Page 4 of The Madness Within

A scholar of forbidden rites. A priest of something buried beneath the Gate. He wanted Silas’s blood for the ritual. Said twins carried mirrored magic. That he only needed one of us to open what lies behind the Veil.

So he killed him.

Ripped my world in half to find a key that wasn’t even his.

Or so I thought.

And when I tried to go to the authorities, both human and otherwise? They laughed. Shrugged. Said the Veil didn’t concern their courts. That my brother’s death wasunfortunate. That some sacrifices served the greater arcana.

They told me to let it go.

That’s when the Madness took over.

Not a scream.

A whisper.

They’d never stop until the Gate opened. Unless you stopped them first.

I was eighteen. No title. No influence. Just fangs, rage, and a dead twin in a cold box. So I made a decision that night.

I would rise. I would enter the halls of justice they used to hide. I would wear the mask of a man.

Become their defender. Become their executioner.

And I would hunt them all, every creature, every name whispered in shadow, every ancient soul tied to Silas’s death and any other death that reeked of injustice.

Let them hide behind wealth, behind bloodlines and old power. It wouldn’t save them. Not from me. I would kill them one by one, trial by blood, verdict by fire.

Two years.

Two years since Silas’s blood stained the pavement. Since his eyes went dark with a sigil carved into his chest. Since my soul cracked open and something ancient crawled out.

I hunted the man responsible,Varun. If you could call him a man. He was something else. A parasite in human skin. Old magic wrapped in robes of the church that hid what he truly was under tailored suits.

And when they caught him?

He walked.

Bought his freedom with blood-soaked money and a grin too wide for a mortal mouth.

The courts called it justice.

I called itinsult.

I’d done everything right. Followed the rules. Collected evidence. Pushed through every barrier the system placed in my way.

But justice wasn’t built for people like me. And it sure as hell wasn’t built for people like Silas.

So I stopped pretending.

The night Varun walked out of that courthouse, I followed.

For four nights.

Not from rooftops or dark corners. I sat across from him at restaurants. Brushed his shoulder in crowded elevators. Left my scent in the air, just enough for his animal brain to itch with a danger he couldn’t name.

He knew something was coming.

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