The Heart of Everything

Max paid no attention to my threat. He continued to sit on the throne leisurely, his free fingers drumming the arm of the golden chair. We stared at each other; our eyes sent inaudible yet understandable messages. His with disgust, mine with disguised sorrow. I knew I had covered it well enough for him to believe it was loathing, not sadness. Silence loitered in the magic-built room, thick enough to choke anyone, or anything.

I recalled the moments when our relationship shattered into pieces. Max looked at me, terrified by what laid before him. There was blood, and more blood. The walls, the floor, the furniture…everything was painted with fresh blood.

Now, he hated me with a burning passion, coursing through his blood and into his veins. I had hurt him, badly. There was a motto Max lived on in this harsh world: Life for life.

Understand that I need to, Max, I thought. Wish that I had other choices, than to hurt the one I love.

‘What have you done, Sophie?’ Max whispered, horror-struck.

I knew I’d better stop trying. To him, his eyes were the best witness, there was no explanation needed. I was the criminal, the villain. End of story. No prelude, no epilogue, no conclusion needed.

‘You know there’s no denying, Princess Sophia,’ Max smiled ghastly. He must have noticed me drifting away into the seas of memories again, like how I used to when we were still together. ‘You know what you’ve done, and I won’t show mercy on you now.’

I knew I should stop believing, I knew there was no retrieving. Never could I return to the time when we were both joint peacefully. Maybe it would be better for him that I had died, and be gone from this world, ridding himself a nuisance.

Wait, what was I thinking about? It was already the case. How mocking.

‘It’s over now.’

What have you done?

Max and I were the same kind of (supernatural) people, chained by our duties, caged by our destinies. We had been waiting for someone like each other to set us free, as if we were locks ourselves, yet the perfect keys for the other. But now, we were slipping away, torn apart. We were made for each other, yet fated to be separated, distant ourselves. The gap in-between could not be filled again. It wasn’t fair, but who ever said life was just?

‘Well then, would you mind if I kill you?’ I smiled.

Would you mind if I tried to? I’d never have the heart to kill him. I would hesitate, and fail, but I couldn’t afford that.

I had to succeed. No question asked, because he had turned into my worst enemy.

Who carried the hate that I don’t feel,I noted with macabre humor.

Max raised his head and faced the ceiling, letting out insane laughter. I watched his laugh as if he had just heard the greatest joke, yet there was a touch of madness in it. Spine-chilling coldness washed over me, shocked and, for the first time, scared by him. I was afraid of him, and afraid for him.

‘What are you laughing for?’

He laughed for a few more seconds before answering me. ‘Why, for you stupidity, darling.’
‘Stupidity?’ I shot at him with an incredulous look.

Princess!One of my guards called me with alert.

Yes, captain? I responded him without letting my guard down in front of Max. What happened?

It’s the werewolves!He screamed in panic. They- they...

He failed to finish the sentence, and left it hanging instead.

What about them? I scowled.

No response.

Answer me, captain!

‘Seeking answers from one of your leeches, I presume?’

I glared at Max, surprised that he knew what I was doing. As if he could read my mind, he answered my unspoken question with a shrug. ‘Most vamps can do telepathy, according to the records we have.’

I flinched when he used the term ‘we’, which set off the hidden emotions within me, though it was clear that the ‘we’ he used meant the werewolves, not us. Not anymore.

‘What have you done to my troops?’ I growled.

‘Nothing,’ Max leaned back on his throne. ‘Just…total annihilation.’

‘What?’ I said in disbelief. How could he possibly kill them in such a short amount of time? My troops were the elites, therefore they could’ve last for at least a while. ‘You’re lying!’

‘Now am I?’ he smirked. ‘You are free to look outside, princess.’

I debated whether he was honestly giving me some time to look out of the window, or a trap to strike me when I turned around. There was no telling was he lying or not. My feet were rooted on the ground, refused to move an inch.

‘Go on,’ Max encouraged with mockery. ‘Take a look at the scene outside. I’m sure you will be surprised. But who knows? Someone as cold-blooded as you are can’t feel sympathy, or anything for that matter. Heartless.’

I gave up on glaring at Max; it would have no effects on him. Stepping slowly backwards, my eyes flew from the window to him, cautious around Max. My hands touched the blood-stained white silken curtains, signaling me that I had reached the edge. I stared at the werewolf commander for a little bit before taking a glance behind. My blood ran cold at the sight.

There nothing. None.

The battleground, the enemies’ territory that I had familiarized no longer existed. It had perished, destroyed; the field of corpses was now the plains of the ruins. There was no vampire or werewolf, no nothing. Whatever used to be present a few minutes before was gone, none survived, and nothing remained.

‘What have you done, Max?’ I whispered the words of the memory of the past, horrified.
‘Scared? Terrified?’ He stood up from the comfort of the luxury chair, walking down the steps unhurriedly, in a pace like the king was descending from his royal throne.

‘What have you done now?!’ I shouted at him, my emotions had reached its peak and exploded with a force I could neither control nor hold back.

‘Spells. Simple magic,’ he said. ‘You saw how we retreated and attacked again and again? You can call that practicing, or failed assaults. The plan was to destroy your troops by merely causing…combustion.’

I could barely hold myself together. He must have noticed how my face twisted in pain, and how my legs wobbled because his smirk widened, showing his sharp canines. My soldiers, my people…I couldn’t detect the tears that had begun to well in my eyes when another thought struck me suddenly.

‘What about your troops? They can’t escape in time. Definitely.’

‘Sacrifices are always made, especially in wars.’

Anger was the only thing I knew then. I was disgusted by how he say those words, as if his people were dirt, not living creatures. Rage blinded my thoughts and mind, fury motivated my actions.

I ran at Max with full speed, faster than I had ever run before, and succeeded in dealing some damages before jumping back and evaded his counter attacks. Crouching down, I let myself to go to full animalistic mode, releasing the beast within me. It yearned for battle, it yearned for blood.

For Max’s blood.

I would not fall, and I wouldn’t let it go. I would kill him, and we’d be freed when it ended.

‘Max!’

Fate made us suffer, destiny gave us torment. Why? I didn’t understand how anything could be so cruel. Perhaps there was a cruse between us.

Between me and Max.