━━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗!
❪ heartless creatures ❫

( warning: there are significant gore scenes in this chapter, specifically descriptions of beasts ripping apart a human; please be careful. you have been warned )

⋆        "𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢, 𝗠𝗬 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘 is Victoria," the soft, unknown voice filled the silence. Everyone's heart beat in fear as their head suddenly turned toward the strange voice. William didn't know what to do, and for the first time in a long time, he was unsure what his role did. Usually, he was focused on the tasks at hand, avoiding most bad things, but he was out of his comfort zone this time. Since they were stuck in 'purgatory', according to what Ivan had said earlier, William regretted every decision. What kind of leader was he?

He was the leader that would let someone die on his watch.

"Who... Who are you?" Claira questioned as she walked a couple of steps, stopping as she retreated to her friends. Victoria looked at her with cold eyes. Eyes that seem lifeless, pulling you into a black hole with no point of return.

"I am Victoria━"

"We already know that; we are asking who you are!" Sedona said as she yelled out, but felt the pull of Abby whispering to her not to risk her life over something stupid, especially something that could get her killed. Frustration was bubbling throughout her body, her blood turning hot. Sedona sighed, mumbling a sorry as she stood next to Abby, hoping that the act of protectiveness would make up for her actions and the consequences for her later. After all, she didn't know how to react to such emotions like this, not knowing what that was like as a person.

"I am Victoria, one of the father's children who built on this land. Because of your foolish father, who thought it was fine to build on this land when it was cursed, we are back from the graves. I will be in charge of the voting," the girl spoke before walking towards the centre of the stage. William raised his eyebrow in confusion before he could see that she was wearing clothing that wasn't from this century, and that was when he knew she was right. The speculations he had run through his mind that everything he wished wasn't true.

"What voting? What the hell are you talking about?" Jamie said as he stood beside Darling, ensuring she was okay. Darling held his hand as she started shaking, not knowing if it was fear or the chill breeze that settled in the Ballroom. All that mattered was that she wanted Jamie to be safe. His innocence was everything that she didn't want to be corrupted ━ both of them were vulnerable to the evil spirits, their innocence perfect for them to prey on.

"Oh, no..."

"Vanya, what's wrong? Is there something that we need to know?" Ivan asked. As confusion hinted on her face, Eleanor nodded beside him, also wondering what she was talking about. She shook her head out of fear, not wanting things to be accurate, but as Eleanor placed a hand on her shoulder, she exhaled before looking towards the group with a sad look.

"Ivan said that we need the eight keys, right?"

"Yeah... What about it?"

"Well, when Rosalie died, a key was on the floor near where she was ripped. I assumed it was something we needed, so I took it. I just never realised that it could be for something as dangerous as the vault," Vanya said before taking a red key out of her pocket. The key was stained red because of Rosalie's blood, which remained on it while the moist blood rubbed onto Vanya's hands.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Put it in the vault!" Samuel said as the others agreed, but Vanya's face twisted into distraught, the others still not getting what she was hinting. She rubbed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling.

"No! Don't you understand?" Vanya said before looking at everyone, making eye contact as tears began to form. Everyone started to quiet down, waiting for Vanya to finish her sentence. Vanya wiped her cheeks, careful not to let Rosalie's bloodstain her tears.

"What are you talking about, Vay?" Abby said, and Vanya looked at her, worried.

"Eight keys, eight souls, eight of us will die..."

"Which means only three of us are leaving here alive."

Darling's heart sank as Vanya looked at her when she explained the situation. She felt her hand going cold, her fingertips aching for comfort, and Jamie grabbed her hand to ensure she was okay. Darling was glad that Jamie was there to give a hand, seeing as he was a hand in the darkness reaching out. "Are you telling me that none of us will survive?" She said as her lip quivered and her voice cracked.

"I don't know, but it might be the truth."

"I am tired of this bullshit! I want to leave this place! So, why can't we walk out of here through the gates ━ hell, even jump the fences, because I don't think being here is great," Sedona said as she yelled in frustration, throwing her bracelet on the ground in anger. Samuel and Jamie flinched at the sudden noise, assuming that they were about to get attacked, and got ready in action.

"Enough, foolish people. Come this way, now!" Victoria yelled out, which made the lights flicker, changing the ballroom's atmosphere. For a second━a pure second━Darling could see her eyes turned from purging green eyes to dark red that resembled the stories of the pits of hell.

"Don't have to tell me twice, little girl," Ivan said, muttering the last few words. Darling scoffed, thinking that what he said was a wrong decision, before looking at the others and seeing that they had no choice but to obey. She shook her head as she sadly smiled, trying to keep her hopes up, the Manor taking it piece by piece.

