Chapter 214: Three Days of Perfection

INTERLUDE

“What the hell is going on?” Jean Rousseau yelled as he pushed open the door roughly, face twisted in anger. His wife Maeve rushed in behind him, looking equally agitated.

Arabella sat on the edge of her bed, headphones still over her ears, eyes distant. She didn’t flinch at the loud entrance.

Jean stormed closer. “Take those damn things off and look at me!”

She reached up and slowly pulled the headphones off, letting them rest around her neck and then lifted her gaze to her father. Her expression was tired and empty.

Jean’s voice rose. “What is this I’m hearing? You refuse to participate in the showcase even after being specifically picked? And you’ve missed three classes this week? After everything we’ve sacrificed for you?”

Arabella said nothing. She just stared at him.

“SPEAK, DAMMIT!” Jean shouted, veins bulging in his neck.

Maeve rushed forward, placing a hand on his arm. “Jean, calm down. She’ll explain.” She turned to her daughter, voice softer but still strained. “Honey… what’s going on?”

Arabella swallowed hard, her voice quiet but steady. “I don’t want to play the violin anymore.”

Jean let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. After all these years? After the private lessons since you were four, the competitions, the money we poured into your training, the sacrifices we made, you just decide you don’t want to anymore?”

Arabella’s hands clenched in her lap. “It was never my dream. It was yours. You pushed me into it. Every day, every hour, ‘Be perfect, Arabella. Don’t embarrass us. This is your future.’ I was never allowed to want anything else so why do I have to keep doing it?””

Maeve looked stricken. “Sweetheart… where is this coming from? You used to love playing.”

“I thought I did,” Arabella said, voice cracking slightly. “But I was just trying to make you happy. I’m tired, Mom. I’m so tired.”

Jean’s face turned red with rage. “Tired? You ungrateful little…”

He stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face.

The sound cracked through the room. Arabella fell sideways on the bed, hand flying to her stinging cheek.

“Jean, stop!” Maeve cried, grabbing his arm.

“You will participate in that showcase,” Jean snarled, pointing a shaking finger at her. “Tonight, I expect you in the practice room playing your piece perfectly. No excuses. You are not throwing away everything we built for you.”

He stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Maeve looked at her daughter with a heavy sigh, eyes filled with conflict. She opened her mouth as if to say something comforting, but then shook her head and followed her husband out, leaving Arabella alone.

The room fell silent.

Arabella stayed on the bed, tears rushing silently down her face and dripping onto the bed. Her cheek burned and her heart felt hollow.

Then a voice slithered into her mind, smooth, seductive, and ancient.

“You keep resisting. Let me fully help you.”

Her head shot up. She looked at the mirror across the room.

Right there, standing behind her reflection, was the being she had bargained with. It wasn’t hideous. It was beautiful in a terrifying way, tall, elegant, with dark wings folded behind its back and glowing amber eyes that burned with hunger. Its lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach those unnatural eyes.

Arabella stared at it, tears still falling. “At what cost?” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Keep using my body to hurt people? Leave me alone!”

The being tilted its head, smile widening.

“You made a deal, little songbird,” it purred, voice echoing softly in her mind. “Three days of perfection in exchange for three nights of freedom in your body. You agreed. You wanted to be flawless. You wanted to crush them all.”

Arabella’s hands shook. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know you would turn me into that monster. I didn’t know you would attack people.”

The entity stepped closer in the reflection, its glowing eyes locking onto hers.

“I gave you what you asked for,” it said sweetly. “But now I want more. That girl you met… Leitana. The vessel. One bite from her, and I will leave you forever. Just one bite. Help me get close to her… and you’ll be free.”

Arabella’s breath hitched. She shook her head frantically.

“No… I won’t. I can’t.”

The being’s smile turned sharp, almost pitying.

“You will,” it whispered. “Because every night you resist… I take a little more of you. Soon there won’t be anything left of Arabella at all.”

The mirror rippled.

The being vanished.

Arabella collapsed forward, burying her face in her hands, sobbing brokenly.

She was trapped.

And the wolf inside her was getting hungrier.

It was well past midnight.

Arabella sat on the cold floor of her bedroom, back pressed against the wall, violin resting limply across her lap. Her fingers were raw and throbbing from hours of forced practice. The piece her father demanded she perfect still echoed in her head like a curse, but she couldn’t bring herself to play another note.

Her eyelids felt like they were made of stone. Her head kept nodding forward, only for her to jerk awake with a sharp gasp, heart racing.

The entity’s voice slithered through her mind again, smooth and mocking.

“Soon enough, you will sleep… and I will take over.”

Arabella shook her head violently, slapping her own cheeks to stay awake. “No… no, you won’t,” she whispered hoarsely, voice cracking with exhaustion. “I won’t let you…”

A low, amused laugh echoed inside her skull.

“Just sleep, little human. You’re so tired. So weak. Let me handle everything.”

Her head drooped again. She snapped it back up, eyes wide and desperate.

“Nooo… y-you will not have this body,” she drawled, words slurring together. “I won’t… let you hurt anyone else…”

The entity chuckled, the sound vibrating through her bones like dark music.

“Oh, but I already have. And I will again. You’re only delaying the inevitable. Close your eyes, songbird. Let me run free.”

Hours dragged on like this.

Arabella fought with everything she had, pinching her arms until they bruised, splashing cold water on her face from the bathroom sink, pacing the room in frantic circles, humming old lullabies to keep herself awake. Every time her eyes closed for more than a few seconds, the entity whispered temptations, promises, and threats.

But her body was failing her.

Her head nodded lower… lower…

“No…” she mumbled one final time, voice barely a breath.

Her eyes fluttered shut.

The entity smiled inside her mind, sharp, victorious, and starving.

Arabella gasped as the change began.

Her body jerked violently on the floor. Bones cracked and shifted under her skin with sickening pops. Fur sprouted rapidly along her arms, back, and legs. Her fingers elongated into razor-sharp claws. Her face twisted painfully, jaw extending into a long muzzle filled with gleaming fangs. A deep, guttural growl tore from her throat as the wolf took full control.

The creature that was no longer Arabella rose on all fours, shaking out its dark, matted fur. Amber-red eyes glowed with feral hunger.

It leaped through the open window in one powerful bound, landing silently on the grass below, and disappeared into the night like a shadow.