Finnian stayed indoors as per the instructions of his father. The beautiful melody from the ballroom can be heard inside his room as he continued to lay there and looked at the ceiling, sighing to himself.
“Is she having fun?” He sighed, got up, and decided to look outside the window, hoping to get a glimpse of Flizeria.
All he can see is the blinding lights and random people talking near the window, others are dancing, and some children are even playing.
“Is she making friends with other children?”
He then looked at the box on his bedside table, “I will just give her my present tomorrow.”
He took the box and opened the lid, “Will she like this?”
Dark red scales glimmer against the light, with ‘All Hail the Dragons’ carved on them.
“I saw her looking at this the other day,” Finnian examined the dagger and smiled to himself.
“I do hope she will love this,” Finnian smiled as a blush appeared on his cheeks.
He was about to lay down once again when he heard voices outside.
“So where are you taking me?”
Odd, that voice seemed familiar, but Finnain could no longer remember where he heard that voice before.
He only shrugged and continued to mind his own business, until he heard something slam on the wall.
“Y-you’re hurting me, let go!”
Finnian is the type to not care about other people’s business but this time, his curiosity got the better of him.
He opened the door slowly so as to not attract attention to him. A boy and a girl are walking farther and farther away from the ballroom.
Where are they going?
The girl’s blonde hair was strikingly familiar, “Where have I seen her before?”
The boy she was with was wearing a cloak so Finnian could not clearly see who that boy was, still he decided to follow them.
*****
The smell of fear had never been this real for Astrea.
“I-I can’t move m-my legs?” Astrea mumbled weakly to herself as she watched Luke’s eyes begin to be more and more insane.
“Of course, you can’t! You’re minutes away from death.”
“W-what are you g-going to do t-to me? Everyone w-will know a-about this..”
“Ah, yes everyone will know. Of course, they will! That’s what I am aiming for!” Luke began to laugh evilly to himself.
His laugh cannot be heard from the outside because of the music from the ballroom.
Astrea looked at him with intense fear on her face. Pale, helpless, and hopeless.
‘Will I die like this?’
Again Luke laughed, “Okay, okay. I’m just joking, I will not kill you. That’s too harsh, we are still family, you know.”
“T-then what a-are y-you going to.. to do?”
Luke walked slowly towards Astrea without breaking eye contact.
“Well, I have been working on something lately,” Luke pulled out a vial from his pocket after returning his dagger to its sheath.
“I have been researching about curses and poisons, so I want to check if what I brewed recently is effective.”
Luke forcefully held Astrea’s chin, forcing her to open her mouth.
“Now, open wide my dear cousin,” Luke smiled but this time it was a normal and lovely smile.
He looked so calm and gentle as he continued holding Astrea’s chin. Their faces are inches away from each other.
The calmness made Astrea even more afraid. Why is he having that kind of expression? How can he even have that kind of expression when he’s about to feed me poison?!
“Come on now, Astrea. Open for me, will you?” Luke stared at her eyes, scanned her face then stared at her lips more intently.
His expression became softer and softer, and his grip on her chin became gentler and gentler.
Luke’s face went nearer and nearer to her face. Astrea can now clearly see Luke’s features. Thick eyebrows and long eyelashes. And although she’s still at the young age of ten, she knows for herself that women would flock around Luke when he becomes older.
Luke then moved his lips beside her ears. Astrea can now hear Luke’s calm breathing, as if what happened earlier never happened in the first place.
Oddly enough she also felt calm, when she knows full well not to let her guard down after seeing Luke’s expression earlier.
“Ah, yes. My dear, please do calm down,” Luke whispered gently as Astrea felt her knees becoming weaker. But unlike earlier, the reason was no longer fear.
“Open your mouth, my dear. Let me in, please?”
With that, Astrea’s knees lose their strength but before she could hit the floor, Luke caught her by her waist and held her firmly.
She looked up at him and saw him smiling sweetly at her, “Good girl.”
Luke touched her lips with her other hand as he held her waist firmly, preventing her from falling.
Luke pressed the vial on Astrea’s lips and gently let her drink, “Now swallow, my dear.”
Astrea obeyed, not really minding what happened earlier as if she’s under a trance. Her body obeyed without a doubt but her thoughts are screaming otherwise.
No! No! No! Don’t!
As the liquid entered her throat, a burning sensation can be felt, she wanted to stop but can’t. It’s so painful! Anyone, please! Help!
When Luke finished giving her everything inside the vial, he let go of her without hesitation.
“Okay, now let me see the fruits of my labor,” Luke’s eyes went back to the way they were when he was looking at his dagger. Eyes filled with insanity.
Astrea’s body crumpled on the floor as she continued to clutch tightly to her stomach.
Then her body twisted and turned rapidly in directions that were never really possible. Bones cracking and breaking can be heard as she continued to twist and turn.
“Hmmm, great, great,” Luke continued looking at her on the floor as if she was just a rat that he experimented on.
“Okay, next would be the hallucinations, I guess?”
Astrea opened her eyes and looked at her twisted hands, “Blood!”
She looked around the room, “Blood, there’s blood everywhere. Help me!”
“I’m drowning! I can’t breathe!”
She looked around and saw that the room was flooded with blood, she tried swimming but she can’t even move her body.
She wiggled like a worm on the floor, trying to do something – anything, which might save her.
She kicked the nearby table causing the flower vase to fall and shatter on her face.
“Aaargh! My eyes! I can’t see!”
Actual blood ran down her face from her eyes.
Then something heavy can be felt inside her stomach. Something crawling outside her can be felt. Then she vomited something. Small insects can be seen crawling out of her mouth together with the bile and saliva she vomited.
“Ah yes, the second to the last stage. I can’t believe the poison is working.”
Luke kneeled down to examine Astrea even more.
“Okay, this poison is a tricky one. It must drink calmly and willingly since if one would force it inside someone, the eggs will be destroyed, so the poison must be administered gently.”
“Don’t worry, this poison won’t kill a person. It cannot, and the insects will only appear once, it is only a temporary effect of the poison. The real intention of this poison is to make a person crazy.”
Astrea stopped moving and is now breathing heavily.
“Hey! Are you okay? Tell me you are not dying.”
Luke grabbed Astrea by her hair and inspected her face, “Tsk, don’t tell me you’re this weak?”
Astrea’s body twisted again, and then she continued vomiting, “Oh you’re not yet done. Okay, okay. Please do continue doing your business.”
Luke got up with satisfaction written across his face, “No one will be sane after experiencing all of this. I got to say, I really did a pretty good job.”
“Okay, since I am done with my little experiment, I shall be taking my leave.”
Luke walked towards the window then pause and looked back at Astrea who kept on vomiting, “Oh, and please do your best not to die tonight.”
With that, he jumped out the window and disappeared into the dark.