Walking alongside the other group members, she started thinking of the older days, the memories of the past, and the days before she came here. She could remember the bright mornings and the genuine smiles she would give to people walking by her on sidewalks of busy streets. And oh, how she would laugh with the people beside her. Those were the good days, but now? She can't even remember what it was like to smile. Darling could feel her happiness slowly fading each time she spent another moment here in the manor, waiting for the moment of dread. She was supposed to be the glue of her friends, as she held each of them tightly with a grip that she never let go of, just like her hugs. But she was starting to lose her grip.

"Darling, are you okay? You seem distanced," Ivan said as he looked over to Darling, seeing the glassy look behind her eyes.

"Oh! Yeah, I was thinking about the happy memories. I can't let this place get to me, so I suppose that's my way of blocking out the noise."

"At least your innocence is still there... Even if it's just a sliver of it. Promise me that you will stay that way. We all need some happiness at this point, and I'm glad it's coming from you," Ivan said as he placed a hand on Darling's shoulder. And Darling's mask nearly slipped, the tears coming to her before she blinked them away.

"Of course, Ivan... I'll try."

"Don't try; it comes to you naturally. It's a gift; not many people can do that," Ivan spoke softly, his voice quiet as he whispered the last bit of the sentence. Darling nodded slightly, appreciating the solace in their conversation, as it was possibly one of the last genuine moments of peace for Darling. After all, she would never know what would happen next to her or her friends in the place. Everyone is unpredictable.

━━━━━━

⋆        "𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗦 in which you must follow. Break them, and there will be no choice but to be eliminated," Victoria spoke, her voice sending chills up people's chills, especially Abby's, as she held Sedona's hand from where she stood. Her heart was beating too fast to keep up, and she couldn't help but keep eye contact with Victoria. Something about her eyes was haunting, and Abby couldn't take it but kept looking deep into them. Abby was known to be reckless about the rules, so she kept her mind on the goal instead of being the screw━up. Even if he was tough, she wanted to make at least one person proud of her actions. Maybe if she were like this: scared, cowardly and naive, her parents would be happy about her for once in their lives.

"You all have a tarot card that will be used for the voting process. As you can see here, Rosalie's card is no longer in the deck because she is already in purgatory for breaking the rules," Victoria said as she held up nine cards, and indeed, she was right: Rosalie's card was no longer in the deck. Instead, it was a card stained with blood, and the lord knows William doesn't want to know whose blood it was.

"Wait a minute... She didn't break any rules! We weren't playing the game! William yelled as he took small steps with Samuel and Ivan on his side. Victoria grinned as she held Rosalie's card into the light, and William could see the card in detail.

It was indeed her card, but it wasn't the same as the others on the table. At first, Rosalie wore a waitress outfit with her role, The Waitress, written down on the bottom of the card. As the light catches the card, William can see that Rosalie's portrait is no longer in one piece despite being painted originally. It seemed that each tarot card manifested the death of each guest. For Rosalie's card, the skin was torn, and the inside of her painted flesh was gruesome to witness. William then realised that when Victora moved it, it acted like a holographic painting, one side being the typical portrait of Rosalie and the other revealing the poor girl's demise.

"She knew too much about the manor and knew what she was getting herself into. After all, she wasn't even supposed to be invited to the ball!" Victoria said as she gave a low chuckle, which sounded inhumane coming out of a little girl. She was getting on everyone's nerves as she became increasingly annoying.

"Now, the voting process and how it works. Each of you will come up and choose one of your friends and allies, and you will vote them in. You can only vote for one person in this process. If you are seen that you have not voted, you will be forced to do so," Victoria said, a growl appearing at the last word of her sentence, putting the tarot cards in front of her. Everyone looked at everyone; this was the moment. The moment of betrayal and the moment where allies forged. It was also the moment when two people were going to be voted in something worse.

"I will call you up... You will vote one person in, and you will return to your places," Victoria said as she looked at everyone.

"The Savant."

"The Explorer."

"The Gangster."

"The Governess."

"The Renegade."

"The Astronomer with the Royal Society of London."

"The Librarian of the British Library."

"The Journalist."

"The Doctor."

"And The Mystic."

After everyone went up and voted, a part of Abby dreaded this moment, and her heart started to beat faster and faster as Victoria grabbed all the voting cards and shuffled the deck. Abby felt her hand and softly smiled, but she was still scared. To think there would only be three people alive when the sun rose again. Abby would like to think she would be a part of the final three ━ a chance to feel the sun touch her skin again. Victoria grabbed into the deck and put out a card. No one knew what to do as they all held hands, hoping it wasn't them. She held the card briefly before turning it around, and everyone gasped.

"The Journalist."

