Page 12 of Clouded by Envy

“Do you want me to get on my fucking knees and beg? Because I will.” Brenik’s dark hair swung forward as he fell to his knees, placing his forearms against the Stone. With a frustrated sigh, he finally let his head strike the hard exterior, and he groaned from the slight ache.

Closing his eyes tightly, tears snuck their way out and rained down in between the folds of the Stone. He had only cried a couple of times in his life, and he couldn’t control it now. Barely able to contain himself, Brenik flipped his head to the side, plummeting into a spell of depression as his chest rose and fell inconsistently.

Ruth had already been decaying when Brenik arrived to Earth, and he couldn’t—he wouldn’t—watch himself wither away like that. He was too obsessed by his own beauty and never able to do anything of use with it.

“Please…” he pleaded one more time, rubbing his hand softly against the uneven texture.

The thunder of emotions spewing out from inside him came to a halt when a shuffling movement caused his body to tremble. But then nothing happened. It was as if it were all in his imagination, until the Stone ruptured, rising from the ground like a volcano, sprouting the alabaster arms and legs. Brenik leaped back as the head shot forward—exactly the same as before: no mouth or nose, only those eyes that could see all. It was as if no time had passed at all.

“What do you desire most?” the loud voice bounced around inside Brenik’s head, rough and laced with fury.

An urge of desperation and sadness lingered, but he wasn’t afraid. Brenik rose to full height and rubbed the wetness from his face as the bald head of the Stone edged closer. “I want to go home or have the same gift as Brayora.”

Cocking its head to the side, the Stone’s black eyes bored into Brenik’s, but he couldn’t tell what the creature was thinking. “That is impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Brenik countered, stepping closer to the face that made his life pure hell.

“The paths to crossover worlds will not occur again until one final time which is already set. A special man will open those doors,” the voice boomed.

Brenik slapped his hand against his leg in frustration. He didn’t have time to hear about people who were special. There was already enough of that with his sister. “Then give me the same gift you gave to Brayora—I deserve it.”

“You deserve nothing. Your access was granted.”

“We didn’t even know where we were going!”

“Alive is better than dead,” it answered, voice harsh and almost dangerous.

“I would have to disagree at this point—a twenty-year-old bat hiding in a tree for a year straight is wretched. I would rather be dead than to continue living like this.”

The Stone of Desire slowly lifted its head before cocking it to the other side, eyes seemed to narrow even without eyelids moving. “There is one other option.”

“I will take it.” Brenik would accept any option at this point in his life.

“You do not know the consequences of your choices,” it warned.

“What are they, then?”

“Your heart tells me you want to stay young forever, yet also become human. That is an impossible creation. You can appear human but never be one. With this choice, a hunger will stir inside you after every so many turns of the earth. You will have to feed it to keep up with your desire, otherwise, you will wither and fade. But the cravings will darken your soul—your heart—more than the envy already has. It will all be insatiable—do you accept this?”

The Stone was wrong—he could control anything.

Falling to his knees, Brenik clasped his hands tightly together. “Appearing human is all I need—I accept this glorious offer you have provided, and I am willing to do what has to be done to maintain it.” Brenik didn’t really think about his decision. He only knew he wanted it.

“Your choice… Regrets are unacceptable, and a reversal of your decision is impossible because your desire today overpowers any future wishes.” Brenik was fine with that, more than fine.

Slowly, he nodded as the Stone’s arm crawled forward. Lifting its hand up over Brenik’s entire body, the Stone moved downward, and a shadow that appeared to be crushing Brenik enveloped him completely. The darkness surrounded him for several long seconds, but then the Stone’s hand ascended, allowing light to pour in.

Brenik glanced over his shoulder, where he could still see the obsidian wings attached to his back—even his height remained the same. “Nothing is hap—”

He was interrupted when an unimaginable pain pulsed through his veins, tearing against nerves, muscle, and bones.Crack,crack,crack—breaking and popping sounds were heard as joints were ripped and moved to new positions.

A raw scream escaped Brenik when he felt a hard tear at his back where his wings attached, as if they were being shredded. He watched a lone wing fall to the grass, followed by his other one. There, they both darkened to dirt that disintegrated and faded into the ground.

His entire body groaned as each limb expanded and lengthened, torso and spine stretched to incredible height. The pain decreased when Brenik became the size of a human—almosthuman.

Flexing his fingers, Brenik smiled down at his new body in relief, fascination, and perfection as the spasms dissipated. “Thank you.” He looked up toward the Stone, its face unreadable more than ever.

“Do not thank me. This is your curse to bear, but remember … you chose it.” The Stone’s hand pulled back underneath its chest, and then slithered closer to where Brenik was hunched over. Its hand fisted something inside—finger by finger the extremities uncurled to reveal a rectangular white square, a blank painting canvas.

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