Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 67: The Truth Comes Out

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Truth Comes Out

Darkness... pain... and the smell of copper.

Aside from the rare moments when he was dragged out of his prison to be shown off, those three elements were the center of his world. Even though his heart was always beating a mile a minute, the blood that had continuously dried on his fur flaked off much more slowly. 

As he waited in the darkness for one of the humans to return, he knew all the while that there would never be a way for him to escape. He wanted nothing more than to do what his elder brother had done and drift away from life.

All it had taken was a rock and a fit of anger.

That was all.

And the knowledge of what he had done crushed him to pieces.

When a distant door opened up and the blinding light fell across his starving, bloodied form, he cringed against the wall with a terrified shiver and his tail violently lashed against the ground: the glossy black fur that he had once been so proud of congealed with dried blood.

His clawed hands clenched weakly before going limp above his head, elfish ears flattening down to the point where they were almost parallel with his neck.

The moment that familiar silhouette fell across his battered body, he knew the pain was going to come again. 

Just like all the other times, there would be no mercy... no one could save him from his fate.

There would be no reprieve of the agony.

He was doomed to be chained to this wall by his neck, arms, and tail for eternity... an eternity full of everlasting darkness.

But he deserved it.

He would let it happen to atone for what he had done. He would endure everything... because he was guilty.

Of murder.

"Adariel," a voice pleasantly crooned as the figure stepped closer. "I'm sure you know why I'm here..."

He closed his eyes and turned his face away without making a sound, forcing his body to remain still when the human's silhouette drew closer.

Even with his eyes squeezed so tightly shut, he could feel the coldness that had always been present in the human before him. 

If he was lucky, the man would order someone to beat him senseless until he got bored.

If he wasn't, he'd be tortured with magic.

Either way, after that the human would leave and he'd be in the darkness once more.

"Big brother," he croaked, eyes watering; his tears slid down his cheeks and dripped across a bite scar on the side of his throat. "I'm sorry... I'm so---"

With a snap, Xaphile's eyes flashed open wide and his clawed hand flashed to his tingling neck.

Heart pounding a mile a minute, his exhausted eyes slowly slid back to half mast.

"Adariel..." he sleepily muttered, staring up at the ceiling with an uncomprehending, sleep-addled expression on his face. "Was that a dream?"

"Who is Adariel?" Vrael's voice quietly asked, making him bolt upright with a startled hitch in his breath. "Whoa, there! Lie back down! Seriously, just... keep calm, o-okay?"