Symphony of Death

Anastasia’s POV

I looked up from my laptop when the door opened and Angie’s head poked inside a moment later. I raised one brow at her goofy smile.

“What?” I asked when she hopped inside my room with Nat on her tail. “What?” Angie took my laptop and passed it to Nat. “Angie!” I screamed when she practiced sumo jumping on me. “Get off me, you oaf.” She didn’t. “Have you gone crazy?”

“You little crackpot!” She glared at me. “Why didn’t you tell us right away about what happened?” I breathed in relief when she rolled off me. “You were going to keep it from us?” Angie asked me grimly.

“You would have found out eventually.” I replied casually. “What does it matter? What’s done is done.”

“No, it’s not done.” Nat opposed and held my hand. “How could they do that to you?” She spat bitterly. “You should have fought for your rights. You worked so hard.”

“There is no point.” I blew out a breath. Nat and Angie looked at each other. “No need to feel low because of me. I am fine.”

“You resigned.” Nat pressed. “You loved working at The Allure. It was your dream job.”

“I’ll find another job, Nat.” I smiled at her. “It’s designing dresses I feel passionate about, not the place.” She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “Maybe, I will make my own studio.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Angie second that. “I will help you promote it.”

“Maybe, I will open my restaurant.” Nat tapped her chin thoughtfully. “It’s always better to work for yourself than some assholes.”

“Point.” I crawled over to grab my phone from the table when it started ringing. “Hannah!” I raised the phone toward them. “She is persistent.”

“You didn’t even let me explain.” I scoffed when she jumped the gun. “We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t,” I replied flatly. “I’ve sent you my resignation. We are done.”

“Ana! Don’t be rash.” She sighed. “It’s not-”

“I’m not holding you accountable.” I interjected. “I know you are answerable to your boss.”

“Come to the office. I am waiting.” Hannah ended the call before I could say anything.

“Cain Black has rubbed off on Hannah.” I hunched over and rubbed my face tiredly.

“What is it?” Nat questioned.

“She has called me to the office.” I groaned in annoyance and stood up to change. “I’m going to put a lid on this shit for good.”

****

Cain’s POV

“Are you remorseful for what you did?” Sharon mused. “I was not expecting such a human thing from you, Cain.”

“Why are you still here?” I put my phone back on the table and looked at her. “Your work here is done.”

“We are leaving tonight.” Sharon flicked her hair back. “I came to give you what you asked for.”

A dagger appeared on my desk.

“Where did you find it?” I asked her disinterestedly.

“At the temple of the Ecaitheoa.” She replied arrogantly. “It was not an easy job, you know. It’s never easy to get past those Unseen.”

“That’s where your tricks come in handy, Sharon.” She smiled slyly in response. “That’s exactly why you look the way you do.”

“Those dresses were destined to be mine.” She flaunted. “That price was fair enough. Plus, I saved your show and raised the quality and reputation of your worldly business to new heights.”

I picked the dagger and observed it closely.

“It’s made of black phoenix’s ash. Won’t it hurt you?” She asked.

“It won’t hurt only me, Kesia.” Her expressions morphed into disgust when I called her by her real name. “It’s time for you to leave.”

“Yes, and I love the kind gesture.” Sharon stood up and mocked a bow. “But I would appreciate it if you call me Sharon in this world, my lord.”

“It’s a shame you lost such talent for that little thing.” She pointed to the dagger. “Maybe I will take her–”

Her eyes widened and she clawed at her throat but nothing came out except for her agonizing grunts.

“Can you feel the burning sensation, Kesia?” I smirked at her tormented expressions. “You Naxoris are despicable creatures. Your existence was a sin like many other things in this world, you cursed breed of nymphs and kelpie.”

I eyed her scornfully.

“Don’t forget it’s because of me that you can live and walk and mooch off others’ beauty to look the way you are.”

She was thrown across the room and pinned to the wall.

“Should I show you your ugliness, you fucking Naxoris?” I released her and she fell to the floor gasping and panting.

“I’m sorry.” Sharon bowed to me. “I forgot my place, my lord. I committed a great sin. It won’t happen again. I won’t look at that girl. Please, don’t abandon us.”

