Sinful she-devil

Prologue : Echoes of the Heart: A Vow Beyond Death

"Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion." 

- Dylan Thomas

ZARA'S POV

"Please, Zara, don't leave." The words halted me in my tracks, a taut thread pulling at my resolve. I pivoted to face Derek, his eyes a tempest of emotions I couldn't quite decipher. Was it pity? Fear? Why fear, when to him, I was merely an extension of a lifelong friendship?

"Zara..."

"I have to. I don't have a damn choice " I insisted, the weight of my destiny pressing down on me.

"But at what cost? I can't bear the thought of losing you," he confessed, his voice cracking like a fragile veneer, exposing the raw desperation underneath. The intensity in his eyes kindled an unexpected turmoil within me, setting my heart ablaze and my stomach aflutter with a thousand nervous butterflies.

What ? 

"Isn't life all about risks as you've always said ? " I countered, clutching at his words like a lifeline.

"Yes, but if you—" His objection was cut short by my interjection.

"What? Face death?" I challenged, my voice laced with a defiance that belied my inner turmoil. "Am I to be a mere tragedy? If dragging Nathaniel into the abyss is what it takes to break this curse, then so be it."

"I won't let you " he protested, his resolve as unyielding as the fate that bound me.

"It's not your decision to make," I stated, a melancholic acceptance in my voice. "Just know, I am eternally grateful for everything—this might be our final goodbye, but know you'll always reside here," I whispered, guiding his hand to rest over my heart, its steady beat a testament to my unwavering resolve.

---

Hours later, the ominous timbre of Nathaniel's voice, my physics teacher and the orchestrator of my nightmares, sliced through the silence. His interest in me wasn't born of benevolence but a selfish desire to wield power unparalleled as I was his chosen one according to the prophecy . His voice, absent for weeks, now resurrected memories I wished remained buried.

As his gaze found mine, smirking with a vile satisfaction, revulsion coursed through me. Christopher's reassuring presence, a whisper of comfort and a brush of lips against mine, was the only solace in the looming chaos.

The peace was shattered by a scream, a harrowing prelude to the carnage that followed. A student, her life ebbing away before our eyes, was the first victim of what was to become a massacre . The others students started to panic and tried to run towards the door but alas it is closed.

Shit

 Is Nathaniel behind this? 

 Who else, right? 

The holy spirit? 

 "Everyone keep calm," demands our school's usually ever-uptight principal

Why would the least ballsy man in the room order such a thing with such serenity?

 One look at my biology teacher Mr. Van der beek, Nathaniel and him was enough to make me understand.

The realization dawned on me, the chilling alliance between them, a macabre plot unfolding with ruthless efficiency.

"Zara...this could've been avoided if you had simply accepted to be mine " Nathaniel taunted, implicating me in the horror unfurling before us. His words, laced with a twisted affection, sought to break me, to bend me to his will.