Endless Enchantment: Secret Of Shadowvale

CHAPTER-11- I'M WITH YOU

VIANA'S POV~

The hallway was huge and cold, washed white by the lights above that seemed too bright. I felt numb; my racing mind and moving feet were not yet anywhere close to getting my heart moving. It hit me between fear and desperation. The antiseptic smell clung to my skin, strong and constant, like the knot in my stomach.

Lucius stood there silently by my side, impassive, unreadable, a presence that felt intense in the maelstrom of emotions within me. I clung to that stability, though of course my mind did wonder why he was so unflappable. Was he like this always or merely hiding something? There was always an air of mystery about Lucius, but on this particular day it seemed stronger and, oddly enough, more embarrassing. In any case, I could not question him now. Not with what I was going to do.

"Kai" an inner voice invoked me into the reality. I was shaking, and my fear turned cold. All the memories of him, in one wave-stroke-the warmth of his touch, the sound of his laugh-rushed back like a wave that could not really get away. Was he really gone? Was I going to see a dead body that once had everything we shared? Even after what he did, why do I feel choked up in sorrow?

My breath caught in my throat.

"You'll be okay," Lucius said, his voice soft and steady. He was not asking; he said it as if he knew something I did not. I turned to him, still unable to read the look on his face. What did he know?

And the door to the morgue stood before me, with feet that wouldn't go any closer, and a chest that throbbed in such a way that I felt tight and hurt. I was not ready. Never would be ready.

But I had to know, though.

Then Lucius said soft, "I'm with you," his hand touching my arm lightly. There was a promise in the way he said it, perhaps even a warning; but I had no time to figure out what it meant.

She opens the door, and I feel a cold bang; there comes the disinfectant smell and how silent it is - makes me uneasy. The white sheet covered that body on the table, and everything flies away instantly. All that I see is that bright white cloth.

My legs felt weak when I stepped forward. The voice of the nurse echoed from afar as she asked, "Are you ready to identify the body?"

I wasn't. But I nodded.

I pulled back the sheet, and I looked.

That wasn't him.

I gasped, and for the moment felt a relief that nearly hurt. My legs wobbled a bit and I grabbed onto the edge of the slab to steady myself. Not Kai. The hair was different, the jawline sharper, the skin. not his. The man standing before me was a stranger.

"He's not." I whispered, stopping mid-sentence. The words felt far away, like someone else was talking for me.

No, he's not," Lucius said softly, stepping closer to me. His voice was smooth as honey, but there was something in it—a heaviness that I couldn't identify.

Relief quickly gave over to confusion. If Kai wasn't here. where was he? Lots and lots of new questions bombarded my mind all at once: Was he alive? Is he injured? Why didn't he come back to me?

Lucius's hand was back on my arm once more, pulling me from the slab. I let him, still too dazed to think of much of anything. Let's go, he whispered, and went himself. I followed, mind racing with thoughts of Kai.

It was then that we stepped into the corridor; before I could put two and two together, a familiar voice intercepted my confusion.

"Viana."

I tensed. The voice was sharp, cold and terrifically familiar. I slowly turn to see them standing there: Kai's parents.

Amara and Aldric.

They looked clean and neat as ever, even dressed perfectly at the situation. Amara's lips were tense and her eyes looked me up and down like I was something bad she had stepped on. Aldric looked the same: his glance hard and unemotional, just as it always was when he looked at me.

"What do you want here?" Amara asked in a voice full of dislike. Her sharp eyes moved from me to Lucius and then back to me. "Do you think it's a game? How dare you come here after everything that has happened?"

I could feel Lucius move closer to my side, to where he stood protectively beside me, but I was paralyzed. The weight of accusations and the years of suppressed dislike—that sat untouched in the space between us.

"I was asked to identify the body. I thought it might be Kai," I said, my voice not as strong as I wanted it to be.

"Kai wouldn't be dead if it weren't for you," Aldric said low. His voice was quite hurtful, like knives aimed right at my chest. "You ruined him.". What can I even say now? They are his parents at the end of the day. 

I wanted to open my mouth to scream that they did not understand, they had never gotten what Kai and I have, but the words stuck in my throat. I don't know where Kai was. I don't know what has happened.

"You have done enough," Amara snapped, stepping forward. "Leave us alone now."

Before I could get a word out, Lucius spoke up. His voice was cold, its tone harsh. "Enough." He stood in front of me, protecting me from their wrath. He is quite tall, and a strong presence - one that leaves no room for argument. "Now is not the time nor the place. Viana has done nothing wrong.". 

Amara wanted to argue, but the look in Lucius's eyes made her freeze in her place. I had never seen him look so. dangerous. The air around him felt tense, as if something dark was waiting just below the surface. She certainly has the right to be here, Lucius said with a low but threatening voice "And if you speak to her that way again, you'll wish you hadn't." The silence which ensued was heavy with an almost palpable tension.

 Amara and Aldric glared at him, but said nothing at all. A very long time later, they turned on their heels and left, their footsteps echoing down the hall. Lucius looked at me again, a gentle face. "Let's go," he said in a soft voice, placing his hand lightly on my back. I nodded. The welts on my face throbbed; I could say nothing. We left the hospital in confusion. Kai wasn't dead. But where was he? And why did Lucius sound like he knew something he wouldn't tell? This version shows Viana's inner conflict while introducing the te