“Try to control your greed before it becomes your demise,” I warned her dangerously. “If I heard of your unwanted human huntings anymore, I will turn your entire kind to dust.”

“It won’t happen again. I swear on my life.”

“Get lost.” I growled. She got up and vanished into thin air. “Fucking pests, doing nothing but aggravating things for me.” I threw the dagger on the desk.

If not for it, I would have never let these creatures enter the living world. It was one thing they feared me and another to mold their twisted nature.

They lived off human beauty and always wanted a heavy payment if someone needed them to do something.

Sharon created a mess for me that night.

“As if she can leave,” I leaned back in my chair and looked at the letter Hannah sent me.

Anastasia’s resignation letter.

There was no denying her talent. I didn’t want to take away her work but it was the price that Naxoris demanded.

“I don’t need you but I won’t let you go this easily.” I looked toward the ceiling covered with ancient murals.

To a normal eye, they looked like ordinary paintings but only I knew what dark history hid within them.

Every time I looked at them, I remembered that night and betrayal.

Flashback

“Why?” I asked bitterly.

There was a time when my dead black heart thumped to life at the mere glance of her.

But now, I felt nothing but revulsion.

“This was the only way.” She replied softly.

Her voice was once music to my ears. But now, it felt like acid.

Her scythe appeared in her hand and my Ashrune morphed out of thin air. I admired the massive black blade.

It was no ordinary sword. It was made of the Anima it devoured in the depths of Acreoterra.

“You will die by my hands.”

We charged at each other right when the next thunder struck the dark sky.

This was fated from the very beginning.

She was no match for me but she still tried. Look, where it brought her.

I plunged Ashrune deep within her abdomen without any remorse or hesitation. I never knew these things and I would never know.

“You should have known better.” Blood oozed out of her mouth and she fell to her knees. It was a fatal blow.

My sword meant death to her kind.

“I don’t forgive betrayal.”

“Not that you didn’t know.” She whispered hoarsely. “There was no other way left.” I scoffed at her lame attempts to trap me again. “I’m sorry.” She raised her hand for me. “I’m sorry, Cain.”

“Dare to say my name again, Omisha.” I spat balefully. “I’m not going to fall for your trickeries again.”

“Please. Just once. I beg you.” I bent next to her. “I’m sorry, Cain. I truly am.” She palmed my cheek with her bloody hand and smiled.

I looked at her face blankly. There was nothing familiar about it anymore. Nothing that enticed me before.

Her eyes mirrored the poisonous blue of her blood. Her beautiful pale locks were matted and sticking to her face. Her red lips that I loved to kiss all the time made me hate them at this moment more than anything in this world.

“I love you.” I loathed her yet she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

“I loved you.” I whispered darkly, “You should know what it means when our kind falls out of love.”

“Death,” Omisha replied sadly. “I deserve this,” she coughed a mouthful of blood and breathed towards her end. “I had to choose between what I wanted and what was right.”

Omisha looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

“It was not easy for me but I had to do what was best for everyone, for the world.” Her lips trembled. “You are death and destruction.”

“Nothing is going to change this truth,” I replied menacingly.

“I’m sorry” Omisha cupped my face again. “I truly am.” I didn’t pull back when she wound her arms around my neck and hugged me. “But I have a duty to fulfill.”

I roared like a beast when Omisha plunged the dagger into my left shoulder blade. Light burst out of my wound and two gigantic wings came to the surface.

Two large black wings with golden flames rising out of them.

“You fucking wench!” I tried to push her off but she held tight.

“This dagger is made of black phoenix ashes” Omisha whispered in my shoulder. She held on until the spell was complete. “You cannot live, Cain.”

“Omisha!”

Another howl shook the air when my left wing came off my shoulder blade and disappeared into thin air.

“You fucking Blue Blood! What did you do?” I yelled angrily while clutching my wounded shoulder. “What did you fucking do?”

I looked at her in contempt when she stabbed me with her scythe.

“I had to.” Omisha fell to the ground. “I’m sorry, Cain” She looked at me remorsefully when I fell right next to her.

