The Scent of Death

Talia wasn't going to think of the past nor was she going to think of the shadows of that man. Even though his lips burned the skin where he had kissed her, Talia didn't want to think of what kind of burn she'd get if she imagined more of those.

"Where have you been? Mama has been looking for you!" Peter came rushing to stand before her when she reached the entrance of the manor. "We've been looking for you!"

Talia didn't like his tone when he spoke to her. However, she chose to ignore it since the urgency in his voice and the way his face was pallid made her heart jump in her throat.

"I just went for a few minutes to see Lily. What happened while I was out?" Talia strode over into the staircase and ascended it with her Peter, now her little brother.

"Papa is hurting. He kept on screaming, saying it hurts!" Peter hurried behind his sister.

Hearing this, Talia knew her heart was not wrong to jump to her throat. Just as they got into the landing on the second floor of the manor, she heard raspy shouting coming from the master's bedroom.

"IT HURTS!"

The sound was almost like a howl of a demon. But the voice was too close to what their Pa would sound like.

Talia and Peter looked at each other before rushing to the bedroom. There, they saw their Mama crying helplessly on the side of the bed, holding their Papa's hand, who was thrashing on the bed while the doctor and Gilbert, the coachman and good friend of their Papa, were trying to hold him down.

However, as if Albert Ashbourne, who was now thin and malnourished, still had strength in his body, he single-handedly pushed Gilbert off of his body.

"Mama! Papa!" Peter called out and ran to the side of the bed right next to his mother. "I brought Talia with me!"

Talia stood by the door, staring at the chaos inside the room. She looked at the doctor, who shook his head, before moving her gaze away to stare at Gilbert, who spoke first as he walked to stand in front of her, "The same symptoms he suffered from two years ago. There are no wounds or infections. But Albert is feeling the pain."

She looked away from Mr. Gilbert was a good friend of the man who had adopted her and whom she grew accustomed to calling 'Papa' over the two years she had stayed in Ashbourne Manor.

"There could be something else. Maybe… Maybe we can find something else. Please have the doctor check Papa once more." The doctor standing in the room was the fifth doctor who had been hired to cure their father. Everyone was losing hope already, but Talia didn't want to think of the worst.

How could things turn so badly? She had just left the manor for only a short moment to see Lily's wedding. Why did Papa's attacks happen now?

Gilbert looked at the daughter that his friend had adopted and sighed. Even though it took only two short years for them to be together, the Ashbourne family was so close to each other that nobody would ever question their bonds. No one would even think that Talia didn't belong to the family two years ago.

"Talia! Hurry here now!" Peter hurried his older sister to come to their side.

Talia looked at his brother and then at Mr. Gilbert. The latter nodded his head then he called the doctor out of the room, leaving the family to have their last goodbyes to Albert. Talia stepped out of their way when they left the room. And when they were finally out, she closed the door and stepped into the room.

As soon as she took a step forward, she felt a bile rising into her throat as the strong scent came crashing into her in full force.

It was the same scent she smelled on him when Papa arrived in the manor. At that time, it was still faint, but as the attacks on him became frequent, the indistinguishable scent continued to grow.

However, today's scent was too strong. It filled Talia's senses as if it was a cloak made of an animal's fur. But multiple the amount of fur that covered her.

It was too much.

The scent of death coming from Papa was so strong that it was almost visible.

A hand suddenly clasped around Talia's wrist, making her flinch in fear that it was the hands of Death. When she looked down, she saw Peter's eyes looking up at her with tears still staining the corners of it.

"Talia, will…Will Papa really leave us?" the little boy, now a bit taller, squeaked his voice as he cried.

Talia wanted to comfort the little boy and say that their Papa won't leave them. But there's nothing to be done.

Unless…

Talia glanced at the bed where Papa, who was still thrashing and fighting the pain that was clawing at his brain and heart.

"Talia…" Albert seemed to regain a bit of his consciousness, staring at her through his half-lidded eyes. As if he could read what she was thinking, he mouthed the words, "Don't do it."

Talia swallowed the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks.

"I have to do it, Papa," she whispered to him as she kneeled close to him. She held his sunken cheeks in her hand and tears spilled down her cheeks. "Just… Just wait for a bit longer."

Death was too close. Far too close than what she wanted.

Mama seemed to have perceived the exchange between the two and she raised her gaze to look at Talia, who slowly nodded her head.

Seemingly understanding something and also not completely realizing what was happening, Mama grabbed Peter's hand before the boy could speak. She dragged the boy to the door and left the room despite him trying to grab on anything he could grab his hands on.

The room was finally emptied aside from her and the man lying on the bed.

"Don't… You don't have to do this." The man lying on the bed forced out a sentence over the pain that continued to attack him.

Talia smiled bitterly as she raised a hand to place above his forehead, "Don't worry about anything and just sleep, Papa."

"No–"

Before the man could finish his words, darkness swallowed everything around him.

Inside the room, Talia bathed in the silence that was eerily unpleasant. The scent of death grew even stronger when the man fell asleep. But she wouldn't allow it to come even an inch closer today.

Talia called upon the powers that she was so afraid of using. She had wanted to live normally during these past two years, hiding the powers that she used against the undead creature. However, Papa's attacks had been quite frequent. She had to use a tiny drop of it to ease the pain away without anyone knowing.

Papa still found out anyway. And he had forbidden her from using it again. He told her he'd rather die than have her use it on him.

But the current situation forces her to do it again despite the fact that she also didn't want to use the gift of power inside of her.

Because more than anything, Talia was afraid of the power inside of her rather than death himself.