Twin Tormentors By RARE

Chapter 65 VERNERO POV A wall-shattering scream tore out of my lungs, as my body sunk into a deep bottomless sea of cold water. | watched as the air leave his body, his soul departing with his black eyes still glued to my face. For the very first tsince | have known my father, this was the the looked atwith fatherly love, the one kind | have longed for, for as long as | can remember; and my heart hurt so much. | didn’t understand it! Why did it hurt so bad? Why did I feel weak in the knees for killing him while it has been the one thing that | have dreamed of? Tears streamed down my face as | turned the dagger, eliciting a squelching sound as it tore deeper and deeper through his heart. He was dead already because he wasn’t moving. But his eyes were as open and as clear as day! | screamed! God, | screamed so hard that my cry made the walls of the dungeons tremble.

With a very defeated body, | slowly pulled the dagger from him, and then robotically watched as it dropped betweenand his dead body! | killed him! I killed my fatthe smonster as he was? Didn't that makeas wretched and as evil as he was? He toldhe was sorry, he said it through tears that he was sorry and | didn’t listen to him. Instead, | jammed a sharp dagger through his heart, the one | had crafted a millennia ago. | have long prepared for this day, | had imagined the thrill and excitement as | watched the air leave his forsaken body! But what | felt right now was entirely the opposite of what I had thought! With that | dropped between his knees and laid my head on his lap; then cried. There was no sound coming out, just bitter tears that didn’t seem to stop. It was as if the gates were open, and the tears just poured freely. | cried so much it felt like my body was going to grumble. | cried for his soul, for everyone he has hurt! For all the things he had done, to me, my mother, my brother, and my sweet, sweet Leigh-Ari. | let it all out.

A wild imagination flashed through my head, | saw a better place, a better life where | had a loving father who played catch within the backyard, and | saw a life where my mother prepared a warm dinner for all of us, and then tug us into our beds at night. | saw a life where | was the vet, taking care of the sweet, helpless animals. | saw a life where my brother was my everything! It all passed in front of my eyes, tearing my heart even further.

| felt depleted, spent, so sated from crying. The guilt that consumedknew no bounds. He askedto forgive him, but | turned a deaf ear on him. Even after torturing him for that long, maiming him, and ensuring that he was tormented as | had been; | still didn’t find it in my stone-cold heart to forgive him. And in the end, I killed him. Didn't that makethe worst? On the very trembling knees, | got up and closed his eyes for the very last time; and then began unchaining his body. | picked all the remains of him and laid him on the steel table, took all the maimed limbs, then began piecing them back on his body. After that, | retrieved a white cloth and covered him, wrapping it firmly around him so that nothing dropped. When | was all through, | took the secret exit that was at the end of the dungeons, walked robotically with his body in my hands until | cto the iron doors at the other side of Dark Woods. It was dark outside, as dark as it was inside me.

After placing him gently on the ground, | opened the iron doors causing them to creak painfully against the hard ground, the sound so abusing to my already tormented body and soul. | yet again picked him up and walked further into the woods through the night, then arrived at that one tree that | had planted for this very cursed day.

Great self-loathing consumedwhole as | realized how evil | have been since the very first beginning. | had planted the tree while | was blinded by hatred and vengeance. Now, now | saw what kind of a monster laid just beneath the core of my being. : I laid him down, pushing him until he was leaning against the dry log, and secured his dead body with the ropes.

| fished for a lighter in my pocket and then lit the cloth, setting it ablaze.

| didn’t wait for the fire to cover him. | didn’t have that power to watch as the flames licked the remains of him, scorching him to the bone until nothing but ash and cinder was With that, | absentmindedly went even deeper into the woods. This side of the rest was still dense and thick, safe from the destruction caused by the explosion of the mines. | stumbled and fell, then picked myself up and continued walking.

