Chapter 12 Twelve

Chapter 12 Twelve

Lyra could feel the darkness pulling at her while Valerius held her hand tightly; he was the only thing keeping her from being taken away completely. Her body trembled as the shadows crawled higher along her arm, but his grip did not loosen, even as the force pushed against him.

“Lyra…look at me.” He begged his voice low, but she tried, but her eyes were drifting back to the darkness.

“Lyra… look at me,” he said, his voice low but firm, and she tried, she really tried, but her eyes kept drifting back to the darkness because it was inside her head now and not just around her.

“I can’t,” she whispered, her voice breaking. He immediately stepped closer, the floor cracking and a gush of air pulling him back, but he resisted, reaching her.

“Yes, you can,” he assured, holding onto her tightly, “stay with me.”

The darkness pushed in again, and Lyra gasped as more memories rushed into her mind hard and sharp. She should shake her head like she could shake them off.

“They’re still there,” she said, her voice shaking, “they’re inside me.”

Valerius didn’t let go.

“Then fight them,” he pushed with great belief.

“I don’t know how,” she cried, tears rushing down her face.

“Then don’t fight alone,” he replied quickly.

For a second, she paused, then looked up at him. She saw worry and fear all over his beautiful features, ones he was trying so hard to hide, and this made her heart break.

“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered.

Valerius froze for a moment. Her words hit him harder than anything else, and his grip tightened around her hand as he stepped even closer, ignoring the force pushing against him.

“You won’t,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” she replied.

“I do,” he said again, and this time his voice was softer but stronger at the same time.

Suddenly, the darkness shifts, the pressure around them growing heavier, and the voice returns, louder.

“She is not yours.”

Valerius’s eyes snapped toward the darkness. “She is not yours either,” he shot back, his voice sharp with anger.

Lyra's chest clenched as the shadow pulled harder, trying to drag her away from him, but she held on to him, her fingers tightening weakly around his.

“You are incomplete,” the voice continued, “you cannot remain like this.”

“I can,” Lyra said quickly, even though her voice shook, “I am still here.”

“No,” it barked, colder now, “you are only a piece.”

Lyra’s breathing grew uneven again, and she shook her head.

“I’m not a piece,” she whispered.

But the memories hit again.

Harder.

Suddenly, she saw herself again in the white room, small and alone, then she saw the moment something was taken from her. Then she cried out.

“Make it stop !!” She begged loudly, squirming in Valerius arms,

He pulled her closer to him, holding her tight in worry as the force around them pushed harder, but he never let go.

“I’ve got you,” he said quickly, his voice right next to her ear, “you’re not alone.”

Lyra froze for a second in his arms; she felt the warmth of him, real, and the darkness hesitated again.

“You are weak,” the voice said.

Valerius didn’t even look at it.

“Maybe,” he said, his voice low and steady, “but she’s still mine to protect.”

Lyra’s eyes widened slightly at that, and her hands gripped his shirt weakly, like she needed to hold onto something real.

“I don’t want to go there,” she whispered.

“Then don’t,” he said immediately.

“It’s pulling me,” she said.

“Then hold onto me harder,” he replied.

She did.

Her fingers tightened around him as she pressed her body closer, burying her face in his chest and for a moment, the darkness pulled harder, trying to tear her away from him, as the floor began to crack

“You belong here,” the voice insisted.

“No!!” Lyra said, louder this time, even though her voice trembled, “I don’t.”

“You are unfinished.”

“I’m enough,” she said, and this time the words came out stronger.

The darkness turned sharply, the shadows twisting around her arm as they tried to spread further, but something stopped them.

Valerius felt it.

“It’s you,” he said quickly, pulling back slightly to look at her face, “you’re pushing it back.”

Lyra shook her head.

“I’m not doing anything,” she said, her face still buried in his.

“You are,” he insisted.

The shadows tried again, crawling higher and harder, but Lyra held onto him tighter, and something inside her pushed back without her understanding how.

“I don’t want this,” she said.

“Then don’t take it,” he replied.

“But what if I need it?” she asked, her voice shaking again.

Valerius hesitated for a second, and that was all it took for the darkness to pulse stronger again.

“You need to be whole,” the voice said.

Lyra closed her eyes tightly.

“And if being whole means losing myself?” she asked.

Then a pause, and that made her heart drop instantly

Valerius felt it too, and his grip tightened again.

“You don’t need them to tell you who you are,” he said.

“Then who am I?” she asked, her voice small, still shaky

He didn’t answer right away, and she pushed herself slowly away from him and looked up at him, her eyes searching his face.

“You’re the one who chose to stay,” he said finally, his voice softer now, “you’re the one who didn’t run, you’re the one who keeps fighting even when you’re scared.”

Lyra’s chest tightened again

“That’s not enough,” she whispered.

“It is to me,” he said.

That made her freeze. For a moment, everything else faded just a little, and she looked at him like she was seeing him clearly for the first time.

“Why?” she asked softly.

Valerius didn’t look away.

“Because you stayed,” he said, “even when you could have left me.”

Lyra’s breath shook.

“I didn’t want to leave you,” she said.

“I know,” he replied.

The darkness pulsed violently again, as if it didn’t like what was going on, and the voice returned, sharper now.

“This attachment is inefficient.”

Valerius scoffed slightly, “Then it’s a good thing I’m not trying to be efficient,” he said.

Lyra let out a small laugh, and for a moment, the tension inside her loosened just a little.

But only for a moment.

Because the darkness moved again, stronger than before, and this time it didn’t just pull, it dragged.

Lyra gasped as her body was yanked slightly away from him, her grip slipping.

“No!” she cried, grabbing onto him tighter.

Valerius held on immediately, pulling her back hard, “I’m not letting go,” he yelled at the top of his voice.

And the force increased, the ground cracks getting wider, the air blowing heavily and suffocating.

And Lyra felt herself slipping.

“Valerius—” she cried, her voice breaking as she feared she might get taken away.

“I’ve got you!” he shouted back, his grip tightening painfully as he refused to let her be pulled away.

But the darkness was stronger now. It wrapped tighter around her arm, then her shoulder, and finally her chest.

“You cannot resist forever,” the voice said.

Lyra’s strength was fading.

“I’m trying,” she whispered, more tears pouring down her face as she looked at Valerius.

Valerius pulled her closer again, his forehead almost touching hers now.

“Then try with me,” he said.

Her eyes locked with his. It was clouded with fear, pain and something soft

“I don’t want to disappear,” she whispered

“You won’t,” he said.

“Promise me,” she said.

Without hesitation, he whispers to her, “ I promise .”

Suddenly, the darkness crawled in again, pulling harder and stronger this time, pulling her completely out of his arms.

She screamed as her hand slipped out of his, her body lifting slightly off the ground.

“Lyra!” Valerius shouted as he lunged forward, reaching for her again…

But unfortunately, he couldn’t reach her, the darkness swallowing her halfway as her body fades into it, her eyes wide with fear as her hands reach out for him for the last time.

“Valerius!”

He jumped forward again, his hand stretching as far as it could. And just as their fingers almost touched again, the darkness snapped shut, and everything suddenly went quiet.

Valerius landed hard on the ground, his hand closing on empty air as the tunnel became still again, as nothing had happened at all.

His breath came fast, his chest tightening, his eyes now locked on the place where she had just been.

“Lyra…” he whispered.

No answer came, only silence.

And then.

From deep within the darkness beyond the door, a faint voice echoes, sounding completely different.

“…Valerius… can you still find me?”