Chapter 26. March 23, 1898

Sebastian absentmindedly swirled the glass filled with a strong drink in his hand, the slowly melting ice cubes clinking. His indifferent gaze, through the glass, followed the trembling flames, gradually fading in the fireplace. His mind was practically empty, and he savored it. The only feeling bothering him right now was a vague unease creeping up to his throat. Was it related to the attempts of his memories to resurface? Unlikely. They always came with sudden, vivid flashes, giving no warning of their arrival.

He thought of Ominis, and the unease deepened. He shouldn't have let him go with Marvolo tonight, but what could he do? Lock him in their own room? Even with a wand, he probably wouldn't have managed it, considering he hadn't used magic in so many years. His wand had been broken by a court decision when he was sixteen, and it was unlikely that he would be able to get a new one in the near future. Did he feel helpless? Perhaps, to some extent. His only strength now was the power of persuasion, but it had no effect on Ominis because he was practically obsessed with Sebastian's safety, even when it contradicted common sense.

After Sebastian learned the true nature of the relationship between the brothers, he had tried to convince Ominis that they couldn't stay here, that Marvolo was far more dangerous than any external threats. Damn, if he had only been a little more attentive, he would have understood what Marvolo truly was a long time ago. But he was too focused on himself, on trying to reclaim his past. He didn't even try to care for Ominis even half as much as Ominis cared for him. At first, he could justify it by seeing Ominis as a stranger, although traces of recognition seeped through. But when his heart began to beat faster in response to Ominis' presence, to his accidental touches, and his smile, he should have started worrying about him more, started getting to know his true self better. But he was immersed in the past and missed the present. He knew almost nothing about the current, grown-up Ominis. He had constructed him from stories about their childhood and didn't ask anything. Why? Perhaps because he was afraid to find out what traumas and scars Ominis carried, because those traumas and scars belonged to both of them.

Sebastian leaned his head back against the couch, tilting his face toward the ceiling and staring at the blurry wooden ornamentation. As soon as Ominis returned, he would make him escape from here no matter what. Even if they had to hide and live in the woods like animals, he wouldn't allow Ominis to sacrifice himself for him. He sighed deeply and covered his eyes with his palm. Ominis had pulled him out of Azkaban, hidden him from pursuit in a house he would never have returned to, saved him from himself while being nearby almost round the clock. The least Sebastian could do was to pull him out of Marvolo's clutches before they pierced him through. Sebastian hoped it wasn't too late for that, but nagging anxiety tried to convince him that he was late. He tried his best to push it away and trust in hope, but he couldn't. He could only wait for Ominis to return from this dangerous nighttime adventure.

He got up from the couch, leaving the glass aside, and attempted to occupy himself by gathering the small amount of necessary belongings they had. In the wardrobe, he found an old, worn suitcase into which he began to place bottles of Wiggenweld Potion, restocked by Ominis after each of Sebastian's episodes, a packet of tea, a bottle of whiskey, and two fuzzy, prickly blankets. He had no idea where they would go or what they would need, so he tried to fit everything that could into the suitcase. "Extension сharms wouldn't hurt," he thought, but decided that for now, it was more important to keep his hands and mind busy. When Ominis returned and cast the spells, they would stow away the remaining items and make their escape. For a few minutes, the anxiety in Sebastian's heart eased, and he even allowed himself to exhale in relief and believe that things might work out after all. His imagination tentatively began to offer him cozy and warm images of a possible future, but he continued to brush them aside, not allowing hope to take root too deeply.

