Chapter 131 — Grabbed...

Kurt's howl echoed through the night in euphoria.

“ Aria! ”

David and Kurt exclaimed together as they felt the familiar tug but as soon as they felt it, their hearts were marred with dread.

The scent of Aria hit him like a freight train...thought she was gone, but there she was, distant but alive.

David's heart started pounding but damn, something wasn't right. Aria's was in trouble. They could feel it in their bones.

That damn bracelet was finally working.It yanked them from the past right to her side.

Why did it not respond before?

Was her life not threatened?

David forgot to think.

He was back in the present. And there she was lying, unconscious, fragile as hell.

His claws tore at the shadow that lunged over her.

Seeing her like that tore him up inside.

He couldn't see anything. He never wanted her in harm's way, not again.

David knelt down beside her.

The weight of guilt crushed him like a mountain.

“I failed you again…”

He mumbled as he gathered her close.

"Don't you leave me, Aria. Don't you dare." Tears stung his eyes, hot and unwelcome. The world faded away, leaving just them…two broken souls in the dark.

The world blurred as rage mixed with anger. "Who did this to you, Aria? Who's gonna pay?" His fists clenched nails digging into his palms as he finally looked up to see the maniacal face of his father.

“ Ragnaaaaaar! ” David jammed like a raging bull over his father, pushing him back for miles as they knocked down one tree in their wake, after another.

But David was blinded. He couldn't feel anything. Couldn't see his surroundings.

He landed one punch on him after another, his anger erupting like a volcano.

“ Your mother… she got wits… ” Ragnar didn't seem to fight back. He only dodged as many blows as he could, silently taking the rest of them.

David paused at the mention of his mother.

“ David! Where were you? David, stop! Let him go… we have bigger problems. I don't know why he did it. But he attacked Aria to bring you back. Apparently it worked. But where were you? ”

Sebastian finally caught up to them.

David slowly turned his head as he saw Elara walk towards him.

The wail coming from the bundle she carried, hit his eardrums like the sweetest music.

He had heard them before, but it was distant. Too far away. But now it was close.

The gravity of the moment hit him with a force greater than any physical blow he had just dealt.

His hands trembled as he reached out tentatively, fingertips brushing against the soft fabric. The cries pierced through him, awakening a tenderness he had long suppressed. He dared not fully unwrap the blanket, afraid that this fragile moment might slip away if he did.

“ Mine? ”A tear escaped, tracing a path down his cheek as he whispered, more to himself than anyone else, "I never thought I could feel like this."

He could sell his blood. There was no doubt it was his.

His voice cracked with emotion, revealing the depth of his inner turmoil and the fierce protectiveness awakening within him.

David turned towards Aria but then a sudden flash of blinding light erupted from Brianna's outstretched hand, accompanied by a crackling energy that seemed to warp the air around them.

In the midst of this chaotic display, Lucas and Ava materialized. Ava’s gaze filled with panic as she found herself in an unfavorable situation with the unwanted bundle in her hand.

Brianna, standing at a distance under arrest by Ester as her guards, smirked wickedly.

"Oh, how sweet. The whole gang's here. I thought I only summoned you…" she taunted, her tone dripping with malice as she turned towards Lucas.

"But don't think for a second this changes anything." Ester growled as she looked at her brother in the distance and Aria on the ground near her.

Brianna’s eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction as she waved a hand, summoning a surge of unnatural energy.

“What the hell is going on here?" Ester demanded, pushing her to break her concentration.

She instinctively moved closer to Aria, leaving Brianna with the guards as David, Sebastian and Elara, started moving back, assessing the situation with a quick, calculating gaze.

Before anyone could react, the ground trembled beneath their feet and a deafening crack split the heavens above them. Thunder rumbled. Fear gripped everyone's hearts as they looked up, eyes wide with disbelief.

There was a split right in the middle of the sky as the stars and the moon disappeared, plunging them into an eerie darkness.

