Diminished ✵ ONC 2022

A heavy evil has settled over the cobbled streets of Anumia. This mysterious force has brought a rapidly spreading sickness with it, and now there are even more puzzling, brutal murders taking place at the hands of an unknown perpetrator.

Lotte bore witness to one of these killings - she just can't remember exactly what happened. When the religious authorities of the city come questioning, she fears the blame for the deaths may fall on her shoulders if she can't recover her memories of what really happened that horrifying night. Whether or not she dealt the killing blows herself, could the blood of the victims still somehow be on her hands?

As Lotte desperately searches for the answers, an encounter with a strange, frightening man in the dark streets of the city suddenly has the potential to change the entire course of her life - and death. Secrets hidden deep beneath the city will become unearthed. All that Lotte thought she knew about life within the walls of Anumia will soon be challenged, and the nature of the Diminished will become all too familiar to her.

*Content warning: violence, death, alcohol use, swearing, and some sexual content

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This is my entry for the Open Novella Contest 2022, based on the following prompts:

#2. That moment you realize you just saw something that could cost you your life. Now all you can do is try to outrun them

-and-

#79. A love so forbidden it was unspeakable. Who would have ever thought an Angel would fall for a Demon.