Novel & Cerita Crimson Mask

Pockmark Mask now. ***

Marcus asked, holding out a tray. Tonight’s mask was different. It wasn't the clinical filigree I wore in the office. This one was crafted from white gold and encrusted with tiny, raw diamonds that shimmered like frozen tears. It covered the upper half of my face, leaving my lips—painted a defiant, lethal crimson—exposed. "Tonight, we don't hide, Marcus," I whispered, watching my reflection. "Tonight, we remind them that the shadows always return to claim what is theirs."

All of them were wrong. "Welcome to the real Crimson Moon Academy," Director Frost said, her voice carrying despite the distance. "Or should I say, welcome to the birthplace of the new world." "Let them go," I demanded, indicating the tubes. "Let them go?" She laughed. "Dear child, they're already gone. These are just shells, genetic templates for the next phase. You stabilized the random transformations, yes, but imagine if we could control it completely. Design the perfect hybrid. Create soldiers, workers, breeders—"

"Do you take this woman to be your wife, to stand by her through thick and thin?" "I do," the man said, his voice muffled by the mask. The guests whispered in awe. Howard Larson, the Larson family's big shot, was so in love with me that he would not let a bad cold stop our big day. He did not want to disappoint me. "Wait a second." The man's eyes darted around, and his forehead was dotted with sweat. I smiled and asked, "Howard, you're looking a bit pale. Too busy with the wedding to remember your medicine?"

Not silver. Crimson. And they were smiling.

Death draws me towards it like we have been attached with an unbreakable string. Maybe it's just a superpower in which I get the last chance to save the person in front of me or maybe it’s a curse. Particularly a Crimson curse, as I like to call it. Through the years the number of deaths I have seen is greater than my age. You would think that death doesn't affect me anymore. You are right to think that because that is what I had thought until 5 days ago.