David wrapped his arms around Elara and the baby as they sprinted towards Aria and Ester.

As the crack in the heavens widened, a chilling wind swept through the clearing, carrying with it a sense of impending doom. Brianna's laughter rang out once more, triumphant and chilling. "You fools," she hissed, eyes alight with madness. "You've awakened forces you can't possibly comprehend.”

“ Ava, get out of here! The darkness is materializing. It's bad news. It won't be too pleased with us! ” Lucas turned towards Brianna.

“ Why did you summon me, witch? How do you even have the pearls? ”

Brianna jumped out of her confinement, easily kicking the guards in their faces.

Her hand landed on Lucas's body.

“ I'm here to save my friend, before you are dragged back to hell!!! ”

Her laughter coincidentally matches that of Ava.

But Ava's laughter is far from hysterical. She began to walk towards the crack as strong gusts of icy winds sliced through the forest.

Each layer of her skin peels as she takes one step forward, the bundle lifted up in the air.

David picked Aria over his shoulder as he tightened his grip around Elara with his other hand.

Sebastian protectively stood before Ester as the lycans fell back to take cover.

The crack widened further as Ava fell to the ground. Her hands outstretched with the bundle, she crawled forward on her knees, begging, pleading,

“ I am on your side. I brought them here like I promised. I was not hiding anything. This thing, it's yours… I am yours. Show me some mercy! Aaarrggh! ”

But her skin kept peeling as the wind became stronger.

And then the crack widened as a bone-chilling moan erupted, engulfing the entire forest floor, curdling the blood of everyone whom it touched.

Everyone dropped whatever they had in their hands, covering their ears as the frequency of the wail reached a crescendo.

Lucas gritted his teeth, his hands trembling with a mix of anger and fear. "It's the souls of the damned," he muttered grimly, his voice tinged with disbelief. "They're crying out."

Ava's brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to make sense of the chilling spectacle unfolding before them. "This isn't natural," she said through gritted teeth, her eyes narrowing. "It's a breach…a tear in the fabric of reality. It's not the Dark World...This isn't the darkness...The netherworld is coming for us…Oedipus…No….help….”

A tornado erupted before anyone could understand. It yanked the baby from Ava's arms before tossing her up as well.

Brianna pounced over Lucas, stabbing his arms and pinning him to the soil as she scattered ashes over him, before falling down beside him

The cries pierced her soul through her ears.

Oedipus let out a terrifying roar as he got stripped , bit by bit from Lucas's body, being dragged in the tornado as it yanked him back to where he had belonged.

Lucas's body fell beside Brianna with a thud. She smiled, her fingers softly touching him as she finally closed her eyes.

“ David…No… !!! ”

They were so engrossed in witnessing what was happening when suddenly David and Aria's baby got yanked from Elara's arms.

“ Noooo!!! ”

David and Ester lunged after it, jumping in the air with all their might. Chasing after it as if it was a kite but it was nowhere near their reach.

The crack in the heaven slowly began to close as it sucked the child in, while David and Ester kept cursing and running.

“ About time! ”

The Ragnar rubbed his hands over the dirt, dusting it as he stood up.

He threw something at Ester that looked like a ring as he caught up to them.

“ Tell your mother I fulfilled her last wish. I owe her nothing more. We are even! She should rest in peace now and let me as well! ”

With a deafening growl, The Ragnar transformed into his original form.

The first ever lycan, the abomination, the magnificent creature that he was.

His mere presence commanded authority.

He ran across the meadow finally taking one long leap, his teeth closing around the fabric wrapping the baby.

David watched it as it unraveled in slow motion.

His father vanished inside the crack as he winked at David, the baby staring down straight at him, their eyes meeting for the first time.

Their twin eyes, mirroring each other.

"No!" David roared, his voice breaking with anguish as he lunged forward with all his might. His fingers brushed against the fabric of the blanket, almost within reach, but then the crack sealed shut with a final, resounding thud not before sucking in the child and The Ragnar completely inside.