Requiem for an Aberrant Chapter 25: Chapter 25- Truths We Bury

Read chapter 25 of Requiem for an Aberrant by TheJestersGambit on NovelPedia.

Faith’s lullaby drifted along the top of the tower. Its child-like melody wove through the air like mist, haunting in its simplicity. Her notes carried a weightless ache, as if it remembered the voice that once sang it. Exrase tapped one of his cadaver’s fingers against the armrest of his bone throne, his many faces tilted in contemplative silence as they all turned toward the lone woman standing at the edge of the tower. Faith leaned precariously forward, her kinky hair catching the glint of the silver sea below. She might have fallen, had a tendril not reached out and gently hooked the back of her dress. Exrase pulled her away from the edge as for once he was in a semi-decent mood. Cole had done something different for once. That moment in the garden, when he had entered the rot in Cole’s wound. He witnessed an attempt to save Faith. It was a deviation, however small, from the endless loop of his own selfishness to whatever goal he possessed. If there was ever a chance to break free from this theatre of repetition, it was now. “I remember you,” Faith murmured suddenly. His finger ceased tapping for a second. “Explain,” he said after a moment. Faith turned toward him with a wistful smile. Her eyes glistened with the reflection of something long lost. “Do you also paint?” His faces frowned in unison. “No.” She sighed, disappointed. “Ah, that’s a shame… The world needs more painters. Paintings can see things we can’t!” A ripple of silence passed between them, filled only by the lullaby echoing faintly from somewhere unseen. Below them, the doppelgangers shrieked and clawed at the sealed entrance to the tower. Exrase's many eyes dropped to the doppelgangers, his faces shifting to anger, pity, and disappointment. “I remember you,” Faith repeated, almost dreamily. “You surfaced from the depths of black. Such a pretty colour. But you ruined it.” “Could you cease your endless chatter?” Exrase demanded, though his voice lacked any venom. Faith tilted her head. “Why do you pretend to be content?” The tapping stopped. His mouths didn’t move at first. Then one opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes had already wandered again. Upward this time, toward the black, murky water above. The figures rippled faintly, as they continued to watch this drawn out trial. Neither of them spoke again. And beneath it all, silence remained as words left unsaid gripped onto the tower built on the bones of forgotten memories. “Don’t even think about it!” Ariana shouted. She braced her shoulder against the trembling door, teeth gritted as the hinges groaned under pressure. Cole hissed through clenched teeth as sweat stung his focused eyes. “We’re going to have to run eventually!” His back was flaring with pain again as his back wound cried with each breath, warmth trickling down beneath his shirt. “But—!” “Just go!” he shouted. Ariana’s fingers tightened around the grip of her sword. She hesitated, then turned and began to sprint up the staircase. The door exploded behind them. A surge of doppelgangers poured through the door, followed by the bone-creature’s skeletal limbs twisting unnaturally as it crawled forward, faster than it should be able to. Ariana turned back mid-step, her eyes wide, her face glitched between horror and betrayal. “ You... You—! ” Cole seized her wrist and pulled her forward. “What?!” he snapped. “You thought I was actually going to stay behind? Are you out of your mind?!” Ariana stumbled as they raced up the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet. “Shut up, you liar!” Without her Bloodcraft Ariana was slowing. Her movements lacked the speed from before and he hated how her steps faltered, how his instincts screamed at him to run ahead, yet he stayed. Reaching the top of the staircase, they sprinted into the approaching corridor. And to their surprise, the doppelgangers stopped as if they couldn’t walk any further. “What’s going on?” Ariana muttered, nearly tripping backwards as she inched away from the frozen doppelgangers, eage