The Buried Giant Novels & Stories

Instead, I drifted away, gazing into the distance. I liked the cemetery's location. It overlooked a glittering lake—the same one where I used to stare at my reflection as a pup. Only Leo would think to bury me somewhere I would have loved. By the time they were too exhausted to continue fighting, they both lay on the ground, wounded, staring up at the moon. Leo bared his teeth at Ryan, panting heavily as if he wanted nothing more than to tear out his throat. "How dare you come to Tiana's grave?" he growled. "She just wanted to rest in peace, not be your possession even in death!"

Deep gashes split her skin, blood pouring instantly. She screamed like an animal being slaughtered. "Do the three of you want to live?" I stopped in front of Digby, cut the ropes binding him, and tossed a sharp entrenching shovel onto the ground. "Only one of you walks away. Whoever uses that shovel to bury the other two in my grandfather's grave gets to live." All three of them froze. Digby stared at the shovel. Then at Marshall, then at Gina. Blood streamed down Gina's face as she shook her head wildly. "I don't want to die. I can't die!"

I gave him that file to let him and Melanie fight tooth and nail, bringing every ounce of evil he hid inside to the surface. Sure enough, Melanie went missing two days later. Her parents reported her missing to the police. After a thorough search, investigators eventually uncovered a basement near the ruins of the burned-down villa. Melanie lay inside, unconscious. Her body was covered in burns—some small, some massive, the worst of them melted together and weeping red and yellow pus. Her hair had been scorched into brittle curls, her face so disfigured it was beyond recognition. The smell of rotting flesh clung to her back.

She cradled the newborn in her arms, smiling as she played with him. And I was on my way to have one of my kidneys removed. Thankfully, the surgery didn't take long. Not long after I came out of the operating room, Candice insisted on dragging me into the ward to see the baby. Even after the accident, Austin was still unbelievably handsome. One glance was enough to tell he had been very well cared for all these years. Meanwhile, the reflection staring back at me in the mirror looked exhausted and worn down, older than my real age by several years.

“Keep searching.” “We are searching, Don, but—” “I said keep searching.” Marco stepped in. “Kayson.” I turned on him. “Did you not hear me?” The rescue diver coming in from the water pulled off his mask and said bluntly, “Don, there’s nothing left to save.” That was the moment something inside me gave way. I stared at the wreckage piled under the floodlights, at the twisted metal and burned scraps dragged out of the sea, and my legs nearly went out from under me. Marco caught my arm before I hit the ground.

The more Joanna heard, the tighter her fists clenched, and the clearer her killing intent became. Tara even revealed the truth from years ago. "Adrian did not go to Africa to be an international doctor and extend your life. Your life was fine. All that talk about you not living past twenty-five was a setup by the Shaw family. Adrian went to Africa for human experiments. He wanted to create puppets who obeyed him. He was ambitious and ruthless. If the drugs had succeeded, the first puppet would have been you, Joanna." Adrian collapsed onto the floor. He grabbed Joanna's leg.

"Because you were about to lock it in. Marry her. Make it permanent. I waited. I gave you time to see it yourself. You used every second to build your clean little life on top of his body and I just kept watching you do it." "If he's really gone," Jose started, "then why dig all this up now, why make me—" "He's not gone." Rainer's voice cracked on the last word like something breaking under too much weight. He looked away. Looked back. "I dug the grave last week. It's empty, Jose. He's been hiding. He's scared. And he hates us both for letting it get that far. For letting her get that close to finishing it."

The makeup artist worked meticulously. Layer after layer disappeared beneath foundation. By the time she finished, there was no evidence of what had happened. The transformation felt symbolic. That was what powerful families did best. They erased evidence. A knock sounded at the door. Several women stepped aside as Meera's mother entered. The room immediately grew quieter. Her mother was beautiful in the way certain women became beautiful with age—not despite the years they had lived, but because of them. She wore a deep emerald saree embroidered with delicate gold thread, and although her expression remained composed, exhaustion lingered beneath her eyes.

More like the earth did a long stretch after sleeping too long. Right in front of us, the ground split open again. Slow. Dragging. Dramatic. Dirt rolled back, stones clanked, dust exploded upward—like something HUGE was pushing its way up from the underworld. We all took a very synchronized step back. “What is that?” Ava whispered. Rowan’s hand went to his blade. “Something old.” Cullen’s voice cracked. “Please don’t say ‘alive.’” The ground BURST open. And up rose a massive stone structure — like a giant had been buried and someone finally dug it up.

“It was buried.” And deep beneath the Academy ruins—something massive began opening in the dark.