Blood Ties

Blood Ties Unraveled

Gabriel's hands trembled, his knife held tight, his chest rising and falling with the weight of disbelief. "No... it can't be you. You're dead!" His voice cracked, a rawness to it that betrayed years of grief and guilt. The figure in front of him stepped forward, the air growing colder with each step.

"No," the figure corrected, its voice rough and broken, but unmistakably familiar. "I was forgotten."

Eve's gaze flicked between Gabriel and the figure, her mind racing. She had seen the resemblance before, but this? This was a nightmare made flesh. Gabriel's brother, once lost to the world, now stood in front of them—alive, twisted by time and something darker.

"I don't understand," Eve said, her voice shaky. "You disappeared. Everyone thought you were dead. But—how are you here?"

The figure's lips curled into a twisted smile, a cruel mockery of anything resembling warmth. "You never bothered to find out. Your families sealed their fates long ago. It was always meant to be this way—death, betrayal, blood. It's all been written."

Gabriel took a step forward, his voice raw with emotion. "What do you want? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for what was taken from me," the figure snarled, his eyes flashing with an unnatural fire. "For everything you owe."

The wind howled, whipping through the trees with a new intensity, and the rain began to pour in sheets, drenching them all. The figure stood unmoving, as though the storm was his ally, as though it were part of him, not just a force of nature. Gabriel's hand clenched around the hilt of his knife, his eyes never leaving his brother's face.

Eve could feel the tension building between them, the weight of the revelation pressing in on her, threatening to suffocate them all. Gabriel's brother had returned, and with him, a storm of vengeance and unhealed wounds.