CHAPTER 56: THE FAINT HEARTBEAT

So this was what betrayal felt like.

Promises must be nothing to a person without a heart.

Aaliyah fell on her knees, the sharp pain Killing her fast. Her heart was dying, and it felt like the remaining seconds of her life were now numbered.

This would probably not heal like those minor injuries that had miraculously done.

And what did he mean by he needs her heart? All this was supposed to be over the second he removed the dagger. She was wrong to have think he would keep to his words.

Now she knew...he was always going to kill her at the end of everything.

There’s no way he would simply set her free. Not when she knows who he is, and knows he’s not human. Not now that she had grasped that things that cannot be comprehended existed in this small world.

He squatted down to meet her eye and saw her face squeezed in pain trying to hold on to the light. But the pain was only growing, and it was unbearable.

She could hardly breathe, and there was so much blood running down her mouth and more oozing out of her chest.

She wanted to speak. She wanted to curse him for doing this to her, but nothing came out of her mouth. She could only communicate with her eyes, and it was filled with pain and resentment for him.

"I’m incomplete, Aaliyah," He said to her, "I need a heart to complete me again. And unfortunately, it has to be the heart of the person that sets me free,"

If only she could move and tear off his head, she would.

"Arggghhhhhh," A yell of pain coursed through her and she fell on her back this time, her eyes beginning to flutter close.

"But don’t worry, Aaliyah," He continued calmly, watching her eyes close slowly, "I’ll use it to its maximum potential. If you could see what I can achieve with your heart, you’ll be glad I took it away from you,"

God. She badly wanted to choke him to death. How could he be sitting there so languidly while she was taking in her last breaths right next to him?

And as much as it pained her to know that she was dying by his hands, what hurt more was to know that there was a greater pain beyond that.

The future she thought she could reach out and hold. A future she had with him in it, both of them smiling lovingly at each other. That hope she had grown these past few days that they would grow old together.

A calm, yet explosive feeling.

A feeling that had made her heart weak and strong at the same time.

She had yearned for it. She had yearned...for a future between them.

She shouldn’t have. She should have protected her heart more. She shouldn’t have given it to him... but the deed was done now.

She regretted everything.

In her last moments, Aaliyah asked herself why she was even born? And what was her purpose in life? Was she born to be used and treated like she was nothing less than the dirt under the feet?

Aaliyah wasn’t just heartbroken, she was infuriated.

In that second, she made a promise to herself.

If she ever came back to life or was given a second chance, she would make all her enemies miserable...and she would haunt down Alastair and repay him this favor.

No matter the price...she would feed him thorns, and have him pleading for his life.

.

.

.

As the heavy rain poured down, hitting the ground with so much force and flooding the whole place, a man graciously walked into the mansion soaked from head to toe.

His black hair stuck to his face, and he casually took out his glasses and wore them over his face.

Outside, he guessed the trail of blood must have been washed away by the rain but inside here, a trail of blood starting from the door led all the way to the front of the stairs, where a dried poodle of blood lay.

The trail was probably one formed because a body had been dragged over the floor and out of the room.

And there, sitting next to the poodle was Alastair.

Theodore crossed his arms over his chest, a cool expression in his dark eyes as the thunderstorm outside grew, lightning flashing every two seconds. The skies must be very angry tonight.

Theodore could no longer sense the presence of the dagger, which only meant one thing.

"She was the one," He said, shattering the pounding silence that was all over the room.

Alastair didn’t move. He just remained there on the ground, staring into space.

"Why are you here?"Alastair asked, his gaze remaining on the floor.

"Why am I here? I live here," Theodore replied, "You’re sitting on the floor looking so gloomy. Have you forgotten how many Purebloods you’ve killed just to get here? She’s no different from them,"

"Shut up!" Alastair gritted his teeth, trying to contain himself.

"Why are you getting mad over her? It’s not like you can feel anything,"

Theodore said and took a step toward his room when the faint sound of a heartbeat caught his ear, making him halt. Theodore already knew how everything was supposed to work, and how Alastair was supposed to stab her at the end so that the dagger would take her heart and give it to him.

And from the thick trail of blood, Alastair must have done the deed which should have given him the heart by now.

But the problem was the heartbeat he was hearing was not as strong as it should be. It was too...weak and faint.

Has Aaliyah’s heart always been weak? Or...this was something else completely.

"What happened?" Theodore asked, his cool eyes now stiff with question and wonder.

Alastair groaned, "It didn’t work, Theo. The dagger did not give me her heart as we thought,"

But it was supposed to, "What went wrong? Why?"

Alastair then opened the small compartment in his chest. Normally that compartment was supposed to have been sealed and his chest was supposed to be brand new once he gained the girl’s heart, but it was still there meant something did go wrong.

Theodore stared at what was beating softly inside his chest, trying to take in the miraculous form of life there.

No, it cannot be.

Right there sitting inside Alastair’s chest was a heart. A heart that was forming.

A small and growing heart.

"I didn’t need Aaliyah’s heart, because she has given me something to call my own," Alastair announced softly, unable to believe what was coming out of his mouth.

"Do you...," Theodore was actually nervous, and his eyes narrowed as the question fell out completely, "...feel anything for her?"

Alastair’s heartbeat grew even more powerful, and he looked up at Theodore. His eyes which had no color now had a strong forest green iris, so compelling it could bewitch whatever stared into it for too long, "I believe so," He replied in a murmur

####################

To whoever doesn’t understand yet, Maqbath is the handle of the dagger she pulled out, that is, according to this book.

I hope this was helpful!