(Updates everyday)
Power demands what it's owed, and souls are its favorite currency.
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When museum curator, Lena Goodwin, receives an anonymous package containing damning evidence of a mistake she thought she buried years ago, her carefully built...
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Lena hadn't slept in her own bed for days, so when she woke up in it, she was disoriented and drenched in sweat. She kept dreaming about the same things over and over again - the visions. They were as clear as ever. As if she had actually been there, experienced it first hand and not through the memories of the Codex.
She felt clamy like the room was cold, though the sun streamed in through the open windows. It was warm, but her skin was outlined in goosebumps. Sweat and shivers was quite the combination, and she couldn't tell if it was wholly caused by her nightmares or the blistering heat, perhaps a bit of both.
She rested her head in her hands. There was a dull but persistent pain, an echo of the dark magic that had constantly surrounded her up until then. It felt like a normal headache otherwise, but she knew better.
Lena was feeling the aftereffects of the Codex's influence over her. There was still a lingering presence. She could hear its whispers, telling her she would inevitably give in. They were faint but there.
The prolonged exposure to the artifact left a mark on her, and she didn't think she would be able to shake it any time soon. It left a residue, a permanent one. She would never be the same.
She mustered up enough strength to get out of bed, slightly trembling. Hugh has been right more than once yesterday. She was scared. Glancing at her reflection in the mirror of her wardrobe, she noticed the faint, dark circles under her wide eyes.
The Codex had taken a toll on her.
Her thoughts immediately turned to Hugh. She had left him there in a fit of anger. With the Codex that was also affecting him and amplifying his emotions. She had wanted to protect herself and everyone else, but now all she could feel was a pang of regret. That should include him, and what did she do? She left him there alone with the cursed thing.
He was desperate to bring his wife back, and the Codex was offering false promises. So much so that he failed to see what completing the rest of the rituals would do. But, to him all he could think about was how close he was to getting Zareth back.
She wished he understood that if he unlocked the relic's full power, it would leave nothing of her true self behind. Both Lena and Zareth. There was no telling what parts of her would return and which would stay behind. There was no guarantee if it would be good or bad. And, if the Codex had its way, there wasn't much to come back to anyway.
The thought of that filled her with dread.
Maybe she was reduced to nothing but a vessel for the artifacts dark magic, then she wouldn't have to live through the worst of it. A chill ran down her spine. She shouldn't think like that, and the only reason she was had to do with how hopeless she felt.
Hugh had no problem choosing to erase her if it meant Zareth would be by his side. Who was she to ask him to prioritize her over his dead wife?