"No, oh my god..." Abby said as she fell onto the floor, putting her hand to her mouth and crying. The dream of the sun touching her skin was slipping away again, and she was left in the darkness she knew so well. Sedona couldn't say anything, but she went down to the floor to hug Abby, and she wrapped her arms around Abby. Everyone felt their heart drop as they looked away, hoping not to cry at the event unfolding before them.

Victoria grinned as she put Abby's card on the table and reshuffled the deck to pick out the next victim. She took out a card and held the suspense again, making everyone's heartbeat so loud as they realised that anyone could be voted in. Everyone gasped again as Victoria turned the card around, not expecting the reveal.

"The Librarian of the British Library."

No one was expecting Claira to be voted in, and Claira was speechless as she glanced around, looking at her friends. Not knowing what was happening, they were shocked that it clouded Claira's mind. Darling looked at her with sadness, and Claira found Darling's eyes and nodded, knowing she hadn't voted for her. Claira sniffed but maintained her composure as she walked forward and lifted her hand to help Abby up from the ground.

"Follow me, you two; your fate awaits you," Victoria said as she placed the card next to Abby and walked off the stage, heading towards the doors that take them outside down the path. Claira looked at Abby and nodded, holding her hand as the two girls started to follow them.

The two girls stopped at the door and looked at their friends.

Sedona was crying as William put his arm around her to confront her, and William nodded to the pair of them. Eleanor, Vanya and Ivan all held hands with sad looks on their faces. Darling and Jamie were crying, holding hands as they hugged each other, not wanting to know what would happen. Samuel stood alone, and Claira could see that he was crying and suddenly felt terrible about all those times she made those sarcastic remarks. She stepped forward a little, tilting her head towards Samuel, catching his attention, and the room went silent.

"Hey, Samu... What happens in New York stays in New York," Claira said as she chuckled softly and blew a kiss at him as a joke. Samuel smiled sadly, giving her a small wave as he looked at her before glancing at the ground. Claira knew he didn't vote for her and wouldn't do that to anyone. Claira knew he was kind; she had seen the kind heart herself.

"Come on, girls. We must hurry. They are hungry," Victoria said as she stood before the girls. Claira and Abby looked at each other before looking at their friends for the last time and waved sadly to them.

What they didn't know was it was the end of one.

━━━━━━

⋆        𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗦 the two girls reached outside, and the breeze suddenly hit them, leaving traces of goosebumps amongst their skins. Their hair started to flow as the breeze began to pick up, and the two girls looked at each other with sad eyes. They walked side by side, slow as their feet crushed the stones underneath. The world━or purgatory, there were still no answers to what it actually was━was silent, and Abby hated it.

"Before we do this... I just wanted to let you know that I don't hate you. I know it may seem like I do, but I don't," Claira said to Abby as they followed Victoria to God knows where. Abby looked over at Claira, confused about what she was saying.

"You don't?"

"I'm just a heartless bitch. I don't know how to stop this intelligent persona that I have caused myself to be. My grandma wanted a strong girl that won't take two shits ━ ; after all, this world will do a lot to break you down. But the truth is I'm scared," Claira said, her voice crackling at some parts but remaining firm. She was still the same person as before. Instead, her heart was more open. Abby understood and squeezed her hand as they kept walking towards their deaths.

"I'm glad you told me. It takes a lot of courage to confess something hard to say."

"What about you? Do you have anything for me to say to the others if I survive?"

"Tell them that life is worth living. Please don't waste it on stupid fights, knowing that everything will be fine in the end. But also know that love comes in many forms, whether a touch on a shoulder or a small smile; anything is possible, even with love," Abby said as Claira softly smiled.

"Is that a message for Sedona?"

"Yeah..." Abby said with a smile, her cheeks slowly turning pink, and Claira smiled. Abby sighed, looking out to the manor's gardens. The beauty of it scared her, knowing it wasn't the same as when she arrived at the beginning of the night. Abby looked over to Claira and noticed that she was also looking out at the gardens, unwilling to look back at Abby. She understood because she was in the same position.

Victoria stopped in her tracks, making Abby and Claira look around to see where they were ━ at least attempting to recognise their surroundings. They were in an unknown part of the gardens, and they couldn't see if something was different about the place, something haunting. The trees were slowly swaying as the breeze remained the same as they left the manor, but they were slow dancing as if they were shadows.

"They are hungry."

"Claira? What do you see?" Abby said as she whispered, her voice shaking as she couldn't see in the darkness. Claira gulped, her breathing wavering as she looked at Abby with teared━up eyes. Abby held a choked cry in her throat as she placed her hand on her mouth, tears going down her cheeks as she looked over to where Claira was looking. "Are those wolves?" Abby questioned (even if she hesitated first) as she shivered, looking at the iron cages that held vicious beasts.

