Page 114 of Demonic Cage
Lavian’s face softens.
“Do you think we’d go through all this if we didn’t know you belong with us?”
I laugh bitterly.
“What will my first mission be? Do I have to kill someone? Seriously, Lavian, that kid wasn’t even five years old…”
“He didn’t deserve it!” Lavian snaps, shouting so loudly that I fall silent.
Though it happened weeks ago, Mathys’s gaze still pierces me. However, there’s something in Lavian’s voice that makes me waver for the first time since.
“None of them deserve to die,” he continues, sighing and rubbing his eyes. “They’re children, and you’d think they have a choice. But they don’t, believe me! I once thought like you. I spared one. The girl could barely speak. She seemed innocent. She made flower wreaths, helped her dying mother, and was only six years old. I pitied her. I didn’t want to believe she could become a killer. I barely noticed the smell of her blood.”
Lavian removes his hand from his eyes and looks at me sadly. Centuries of sorrow cast a shadow on his face.
“After Darya raised her, she killed two of my brothers.”
I swallow hard.
I shouldn’t be surprised. If Darya taught me anything, it’s that nothing is black or white. But decisions have to be made, and as he said, decisions come at a price.
“I know how you feel,” Lavian continues. “Believe me, I do! But if we don’t stop Darya, this will continue. Yes, we kill children, but we do it for the lesser evil. There are no more angel-blooded humans. The world is corrupted, they’re extinct. The only way to stop Darya from overrunning us is to cut off their source…”
He swallows hard, then looks deeply into my eyes before continuing.
“It’s not just the Demon King who will be stopped if you open the Gates of Heaven – we will be, too. There will be no more need for killing. But if Darya wins, he will destroy all the good things left in the Second World. And it wouldn’t be different in your world.”
Lavian seems sincere; his eyes are pleading. Pleading for me to continue, to fight for them. But I won’t be so naïve as to walk into unclear deals again.
“What happens exactly if we open the Gates of Heaven?”
Lavian raises his eyebrows and shakes his head.
“I don’t know exactly,” he admits, and I huff in frustration. “Redemption will come to the world, making it similar to Paradise. We’ll be home again. Do you think it could be worse than the Gates of Hell?”
I tilt my head to the side.
No, I don’t think it could be worse.
“Then why should I open either of them?” I ask flatly. “You should have let me die back then! That would have ended all this.”
Lavian’s face darkens.
“If you don’t open one of the gates, everything will continue as it is. Children will keep disappearing in your world, either killed by us or abducted by Darya.”
“Amazing options.”
Lavian nods.
“Being the chosen one must be a heavy burden.”
I stare at the ocean, waves starting to lap my feet. Lavian seems sincere, but can I trust him? Maybe Darya’s goal was to show me I can trust no one.
In summary, if I don’t open a door, it’s not just about returning to the psychiatric ward; children will keep being killed. I clench my fists. An apple-green gaze flashes in my mind, accompanied by the image of Bengt’s collapsed face.
If Bengt hadn’t died of cancer and, instead, someone could have saved him, would they have done so? Is that my purpose? To save siblings when no one saved mine?
My heart beats strongly. Although I told Lavian I wished he had killed me, I don’t want to die anymore. I want to live, but Ican’t go back to the human world. I have to choose. But how can I?
