UNWANTED

CHAPTER 5 - MT.2.13.23 - LIZAVETA

It's been two weeks.

Two weeks have passed after the night my wound healed itself in a fraction of the time a wound should heal, two weeks since that miracle- that curse - where I rose from the empty tomb of Kazimir, heir to Eurasia.

Even then, I could feel the painless gash on my forehead as I wiped my hand over it. I could also feel the skin of my elbow split open to reveal the joint. The tender open flesh still pulsed against my fingertips.

Getting to the elevator in the darkness seeing as the guards were at the upper floor of the bunker was not easy. I couldn't ask for help since they would ask questions, but even if I did, they wouldn't hear me.

So, when I rose on the lift, I kept pressure on my wounds as they flooded my sheets quietly. Gladly, it was painless probably due to shock.

Ilyaas got me out of the elevator and into the tub of my bathroom. His face was pale as he looked at me, panicked at what he saw. I didn't know what he saw exactly but a girl who just fell into her brother's tomb probably didn't look too good.

I stopped Ly from calling Natasha, but I couldn't argue when he called Raza for cleanup.

He took the sheets away from my body and panicked as he probed me for wounds. I told him it was the head wound that bled, but when he looked, he didn't find it.

It was clean porcelain flesh.

The mark of an Onus.

I didn't know what to make of my newfound knowledge except that I was a living crime, sitting on the throne. Kaz needed to be found, or else I'd die, or worse, ruin the empire.

Ilyaas has since then avoided me, looked down when I passed, stayed quiet when I asked. He and I both knew what that meant, he and I both knew that if anyone else knew, I wouldn't have a throne, a home, or a head.

So, there I was, in the bathroom with a razor blade in one hand, and a bare white wrist open to cut. I had to see it again.

With a swift motion, I carved a small line on my wrist, precise to avoid veins as blood bloomed and blurred it.

And then the staring began. My heartbeat was faster, not because of the pain... the pain did not exist, but my heart paced rapidly, hoping against facts that maybe I was still human.

The bloodshed was slow, the redness was a dark ruby color, slowly trickling down the sink. Last time, it had been almost ten minutes until the wound stopped bleeding, and a few more for it to completely close. But last time, the cut was deeper because of the marble shard that embedded itself into my skull as I fell into the empty tomb.

Empty. I still couldn't believe it.

My watch was timing me. Five minutes to go before I either relinquish my claim to the throne or I'd need to find a bandage.

With a start, I heard my main door open with the sound of Ly's shoes pacing towards the bathroom. I immediately hid the blade on the band of my pants and hid my wrist behind my back before he opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a cold tone. He deserved it for deserting me, but I regretted it immediately.

He bit his lip. "You reached ninety-six beats per minute. They wanted to know if you slipped or something, but we didn't hear-"

"Why always you? There's four of you, isn't there?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm the only one Jazzy won't eat." He said. "And you need to add one more of us to make a pentagon, and may I remind you two more to the privy council."