Chapter 101 Hundred And One
DANIKA
"Focus on your core," Kira commands, her voice
steady. My hands tremble as I press my palm to my chest. My heart is hammering so hard it feels like it's trying to free itself. I reach inward, taking a deep breath.
At first, there's nothing but heat. A familiar warmth. Then it deepens and spreads in my chest.
"Good," Kira says softly. "That's it. Now hum. Don't force it. Let the vessel speak."
I draw in a shaky breath and part my lips.
The sound that slips out is soft at first. Barely more than a breath. It vibrates in my throat, unfamiliar and wrong, as if my body remembers a language my mind never learned.
I gasp, my knees buckling, and suddenly I'm not there anymore.
I see him.
A ten-year-old boy with his wrists bound in a basement that smells like blood. His face is bruised, blood is crusted at his lip, and his eyes are too old for his small body. He's moaning in agony, his back arching as he bleeds out on the dirty floor.
"No," I sob, my tears rolling down. "No—please—"
But it doesn't stop. The visions crash over me one after another, merciless.
Kaziel on his knees years later, coughing blood into his hands as the Hollow fights to take over. His screams echo in my skull.
Every seizure. Every collapse. Every moment he fought it alone.
"No—" I sob, tears streaming down my face. "Stop—please—"
The hum changes without my consent, warping into something deeper. The air around me vibrates, glass shattering. My chest burns as if it's splitting open, and the pain is so intense I think I might die from it.
Suddenly, it all goes quiet. I stagger forward, but the ground beneath my feet isn't stone anymore.
A gasp slips out as I open my eyes.
I'm standing in a vast, endless desert. Pale sand stretches in every direction, unmarked, as though nothing has ever lived here. The sky above is dark and starless, and hanging low on the horizon is a massive blue moon.
Its pull sinks into my bones.
The air hums with the same unnatural frequency now pouring from my chest, the sound no longer coming from my throat but from everywhere. From the sand. From the sky. From the space between my thoughts.
I look down at my hands. They're glowing faintly.
"Kaz?" I whisper, my voice echoing strangely in the space. Something shifts behind me. I can feel it.
And I realize, with a sick twist of understanding, that I'm not alone here.
This isn't a vision. This is a realm.
I turn, nearly jumping out of my skin when I find a figure standing there. He's tall, wearing a hooded cloak so dark it swallows the moonlight instead of reflecting it. Black smoke oozes from its form, coiling around its feet. It doesn't move towards me. The pressure of its presence alone makes my lungs ache.
"Who... who are you?" I ask, forcing the words past the tightness in my throat.
The figure tilts its head slowly, as though the question amuses it.
"You summoned me," it says.
The voice is layered and distorted, like several echoes speaking at once. "How is it that you do not know me?"
My blood turns to ice. Realization slams into me so hard I stagger backwards, sand shifting beneath my feet.
"You're—" My fingers curl into fists. "You're the Hollow."
A low laughter rolls from beneath the hood.
I lift my chin despite the fear crawling up my spine. "Show me your face."
The smoke thickens.
"Are you not afraid?" it asks softly.
"I have the Sanctum," I say, my voice shaking. "And I am the Vessel. If anyone should be afraid here, it's you."
For a moment, the desert goes utterly silent.
Then the Hollow laughs.
It's deeper this time, almost pleased. "Ah," it murmurs. "Courage. How rare. How... exquisite."
It takes a slow step forward, smoke trailing behind it.
"As you wish," it says, with a strange, mocking reverence.
"...Master."
The word makes my skin crawl. I hate how it sounds. I hate how familiar he feels. How my heart pounds in anticipation as one long, pale hand lifts.
The hood slips back, and I gasp. Kaziel's face stares back at me.
But it's not the Kaziel I know.
His hair is long and as white as bone, falling past his shoulders in ethereal waves. His skin is too perfect, glowing under the moonlight. And carved into the center of his forehead is a strange, jagged mark like a wavy crescent. His eyes lift to meet mine. They are a shocking gold.
The Hollow smiles with his mouth.
And it is Kaziel's smile.
My mouth goes dry, a shiver running through me.
No, no, no.
I stagger back as I stare at the face I know better than my own reflection.
"Kaziel?" My voice cracks. "This isn't funny."
The figure watches me without a word.
"Dove," he finally utters softly.
The sound of it hits harder than the sight of him.
I shake my head in denial. "Don't call me that. You don't get to—"
"I do," he interrupts gently.
My hands curl into fists, glowing faintly now, power stirring in response to the turmoil in my chest.
"You're lying," I snap. "You're wearing his face. You're trying to confuse me."
His smile fades as grief settles over his features.
"I never wore it," he says. "I became it."
I shake my head, horrified.
"I was created by the curse," he continues, his voice steady. "A predator bound to an Alpha line. I exist to consume the bond between an Alpha and his Luna. I was formed in the nature of the god who got offended after he was deceived by mere mortals."
My throat goes dry.
"I was made to kill you."
A whimper escapes my lips, and I shake my head again. "No—no, you protected me. You fought it. You—"
"I was destined to end you the moment the bond took root," he says softly. "That was my purpose. Every Luna before you died screaming. Some quickly. Some slowly."
My knees buckle, and I crumble to the sand, my ears ringing.
"And you?" I whisper. "You hesitated?”
"I didn't just hesitate," he says, his anguish finally cracking through his composure. "I failed."
The desert hum deepens, the frequency vibrating through my bones.
"The first time I saw you," he continues, "you didn't feel like prey."
His golden eyes soften.
"You felt like warmth, peace, and the pleasant flow of a river. Well, I was fooled the first time into love."
He's definitely talking about Vanya. I can't believe this.
"But you made me feel what true love is like."
Tears blur my vision. "You called me dove,” I croak.
A faint smile touches his lips.
"It was the first creature I ever watched without hunger," he says. "Doves don't fight. They don't dominate. They endure. They return."
He takes a step closer.
"I was supposed to tear you apart," he admits. "Instead, I memorized the sound of your breath. I learned the way your presence held me together. I delayed. And delayed. And delayed."
My voice breaks. "You loved me."
"Yes, I learned to feel deeply."
A sob rips out of me.
"I learned your laugh," he says. "Your stubbornness. Your innocence. Your wildness. Your softness. And your love corrupted my code."
The mark on his forehead glows white.
"Every time I chose you over the directive, the curse tightened. It got so bad, I allowed myself to be delusional. I truly became Kaziel and referred to the bloodthirsty part of me as the Hollow. Love truly makes you do the most foolish things. And I...I was punished for it with an unhealthy body."
Understanding crashes into me.
"Kaz..." I choke, the tears coming in floods.
His jaw tightens. "I just wanted to keep you alive."
I clutch my chest, sobbing now. "Then Kaziel—"
"—was the vessel," he finishes gently. "A body I inhabited. He died in that basement at age ten. He could not survive the torture the old man unleashed on him. We made a deal. In exchange for giving up his body to me, he wanted me to protect his mother and get revenge. I…failed."
My heart rips apart right then. Fear and love twist together in my chest. "And me?"
He kneels in front of me. Then he raises his hand and cups my cheek.
"You didn't fall for a lie," he rasps. "You fell for the truth of what I became."
I swallow hard, gazing into his eyes.
"You loved the Hollow," he tells me. "And the Hollow loved you back."
"W-what happens if you leave?" I hiccup, and he smiles sadly.
"I'll cease to exist."
"And the curse?" I whisper.
He smiles sadly. "Your sanctum energy already broke it. My essence is too weak now. You have to let me go, sweetheart."