He tried to shut down his mind again when reality brought him back with a quiet rumbling behind the locked door. Ominis was placing powerful sealing charms on the door and windows of their room every time they entered or left it, and he checked their reliability thoroughly, especially when he had to leave Sebastian alone for a few minutes. These charms not only prevented anyone from entering the room in the usual way but also prevented Apparation or the use of spells like Alohomora. So even Ominis had to spend some time in front of their door, removing the charms and then reapplying them. Sometimes, this took more time than the task he left the room for. But Sebastian considered this procedure necessary and never argued with Ominis about it, even though until yesterday, he hadn't known why it was truly necessary. Every time Ominis returned, Sebastian heard his quiet fuss behind the door, and sometimes, he could even distinguish his voice muttering counter-spells. However, today's commotion and the barely audible muted groan that followed were nothing like the usual sounds. He approached the door with concern, listening carefully and saying nothing. His heart beat anxiously in his chest, his palms were sweaty, and his toes grew cold. Something had gone wrong. He could feel it. He heard another quiet moan, the heavy creaking of shoes, a muffled thud as a hand hit the door to help support a body. Sebastian nervously swallowed and took a step back to allow the door to open unhindered. His hearing caught a few magical incantations, uttered in a hoarse and seemingly unfamiliar whisper. After that, the door suddenly burst open, and Ominis almost fell through it. Sebastian rushed forward and caught him with his hands, preventing him from falling. His eyes widened in horror, and a frightened gasp almost escaped his throat. Ominis was covered in blood, his once straight nose now shattered, his always impeccably groomed hair in disarray, with several strands crimson and stiff from dried blood. His clothing was partially torn, and one of his hands was horribly swollen, hanging limply by his side. Sebastian had questions stuck in his throat. He hadn't even closed the door when he dragged the pain-twisted Ominis toward the bed. He couldn't look at him but couldn't look away either. Under the crust of dried blood, bruises and contusions were slowly starting to bloom. The gash on his brow had split open when Ominis' face contorted again, and a bright-red fresh trickle ran down his cheek to his chin. He tried to straighten his legs and help Sebastian lay him on the bed, but they seemed to refuse, turning into two useless sticks. When Sebastian carefully sat Ominis on the bed, holding him up from behind to place him gently, he let out a loud, painful scream, and tears spurted from his eyes. He probably wasn't even aware of it. Sebastian tried to lay Ominis down, but he grasped Sebastian's wrist with the battered fingers of his uninjured hand and brought his face closer to his own. It was impossible to read any emotions on his face, but Sebastian still tried, unable to utter a word due to the overwhelming despair.

Too late.

Those words pounded furiously in his mind, growing larger and larger with each beat, obliterating everything else.

"Seb... Sebastian..." Ominis wheezed with incredible effort, his torn vocal cords barely producing those sounds, "we... No time... We need to go... Take... Wiggenweld Potion... And we'll Apparate..."

Sebastian wanted to say something, but not a single word could break through the suffocating lump of despair in his throat. He stepped back, pulling away from Ominis, nodding dumbfoundedly, not realizing that Ominis couldn't see it. He couldn't take his eyes off his friend's maimed and broken body, barely holding onto life. He didn't even want to think about what had happened, but his inflamed brain kept replaying Ominis' screams and tears from the soft touch of bed on his buttocks and thighs. Sebastian felt an intense, all-consuming rage and the desire to kill Marvolo the moment he saw him, even without a wand. But he knew he couldn't think about that right now. They had to get out of here, and he had to take care of Ominis. The next wave that washed over him was absolute guilt, overshadowing everything that came before it, momentarily blinding him physically. He staggered and his hands shook, but he still grabbed the bag, shaking everything he had put in there onto the floor to get to the vials of healing potion. No matter where they ended up, they couldn't brew it fast enough, so it was imperative that they take it with them. Sebastian hurriedly stuffed the vials into his pockets, breaking a couple of them, but paying absolutely no attention to it.

"Not so fast, my dears," he heard from the direction of the door, and without even turning around, he recognized Marvolo's ominously sweet voice, "Depulso!"

Sebastian was instantly thrown into the corner of the room. Sparks flew from his eyes, and for a moment, everything before him turned black before regaining its shape. The impact against the wall knocked all the air out of his lungs, and for several seconds, he couldn't breathe, helplessly opening and closing his mouth. He slowly got up, coughing. Rage once again consumed his consciousness, fiery redness pulsed at the periphery of his vision. A broad, insane grin split his face as he clenched and unclenched his fists, moving toward Marvolo, who at that moment was most concerned with Ominis, trying to sit up straight and raise the suddenly heavy wand with his trembling hand.

"Expelliarmus! Accio!" Marv roared without pauses and smirked triumphantly as his fingers tightly gripped Ominis' wand. He had considered breaking it, and the wood had already creaked under the pressure, but he changed his mind and stashed it in his pocket. He gingerly touched his split lip with his thumb, gently dabbing the blood, and licked it.

