Tainted Love

Chapter 26

Reynold's POV

~flashback~

Power. That's what I felt as I stormed the village, biting everyone in sight. Something about it was incredible. The voices in my head screamed. Make them join you.

It was as if I could control everything. No one was standing in my way. I was a bull on a rampage. No one could hide. The sound of their hearts beating and the warm smell of blood only lured me closer and closer to my targets. Eventually, the crisp smell was gone, and all that was left was a strange, yet amazing taste in my mouth.

Everything was so clear, yet entirely a blur. Every action was my own, yet I had no control. I had no clue what I was feeling, but I loved it. I could sense everything, wait- what was this feeling?

I could heard someone moving around, yet I couldn't smell them. They had no warm blood. Something was off. Then, I heard a grunt. Rose.

I rushed to the sound, much faster than I could have ever gone before. My smile was huge as I walked into the nearby cottage -  my family's cottage - when I felt a rush of anger surge through me.

Both my parents where lying on the ground where I had left them, but they weren't breathing. Cold blood dropped from their chest from stab wounds. They were dead.

I knelt to the ground, trying to convey the emotions I thought I was feeling. It hadn't struck me that I wasn't feeling anything.

The same footsteps hurried to the next cottage. Then to the next, and so on at lightning speed.

I ran to the sound, quickly entering a smaller cottage. Then, I could only stare silently. Rose was standing over on of the unconscious villagers. She was standing over one of my creations. The room was dim, but it was just enough to see the bloody knife in her hand. I listened carefully. No heart beat. I couldn't see her face as she lifted in knife up in the air, plunging it into the poor villager's chest.

I gasped, causing her to whip her head around. If there was such thing as a double gasp, I would have done it. Her eyes... they weren't the same. The bright blue eyes I had fallen in love with had disappeared, replaced with a eerie, glowing white.

I looked at the dead body in front of her, unfazed. It was like my entire body was numb, and my mind was in an entire different world. All I could feel was anger, not because she had just killed a person, but because she had just destroyed what I was trying to create.

"Rose, don't do this," I warned. She couldn't destroy what I was doing.

"This isn't the right way, Reynold," she said calmly, her dress covered in blood.

"You're killing them!" I screamed desperately. She merely stared.

"I killed them?! They were dead before! No one wants eternal life. It would be great a first, but then they'd have to sit around, watching their loved ones die and the world move on without them. Don't you see? I'm ending their suffering!" She yelled, furious. She sounded groggy, like she was confused at her own words, but I knew she believed it all the same.

"I'm saving them!" I yelled. I grabbed her arm. "Join me, Rose. We can build an empire that will last forever! No one can stop us. Come on, Rose, do it for me," I pleaded. She doesn't understand our opportunity. A chance to live for eternity in absolute power over everyone else. We'd be royalty! Just the two of us!

She looked at me, her white eyes glowing. Her words were a slap to the face. "Who said I want to spend eternity with you?!"

She zoomed out of the room, rushing to the next cottage. Before I could reach it, she had killed yet another creation. Then another. Then another. I decided to skip one and stop her at the next one. Then I realized I was stopping at William's home.

I looked at my best friend, fearing that Rose had already got to him, then I heard him breathing. I knelt over him. Like Rose, his heart wasn't beating anymore. But his breathing was steady.

I stood up as Rose zipped into the room, her eyes darting around. "Let me do it," she demanded. My bravery got the best of me. "Never," I spat.

She froze for a second, before the nervous look in her eyes calmed down, replaced with a scary amount of confidence. "Fine."

She went into the other room, followed by the next. I heard the sound of a knife hitting its target. In the other rooms, William's parents and young little sister, Clarissa, lie dead in their rooms.

I gasped. This wasn't Rose. Rose knew how close William was to his parents, and especially how much he cared for Clarissa. If William woke up, his frozen heart would surely shatter.

"Rose! Stop this!" I yelled. The sound of my creations breathing was slowing fading as my numbers dwindled one by one. I chased Rose once again, only to find the bodies she continued to drop. In a matter of five minutes, the blissful sound of breathing came only from three people - Rose, myself, and our closest friend.

I stood over William, knowing I would do anything to protect him. Rose came back to the room. "End this, Reynold. Just let me kill him," she demanded once again. My heart was torn between my best friend and the love of my life. Then I remembered, she didn't love me.

"Back off," I hissed. She sneered, something she never would had done before this moment.

She charged at William. Within a second, I had blocked her path. Something came alive inside of me, like a Phoenix born from the ashes. I threw her across the room, slamming her into a table with a neat glass vase filed with flowers. Shattered pieces of glass flew everywhere as she sprawled out on the ground, panting. I attacked. I pinned her to the ground, punching her over and over again, not even thinking about the beautiful face I was damaging.

Rose struggled under my grip, screaming bloody murder as I held her down. It was horrible to witness the delicate, sweet Rose I had known my whole life act like such a monster. All she wanted to do was kill. And so did I.

I grabbed the knife Rose had used on everyone, forcing it to her throat. We both breathed heavily as we both waiting for what was to happen next.

William moaned behind me. I lost focus for a second, and all of a sudden Rose had broken from my grip. I ran outside, watching as Rose sprinted away. I took a few steps outside. "You can't run forever, Rose! Mark my words, I'll make you pay!"

I knew she heard what I said, but all I could do was watch as she disappeared from sight, knowing my poor creations would have to be avenged.

I walked back into the room, where I ignored William's desperate cries over his now-gone sister. I looked at the puddle of water and shattered glass. I looked at my reflection, but I didn't see myself. My eyes were now deep, black pits of absolute ferocity. The reflection I was so used to seeing was gone, and so was my soul.