“Really?”
Sebastian sneered, the tip of the knife pressing into my father’s chest.
“I suggest you tell the truth, or your father dies today.”
My father weakly raised his head.
“Eulalie, don’t worry about us.”
Then, he turned to Sebastian, eyes filled with hatred.
“It was Eulalie who saved you. She gave up so much for you. How could you…”
“Sacrifice?”
Sebastian mocked, repeating the word.
“What right does she have to talk about sacrifice?”
“If it weren’t for her, Gwen wouldn’t have become a vampire and I wouldn’t be bound to this cursed blood pact!”
“Blood pact…”
A flicker of realization passed through my father’s eyes, quickly replaced by sorrow.
“Eulalie, you lifted the blood pact?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but it was too late.
Sebastian’s expression shifted as he caught my father’s reaction.
“What did you say? Did you lift the blood pact? That’s possible?”
My father hesitated, then let out a sigh.
“A vampire can dissolve the blood pact unilaterally. But the price is their life.”
“She’ll turn to ash in a day.”
Silence engulfed the laboratory.
Sebastian turned to me, disbelief flooding his eyes.
“You’re insane. You’d rather die… just to escape me?”
I didn’t answer, but my silence spoke volumes.
“Is there a cure?”
Sebastian suddenly grabbed my father by the collar, his voice trembling with desperation.
“There must be a way to reverse it!”
My father shook his head.
“No, it’s irreversible.”
“No! There has to be a way!” Sebastian roared.
Just then, my mother stepped forward.
“Sebastian, death is my daughter’s choice. Let her go with dignity.”
“Shut up!”
Sebastian shouted furiously, grabbing a syringe filled with liquid silver from the table.
“Say one more word and I’ll let you taste this!”
My father broke free from the guards and shielded my mother with his body.
“Sebastian, can’t you see? Eulalie loved you and you crushed that love under your heel!”
“Love?” Sebastian scoffed. “A monster can love?”
Before the words were even out, he drove the syringe straight into my father’s chest.
The silver fluid rushed into his veins.
My father let out a harrowing scream and collapsed, convulsing in agony.
My mother threw herself to the ground, holding him close, her tears falling uncontrollably.
“No!”
I cried out hoarsely, struggling so hard the restraints tore through my skin, peeling away flesh.
“Spare them! I was the one who lifted the blood pact; it was my choice!”
Sebastian turned to me, his eyes wild with madness.
“Why? Tell me why!”
At last, I couldn’t hold it in any longer; tears and blood spilled down together.
“Because I was tired of your hatred. You despised the blood pact so much, so I gave you back your freedom.”
He stood frozen as if struck by a thunderbolt.
In his eyes flickered an emotion I had never seen before.
Regret?
No. Impossible.
My father’s tortured groans shattered the stillness.
My mother gave him one final glance, then reached into both their chests and removed their hearts with her own hands.
“Eulalie, we love you.”
Their bodies turned to ash before my eyes and with them, my heart shattered.
Something deep inside me snapped.
The blood pact's dissolution accelerated.
Large patches of skin flaked away, exposing ash-like tissue beneath.
“Eulalie…”
Sebastian’s voice trembled for the first time.
I looked up, my tears long dried.
He reached out, wanting to touch me, then stopped, his hand hovering midair.
“I didn’t want this…”
I smiled softly, closing my eyes as my body disintegrated into a pile of ashes, scattering among the remains of my parents.
At last, I was free.
