reached for the child. His fingers were slightly trembling, but his expression stayed completely still. He grabbed the rope around the child's wrists… then slowly began to undo it.
The child watched him with wide eyes, not understanding if this man was saving him… or taking him somewhere worse.
When the rope finally fell to the ground, the child flinched and stepped back, but Akira immediately caught him by the wrist. His grip was firm, filled with restrained tension.
"Stand up."
He said it in a low emotionless voice.
The child rose hesitantly, his entire body shaking, but Akira didn't give him time to think. He tightened his hold and dragged him out of the cell. He pushed open the metal door and stepped into the dark stone corridor. Nyoro leaned against the wall with a mocking smile, while Steve simply watched them with cold silence.
Akira continued down the long hallway, pulling the child behind him. Whenever the child stumbled, Akira yanked his arm hard to force him upright, without a single word. They eventually reached the spiral stairs leading to the upper floor. Akira paused at the first step… took a short breath… and began to climb.
Step after step… the small child followed behind, dragged along, shuffling his feet as he tried not to cry anymore. As for Akira… his face was as unmoving as carved stone.
They finally reached the upper floor, when the child whispered in a broken voice:
"Please… don't leave me here… please… I don't want to die…"
Akira's steps stopped for a single second. Suddenly, the child jerked his hand free and ran with all the strength in his small body! His breath came in ragged bursts, his voice was shaking as he screamed for any exit… but he didn't get far.
Akira only breathed deeply once… and vanished in a faint blur. Just as the child reached the end of the hallway, he felt a strong hand grab the back of his clothes and lift him off the ground with ease, as if he weighed nothing.
The child screamed wildly:
"Nooo!! Mom… Dad!! Please!!"
His tiny fists beat against Akira's arm, but his strength wasn't enough to move even a finger. Akira walked back to the cell with the same cold composure. He opened the iron door and tossed the child inside with a controlled throw, not enough to hurt him badly, but enough to make him fall.
The child hit the ground, his choked cry echoing in the cell. He lifted his head slowly, eyes widening in fear. Akira closed the cell door quietly. Now silence filled the room. Akira was inside the cell as well, staring at the child with unsettling calm.
The child backed away slowly, thinking the monster would approach him now. But Akira didn't move. Heavy seconds passed… and then the child's eyes widened. The cold, harsh face he saw a moment ago… was gone. Something entirely different took its place.
Akira's expression began to shift. The corner of his mouth twitched… his shoulders trembled… his heavy lashes lowered, and then a single tear slipped from his right eye.
The child stopped crying for a moment… as if he had forgotten his fear entirely. Akira slowly raised his hand, touching his cheek with trembling fingers, as though he couldn't believe what he was feeling. He stared at the tear resting on his fingertips… as if it were a betrayal of his own body.
"What…?"
His voice came out cracked and strangled.
But the tears didn't stop. They grew. One… then another… until the dam broke completely. His shoulders collapsed as he exhaled a shuddering breath… then he burst into tears.
It wasn't soft or quiet crying… but deep, violent sobs that echoed against the stone walls. Akira sank to the ground, covering his face with both hands, his trembling was voice filling the cell:
"Why…? Why… can't I…? I'm… just a monster… I'm supposed to feel nothing…"
He pressed his hands harder against his face, as if he wanted to tear the feeling out of himself:
"I was made to hate… to destroy… to repay the world for what it did to me."
His chest shook with every word, the crying unending:
"All of them… everyone who hurted me… humans… wolves… everyone… everyone betrayed me… everyone beat me… everyone cast me out…"
He slammed his fist into the floor, the sound echoing sharply through the stone cell:
"I have nothing… nothing in my heart but hate… only hate…!"
Then he forced a smile, speaking loudly with a theatrical, shaky enthusiasm:
"I have to keep going… I have to… I have to hate them to the very end… that's what keeps me alive… isn't it…?"
He was trying to convince himself… not the child. Clinging to the hatred he knew better than anything else. His voice softened, but his trembling didn't stop.
He lifted his head slowly, breathing unevenly, his eyes red with tears.
Then he saw a dry towel next to the child, half-folded, with a dust stain on it. Akira crawled toward it slowly, and the child instantly recoiled. He curled into himself, pulled his knees to his chest, and raised his small hands as if to shield his face, thinking the monster had come for him again.
But Akira didn't reach for him. He only stretched out his hand to take the towel. He wanted nothing more than to wipe the tears from his face.
He returned to the corner of the cell, far from the child, and began drying his face slowly… but the tears didn't stop. They only grew heavier, as if everything he had buried for years was finally spilling out in this narrow, silent room.