𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 ⌜𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿⌟

23. 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 23. 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗟𝗟 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗧

𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 along the spines of the books that lined the shelves. You rubbed the dust between your fingers, your gaze wandering around the room. The bookcases seemed to reach towards the ceiling, all covered in a thick layer of dust. Several candles idly lighted the room, but your eyes had no trouble adjusting to the dark.

Your gaze then fell to the man standing near the fire. A grin was spread across his lips, his eyes meeting yours. He seemed amused by your curiosity.

"You don't take very good care of your reading selection," Your voice filled the air. "Shame on you, Brando."

"Oh, my apologies," He said, though there wasn't a hint of remorse in his voice. "I like to keep my favorites near. Those are all...boring."

"No book is boring," You said, walking across the room. "You just have no imagination."

"I prefer realism," He said, holding his hand out to you as he silently beckoned you.

Lifting a brow, you leaned against the back of the couch, folding your arms under you. "You've gotten boring."

"I couldn't say much as for you," He replied, returning his hand to his side. "I thought you swore never to cut your hair."

"Too much work," You replied. "I have more important things to be focusing on rather than something that will grow back in time."

"I would have never expected this out of you, you know," He hummed, approaching the couch. He leaned in front of it, bringing his face in front of yours. "Didn't you preach that you'd 'never become like me'?"

"You and I are not the same," You said, meeting his amber eyes. "I'm not power hungry."

"That may be," He purred. "But you thirst for the same blood."

"You're wrong about that too," You smirked. "What happened to you, Brando? Lose your wittiness as you aged?"

Dio grabbed your jaw and forced your mouth open, making your gaze harden into a glare. He peered at your canines. His lips turned into a frown. He let go of your jaw, making you straighten your back and rub where his fingers had dug into your cheeks.

"You've never tasted human blood," He stated.

You didn't reply to him. Your glare never waivered, making him sigh. He shook his head.

"You're holding yourself back, my dear," He said.

"Holding myself back?" You echoed. "How can I hold myself back from something I'll never be?"

"Why do you deny it?" He asked, walking towards you. He cupped your face in one of his hands, the other sliding to rest on your lower back. "Look at you, Y/n. You and I are the same. We're both cursed, don't you see that?"

"You made yourself this way," You said, removing his hands from you as you took a step back. "I wasn't given a choice."

"You hesitated to return the mask back to Jojo,"

Your eyes slowly began to widen.

"Don't you remember that?" He hummed. "On the balcony, you questioned yourself. You knew what you wanted to do. It was no accident that the mask fell onto your face. You wished for it too."

"S-Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

"You lie to me," He chuckled, tapping his lips. "Your accent always gets stronger when you lie, have you ever realized that? Just come to terms with it, Y/n. You wanted this. You wanted to spend eternity with me. Don't you remember what you told me? You'd rather kill yourself, throw everything away, you would rather never see the sun again than lose me."