Chapter-HundredTwenty Eight, The Horror

Chapter-HundredTwenty Eight, The Horror
Sean’s POV — Part Two

The horror of Luicen’s plan didn’t hit me all at once.

It crawled into me slowly.

Piece by piece.

Like something alive sinking claws into my chest and refusing to let go.

At first all I could see was Gemma standing there.

Breathing.

Alive.

My sister alive.

For one stupid, desperate heartbeat hope had nearly destroyed me.

Because after everything…

After the blood.

After the screams.

After watching her die—

I thought maybe somehow she had come back.

Maybe fate had shown mercy for once.

Maybe the Moon Goddess had finally stopped taking from us.

But then she looked at me.

And I realized immediately…

That wasn’t my sister anymore.

Her eyes were black.

Not just dark.

Empty.

Cold.

Like staring into a grave.

No warmth lived inside them.

No irritation.

No amusement.

Nothing.

And Gemma always felt something.

She was emotion.

Loud emotion.

Annoying emotion.

She laughed too hard at stupid jokes.

Cried too easily during sad stories.

Got angry fast.

Loved even faster.

But now?

Nothing existed behind those eyes except silence.

A terrible silence that made my stomach twist violently.

“Gemma…” My voice cracked the second her name left my mouth.

God.

Even saying it hurt.

Her gaze shifted toward me slowly.

Mechanical.

Controlled.

Like she was forcing herself to remember how movement worked.

My breath caught painfully.

Please.

Please know me.

Please.

I searched her face desperately.

For anything.

A flicker.

Recognition.

Anger.

Hatred.

Anything at all.

But she looked at me the same way someone looked at a wall.

Blank.

Disinterested.

Unknowing.

Like I was nobody.

The realization hit so hard I physically staggered against the chains.

No.

No no no.

My wolf let out a wounded sound deep inside me.

Not a growl.

Not rage.

Pain.

Pure heartbreaking pain.

Because wolves recognized their family.

Their mates.

Their souls.

And even he couldn’t find her anymore.

Something cracked inside my chest so violently it nearly brought me to my knees.

I remembered the first time Gemma ever called me her hero.

She couldn’t have been older than six.

A rogue had wandered too close to pack territory during winter, and I’d scared it off before it reached her.

She’d followed me around for three days afterward carrying a wooden sword twice her size.

“I’m gonna protect you too someday,” she’d declared proudly.

I almost broke remembering it.

Because she couldn’t even recognize me now.

All those memories—

Every laugh.

Every fight.

Every moment we survived together—

Gone.

Or worse…

Still trapped inside her somewhere where she couldn’t reach them.

Luicen watched my face carefully.

Enjoying every second.

“That pain,” he murmured softly, “is beautiful, isn’t it?”

I wanted to rip his throat out.

“You destroyed her.”

My voice shook violently with rage.

But Gemma didn’t react.

Not even slightly.

God.

That hurt worse than anything.

Gemma always reacted to me.

Even when we argued.

Even when she hated me.

There was always something.

Some spark.

Now there was only emptiness.

Like she’d never known me at all.

Luicen slowly circled her proudly.

“The realms fear her now,” he murmured. “The Deadly Tree’s first perfect vessel.”

Vessel.

The word made bile rise into my throat.

Not daughter.

Not sister.

Not wolf.

A vessel.

A container.

An object.

My chains rattled violently as I lunged forward.

“She’s a person!”

Luicen smiled faintly.

“She was.”

The dungeon suddenly felt too small.

Too cold.

I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.

Because part of me feared he was right.

What if Gemma truly was gone?

What if the tiny pieces left inside her weren’t really her anymore?

Just leftovers.

Fragments.

Echoes.

I looked at her again desperately.

Her pale skin almost glowed beneath the torchlight.

Black veins spread slowly beneath it like poison infecting marble.

Dark smoke curled around her feet in slow twisting circles.

Everything about her felt wrong.

Unnatural.

But she still looked like Gemma.

And somehow that made this cruelty unbearable.

Because every feature belonged to my sister.

The same lips that used to grin at me after causing trouble.

The same hands that held mine when our father died.

