Chapter 23: The reckoning

Peter knew he was chasing darkness. It was something that was innate to him but he had been in denial.

He actually knew how and where to find Zachariah. He had recurrent nightmares about it. It was an icy underground cave, and there were screaming and grunting all day. He hated the fact that he even knew this and it seemed that he had been running away from this place for eternity.

He was going on horseback and he could reach the place within three days. He wondered if Mia could wait for three days. He thought of her kind soulful eyes that looked right through him and told him that he was not evil like Zachariah.

He was not sure actually. It seemed like the darkness had always been with him and even he tried to forget it, bury it, run away from it, it was always catching up with him. Now, he even had to confront it.

Did he know Zachariah? No, he did not but maybe deep within his consciousness, he knew but had forgotten.

When nightfall came, he found a sturdy tree and climbed onto it for shelter. His eyes had grown very heavy.

"Peter! You are finally back!"

Peter awoke in surprise. He drew a long breath and instantly knew he was no longer on the tree that he fell asleep on. The air was so chilly that it felt like a stab into his brain.

The man had greeted him was none other than Zachariah himself. Now that Peter was seeing Zachariah in person and not a ghost himself, he saw that Zachariah was actually a splitting image of himself.

He got up quickly and threw his fist into Zachariah's face. The other man spit a mouthful of blood and burst into laughter.

"What a way to greet your brother!" His grin looked terrifying with blood dripping from his teeth.

"How did I come here?" Peter said.

"You don't remember, do you?" Zachariah laughed hysterically. "You wanted to come. Malum is a place that draws you when you desires it. I thought you have remembered, but looks like you don't. You are here for another reason, aren't you? Why are you here, Brother?"

"Free Mia," Peter replied, giving Zachariah a cold hard stare.

"Oh, so now it's about a woman. You don't remember me, you don't remember yourself, but you are here for a woman. Such hilarity!" Zachariah gesticulated wildly.

Peter lunged forward to heap another punch unto his twin but instead, he received a powerful hit on his abdomen. The two men were hitting each other with their naked fists till they were rolling in pain on the ground.

Zachariah kept laughing as if he was having a great deal of fun.

"Who am I?" Peter said, while tasting blood in his mouth.

Zachariah chortled in amusement. "Seriously? After all the struggle to forget, you are asking me who you are? The Darkness has never left you, hasn't it?"

Peter kept silent.

"You are The Prince of Darkness, Peter Black, my brother. You were born into darkness, breathing and living the darkness. But you are so angry with who you are, that you took the Elixir to forget everything. When I heard of the Black Knight, I knew it was you. Now gallantry and nobility is your thing right?"

"I am not like you," Peter said. His face was stricken with dread. He would not believe that he was Darkness himself. He wanted to be free person, free from the imprisonment of Darkness."

Zachariah was laughing again, and then he suddenly fell silent.

"You are just like me, Brother."