Heart of Darkness

Skender arrived in time and joined them in the backyard together with Blayze, Mazzon and Vitale before the Arch arrived. 

Rayven could feel the tension in the air when everyone gathered. No one was pleased that the Arch would come and they wouldn't have visited if Skender had done his job. Blayze was already showing his bitterness toward Skender. Mazzon kept to himself, and Acheron and Lazarus stayed quiet. Vitale sat on the floor, looking exhausted. He didn't know if it was the thought of the Arch coming alone that exhausted him or if there was something else. 

"Well, well, you have already gathered, my Lords." Lucrezia appeared from thin air with her two wingmen on each side, startling a few of them. Her aura sucked all the existing air whenever she arrived. 

Today she wore a long-sleeved green dress that complimented her green eyes and a crown of black thorns sat on top of her head. Her dark hair cascaded down to her waist in elegant waves and her sun kissed skin glowed in the evening light. 

She was mesmerizing and cruel, and Rayven hated her with such passion. He had hoped to never see her face again, but here she was. Thank you, Skender, he thought. 

"You don't seem pleased to see me, but I am not pleased to be here either." She began. 

Even her voice annoyed him. 

Skender stepped forward. "It is my fault. I take full responsibility." He hurried to say. 

Lucrezia shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval. "I wouldn't be here if you had taken responsibility, Skender. We can't afford to have someone knowing of our identity roaming free. Why haven't you taken care of it?" 

"Do I have to kill him?" Skender asked. 

"Do you have any other solution?" she wondered. 

"I'll find one but I don't want to kill him." 

"Even if I tell you to do it?" She asked. 

"I'll take whatever punishment you give me." He told her. 

He really cared for the woman, or maybe he didn't know what getting punished by the Arch meant. 

"Very well then. You shall receive your punishment." She said, before turning to look at each one of them. Her eyes studied them as if looking for something, but her search stopped when her eyes locked with Rayven's. 

A wicked smile curved her lips. "You will be the punishment." She said pointing at him. 

They all frowned, confused by what was happening, but Rayven knew exactly what she was going to do. She was going to punish him instead of Skender. No wonder. The woman hated him the most. 

Her wingmen came and grabbed each of his arms to take him, but he pushed them away. "I don't need help to walk." 

"What are you doing?" Skender asked her. 

"I will punish Rayven instead of you. You have to learn that your decisions as a leader will affect others." She told him, giving him something to think about. Then with a snap of her fingers, she teleported Rayven away to where he would receive his punishment. 

It was the same cave where she had taken a piece of him and, until today, his chest was empty. 

"Are you frightened, Rayven?" She asked, tilting her head to one side. 

She already knew what he was thinking and feeling. 

Walking up to him, she stood inches away from his face. Rayven gazed into her eyes, unafraid. 

"Your eyes are so cold and dead. Is there any hope left for you?" She asked, running a finger along his scars. "You must have become used to the pain. I am going to make you feel a different kind of pain today." 

He didn't even want to think about what kind of punishment she had in store for him. She was very creative with her punishments. 

"Come," she showed him the way through the corners of the cave and then brought him to a dark room. There was a large, flat rock in the middle. "I want you to undress and lie down and don't disobey me, Rayven. I am in the mood to punish." 

Rayven undressed and went to lie down on the large, flat rock. He knew she enjoyed resistance, so he wasn't going to satisfy her. Through the years, he had learned her twisted ways. 

When he lay down on the cold stone, an invisible force wrapped itself around his wrists and ankles to hold him down. What was she going to do? 

"You are curious." She said, walking around him. "That is a good sign. Now let's see if this pain will awaken you."

Suddenly, the roof of the cave opened and light entered as if it was midday, even though it was evening. Before he could take a closer look to see where the light was coming from, his eyes burned as if someone had thrown stones of fire into them. He shut them quickly but then felt heat on his skin, slowly increasing until he felt his skin burn. 

