THE MONSTER INSIDE ME (#ONC2024)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION

It is afternoon. I am with my uncle, Ryan.

The excitement unsettles me. I am not used to feeling this way around anyone. He smiles, warm and open, and I find myself studying him—his voice, his gestures, the calm certainty he carries. I have never cared to know anyone before. With him, the curiosity comes uninvited.

"How are you, Arabella?" he asks.

"I think... I'm adjusting," I say. "Everything feels strange."

"That's normal," he replies. "You will find your footing. We're here to help you."

My heart pounds. I hesitate, then speak.

"Can I tell you something?"

He raises his hands slightly, half playful, half cautious. "You can tell me anything."

I do not trust people. I never have.
But I tell him.

"When I see blood, I want to drink it. You already know. You saw it in your dream."

His expression hardens—not with fear, but with recognition. He exhales slowly.

"Yes," he says. "I saw it. And I understand it. I felt it once, too."

The words stun me. Relief and terror collide. If he understands, then this hunger is not mine alone.

"I believe it comes from our bloodline," he continues. "From my grandfather."

He pauses before saying the next words.

"Dalton Dagon made a pact with a demon a century ago. Zamon. The demon of desire."

My skin prickles.

"The pact granted him wealth, influence, attraction," Ryan says. "But no pact is free."

I lean forward. "What was the cost?"

"At the hundredth year," he says quietly, looking straight at me, "a young woman from the Dagon family must be given to Zamon."

The room seems to tilt.

"That woman is me," I say.

"It could be," he answers. "Or it could be Scarlett. My daughter."

The word daughter lands like a blade. I don't know why it hurts more than the pact itself. Shame curls in my chest.

"We will stop this," he adds quickly. "We will either break the pact—or destroy Zamon."

I can't hear the rest. My thoughts fracture. Panic floods me.

I scream.

Ryan reaches for me, but I pull away, shaking, overwhelmed by fear and something darker—something I do not want to name.

"Arabella," he says gently, "I'm here. You're not alone."

He takes my hands. Our eyes meet. The resemblance is undeniable. Something passes between us—connection, recognition, danger. I pull back, breathless.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I don't know what came over me."

Then, forcing myself to speak, I ask, "What is Scarlett like?"

He smiles, soft and proud.

"She's a little younger than you. Dark hair. Blue eyes. I have another daughter, Xena. And two children with my wife, Brenan and Amadea. She's four."

He speaks of them with love.

I feel hollow.

That night, I lie awake in the dark.

I think of him. Of his family. Of what he gives them so freely.

Jealousy twists inside me, sharp and humiliating.

He will never love you the way you want, a voice whispers.

The room grows colder.

Zamon stands before me, tall and smiling.

"You will always be alone," he murmurs.

"I know who you are," I say steadily. "My uncle told me."

Zamon chuckles. "Your uncle is a Dagon. He loves his family. That is all."

"I am his family," I shout.

"You are his trial," the demon replies. "You want what you cannot have."

His words poison my thoughts.

"No," I say. "You're lying."

"He will hurt you," Zamon whispers. "Like all the others."

I scream.

The door flies open. A nurse and a doctor rush in. The demon is gone.

"Arabella," the doctor says gently, "did you have a nightmare?"

I cannot answer. My grief swallows me whole. The needle slips into my arm, and the world fades.

I dream.

Ryan is there. He smiles, strokes my hair. I lean toward him—

And wake abruptly, heart racing, drenched in cold sweat.

The dream sickens me.

The next day, it still clings to me like a shadow.

I am ashamed. Confused. Terrified of my own mind.

I don't know what is real anymore—

And I don't know how much of this darkness belongs to me,

and how much belongs to the demon waiting patiently inside my blood.