Both weapons had black phoenix’s ashes and I was not going to survive until the dagger was pulled out.

She made sure she dragged me down along with her.

“I hate you, Omisha” I spat her way. “You betrayed me to the end. You mocked my love and trust. Know that I will not spare you. Not in this life, not in any other.”

“I don’t wish to encounter the same fate with you ever again, Cain,” she choked on her breaths. “No matter how much I yearn, I will never wish to be in the same world as you ever again.” Her hand reached for me. “I hope this ends here with us.”

End of Flashback

“You thought it would end!” I looked at the locket in my hand. “I have waited a thousand years for this day, Omisha.” I clutched the flower angrily and looked at the ceiling again. “You can put how many spells you want but I will find you.”

“Cain?” Xic and Aeron entered my study. “What you asked for.” Aeron placed the file on the table. “What do you intend to do with Harold?”

“He has been messing with the other end for the past twenty years.” Xic looked at Aeron briefly before looking back at me. “I don’t know what he intends to gain by setting the dead among the living.”

“You know as well as we do what can happen if they don’t depart from this world. It can temper with the natural order of existence and get those fucking Blue Bloods on our backs.”

“You have the proof in your hands, Cain.” Aeron palmed the table and leaned over. “You need to take care of Crawford now.”

“No.” Their frowns turned to dark scowls. “He is no fool, nor are we. He is onto something. Something we are unable to see for now.” I put the locket back inside the drawer. “He knows damn well what could happen to their whole clan, yet he broke the law.”

“Sounds to me like you already know what he was brewing all this time,” Xic said matter of factly.

“Let the hunt begin, brothers.” I opened the file and looked at the picture clipped to the top right. “Vengeance will be ours to serve and savor.”

****

Anastasia’s POV

Everyone gave me mixed looks when I got off the elevator and went to Hannah’s office. I was in no mood to take their feelings into account. I didn’t have that much stamina to cater to every single soul on earth.

I knocked on the door and waited for Hannah to command me in. As expected, she was sitting in her chair with her laptop open in front of her.

Nia was with her. I gave her a tight lip smile when she looked at me sadly.

“I don’t have all day to spare.” Hannah looked at me passively. “To the point, Hannah. I don’t like bullshit.”

“Please excuse us, Nia.” She nodded and left us alone. “Sit down, Ana.” Hannah closed her laptop and rubbed her face tiredly. “Ana, please sit down.”

“Accept my resignation.”

“I can’t,” I crossed my arms to show my defiance. “Cain is not letting me and unless he does, you cannot leave.” My arms fell at this. “Sit down, will you?” I sat down across from her. “I’m sorry about what happened. I was not expecting him to call for such a thing.”

“It’s not the first time something like this happened in this industry, Hannah,” I replied calmly. “A lot of designers suffer the same thing every other day.” Her lips pressed in a thin line. “I’m not blaming you.”

“I won’t mind if you do.” She passed a file to me. “I know I cannot force you to stay but I want you to think about this with a cool head. It’s your whole life, Ana.” I fidgeted with my hands in my lap. “Don’t mess with the wrong people, especially Cain Black. He won’t let you survive a step out of here.”

“He has already proven that he is not going to let me do anything to my free will.” Acid was evident in my tone. “I don’t know what I did wrong? I don’t care to know either and I don’t care if I can’t work anymore. I won’t be a puppet to someone’s commands.”

“Don’t be stupid, Ana,” Hannah said sternly. “You don’t know what power that man has. Don’t anger him.” I fisted my hands. “I’m not your enemy. I am only trying to keep you from the wrong end.” Hannah entwined her hands on the table and looked at me calmly.

“Anything else?”

“Fine.” She took a file and signed it before passing it to me. “Even if you resign, you need to serve one month. Company’s policy.” I took the file from her and stood up. “Tear it if you change your mind by the end. Now get back to work.”

I gripped my left wrist when it began to sting.

I had enough encounters by now to know he was near when my wrist hurt.

I looked back when the door to her office opened. My mouth turned down the moment our eyes met.

I wish I could ruin his expensive suits.

No, I wish I could ruin all the suits in the world so Cain Black could never wear any ever again.

