VERNERO POV"SHE IS DYING!" Valerie's scream jolted me out of my daze pulling me to the moment. My body trembled at the sight of Leigh-Ari who laid limp in our arms, her head cradled in my blood-covered hands."You have to let the paramedics take her." Someone called out pushing me to the side. I robotically stood up and absent-mindedly watched as they strapped Leigh-Ari on the stretcher, rolled it out of the warehouse, and placed her in the back of the ambulance.The heavy sense of nothingness settled heavy on me, numbing everything from the inside. At that time, my heart stopped beating, my mind stopped running, everything stopped and I seized breathing. In that anathematized minute, I was dead. I wasn't living. The fire burning inside me had been extinguished, breaking to the ground the very remaining stem of my being when Leigh's body went limp in our arms. A very weak, tired hand clasped my shoulder,"Are you coming?" Enzo inquired in a very broken voice. My

BACK IN DARK WOODS RAQUEL POV~~~FLASHBACK~~~I had just left the gym and was on my way to the east wing where my bedroom was. I rounded the corner and my mind drifted back to my lady. Although sometimes she made me want to scream because of how brainless she got, I liked her a lot. I mean just a few days back the mines nearly split her open, and I had just told her not to go into Dark WoodsShe was a very good person, sweet, very kind and so warm. Being around her never made me feel left out and I felt more comfortable with her than any of the girls here in Dark Woods. As a hard clodhopper who only knew how to hold a riffle and burst someone’s brain from at least 3km away, I never really clicked with the models and bikinis and martinis. I was gung ho punk and preferred my things a little way too tight.My lady never made me feel left out or ridiculed me for things I loved. She never, even for a second, made me feel like I needed to be someone around her. She was jus

LEIGH-ARI POV~~~5 WEEKS LATER~Sitting at the rooftop on the side of the west wing, I looked up at the naked trees that laid ahead, with leaves shed to the ground and the branches stark naked. The forest which was once so dense was now a small boscage, thanks to the mines that nearly ruptured me open. Just the thought of that had me laughing softly. I tugged on my fleece shawl that was draped over my lap, shielding me from the biting cold of the end of November. Winter was finally here, carrying with it the frost that spared none. The little sun in the sky provided the little heat that warmed me up, despite the whir of the cold wind.The past year had been a rollercoaster ride. Once I was just a normal citizen of Cyprus, a good doctor that took pride in saving lives, a friend, and a neighbor. Then suddenly everything went downhill that night I saved a guy, brought him into my apartment, and stitched him back to life. Had I called the police, surely things wouldn't have tur

VERNERO POVA wall-shattering scream tore out of my lungs, as my body sunk into a deep bottomless sea of cold water. I watched as the air leave his body, his soul departing with his black eyes still glued to my face. For the very first time since I have known my father, this was the time he looked at me with fatherly love, the one kind I have longed for, for as long as I can remember; and my heart hurt so much. I 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 I have dreamed of?Tears streamed down my face as I 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! I screamed! God, I screamed so hard that my cry made the walls of the dungeons tremble.With a very defeated body, I slowly pulled the dagger from him, and then robotically watched as it dropped

LEIGH-ARIA full week has passed since that incident. After receiving the old Verzi in my heart and soul, we had pulled ourselves from the heap of limbs off the floor and took a very steamy shower, things really got heated right away and they were too good to even think about. Fast forward, we made love the whole night and I can tell that the puzzle was complete.And from then on, the change in the boys was very evident. It was as if this whole weight was lifted from them, and they were so light on their feet and bodies. Verzi smiled and laughed often, he was the happiest version of himself, and Enzo, my big guy was also on cloud nine. Lorik had been the force that weighed them down for so long; for so long that they just stopped living, and just existed.And now; things were so different!And because of that, I felt like it was time, I felt like the time was right to tell them what I needed to tell them. With that thought in mind, I called them out to the Tower Loun