her hollow heart

chapter 23: breaking point

Dylan's POV:

When they told me, I thought it was a joke. A sick, cruel joke, the kind these people loved to play to get a rise out of me. But the look on Max's face when she whispered the words... It wasn't a joke. It was real.

"She's gone, Papa..." Max's voice cracked, barely above a whisper, but the sound shattered my world.

I felt something inside me break. Like glass shattering in my chest, the sharp edges tearing me apart. My breath hitched, and my vision blurred as the reality sunk its claws into me. Lucy... gone? She couldn't be. She wasn't allowed to leave me.

I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I just stood there, hollow, the rage building like a storm in my veins. Someone was to blame. Someone had pushed her to this. And I knew exactly who.

Kai.

The bastard had always hated me. He'd sneered at every word I said, mocked every glance I gave her, and argued with me like it was sport. I warned him before to back off, to stay in his lane, but he didn't listen. Now she was dead, and I knew—I knew—he was part of the reason.

I found him outside, sitting against a wall, cleaning his blade. The casualness of it, like nothing had happened, made my blood boil. I stalked toward him, my fists clenched, the storm in me finally breaking loose. Kai looked up, a smug grin on his face. "What's your problem now, Dylan? Gonna cry because your precious Lucy—" I didn't let him finish. My fist collided with his jaw, the force sending him sprawling to the ground.

"You killed her!" I roared, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the wall. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he spat, blood dripping from his lip. "You pushed her too far! Your petty arguments, your fucking ego—you broke her!" My voice was raw, each word slicing through the air like a knife. Kai smirked, even now. "She was weak, Dylan. If she couldn't handle—" The rage took over. I didn't hear the rest. My hands found his throat, squeezing until his smirk vanished, replaced by panic. His hands clawed at mine, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.

But this wasn't enough.

I released him, letting him gasp for air. He thought it was over, but it wasn't. I reached for the knife on his belt, pulling it free, and plunged it into his thigh. He screamed, but I didn't stop. I twisted the blade, tearing through muscle, the blood pooling around us. "This is for Lucy," I growled, pulling the knife out and stabbing it into his shoulder. His cries echoed through the night, but I didn't care.

By the time I was done, he wasn't recognisable. His face was mangled, his body broken, blood staining the ground around him. I stood over him, my chest heaving, the rage finally subsiding. "Good riddance," a voice said behind me. I turned to see Moon, Kai's own brother, standing there with a cold, satisfied expression. "You're not mad?" I asked, my voice hoarse.Moon shrugged. "He deserved it. He's been a thorn in everyone's side for too long. Lucy would've hated him for this, too."

He knelt beside Kai's body, almost casually, and plucked the knife from his brother's chest. "You did good, Dylan," he said, standing and handing me the blade.

I stared at him, unsure of what to say, before nodding.

Lucy was gone, but at least Kai wouldn't hurt anyone else.

I stood there for a long time, staring at Kai's mangled corpse. The rage was gone now, leaving nothing but an empty pit in my chest. The silence felt suffocating, pressing against my ears.

Then, I heard it.

A soft, deliberate click. Heels.

I looked up, startled. A pair of pink heels stepped into the moonlight, their polished surface catching the faint glow. They moved with purpose, stepping around Kai's body as though it were nothing more than a piece of garbage.

I blinked, my breath catching. "What the—"

The heels paused. The figure crouched down, slender hands brushing Kai's bloodied face. With surprising precision, they began to drag his body away, leaving a faint trail of red in their wake.

"Who...?" My voice cracked as I tried to speak.

The figure stopped. Slowly, they turned, stepping fully into the light. My heart stopped.

"Lucy?"

She stood there, calm, her face framed by messy black hair that had always driven me mad in the best way. Her tired brown eyes met mine, but they weren't the same. There was something colder in them, something distant. She tilted her head, as if amused by my reaction.

"Hello, Dylan," she said softly, her voice like a ghost's whisper.

I fell to my knees, my hands trembling. "You're... you're dead," I stammered.

She didn't answer. She simply smiled—a small, haunting smile that sent a shiver down my spine—and turned away, dragging Kai's body into the shadows.

The last thing I saw was the glint of her heels as they disappeared into the darkness.

And then, silence.