Bloodstains and Betrayal

February 26th, 1850: Nizhnevartovsk, Russia

After all this time... I thought I could trust him... I really did. But I guess it's my fault. I was a fool to think I could feel real love. All I'll ever know is bloodstains and betrayal.

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'Madie. Wake up.'

My eyes snapped over to the door as light flooded the cell. I prayed I'd meet Vlad's eyes when I did so, but I knew it was a stupid thought. Instead, I was met by Arkadi's. What the hell was going on?

"Arkadi?" I said quietly, drained of most of my energy. He just sighed, helping me off of the blood-splattered floor. I asked him several questions, none of which he answered. He just walked out of the prison cell, dragging me along with him. I found it hard to keep up with his pace, as he was almost running.

"Arkadi!" I finally shouted, causing him to stop running. He turns back to me, expression unreadable.

"What?"

"You could at least explain what the hell is going on!"

"There's no time. Bad things happened to Vlad. We need to go." He replied, a more than serious tone in his voice.

That shut me up, but sent multiple waves of worry down my spine. I nodded, almost doubling our previous pace. I felt nauseated as we passed several doors, with markings like: 'Torture chamber' and 'Execution'. We came to a halt infront of a set of double doors, Arkadi turning to me.

"It's not going to be pretty in there..."

"I know." I gulped, preparing for the worst. He pushed the doors open, and I about threw up when I saw what was behind them.

"VLAD!" I screamed, covering my mouth with my hand. His body was covered in blood, and he looked so broken. He shifted slightly, slowly picking up his head to face me. I ran to him as he did so, collapsing infront of his beaten figure.

"Madie..." He whispered, reaching his hand up to brush the side of my cheek. His eyes instantly filled with disappointment and hatred, opening his mouth to whisper:

"Why would you let them do this to me?"

"W-what do you mean?" I stammered. "You think I gave them permission to do this?"

"You refused to help them... So they hurt me. They hurt me because you were too selfish to help them. Why?" He coughed, blood from his mouth spattering my face.

"How could y-you say that?" I said, astonished. "Why would you say that?"

"Because it's true."

"No, no it's not! It's not!"

I shook my head in denial as I looked back to Arkadi, who I thought would be angry, enraged at Vlad's words. Instead, he held a cool gaze as he looked at me, nodding in agreement with his words, leaving me speechless.

"I don't understand why you... why you would think that..." I said finally, voice a hushed whisper. "I thought you wanted me to be with the assassins... To be with... You."

"You thought wrong." He sighed, coughing up more blood. "You thought selfishly."

I shook away angry tears as I looked away from him, jaw tightening.

"Fine." I snapped harshly. "If you want me to help them, I will."

I ripped his glove off my skeletal hand, turning back to him only to slash the white flame from it across his face.

"I will." I repeated. "And hell, I'll enjoy it. Ripping out every last one of your wretched assassin hearts."

I could hear Kirill screaming at me, but I was too mad to make out the words he spoke. I looked down at the viewer's ring on my finger, slipping it off and hurling it at the nearest wall. Kirill's voice was instantly cut off, leaving a portion of my mind in silence.