Rayven clenched his jaw, suppressing his urge to groan in pain, but the heat kept increasing. It burned the scars on his face, his neck, his chest, and his stomach. Those places hurt the most. He clenched his fists and naturally tried to release himself, but the invisible chains around his arms and legs tightened, cutting the blood-flow to his hands and feet. 

As if getting punished for resisting the burning became unbearable. He could smell his skin burning and he threw his head back and growled. His skin melted off and the scorching heat burned his flesh. Rayven screamed in agony, trying to free himself, but to no avail. 

"Stop it!" He yelled and abruptly the burning stopped. 

He let out a deep breath, completely shocked by the pain. 

"See Rayven, you do feel pain." She told him, "and you don't enjoy it." 

He was panting. "Are you satisfied now?" He asked her. 

"No. I want you to change. I want to give you back your life, but you are not helping me. You think I am your enemy but I am not." 

Rayven chuckled darkly through all the pain. "I don't want my life back. I just want you to end it." He snapped.

She frowned. "You want to escape your punishment instead of trying to make a change."

"How do you expect me to change?" He asked between clenched teeth and his burned face hurt every time he spoke. 

"I want you to care. To love. To think of others before yourself. Look at Skender. He was willing to take a punishment to save someone else." 

Rayven scoffed. "You want me to love and care for others when you have taken my heart. I want it back!" 

"Did you care for others when you had your heart? It was dead when I took it, Rayven." She spoke louder this time. "I can't give it to you. You will kill yourself." 

He fought to free himself again before glaring at her. "Look at me! I am as good as dead." 

She frowned. "I believe you sometimes when I look into your eyes even when I know that is not true." 

"You just want to keep punishing me." He spat. 

"No, I want you to feel Rayven."

He let his head fall back, feeling tired. He gave up. "Nothing can save me. Just let me go." He pleaded. 

She released him from the invisible chains, but he kept lying down. He had no strength to get up. He didn't want to get up anymore. He wished to just die here. End his misery. 

"You are wrong. You can be saved. Today I saw a red dot on your heart. Do you know what it means?" 

Rayven remained quiet, but in the back of his mind, he became a little curious. "It means blood. Your heart bled a little today." She placed a finger on his chest. "You felt it too. Right here." 

Rayven was lost, not understanding what she was talking about. 

"To be saved, you have to find the thing or the person who made you feel that way." 

"You said a special woman would save us." 

"No. When I said 'you', I was only talking about you." She said. "My predictions can be wrong, but that is what I saw. One thing is sure. If your heart doesn't beat and keep beating, then you won't be saved and I believe despite my predictions that your fate is in your hands." 

"I told you, I don't want to be saved." He said. 

"Alright then. How about this? If you make your heart beat, I will give it back to you." 

Rayven sat up, now listening carefully. He had a chance to finally be free? "How do I make it beat?" He asked. 

A smile curved her lips. "Oh, my dear. You don't seem to understand. Love, fear, passion make our heart beat. Hatred, envy, greed and selfishness darken our hearts." 

Then she was wrong. He couldn't be saved. He would just wait for his death. 

Ignoring the pain his wounds caused, he climbed down from the rock. He went to wear his clothes on his burned skin, relishing in how it peeled the rest of his skin and tugged at his burned flesh. And then he was back in the castle's backyard. 

Was it night or was it just darkness covering his eyes? He wasn't sure why he couldn't see clearly, but he knew they all waited for him to come back, especially Skender, who caught him when he fell. "I am sorry, Rayven." He whispered, sounding remorseful. 

Rayven felt other arms around him, and then he was being carried away. They lay him down on a bed. 

Yes, it was his vision that darkened because even inside the room, he couldn't see anything. Just hear their voices. Blayze was cursing as usual, blaming Skender for what had happened to him. Acheron was trying to stop the fight. 

Rayven couldn't keep up anymore. He gradually fell into the darkness until he felt nothing.