I made sure I bore zero expressions when I passed Cain Black. He didn’t seem pleased to see me as well.

A heated argument broke out between them right when I closed the doors.

“You are back.” Nia jumped on my table the moment I entered our cabin. “Oh, thank god.”

I hated the thought of bursting her bubble. Nia looked like an over-excited innocent child right now.

“What?” Nia asked in confusion when I sighed deeply and opened my laptop.

Maybe later.

****

I stuffed everything in my bag and looked outside through the glass door.

Everyone was gone.

I couldn’t wait to be within the four walls of my room.

It was hellish today for many reasons but the top pick on my list of today’s misfortune was named Cain Black.

He was here all day and to make matters worse, we had four consecutive meetings with him.

I wanted to sit them out but Hannah forced me otherwise.

It was a terrible experience.

It was like a meeting with the devil and it was not just me who felt that. Everyone could feel the pressure under his presence and the fear of messing up.

I couldn’t concentrate on anything because of the pain in my wrist and his glares that ended on me more than anyone else. I didn’t know why and how Mr. Black found everything about me despicable.

I didn’t even talk back to him even once after our first encounter. I didn’t want to dig my grave any deeper.

“Alright.” I grabbed my bag and turned to leave with a bright smile which turned to a hiss in the next moment.

My bag fell to the floor and I looked up in time to see Cain standing in the doorway.

His eyes didn’t break their hold on me as he forced me to stagger on my steps. I fisted my left hand behind my back when the pain worsened in my wrist.

“Fancy meeting you here” Cain mused darkly when my back hit the wall and I was trapped against his towering figure. His aura was predatory which alerted me toward every possible danger. “I’ve been meaning to have a word.”

“Working hours are over.” I tried to slip right.

His hand blocked my path and I didn’t dare to follow it in the opposite direction. I didn’t want him closer than he already was.

“What?” I snapped.

“Is this the way to talk to your boss?” I bit my tongue at his cold mock. “Seems like you haven’t been disciplined enough in your life.” I kept my silence. “So, you don’t feel you were wrong that night?”

“With all due respect, sir” I looked straight in his eyes. “I was wronged. You forced me to give up the rights of my work to someone else.”

“I won’t call that force, Ms. Grace,” Cain smirked and to my utter discomfort, moved even closer. “You don’t know what forcing actually means and looks like.”

“Mr. Black!” I raised one hand between us to stop him from moving further. “Is that all?”

“I am not done with you.” I tried to blend with the wall when his face loomed over mine. “I hate your kind the most.”

I held my breath when he pinched my chin roughly and forced my eyes back on his.

“You think you are all that great that you act so defiantly. You haven’t even learned to swim yet and you want to bite the sharks?”

I gasped when he grabbed my left hand and held it against the wall. I was completely under his trap now and it invoked a new kind of fear in me.

“Leave me,” I yelled angrily.

“Oh, you wish.” Cain chuckled darkly.

“Leave me. Let go.” I started struggling in his hold. “I am not dying to bite you back. I am not stupid to not know how sick people like you are.”

It was not right. The feeling of being near him.

“Let go,” I pulled violently against his hold. He was scaring me now. “Please!” I turned my head to the side when his face moved closer to mine.

“Know your place” Cain spat acrimoniously. “A fucking no one like you should be grateful for just being considered a human in the world.”

I felt the brush of each word against my cheek. I couldn’t decide what was worse.

His closeness or the pain it was bringing me.

“Watch your words and pay heed to your actions, little lamb.” Cain whispered darkly. “No one will notice even if you disappeared one day.”

My head turned against my order and my nose collided with his.

“Trust me, it will be a load off for many people.” His dark turquoise eyes were spitting as much hate toward me as was his mouth.

I pulled my hand free of his grip and pushed him back.

“You don’t dare to behave like this with me ever again.” I pointed one finger at him. “I’m not afraid of the likes of you.” I grabbed my bag off the floor and stormed out of there.

I got inside the elevator and pressed the button to the ground floor. I didn’t breathe until the elevator started moving.

“He didn’t need to dictate it,” I mumbled and looked at my now red wrist. It looked burnt. “I know that already.”