Page 59 of Drenched

His claws traced my jawline, the touch almost gentle, but the cold in his eyes was unbearable. “I am not a god, Pearl. Gods are fragile, tethered to the worship of those beneath them. I am older than gods. I ambeyondthem.”

I shuddered as the shadows around us thickened, swirling like ink in water.

“I am the Abyss itself,” he whispered. “The endless dark that waits beneath the waves. The hunger that can never be sated. The cold that seeps into your bones and never leaves.”

His claws dug into my wrists, pinning me in place. The faint light of the cavern twinkled, the bioluminescent algae struggling against the suffocating darkness that bled from him. The intensity of his presence pressed down on me, like a gravityI couldn’t escape. My lungs felt tight, my breath coming in shallow, frantic gasps.

“You thought you could kill me?” His voice was a low, venomous whisper, curling around my thoughts like a vice. His black eyes burned into mine, endless voids swirling with something ancient and monstrous. “Did you really believe I was just another creature of the deep?”

I couldn’t speak. My throat closed, shock pounding through me. My heart pounded like it might tear free of my chest.

The blade lay forgotten on the stone, slick with his shimmering blood, useless. The wound in his chest had already sealed itself, the silver scales smooth and unbroken. He waswhole.Unstoppable.

He leaned in closer, his breath cool against my cheek. “I am not what you think I am, Pearl. Not a guardian. Not a protector.” His lips curled, revealing those jagged teeth. “I am the Abyss.”

The words slammed into me. My mind reeled, the enormity of it clawing at my sanity.

“The Abyss?” My voice was a strangled whisper. “You… youarethe Abyss?”

He nodded slowly, his black eyes unblinking. “The endless dark beneath the waves. The predator lurking in every shadowed trench. The hunger that can never be sated.” His lips curled into a smile, cruel and triumphant. “I am the nightmare that waits at the bottom of the sea. And I have been waiting for a long time.”

My stomach twisted, nausea rising like bile. His claws sank deeper into my wrists, the chill of them seeping into my bones.I wanted to scream, to tear myself away, but I was frozen. The truth settled over me like a shroud.

“You lied to me,” I choked out. “You let me believe you were something else.”

A low, twisted laugh escaped him. “I never lied. I let you believe what you wanted to believe. Isn’t that what humans do? Cling to illusions because the truth is too unbearable?”

Tears burned my eyes, blurring his face. “But my friends… you said it wasn’t you.”

His eyes darkened, the swirling void within them deepening. “It was always me,” he said, his voice a cold whisper. “The Vurrax, the Sirenshade, the Drowner’s Hand, the Silvershrike, they are all my creations. Shattered souls, reshaped into weapons that enforce my will. That feeds my hunger.”

Their faces flashed before me, Kim, Jamie, Trevor, contorted into monstrous forms, twisted by torment beyond comprehension. Grief and fury tore through me, leaving me raw, hollow, shattered.

“Why?” I whispered, the word trembling on my lips. “Why do this?”

He tilted his head and gave me a calculating look filled with malice. “Because it sustains me. The souls offered to me grant me power, strength. I don’t take lives, I take what is given. In return for miracles, for protection, desperate fools offer up those they care for the least. The unwanted. The vulnerable.”

My breath caught, the horror of his words sinking in. The villagers, their rituals, their offerings, it had all been part of this endless cycle. A cycle of sacrifice and survival. My parents.My friends. Cast away like worthless tokens in exchange for salvation.

“You took them,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “My parents. My friends.”

He smiled, a joyless, cold twist of his lips. “Yes. They were given to me willingly. Offered by those who sought my favor. The souls of the desperate and the innocent fuel my power. They always have.”

My vision blurred with tears. “And me? What am I to you?”

His gaze hardened, something dangerous and possessive simmering beneath the surface. “You were also an offering.Just an offering“ he spat the words with loathe. “But I chose to keep you. To make you mine.”

His claws brushed along my jaw, the mockery of tenderness in his touch sending a shiver through me. “I wanted you by my side, Pearl. And yet, you betrayed me.”

The cavern’s walls seemed to close in, the shadows pressing tighter, suffocating me. My limbs trembled, the reality of his words were crushing me. I was meant to be a sacrifice. The final piece of their twisted salvation. And still, he refused to take that from me.

“Then finish this. Kill me now!” I forced out the words.

He leaned closer, his eyes gleaming with ancient malice. “Oh no. I won’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because your death would be too simple. Too merciful. You will suffer, Pearl. You will feel the depths of my hunger, my wrath.You will understand what it means to betray the Abyss. To betray me.” He declared.

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