Tangled Lives

CHAPTER 10

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The rain pelted harder against my skin, drenching me as the air grew heavier with the oncoming danger. The woman—Druvan's mother—stood tall, her hands raised toward the sky, summoning forces I had no understanding of. My heart hammered in my chest, but I could feel a strange sense of purpose starting to form in the pit of my stomach. I was caught in a vortex of dark, ancient power, and survival was the only thing left to focus on.

The dark figures emerging from the trees moved with terrifying speed, their shapes shifting and twisting like living shadows. The storm raged around us, lightning flashing violently across the sky, illuminating their grotesque, featureless faces. I could hear their low growls now, almost human but twisted by something far darker.

"We can't hold them off forever," I shouted over the wind, gripping my gun tighter. "What are we waiting for?"

The woman's face remained impassive, her eyes fixed on the approaching figures. She moved her lips in a silent incantation, and the air around her shimmered with an unseen force. The ground beneath us trembled, as though some ancient power was awakening from beneath the earth.

"The ritual must be completed," she said, her voice as cold and steady as the storm. "Only then will the curse be broken, and the old power contained."

"But we don't have Druvan!" I shot back. "He's—he's dead!"

Her eyes flickered toward me, filled with a sorrow so deep I felt its weight pressing against my chest. "We don't need Druvan's body. His death has already set the final phase in motion. The blood has been spilled."

"Then what do we need?" I asked, fear and frustration boiling together. "How can we stop them?"

"You," she said, her voice cutting through the storm like a blade. "You are the key. You are bound by blood, detective. Druvan's sacrifice was incomplete—he was my son, but the offering required someone of his bloodline to continue the ritual. And that person..."

Her words trailed off, leaving the terrifying implication hanging in the air. My mind raced as realization hit me like a sledgehammer.

"No..." I shook my head, disbelief coursing through me. "You can't mean me. I'm not—"

"You are," she interrupted, her eyes locking onto mine. "I can see it in your spirit. You are connected to this in ways you don't yet understand. You are bound by blood—just as Druvan was."

I felt the ground sway beneath me. It was impossible. I wasn't part of Druvan's family—I didn't even know the man. But as her words sank in, an unsettling memory from the orphanage crept into my mind. The mention of Druvan's mother, the mystery of his family's disappearance, the odd familiarity I had felt when reading his file.

Could it be true? Could I be part of Druvan's bloodline? Had I stumbled into this nightmare not by accident but because of some deeper connection?

Before I could process the implications, the dark figures lunged. They moved like a tide of shadow, their forms slipping through the rain with inhuman speed. I fired my gun, but the bullets did little more than slow them down. Panic surged through me. We were outnumbered, and no amount of firepower would stop them.

The woman's voice rang out, a sharp command in the old language, and the air crackled with energy. A brilliant flash of light exploded from her hands, slamming into the nearest creatures and sending them reeling back. But more came, relentless in their pursuit. For every one we pushed back, two more seemed to take its place.