My whole body felt like it was still sinking deeper and deeper into the sea, the tears didn’t stop either. My throat hurt so much from keeping everything in, | wanted it all out. Because it hurt. It hurt so much | couldn’t breathe, my lungs were closing in on me, failing to take in the air | tried so hard to breathe. It was just so impossible. At one point, | dropped down on my knees, feeling so depleted. | tried to stand up but there was no energy left in my body. But I had to keep going, | had to. 1 And | crawled.

en Twigs and sticks snapped beneath my weight, but | didn’t stop. | continued crawling even when my knees were bleeding, my hands pricked by the sharp sticks. | continued crawling even when my eyes couldn't see because of the darkness that had befallen the world. | bumped into trees with my head, causing my ears to ring louder and louder, but | didn’t stop. | needed to keep going! Finally, | arrived at that secluded pond. The warm water welcomed my body while I took a sweet dive inside. My eyes were snapped open, looking out for things, but | couldn’t see anything in front of me. | swam to the bottom of the pond and let the water carry me. And then | let it all out! Under the warm, pitch-black water deep within the forest, away from the watchful eyes and ears, | let it all out. | opened my mouth and screamed. Bubbles formed in front ofbut I didn’t stop. With each tormenting memory of my life, | screamed harder. Seconds turned to minutes with my body covered by the water, | screamed. | didn’t stop until everything was out. My tears mixed with the pond water, all the hatred left my body, and got carried away by the water.

My lungs cramped up from the lack of air from underwater, but | screamed. Everything | have been carrying for all my life, I let it all out! | screamed until my body began hurting from the depletion of oxygen, | screamed even when | began filling lightheaded; and then abruptly stopped.

By the t| surfaced, | felt like a new person. By the tmy head made it out of the water, | felt like | cback to life like | was just woken up from a deep, dreamless slumber. | slowly made it out of the pond and began my way back to the castle. The night had fallen, covering the whole sky. Light from the burning corpse and tree glimmered through the night, the stench of burned flesh very heady and sickening.

| waited for the mind-fogging pain that suckedin with the thought of my dead father, but nothing came. And when nothing came, | took giant strides back to the castle. A hope of a better tomorrow glimmered in the air, the promise of the new life occupying my mind.

The waters, they didn’t just swallow my imperfections, they didn’t just swallow my pain; they cleansed me. | was a new person, the imperfect son of the imperfect father died in the pond. A new man was born: A brother to his twin; A lover and soul mate to his woman; And a man who cherishes those around him! LORENZO POV It was done! Lorik Cattawas no longer among the land of the living. Did it hurt? | had no idea. But one thing I had felt when the flames sparkled through the cold evening was a huge sense of relief. Did that makethe evil one in this? Did that makeso horrid and heartless that | didn’t even shed a tear for my father? The man who had birthed me? The man who created me? Instead of pain, happiness had clouded me. | so wanted to throw an ass party and celebrate his death! Because we were free. For the very first tsince the beginning of forever, | felt so free, like | had just been released from a cold prison that was full of maliciousness of this world.

When the flgrew bigger and bigger, | found it hard to contain my smile. It was finally over. My brother would be free, finally! | would be free! | stayed like that with my hands tugged in my pockets, my eyes glued at the flthat was raging deep within the woods. From this side of the castle, | could see everything despite the bitter darkness of the night. Minutes turned to hours and | stayed there, and then a shadow flicked from down at the ground. My brother emerged from the trees, | watched him as he made it to the entrance, then hurriedly left to the one room | knew he was going to go to first.

| reached Ari's room and found her sitting out on the terrace, very lost in thought. She was in her electric chair, the strands of her hair flying softly in the air. Upon hearing me, she turned and welcomedwith the biggest, warmest smile. | walked to her and dropped to my knees i n front of her, then placed my head on her lap. It was finally over.

“I am so sorry.” She whispered in a soft voice while threading her fingers through my hair, | didn’t have to say it out, but she knew that Lorik was well gone. | had no idea why she was apologizing, but that made a very strange feeling tug in my heart, then quickly leave. Right when | was trying to put a finger on it, the door busted open, and in cVerzi.

Ari and | both got up and walked to him. My eyes landed on him for the very first tsince h e handed us our freedom. He was wet, from head to toe, he was wet with water dripping from his body. His eyes met mine, and | saw it, the renewed version of him. The freedom in his eyes. He began stripping right in front of us until he stood with nothing but himself, all in his full glory.

Ari opened her arms and he slowly walked to her, then engulfed her in a long hug. My heart clenched from his pain, the pain that had eaten him for day and night, for as long as | could remember. The two of them dropped to their knees on the floor, and | followed suit. Wrapping protective arms around them, | pulled them and kissed their heads, then laid mine between theirs.

He did not just set us free, but he bared himself to us. He had shredded off the agony that gnawed at him through the night, and leaving himself, all in his purest form for us to accept him. And we did. We welcomed him into our hearts, our souls, our own beings, and three becone!