Author's Note: This chapter contains graphic scenes and psychological trauma. Skip this chapter if you're sensitive to such content. The section is crucial for Rey's character development, but your comfort matters most.
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As the two relic spirits retreated into slumber, safely housed within Rey's soul, the boy himself drifted into sleep—peaceful at first.
But that peace didn't last.
Within minutes, his face contorted in discomfort, and murmurs slipped from his lips.
"Stop… Please… No…"He thrashed violently in his bed, fists clenched, legs kicking, his entire body rebelling against the torment he couldn't escape.Then, silence—followed by a muffled scream as tears trickled down his cheeks.
In the soul-space, Aiden stirred from his nap with an annoyed groan.
"Again? You're such a crybaby..." he muttered and, without hesitation, snapped the nervous link between Rey's mind and body.
The boy fell motionless. Not from calm—he was still screaming—but now only in his mind. His limbs couldn't move. His voice couldn't reach the air. Only his wide, terrified eyes wept silently until they ran dry.
Somewhere else in the house, Jasmine—on the verge of sleep—suddenly frowned. A strange chill crawled up her spine, her thoughts drifting to Rey.
"...Is he okay?" she whispered. But after a moment, she brushed it off as a stray worry and turned in for the night.
Unaware that her son was being broken—piece by piece—from within.
[Dreamscape]
Floating weightlessly in a pitch-black void, Rey's mind hovered. At first, he was calm. Then… he noticed it. A red dot in the distance. Growing.
It surged forward like a collapsing star—devouring him whole.
Then—
Boom.
He blinked.
He was back in his room. Everything looked... normal.
Confused, Rey sat up. He called out, "Aiden? Victor? Zero?"No response.He tried summoning the system. Nothing.
"…Was it all just a dream?"
He chuckled awkwardly. Maybe the bonding, the spirit, the marketplace, and the fight—maybe it was just a wild dream sparked by those novels Evan made him read.
Still disoriented, he got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water.
That's when he noticed it.
The back door was open.
A chill ran down his spine.
Instinct kicked in, and he rushed to his mother's room.
"Mom! Someone—"
The door was ajar. She was lying on the bed, turned away from him.Relieved for a moment, he stepped forward.
"Mom…? The back door's open. Did you forget to—"
She didn't respond.
She always responded.
"...Mom?"
He moved to the other side of the bed.
And the world ended.
Blood.
So much blood.
Her eyes—rolled backward.
Her throat—slit open, bone visible beneath torn flesh.
A handprint—burned onto her face, like someone had silenced her before killing her.
Rey collapsed.
His scream cracked through the night:"MOM!!!"
He grabbed her shoulders, tried shaking her awake, called her again and again. But she was already gone.
"Help me! SOMEONE!"No response.
"Wait… Emmy—"He staggered to his feet, slipping on the blood-soaked floor.
He sprinted up the stairs.
Her door was open too.
"Please... please no... not her too…"
He stepped in—
And froze.
The room was destroyed. Papers, drawers, bedsheets—all scattered.
At the center stood a man clad in pitch-black, face obscured by a hood and mask. He was wiping his blade.
And on the floor—
Emmy.
Clutching her throat.Blood spurting between her fingers.Her lips trembled as she reached out toward Rey.She collapsed mid-motion, her hand falling lifelessly to the ground.
"No… No no no no no—EMMY!"
His body shook.Mind shattered.Heart—gone.
He rushed at the man, fists raised.A scream tore from his lungs—
But a flicker of movement—SLASH.
Rey screamed. Both thighs had been cut clean through. He crumpled to the ground, clutching the wounds.
"Why… Why are you doing this?! We don't have anything worth stealing!"
The man didn't blink."It's not personal. We were hired. Just following orders."
"Then tell me! Who sent you!?" Rey cried, blood pooling beneath him.
"Can't say. Confidential."
The man approached, knife raised.Rey's breath hitched.Tears welled again.But his voice—steady.
"I'll kill you. You and the one behind you. I swear it."
A pause.
The assassin chuckled darkly."You won't be killing anyone. You'll be dead in five seconds."
And then—
SLASH.
Everything went dark.
Rey gasped.
His eyes flew open.He was alive.Unharmed.Back in his bed.
But the images… the pain… the blood…
It all still clung to him like a second skin.
[End of Nightmare]
What just happened?
What did Aiden do?
What kind of "rearrangement" left Rey tormented, terrified… and utterly changed?
--> To Be Continued...
Stay tuned to uncover the truth.
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