Page 53 of Vintage

With a sinister smile, she dug the blade into his skin, and a thin line of blood trickled down, staining the dagger red.

The light from the guard's lamp cast a harsh glow, intensifying the pain etched on my husband's face as he struggled against the enchantment binding him.

Inside, I was not just panicking; I was teetering on the edge of madness. Seeing Ro bleed was unbearable.

"Let my husband go!" I screamed at her, clenching my teeth in fury.

She paused, withdrawing the knife slightly, and fixed her gaze on me.

I gasped, my legs trembling beneath me. The only thing I felt was fear. One of her eyes was completely white, while the other held the familiar shade of grey I remembered vividly. Her face bore no expression except for an unsettling smile that revealed her bare teeth.

She pulled the knife away from Ro's throat and licked the blood off the blade.

A whimper escaped my lips, and icy shivers coursed down my spine.

Is Willow even human?

A whirlwind of thoughts clouded my mind.

Instead of attacking me, her guard retreated to a shadowy corner of the garden and returned with a leash in hand. Before I could process what was happening, my legs gave way, and I found myself crawling backward, horrified by what I had just seen.

"AHHHHHH!!!!"

Tied to the leash was a man moving on all fours, but his limbs were not human. They were connected to the body of a dog.

A scream escaped my lips as he released the leash, and that creature charged toward me.

With each step it took, my screams grew louder, mingling with my sobs.

His face was a patchwork of stitches. I was paralyzed with fear, and just as it was about to reach me, I completely lost control.

That grotesque face loomed closer, and my voice vanished, leaving me in a state of shock as my limbs turned liquid. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and terror enveloped me. A sharp pain blossomed in my chest, my back pressed against the cold ground, and my hands scraped and bleeding.

My breathing quickened, becoming a struggle to pull air through my nostrils. My mind was blank as I watched Ro fight against Willow's hold.

"Ro," I managed to whisper.

I saw them forcing Ro deeper into the ground. His platinum blond hair damp and smeared with mud. His pale skin that recently started gaining color was again marked with cuts and bruises. Whatever they were trying to make him do, I couldn't stand to witness my husband being tormented.

"Hel...p...m...e..." I gasped, my voice barely audible.

Then the guard approached, seizing my hair and dragging me toward Ro.

"We found what we needed. The ring is here," Willow smirked at her guard.

The ring they sought was buried by Ro, but I couldn't recall when or how, my memories hazy.

The guy with death mask, I remember him, he’s Luhak, her father.

He nodded at her and took the knife she offered. Gripping my wrist, he forced the knife into my hand and pushed it inside Ro, who cried out in agony, his blue eyes pleading with me.

He screamed as I was compelled to drive the knife deeper.

No sound remained, only the dagger and Ro's cries echoing in my mind, his blood staining my hands. Everything else faded into silence around me, suspended in time.

Visions of our first meeting, our laughter, the walk down the aisle, the vows we exchanged, and the small bow we made together with a red ribbon, a cherished family tradition from my grandmother, flooded my thoughts.

Amidst the pain and tears, I could see Ro's lips moving, whispering gently.

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