"Read the notes. I will be waiting for the winner inside, and remember, there are eyes everywhere if you try to break the rules," Victoria said before walking back onto the path they had just walked on moments before. Abby and Claira were left in the breeze.

"Claira? Do you want to read it?"

"Okay... Uh, two machines are in front of you, controlling the cages full of wolves. Your goal is to try to crack the code and activate the machine. It will release the beasts onto the unfortunate loser. Remember, these wolves are hungry, and they will do anything to make sure the loser is dead," Claira started to read out, and Abby looked at the machines, seeing the complex wires underneath. "If the timer runs out and you haven't cracked the code... Both of you will be feasted on."

"Wait, that little girl didn't say anything about a timer━"

"Look! It's already started!"

"Claira... Good luck," Abby said with a sad look before heading towards her side and looking at the machines. Claira nodded as well before doing the same with her machine. The hourglass started to tick away as the two girls looked at their machines, trying to crack the code.

Abby started to pick up the pace as she began to see missing pieces throughout the machines, and the wires weren't connected. Claira could also see the unconnected wires and started to pick out the matching wires, matching the same level as Abby. Abby gasped before realizing that the machine was slowly turning on and started to pick up the pace. It was becoming easy because, despite her unintelligent persona, she was pretty good at puzzles. Claira started to see that her machine was also turning on, and she was slowly picking up the pace of solving the puzzle. She could see that the hourglass was ticking away, and she panicked, her hands rushing through the wires, trying to figure out the next step.

Claira, on the other hand, was distressed. She didn't know the next step, and she started to pair wires with the wrong match, hearing the buzz indicate that she had the wrong answer. Her grandma's voice invaded her mind, telling her of her fate. Claira couldn't take it anymore and tried to block her out. Even in her dying state, Claira didn't want to think of the wrong things. Even if she knew that she wouldn't grow old and smell the bookshelves anymore, holding a good book in her hand, Claira was trying to find tooth and nail for her survival. Then she stopped, hearing a ding, but it wasn't from her machine.

"Claira..."

"Abby? Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine. I'm sorry," Abby said before crying as Claira walked towards her machine and saw that she had fixed the connected wires. Claira gasped before looking at Abby sadly, knowing she had reached the finish line instead of Claira. She was only a couple of paces behind, but deep down, she knew she would never make it. She was the hare, the poor, innocent hare about to be the feast.

"You can pull the lever... It's okay."

"But I don't want you to die!"

"Abby... It's just cold, hard facts. I would have never fixed the machine in time, even at your pace, because I would have never known how to put the coloured wires together," Claira said as she started to cry. Abby looked confused before realizing it and put her hand to cover her mouth, connecting the dots. She reached out to touch Claira, but instead, Claira navigated her hand to the lever, wrapping her fingers around it. Abby shook her head, refusing to acknowledge her win, sniffing loudly to stop the snot from running down her face.

"That's not fair, though!"

"My colourblindness shouldn't stop you from surviving."

"But, Claira━"

"Abby. Stop speaking; the hourglass is ticking away, and I would be grateful if you could do one thing and one thing only. You pull that lever, and you live for me. Survive for me, and live a good life for me. It's my time to go and your time to live," Claira said before putting her hands on her cheeks and wiping away Abby's tears.

"Claira..."

"Abby. Live for me. Please, so you can tell Sedona," Claira said, kissing Abby on the forehead as she wiped her tears for the last time and pulled away from her as she started walking towards her machine. Abby understood and looked at her for the last time before pulling the lever, turning away so that she didn't have to witness the horrors.

She closed her eyes as she heard the screams coming from Claira and the growls from the hungry wolves. Their claws cracked the stones as their growls overwhelmed Abby's ears. She opened her eyes and couldn't hear anything anymore; thinking it was over, she glanced at Claira's machine. Abby gasped and screamed as she started to cry and fell onto her knees, watching the beasts tear into Claira's skin, her flesh falling into their mouths and the ground. The stones started to stain with her friend's blood, and Claira's eyes were no longer alive, but they stayed focused on Abby. She had never looked away, her blonde hair falling into pieces. Abby covered her mouth, choking back her bile as she watched one of the wolves tear into her ribcage, hearing the crackle of her bone breaking in place. Out they tore organs, but they were focused on the vital part of their feast ━ their dessert.

The wolves were eating Claira's heart.

She was becoming a heartless creature.

𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
✶ surprise, i'm back from the dead! so i haven't been focused on this book because i wanted to lay out the series, and figure out what i was going to do to include everything, which is why this chapter has been edited! it includes a lot more gore than previously, but warnings are always going to be stated at the beginning of the chapter, as your wellbeing is more important <3 anyways, i am back, baby! escape the night is going nowhere :)

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚!