A beat passed. Then Mael broke the tension, rubbing his temples.
"What are we going to do next?" he muttered, mostly to himself. " We take some rest," he said louder. "Regroup. Then we deal with this."
Damien nodded, his eyes flicking warily between Jian and the reflection.
"Let's go to my house. It's big enough for all of us. And we need to stay together. We're safer that way."
There was a beat of hesitation, then slow nods all around.
"Fine," Eva said, still watching Jian closely.
Elara touched his arm gently this time, guiding him forward. Jian said nothing, but his shoulders slumped with exhaustion, or defeat. No one looked back at the dark wall. No one saw the second smile fade.
As they approached Damien's house, the air around them seemed to change..less like the aftermath of battle, more like stepping into a dream woven from luxury and quiet power.
The black iron gates swung open with a soft hum, revealing a long, winding driveway lined with ancient oak trees whose twisted branches formed a natural archway above them. Each tree was lit from below by soft golden lights, casting elegant shadows that danced along the gravel path.
The garden was nothing short of breathtaking..immaculate hedges shaped into perfect spirals, rare flowers blooming in bursts of deep violet and silver-blue, and a central fountain shaped like a rising phoenix, its crystal wings catching the moonlight in fragments of light.
Damien's house, or rather, estate..stood at the end of the path like something out of a royal painting. It was a massive stone manor, pale gray with accents of black marble and gleaming silver. Ivy curled artistically around its tall columns, and every window..tall and arched..glowed warmly from the inside.
The front doors were double-height, carved from dark wood with intricate silver inlays of stars and constellations, catching the eye like jewelry. On either side of the entrance, tall lanterns flickered with flame-like lights, guiding them up the steps.
Eva paused at the base of the stairs, quietly stunned.
"You live here?"
Damien gave a small, sheepish smile. "Yeah. My family… we've been around a while."
"Clearly," Mael muttered, looking up at the three stories of glass, stone, and shadowed opulence.
The moment they stepped inside, the contrast from the cold outside to the warm glow within struck them. High ceilings stretched above their heads, painted with soft golds and deep blues like a twilight sky. A grand staircase curled up toward the second floor like a ribbon, its railing of wrought iron detailed with phoenix feathers. Chandeliers hung like frozen fire, delicate and sparkling.
Thick rugs muffled their steps, and the scent of cedar, spice, and something sweet lingered in the air. Elara turned slowly in place, her voice hushed.
"It's like a palace…"
Damien shrugged one shoulder, though he looked a little proud.
"Make yourselves at home. There's more than enough space."
Jian said nothing, his gaze distant. But even he glanced around..if only for a moment..as though wondering how long he could stay in a place that felt so far from the darkness.
Eva, always alert, checked every corner, every shadow. They were safe..for now. But beauty, no matter how lavish, was not a shield.Not from what came next.
They slipped further into the manor, the sheer size of it swallowing them whole in polished floors and soft lighting. The tension from earlier still clung to them like smoke, but here, in the warmth and quiet of Damien's impossibly rich home, a rare thing started to settle: calm.
Mael stopped in the middle of the grand hallway and turned to Damien.
"So… just curious..do you live here alone or do you have a small army of butlers hiding behind the curtains?"
Damien smirked. "Only two staff members live in. The rest come during the day. I like privacy."
Eva raised a brow. "This place has enough room to host a royal wedding."
Jian muttered, "Or a small country."
That made Elara giggle, the sound breaking through the heaviness in the air like sunlight through clouds.
"I mean… this carpet probably costs more than my whole apartment."
Damien grinned as he led them into a sitting room.
"Which one? The one in the hallway or this one? Because I think the hallway one does."
Mael walked up to a bizarre piece of sculpture..some abstract swirl of black stone and gold leaf. He tilted his head.
"What is this? Art? A cursed weapon? A coffee table?"
"It's modern art," Damien said flatly.
Mael leaned closer. "So... a cursed weapon."
Jian actually laughed..quiet and brief, but real.
Eva, despite herself, cracked the ghost of a smile. She leaned against the edge of the velvet sofa, her shoulders loosening just slightly.
Damien plopped down into an armchair like a prince returning from battle and waved at them.
"Sit. Relax. There's no evil entity here..unless Mael eats more of the snacks I'm about to bring."
"You have snacks?" Elara lit up instantly, like she'd just remembered food existed.
"I have everythung ," Damien replied with a wink, disappearing through a side door.
Moments later, he returned with an armful of chips, chocolates, bottled drinks, and a tray of fresh-baked pastries..yes, actually fresh. Apparently, one of the staff baked obsessively.
"Okay, now I know you're secretly a vampire overlord," Mael said with a mouthful of chocolate croissant.
The group, scattered across velvet sofas and plush armchairs, slowly let the moment stretch. It was quiet. Peaceful. A soft, rare pocket of normalcy.
Jian sat closest to the window, eyes on the dark garden. He didn't speak. But when Elara leaned close to hand him a hot drink, he took it gently. Even he needed this..just one moment of stillness before the storm returned. Outside, the wind stirred the leaves. Inside, they shared a laugh, a snack, and silence that..for once..wasn't heavy.
Eva sat alone in one of the many quiet rooms of Damien's sprawling house, the soft light of a nearby lamp casting golden shadows across the floor. The laughter and muffled voices from the others drifted faintly from down the hall, but here it was quiet..just her and her thoughts.
She pulled her knees to her chest on the chaise lounge by the window, staring out into the garden where moonlight dusted the hedges silver. Her fingers traced invisible patterns along the fabric of her pants. Her mind wasn't in the room..it was back in the forest… in that place where Jian's smile twisted into something else...Coox.
She hated even thinking the name. It slithered through her thoughts like oil, cold and unwelcome.
How much of Jian is really left? she wondered. She didn't know the answer, and that terrified her more than anything. He was her friend. All of them were her friends. They had fought together, bled together.
But now... there was something buried deep in Jian's soul, something watching them from behind his eyes. Eva saw it. She felt it. And the worst part?.So did Jian. She remembered his words.
"He's… I can still feel him."
That wasn't guilt. That was fear. A chill ran down her spine. The door creaked slightly as it opened, but no one entered. It was just the old hinges giving a soft complaint to the night air. She didn't move. Didn't flinch.
This was the first moment she had truly been alone since it all began, and it wasn't relief she felt. It was weight. So much weight.
Eva leaned her head against the window and whispered to herself,"What if we can't save him? What if he's already… gone?"
She closed her eyes, trying to shut the questions out..but in the darkness of her mind, a smile appeared again. Not Jian's. His. And even in her solitude, Eva felt the echo of it… as if something in the shadows had heard her doubts. And liked them.
Eva's breath caught when she heard it.. soft, low, like the brush of wind against her ear.
"Eva…"
She sat up, eyes darting across the room. Her heart pounded. That voice..It was familiar. Impossible. But familiar.
"Voox?" she whispered, barely audible.
And then...She was there. Not as flesh and blood, but like a reflection caught between two mirrors. A ghostly shimmer in the moonlight, forming slowly into the shape of a girl ..young, calm, and hauntingly serene.
Her hair floated as if underwater, her body translucent like mist. She stood in the center of the room, barefoot, glowing softly with a pale blue hue. Eva gasped, eyes wide, heart hammering in her chest.
"Voox…"
Voox smiled, gently. Her eyes were kind, though distant ..as if seeing through time, through Eva, through all the pain.
"Don't be afraid," she said, her voice echoing in layers. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Eva shook her head, her lips trembling.
"How… why are you here?" Her voice cracked, too many emotions rising at once.
Voox stepped closer, but her feet didn't touch the ground.
"Because you needed someone to tell you the truth."
Eva stared at her, and for a moment, her strength shattered.
"I'm scared," she whispered. "I've seen darkness before, we all have, but this..Coox..he's inside Jian. He's not hiding anymore, Voox. He's changing him.I don't want to lose Jian. Not after everything. Not now."
Her voice broke. The tears she'd been holding back for hours finally fell, silently at first, then freely, streaking down her cheeks as she pressed her hands over her face. Voox sat beside her, or hovered..her form dimming slightly in the soft light.
She lifted her hand, transparent fingers brushing just close enough to almost feel real. She didn't touch Eva, but the warmth of her presence filled the room like a blanket drawn over frozen skin.
"Jian is still there," Voox said gently. "I can feel him. His soul is still fighting."
"But what if he loses?" Eva cried. "What if he becomes Coox completely? What if we can't bring him back?"
Voox tilted her head.
"Then you don't stop trying."
Eva looked up at her through blurred vision, her breath shuddering.
"You're the first one who saw the truth," Voox whispered. "You felt it before any of them. That means something. Jian trusts you..even now. That's why Coox fears you."
Eva blinked. "Fears me?"
Voox's smile was soft, but there was strength behind it.
"You carry light, Eva. More than you know. Light scares shadows."
Eva's chest ached, but some of the heaviness in her shoulders lifted..just enough to breathe again.
"You're not alone," Voox said. "Not in this. I'll stay as long as I can."
Eva nodded slowly, wiping at her tears. "Thank you…"
Eva sat still, the quiet stretching long after Voox's form had begun to fade.The room felt heavier now, but not suffocating.. more like the weight of something important, something real.
She stared at the space Voox had just been, her breath steady but shallow, and whispered into the lingering silence,
"…You love Jian, don't you?"
There was a pause. And then, the air shimmered again. Just slightly. Like the room was holding its breath. Voox's voice came, soft, slow..quieter than before, but clearer somehow.
"I did," she said. "And maybe… I still do."
Eva turned toward the glow reforming before her. Voox didn't fully appear this time, just her outline in the shimmer of moonlight through the window, like stardust trying to take shape.
"I told him once," Voox added, her voice dipped in a quiet sadness. "When I was… in your body. I kissed him. I told him everything I felt."
Eva blinked, staring. "I knew it. You did something."
Voox gave a sheepish smile, the curve of her expression visible even in that faint outline of light.
"Sorry for using your body for that."
Eva looked away for a moment, then back again, her face unreadable. She didn't say anything. Not right away. But there was no anger in her silence..just understanding… and maybe something more complicated. Voox, as if sensing it, stepped gently into the hush.
"I never got to say it to him properly. Not as myself. I think he knew. I hope he did."
Eva's voice softened. "He did. He still carries it."
Voox's glow pulsed, faintly like a heartbeat.
"I used to think loving someone meant holding on," she murmured. "But sometimes… it's letting go. Trusting they'll find their way without you. Jian has a new path now. And it's not mine to walk beside him anymore."
Eva swallowed hard, emotion rising tight in her chest.
"Then why help me?"
"Because you're the one who can walk it," Voox replied without hesitation. "You see him.. not just the pain, or the fear. You see the real Jian, even when he's disappearing behind something darker. That's the kind of love that saves people."
Eva's breath trembled.
"I don't know if I'm strong enough."
Voox's presence flickered closer.
"You are. You already are."
Silence fell again, but this time it wasn't heavy.. it was calm, almost peaceful. A shared understanding. Before Voox faded for good, she said one last thing, her voice full of something deep and aching and beautiful:
"Tell him… I'm proud of him. And when the time comes… don't let him go alone."
And then, she was gone. But her words stayed.. glowing, steady, and quietly powerful..inside Eva's heart.
The door creaked open quietly. Elara stepped inside, expecting silence, but as she entered, she caught the fading shimmer of light in the air, like someone had just stepped through a curtain of stars.
She froze.
Her eyes followed the dissipating glow, watching until the last trace of it flickered out. Then she turned her gaze to Eva, who sat curled up on the floor by the window, her knees pulled to her chest.
"…She was here?" Elara asked softly.
Eva nodded, not looking up. Elara walked over slowly and knelt beside her.
"You okay?"
Eva shook her head, her face still hidden. Elara settled beside her, close but not crowding her, and after a pause, asked gently,
"What did Voox tell you?"
Eva's voice was quiet, muffled by the way her head rested on her arms.
"…That you should take good care of Jian."
Elara blinked, then looked away for a second, her expression distant.
"She's always caring," she whispered.
A beat passed, and then..silently, almost instinctively..Eva shifted. She leaned over and laid her head in Elara's lap, eyes already half-lidded with exhaustion. She didn't say anything else.
Elara's hand moved on its own, gently brushing through Eva's hair. Her fingers were soft, slow, steady..comforting like the breeze through a quiet night. And within seconds, Eva was asleep.
Elara looked down at the girl in her lap, the rise and fall of her breath now steady and calm. A faint, wistful smile curved on her lips as she whispered, more to herself than to anyone else:
"You're this tired… You hold the biggest burden for someone your age."
She smoothed a lock of Eva's hair behind her ear, her eyes warm and heavy with something like admiration. And for the first time in a long time.. even if just for a moment..there was peace in the room.
Elara looked at Eva, still fast asleep in her lap. A soft sigh escaped her lips.
"You really pushed yourself too far," she murmured gently.
Careful not to wake her, Elara shifted and slowly slid her arms beneath Eva's shoulders and knees. Despite her own small frame, she lifted Eva with surprising steadiness.. not because of strength, but because of how much she cared.
Eva stirred slightly but didn't wake. Her head rested against Elara's shoulder, her arms relaxed, her breathing deep.
Elara walked slowly across the room to the bed. The dim light from the window cast long shadows, painting everything in silver and soft blue. She pulled the covers back with one hand, then gently laid Eva down on the bed as if placing something fragile and precious.
She tucked the blanket over her, smoothing it down with quiet hands, then stood there for a moment ..just watching.
"You don't always have to be the strong one," she whispered, brushing a bit of hair from Eva's forehead. "Not when we're still here with you."
Then, with one last look, Elara stepped back and let the quiet of the night return.
To eb continue...