Page 17 of Taming Darkness

Besides, no matter how many times Xandrious had done awful things, he genuinely wanted to put a stop to this. Without him being present, there was no one who would stand against my father. And yet, he couldn’t speak up without the much-needed evidence because then, the council would find out about his involvement in the creation of the initial plague by default.

Xandrious believed my father stole the vials. He had no idea he was keeping an eye on the wrong person. As smart as he was, he didn’t realize that the one who stole what he sought was none other than his own son. It was Darius, all along.

What was even worse was that my father seemed to love the power that secret gave him. He thrived in the sense of superiority over Darius and Xandrious, he believed he was untouchable.

He liked to use that against Darius. He threatened Darius that if he were ever to say anything, come clean with everything that had happened and who was responsible for the mess - he would tell Xandrious that Darius was the one that unleashed the plague.

So, Darius had no other choice but to go along with whatever my father told him to do, or risk his father’s wrath. If he were to disobey the orders, Darius knew he put his life at risk. What made everything even worse was that his sister and mother were trapped in the basement until a cure could be found.

A cure that didn’t exist. All he had was another outbreak of a deadly plague that crept over the lands and destroyed the water supplies like death itself, and a secret that tormented him every moment of his life.

I watch as Darius goes to his room and unpacks his bag. He knew that he had two hours before his father would come searching for him. Two hours before he would be subjected to all kinds of torture. All in the name of science, he would be used again as my fathers pawn in a game he didn’t know he was drawn to play in.

But Darius didn’t trust anyone anymore. And how could he? After everything that I watched in those awful memories and the things he was forced to do, I couldn’t force myself to question his inability to trust others.

He set the contents of his bag on the counter as he double-checked the dosages from the book he spent the day reading. When he wasn’t sure if he had enough, he added a bit more to the concoction. I could see tiny specks of sweat breaking out on his forehead. Feel his fear of the unknown and the weight of the actions he is about to take.

He was so focused on what he was doing, so lost in the moment, absorbed by his task that it consumed him. He would make sure no one else died because of what he was.

But nevertheless, I held my breath and kept watching. I had no idea what he was doing or why he was making this strange concoction, but I am dying to find out. Briefly I wonder if he is going to poison his father, or maybe mine.

What were you up to here, Darius? What was going through your mind? And most importantly - what were you trying to create in the secret of your room? What were you hiding? Some part of me thought it was all to stop our parents, or maybe he figured out how to save his mother and sister. However, I know whatever he is doing scares him.

Chapter8

~Aleena~

The fumes were horrendous, and the liquid bubbled like a potion that film directors portray only in sci-fi movies. The fumes were like a living entity, writhing with each breath, as if it wanted to escape the confines of the vial. The liquid's heat radiated from the bowl like hot metal pulsing in a furnace.

I keep watching Darius as he crushes up the devil's bane, a determined look on his face. My eyebrows furrow in silent question as I try to get a feel for what he is thinking currently, he feels strangely numb. What was he planning to do with that thing? It was extremely toxic to demons, so getting a hold of that much of it had to be challenging. Was he trying to kill his own father?

Darius adds sulfur and a heap of another strange herb, one even more dangerous. I couldn’t stop wondering where from, who, and how the heck he got his hands on such poisons.

It’s such a wide variety of dangerous and toxic materials that Dariusmustbe aware of what he’s dealing with. It can’t be a coincidence. I refuse to believe or even think that he had no idea what he was handling.

Besides, the book he had opened looked like it could have been at least a hundred years old. It wasn’t some plain old recipe book, either. And I knew he wasn’t baking a cake unless it was a death one.

My heart thunders against my rib cage as scenarios run through my mind. I know he wasn’t trying to hurt himself, or at least I hope so, yet fear creeps in while watching him choke on the fumes.

Darius must not have done anything too deadly, as he’s still alive outside these memories. That’s all that matters.

A movement catches my attention as I involuntarily hold my breath, prepared for the worst. When Darius is done mixing up the dangerous plants, he takes off the mask he had on. I gasp at the view of him choking on the fumes, his cough ten times worse without the mask.

But then, out of nowhere, he does something I could have never anticipated. The beaker is a transparent, cylindrical container made from glass. It’s filled, nearly brimming, with a thick, green liquid. It looks like a pitcher of slime, thick and gooey with an aquamarine tinge. A crackling sound fills the room from the beaker. My heart beats faster and faster as I slowly realize what's happening.

Darius throws back his head and swallows every last drop. I stare at him, terrified. My body locks up in horror, watching him as the last drops disappear.

He drinks straight from the beaker. Dariusdrinksthe toxic cocktail until nothing is left without so much as a grimace! No second guessing, not a thought before he does it, just chugs it down as if it tasted like pure nectar. Only it wasn’t a sweet drink, it is the nectar of death.

It takes literal seconds for him to pass out and everything fades. The world around fades, gray and darkening at the edges. His room disappears, and suddenly, I find myself with no surroundings to grasp, I see nothingness, complete and absolute blackness. There is no horizon, no borders, no distance, no air, no light, no matter, nothing but me and empty space.

For what feels like ages, all I can see is black. For ages, I could only listen to the harsh thumping of his heart in his ears. The sound is awful, painful even, before it stops abruptly. Not a thump, not a sound or movement. I still couldn’t believe I witnessed this, I couldn’t believe he did it.

He killed himself. Darius killed himself to ensure no more plagues were created from his blood. Darius, as just a teenager, killed off any chance of anyone ever manipulating him and using him for everything he hated.

But the price it took had to be too high, and soon after Darius killed himself, he came to realize the actual price. When he came back, he realized that when he drank the poisonous concoction, he not only killed himself, but also killed off his Harmony side and woke up something else, his Demonic side.

Darius didn’t know better when he decided it had to be done. Yet, now what was left of him was so dark, so empty, and so wild in its roots, Darius had to face the new reality—the new him. Maybe it was worse than being dead.

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