Chapter 313: Frederick's Death

Elise's POV

The darkness that consumed me fed on the fear Maeve was feeling. She tried to maintain her composure, but I could sense her inner terror, see it in her clenched fists and trembling lips.

"So it was... you pulling the strings all along..." Maeve's voice quivered slightly.

I wanted to comfort my roommate, but the darkness held me prisoner. It wasn't surprising that I'd become its perfect host. Darkness had swallowed me long before it actually found me, my heart already full of resentment and despair.

"What do you want me to say?" My voice was cold as frost, nothing like my usual tone.

Maeve took a step back, clearly shocked. She'd never heard me speak like this before.

"Tell me this isn't real..." she pleaded, eyes wide with disbelief. "Tell me you didn't kill those innocent people. Tell me you didn't frame Louie."

A scornful laugh escaped my lips. "I didn't actually kill Louie myself. Though I would have liked to, given the chance. I just set a trap for him to fall into. Made him believe those deaths were his doing."

A tear slid down from Maeve's eyes as she stared at me.

"You sent him to prison..." her voice was hoarse. "That's as good as killing him."

Her last few words came out dry and painful. I couldn't deny the truth in them, so I chose silence.

Maeve sank into thought, trying to process everything. She didn't notice the door silently opening behind her, or my father standing there.

His gaze lingered on the back of her neck, traveling over her slender shoulders and golden curls. He clutched a syringe in his hand, an unsettling smile curving his lips.

I hadn't meant to give him this idea, but I had, just hours before the party, when he tried to hand me the syringe.

"Maeve's too smart," I'd told him. "She'll notice something's wrong with me immediately. I won't be able to get close to her, let alone inject her with that stuff."

This frustrated my father, but he'd been forced to admit I was right. Then he'd stopped suddenly, an sinister smile crossing his face.

"Then you won't have to," he'd said. "You'll distract her... and I'll do the rest."

Maeve's soft sob pulled me back to reality.

"Elise... whatever's happening... please let me help you," she said, with one last glimmer of hope.

But I knew no one could save me now. I closed my eyes and looked away.

Just as Maeve was about to speak again, my father plunged the syringe into her neck without hesitation.

At first, Maeve seemed completely shocked, her eyes growing wide as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Then she gasped sharply, turning her gaze toward me.

She reached for the syringe in her neck. Initially, I thought the wolfsbane wouldn't affect her. Maybe her Callisto physiology was too strong. Even my father started to look uneasy.

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Then, her body began to convulse violently, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Did we kill her? But it didn't matter anymore. What I'd done meant I didn't deserve to live anyway.

My thoughts might still be my own, but my actions weren't under my control. I was just a spectator, watching myself commit these terrible crimes and unable to stop it.

Maeve fell to her knees, her eyes closing before she collapsed to the floor. My father exhaled in relief.

"Is she... dead?" My voice sounded hollow.

He bent down to check Maeve's pulse. "Pulse is weak, but she's alive."

Just as I was about to speak, the voice took over, using my mouth to talk.

"Well done," the voice said through me.

My father stared at me nervously, confused. The darkness wouldn't let me explain.

"We'll deal with this Callisto wolf," the voice continued through me.

Darkness began pouring through the window cracks like a tide. It swirled across the floor, filling the room with its cold essence. I was completely immobilized, and from my father's expression, I could tell he was bound as well.

The room filled with black mist. It seemed the darkness was consuming Maeve. Before long, it had completely enveloped her, and I could no longer see my friend.

Then, the darkness made one final circuit before disappearing back through the window cracks. I looked down at the spot where Maeve had been lying, but she was gone.

My father and I stared at each other, both stunned by what we'd just witnessed. Then he broke the silence first.

"What about my payment?" he asked, staring at me. "You promised me power once the job was done. I'm to receive that ability through this vessel you've created."

He knew the darkness was still inside me, listening.

I laughed, but it wasn't my laugh—it was the voice's.

"Foolish lion," it said through me. "Did you think you'd walk away? You know too much."

"What do you mean?" he demanded. "We had a deal. I gave you my own daughter for this task."

The words hit me like a physical blow. I'd known my father's attention wasn't genuine, but somewhere deep inside, I'd hoped that maybe he actually cared for me.

"You did well," the voice chuckled. "But I can't have you walking around with these secrets."

"Then erase the memories," he said through gritted teeth.

"I do have that power... But my friends are very hungry before they leave your lovely daughter."

"What? Are you killing me? Why? Why not her?!"

"I've grown fond of her," the voice responded. "She's suffered too much to die. And besides, she knows nothing of our secrets. As for you... we don't like you as much. You were a failed spy."

"I was the one who injected Maeve with the wolfsbane!"

"You couldn't have done it without Elise," the voice hissed. "You abused your daughter her entire childhood. Took her innocence. Forced drugs and alcohol on her, then abandoned her in that rehab facility. You don't deserve to live."

I wasn't surprised the voice knew this—it had been in my head for weeks.

Frederick trembled, paralyzed. I wondered why he didn't run; the darkness wasn't binding him like it was me.

"My friends are starving, Elise," the voice whispered only to me. "They'll leave you soon, and you'll be free. You've done well—as a reward, you get to keep your life."

"But before my friends leave you, we need you to perform one last task."

"What task?" I asked, trembling.

After a brief silence: "Kill him."

I don't remember how I killed him. The darkness took complete control of my body. When I came back to myself, my hands were covered in blood, and my father's body lay at my feet.

I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching, could feel the darkness retreating from my body, leaving me hollow.

The door was flung open, and Rodolfo stood there. I could feel his shock as he saw me covered in blood, kneeling beside my father's body.

"I... I... I didn't mean to kill him..." I choked out, barely able to form a complete sentence.