47

Without wasting any time, I gripped the lamp a little tighter and, holding my breath, walked down the long, dark hallway, which strangely smelled of fresh roses, but I didn't really care.

The cries for help I could just hear loud and clear fell silent and rang dully in my mind over and over again, causing my heart to pound against my ribs, driven by equal parts fear and anger, causing me slight pain.

And then, at the end of the corridor, I suddenly saw light coming out from under a slit in a door and my only goal was to free Mandy.

One last deep breath, a tighter grip on my only weapon and I put my sweaty hand on the door handle to push it down very slowly and almost silently.

I pushed it open, first seeing several burning candles and then, as my gaze fell on the middle of the room occupied by flickering lights, I only listened deafly as the lamp, which was previously still in my hand, rattled fell to the ground while my eyes filled with tears and I looked at this lifeless body.

I felt like fainting, but I forced myself into the room and looked down at my father's pale body, covered only by a towel around his waist, with roses scattered on the floor as they trimmed candles, that I could see the knife deep in his chest all too well.

"Shit, shit," I breathed desperately and closed my eyes to try to collect myself, but it triggered me and I found myself confronted with such a tragic situation again in my life.

First my mother, whom I had killed and now... Now I also had my father on my conscience. If it weren't for me, this Fiore wouldn't even exist in our lives... If it wasn't for me, my brothers would still have loving parents....

"Senan?" a familiar voice spoke to me behind me and I recognized Rian in it, who, probably driven by impatience, couldn't wait to see what I had done again...

I quickly wiped away my tears, turning to face him and seeing the absolute horror in his eyes as he looked like all life had drained from him.

"Go to Keeva! Don't let her enter this room," he whispered, frozen, and although I felt like I couldn't move at all, I slowly put one foot in front of the other and disappeared out into the dark hallway with me the bitter realization of never being able to forget this smell again. Never to be able to forget this picture again...

My father was dead...

"Where's Rian?" Keeva wanted to know quietly but firmly as I walked slowly towards her and the stairwell and when I lifted my head only slightly to look at her, her mouth opened in shock and she got the sheer panic in hers Eyes.

"Who would be killed?" she asked, wiping away the first tear that ran down her cheek. "I know that look on your face. You've looked at me like that before when you told me the truth about your past, so tell me who died right now!"

She came closer to me, while the tears ran faster and faster down her cheeks and her eyes became more and more demanding, but I couldn't bring it over my lips until she suddenly grabbed the collar of my shirt and looked at me desperately.

"Cathan."

A breath that left my trembling lips and even if this name came out of me so quietly, it cost me all my remaining strength and I only felt how Keeva threw herself into my arms, sobbing bitterly and trembling all over.

"No," she whimpered, making me cry again. Just the sound of her voice hurt because I couldn't bear to see her suffer like that. "Please tell me that's not true."

She dug her nails into my shoulders and pressed closer to me, laying her head on the side of my chest to stare trembling down the hall.

"There were cries for help," I said, and she reluctantly pulled away from me to look up at me with her tear-streaked, beautiful face. "I thought..." I started, but shook my head because I didn't know anymore if I had imagined it. "There were screams from a woman, but there was no one."

Keeva seemed just as thoughtful as I did, but just then Rian came back, holding the knife that was still in my father's hand and looking completely determined to finish everything and everyone around here.

"You stay behind me," he said coldly as he walked past us without paying any attention to us and took the stairs down.

Now Keeva, frightened, broke away from me and ran after him, which I did the same as the two.