CHAPTER 274: _BLOOD ON THE WALL

(WARNING: Slightly disturbing and gory graphics ahead.)

Kaelos was the first to get up, his hand lingering on mine.

I followed, and we both ran to the room door, barging out and stepping into the dimly lit hallway, only to be met with pure chaos.

Several maids and other staff scurried around, all heading in one direction to our right. That was the same direction as Kaelos’ office.

"What’s going on?!" I yelled but no one paid me any attention.

I let out a frustrated breath when Kaelos suddenly grabbed a maid who was about to run past us, forcing the girl to stand in front of us.

"Are you blind?" He asked with a growl, causing the girl to shake with fear as she quickly bowed.

"F–Forgive me. Good evening, Alpha King and Luna—"

"Save us the forced greeting and tell us what the fuck is going on." He raised a hand, his voice cold but alert. "We heard a scream. It sounded like it was coming from outside this door. Who was it?"

The girl hesitated, her eyes going from me to Kaelos. She tried hiding it but I’ve lived through it all my life to not instantly know what it was.

Judgement.

Everyone was still reeling from the clip of Kaelos’ patricide earlier today and it was so glaringly obvious.

And if Kaelos noticed, he didn’t show it.

"Soriya. One of the head maids. She’s the one who screamed. She was yelling and crying about seeing something horrifying in the Alpha King’s office." The maid explained in a lowered voice.

It was as if she had realised that there was a blunder with what she said.

"Something happened in MY office and no one thought it best to summon me?" Kaelos thundered, his voice instantly causing everyone running down the hallway to freeze.

No Alpha King aura. No coldness in his voice.

They all just knew they were in trouble.

"Move out of the way," Kaelos said simply, glancing at me briefly before walking down the wide hallway leading to his office.

The maids and staff members loitering around quickly parted like sardines against a shark, giving Kaelos and me more than enough space.

My jaw clenched as we walked.

I had a bad feeling about this.

.

.

The office door was wide open when we got there.

Two maids were standing just outside it, staring into it with horrified expressions. But we ignored them and their half-baked greetings completely, stepping into the room.

However, the first thing that hit me when we stepped into the office was the strong metallic stench of blood.

"Triple goddess..." I muttered, placing my right hand in front of my mouth.

At the centre of the office stood Soriya, her body frozen like she had been struck with a petrifying spell. But she was still shivering with dread, her back facing us.

In front of her feet was a dead body that made my stomach turn until I felt like hurling out the little dinner I had earlier.

The dead body belonged to a maid, which I was able to guess thanks to the simple black and white dress she wore.

But her hands? Not only were they shoved deep into her stomach, but they were bloody, the skin on them torn out and leaving her bones to show.

Her stomach was gashed open, her intestines coiling out of it. Dark red blood pooled underneath her body, staining the marble tiles of the office.

Kaelos and I glanced at each other at the same time, both our faces solemn. After a gentle nod from him, we stepped closer, my eyes scanning the room.

On the walls behind Kaelos’ office desk was something even more unsettling.

It was a sentence painted with blood which still dripped from the wall like trails of death.

And the sentence in question?

"The True King shall ascend the throne when the sky is painted red."

I swallowed hard as my gaze fell on the body of the maid again.

"She... She killed herself." Soriya, the head maid, spoke up just then, causing Kaelos and me to turn our gazes to her. "I... I sent her here to tidy up the place. When I came to check on her, her eyes were black. As if ink had spilt on them."

I shivered, subconsciously holding Kaelos’ hand beside me.

"... I panicked. She began saying things I couldn’t understand and then mentioned ’the Vein’."

A cold shiver ran down my spine when I heard that last part.

The Vein?

As in... THE VEIN? The same source of chaotic energy flowing underneath the continent that the dark sigils in me were somehow connected to?

I could feel Kaelos glancing briefly at me but he kept his composure as Soriya continued.

"Then she slashed that hole through her stomach with her own claws and... And that’s when I ran out of the office screaming for help. I thought she had run mad."

Tears began streaming down her eyes again as she took a few steps back before falling to her knees, weeping in front of the maid’s body.

"But how could a girl who was living her best life since I got her a job here last week suddenly lose her sanity? It... It doesn’t make any sense." She shook her head repeatedly.

Kaelos let out a sigh just then, turning around to face the two maids standing by the door.

"You two. Come help her up." He spoke bluntly.

They jolted at first but then nodded, rushing into the office and helping the head maid off the ground.

As they took her out of the office, I brought my gaze back to the writing on the wall.

"She used her blood to do that before dying." Kaelos blurted, stepping over the body and toward the wall. "What that head maid described sounds like a textbook example of possession."

I caressed my arms, my jaw clenching as I felt the dark sigils in my blood. They were beneath my skin, pulsing with life as if they were waiting for me to make just one slip-up and use my magic.

For some reason... I felt like this was a warning.

Althea said I was a key to the Vein.

Could I have somehow caused this without knowing?

"This is something much worse than possession," I whispered, shaking my head. "We need to call in Althea. Before this turns into something darker."