Page 23 of Secrets Of Blackwood

I don’t look back. Instead, I keep walking, each step heavy with dread. I’m about to shatter the best thing that ever happened to me, and the irony isn’t lost on me—I’ve become the darkness I sought to escape, all in the name of love.

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I watch her, that smirk playing on Victoria’s lips like she’s just savored the richest of wines, and I know she’s drunk on her victory. “Don’t forget, Damien,” she purrs, her voice a blade sliding across my skin, “you’re mine to command now. Cross me again, and I’ll make sure your dirty little secrets become everyone’s favorite topic.”

The threat hangs in the air, a noose tightening around my neck. My hands clench into fists at my sides, muscles tensed as if ready to fight, yet I stand motionless. The part of me that is darkness, that has thrived in shadow and fear, wants to lash out at her, but Lily’s image, pure and bright, holds me back.

“Understood,” I rasp, the words barely squeezing past the lump in my throat. Every syllable tastes like ash.

I pivot on my heel, leaving Victoria’s triumphant gaze behind. As I stride away, each step echoes with the weight of my decision. The world around me—the towering oak trees, the whispering leaves, the distant hum of the academy—fades to a blur. Only the sharp sting of gravel beneath my boots keeps me anchored to reality.

Lily’s face swims before my eyes, her bright blue eyes that sparkle with life, her golden hair that glows in the sun like a halo. The memory of her touch, soft and tentative, a stark contrast to the harshness of my own life, claws at me. It’s a pain more acute than any blow I’ve ever received.

I’m sacrificing the only light I’ve found in this dark existence for her safety. The irony isn’t just cruel; it’s crippling. I am the monster in the shadows, the one who corrupts everything he touches. And yet, for a fleeting moment, Lily made me feel human.

“Damien?” Her name on my lips is a prayer, a curse, a plea for forgiveness I don’t deserve.

But there’s no turning back. I’ve made a deal with the devil herself, and the price is the shattered remnants of what could have been. As I walk, the emptiness inside me grows, a chasm where my heart used to be. It’s a void no amount of running or fighting will ever fill.

And in that moment, I understand the true nature of hell—it’s not fire and brimstone. It’s knowing you’ve hurt the one person who saw something worth saving in you.

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Lily

I clutch the locket Damien gave me, its cool metal pressing into my palm, a talisman against the rising tide of anxiety. I pace the length of the hidden alcove, lined with creeping ivy and bathed in the soft glow of twilight. The sweet scent of jasmine fills the air, its presence usually a comfort, but tonight it fails to soothe the unease coiling in my gut.

“Where are you, Damien?” My whisper floats away, unanswered.

Each second that ticks by is a weight added to my chest. The quiet rustle of leaves in the gentle night breeze sounds like whispers, mocking my hope. This is our place, sacred and untouched—except for tonight. Something sinister lingers, a shadow draped across the moonlit stones. It’s as though the very earth is holding its breath, waiting.

Damien

My steps falter as the academy’s grandeur fades behind me, giving way to the secluded sanctuary where I’m meant to meet Lily. The night cloaks me in its sorrowful embrace, each step heavy with the burden of what I’m about to do. My heart is a drumbeat of dread, pounding against the walls I’ve built so carefully around it.

“Damien,” she says, her voice a beacon that has always guided me back from the darkness. But tonight, it’s a siren song leading to destruction.

I steel myself, drawing upon every ounce of cold detachment I can muster. When I emerge from the shadows, her face lights up, but it falters, sensing the storm brewing beneath my surface.

“Lily,” my voice breaks on her name, “We need to talk.”

Her smile dies, a fragile thing crushed under the weight of my words.

“What’s wrong?” Her eyes search mine, pleading for an answer I’m too much of a coward to give.

I swallow the lump in my throat, bracing myself against the pain mirrored in her gaze. “We can’t see each other anymore.”

The words hang between us, a sentence delivered without hope for reprieve.

“Is this because of Victoria?” she asks, her voice trembles, but there’s strength there—a resilience I’ve always admired.

“Victoria is… part of it.” The truth is a blade, and I wield it clumsily. The full extent of Victoria’s venom, the secrets she wields like weapons—I can’t burden Lily with that darkness.

“Damien, please.” She steps closer, her warmth a stark contrast to the chill settling in my bones. “Don’t do this.”

I can almost feel her touch, the electricity that dances on my skin whenever she’s near. But I can’t allow myself that luxury, not when it could mean her undoing.

“Trust me, it’s better this way,” I lie through gritted teeth, every word a nail in the coffin of what we had. What we could’ve been.

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