Affair with the Devil

could feel the weight of Damian's gaze on me, watching, waiting for some sign, some change within me. And yet, despite

it, and survived. But now, what came next

words could escape, the room around us seemed to shift. The walls tremble

g?" I whispered,

ble, but there was a new intensity i

im light flickering and then extinguishing entirely. A thick,

. I couldn't see anything, couldn't even make out Damian standing beside me. It was a

lled out, my v

alm but distant. "Don't be afrai

I reached out blindly, trying to find him, but my hands grasped at nothing. The cold air around

ked, my voice barely

amian replied. "They are drawn t

ne, the weight of his words si

ou are," he said softly.

e alive, sentient. And they were watching me, waiting for me to prove som

just a sliver of light, but enough to break through the suffocating blacknes

urged me from the d

. The closer I got, the brighter it became, until finally, I could make out t

was

f myself. She stood motionless, her empty gaze fixed on me, her pale skin glowing faintly i

d her once before, in the mirror, but this time, it felt different.

hamber, soft and haunting, like a whisper

d, my throat dr

y, her hollow eyes narrowin

n that. She was the darkness inside me, the shadow that had followed me my entire life. But now, she was somethi

ftly. "The part of me

around her seemed to pulse in response. "Yes. But now you

eart pounding in my chest.

ws moving more violently around her. "I want what we hav

aning heavy with implications. Was that what this was

asked, my voice bare

ng through me. "There is always a cost, Lucia. But you already know

the weight of the choice I had made, the gravity of what I had stepped into. The

pressing in on all sides. The shadows, they were ali

ady despite the fear that gnawed at the

as no malice in it, only a strange, know

first

whispered. "Call the shadows to you.

didn't even know where to begin. But deep down, I knew there was no other choice. I had m

that surrounded me. At first, there was nothing, just the cold, empty blackness. But then

ey were there,

oward me. And as I did, I felt a surge of power course thr

their presence both terrifying and thrilling. I could feel them, hear the

moment, I

mies. They were a part of m

e had widened, her eyes gleaming with approval. "You see now, don't

ht of the truth I had just uncovered. The power

n for me? For the wor

lently at the edge of the chamber, wat

softly, my voice bar

, we move forward," he said, his voice calm but filled w