The same face that once looked at me like I could protect her from anything.

Now she stared through me like I didn’t exist.

I remembered the nightmares she used to have as a child.

She’d crawl into my room shaking from fear, dragging her blanket behind her.

“There’s monsters outside,” she’d whisper.

And I’d pull her into my arms every single time.

“You’re safe,” I always told her.

But I failed her.

I failed her so badly.

Because the monster got her anyway.

And now she stood beside it.

My eyes burned painfully.

I refused to cry.

I refused.

But the grief was suffocating me.

“Gem…” My voice came out weak now. Broken. “Please remember me.”

Nothing.

Not even a blink.

Luicen chuckled softly beside her.

“The soul decays first,” he explained calmly. “Identity follows soon after.”

I wanted him dead.

Slowly.

Painfully.

I wanted him to feel even a fraction of this agony.

Because this wasn’t death.

Death would have been kinder.

At least death would have meant peace.

This?

This was torture.

Watching someone you love become hollow while their body still stood breathing in front of you.

Watching their memories disappear one by one.

Watching yourself vanish from their world completely.

I wasn’t losing my sister.

I was watching her lose me.

And somehow that hurt worse.

Because Gemma loved fiercely.

If she forgot me…

Then that meant something terrible had been done to her.

Something so dark it could destroy bonds carved into souls.

My wolf suddenly pushed violently against my skin.

He sensed something.

My eyes snapped back toward her.

Gemma’s fingers twitched slightly.

Tiny movement.

Barely noticeable.

But I saw it.

So did Luicen.

Her gaze dropped slowly toward my wrists.

Toward the silver cutting through my skin.

Blood dripped onto the dungeon floor beneath me.

And for one impossible second—

Pain crossed her face.

Real pain.

Not physical.

Emotional.

My heart stopped.

“Gemma?”

Her expression flickered violently.

Like two versions of her were fighting for control.

One empty.

One terrified.

My breath hitched painfully.

“She’s still in there.”

Hope slammed into me so hard it hurt.

Luicen’s calm expression cracked instantly.

Fear flashed across his face.

And suddenly I understood.

He wasn’t afraid of me.

He was afraid of her remembering.

Gemma’s hand trembled harder now.

Her black eyes remained fixed on the blood dripping from my wrists.

And then—

A tiny sound escaped her lips.

Barely audible.

Broken.

“…Sean…”

The world stopped.

My knees nearly gave out beneath me.

Oh God.

Oh God she remembered.

Tears burned down my face instantly before I could stop them.

“Gemma,” I breathed shakily.

Her expression twisted suddenly in agony.

Like speaking my name physically hurt her.

Darkness exploded violently around her body.

She screamed.

The sound ripped through the dungeon like shattered glass.

Not human.

Not wolf.

Something tortured.

Something trapped.

I surged against the chains hard enough to tear skin from my arms.

“GEMMA!”

Luicen grabbed her violently.

“Control yourself!”

Black smoke poured from her mouth while her entire body convulsed.

And the worst part?

The absolute worst part?

She looked terrified.

For one tiny moment beneath the corruption—

I saw my sister again.

Scared.

Lost.

Begging silently for help.

Then it vanished.

The emptiness returned instantly.

But now I knew.

Gemma was still alive inside there.

Still aware.

Still suffering.

Forced to watch herself becoming something monstrous while unable to stop it.

That realization shattered me completely.

Because it meant every second she spent beside Luicen—

Every person she hurt—

Every terrible thing she became—

She would remember it.

Somewhere deep inside herself, she was trapped awake through all of it.

“No…” My voice broke entirely.

That was crueler than death.

Far crueler.

Death would have been mercy.

This was endless suffering.

Luicen slowly looked toward me again.

And smiled.

“She won’t survive much longer,” he murmured softly. “Not as herself.”

My wolf roared so violently the dungeon walls shook.

But underneath the rage—

Underneath the grief—

One horrifying truth remained.

Gemma remembered me.

And that meant she was still fighting.

Still trapped inside the darkness clawing for escape.

Still reaching for me.

And knowing that—

Knowing she was suffering alone inside herself—

Destroyed whatever remained of my heart.