Let Ominis have been nearly destroyed by him tonight, but without any attempts to resist and protect himself, he didn't give in. Yet, was it really for the best or should he have endured all the torment silently, without fighting back? When the torture ended, and Ominis regained consciousness in a pool of his own blood, nearly naked and shattered by pain all over his body, he began to understand that his resistance would not only harm him but also Sebastian. But he simply could not control his body in those terrible minutes or even hours when Marvolo inflicted injury after injury on him, when he rubbed him into the floor, twisting his joints, when he said such disgusting things in his ear that Ominis wanted to forget yet more than the physical pain experienced. And now he could not wash off his tongue with either saliva or blood the bitterness of regret that he tried to resist, forgetting about the threats of his older brother, which he would certainly bring to life.

When he heard the sound of Sebastian's body hitting the wall and falling to the floor, he gritted his teeth and tried to attack Marvolo, but from the outside, it looked like a lifeless corpse attempting to move. When the wand effortlessly slipped out of his fingers and ended up in someone else's hands, he clenched his teeth and helplessly slid to the floor, along with the blanket. A wave of nausea overwhelmed him as the blood that had accumulated in his stomach stirred. He turned his face toward Marv, nearly impervious to the pain now, feeling only the animalistic urge to tear apart and annihilate his older brother before he could touch Sebastian again.

However, Marvolo just laughed playfully and cheerfully, admiringly shifting his gaze from one young man to the other. He had never been a powerful wizard, but the dozen spells he knew and used, along with his immense physical strength, were enough to win many fights. Unforgivable Curses rolled off his lips with the same speed and ease as Wingardium Leviosa from a first-year's mouth. It seemed he had never thought about the consequences of using these spells ever since his older cousins taught him how to use them. He preferred to believe that they were in Azkaban precisely because they paid too much attention to questions of forbidden and permitted magic. And all it took was to leave no one alive to keep the Ministry from finding out who was hunting Muggles again. And to have no wizards in his close circle who disagreed with his views. Marvolo ran his tongue along his lower lip and smirked again.

"I did warn you, little Ominis, didn't I?" he said with a tone that expressed extreme satisfaction that Ominis had not heeded these warnings, "so now you'll have to watch how your lovely companion pays the price for you. And consider whether it's worth resisting next time."

Marvolo turned his gaze towards Sebastian just as he was a couple of steps away from delivering a punch to Marvolo's jaw. Marvolo's smirk widened when he noticed Sebastian's fists trembling with rage. For a moment, he even considered letting Sebastian come closer and allow him to land a blow, but that would be foolish. He already had one bruise, and he didn't want to disfigure himself further. He raised his wand, his mouth slightly agape in anticipation, realizing he wouldn't have to use it. Sebastian froze, his eyes widened, and the fire in them dimmed. He stopped perceiving the current moment and instead witnessed an entirely different battle, one that ended in Anne's death seven years ago. He fell to his knees and pressed his palms to his face, but after a few seconds, his head jerked back, and he let out a scream filled with the old, buried pain that his consciousness had been desperately trying to suppress. His body convulsed, and he clutched it with his hands, trying to fight this state. He desperately grasped for reality, but visions of the past were whipping him, knocking him off his feet, and disconnecting him from the present. Marvolo crossed his arms over his chest, watching with interest, trying to make out the words Sebastian was shouting, writhing in pain and barely coordinating his limbs as he attempted to reach Ominis.

"Why have you never mentioned this delightful feature of your friend before? He shouldn't be in Azkaban but in St. Mungo's," Marvolo said with a pleased and slightly surprised tone. The already intriguing evening was becoming even more interesting for him.

When Ominis reached out towards the hysterical Sebastian, trembling, trying to grab his cloak and pull him close, Marvolo easily intercepted his wrist with his fingers and pulled him towards himself. It seemed that Ominis' body weighed nothing to him because his muscles under the cloak didn't even bulge with tension as he effortlessly lifted his younger brother up with one hand, drawing him closer. He firmly pressed Ominis' back to his chest, wrapping his arm around his waist, and securely pinning his left hand to his body. With his other hand, he pulled Ominis' wand out of his pocket and placed it in his palm with a feigned concern and tenderness, intertwining their fingers so that he could freely control his wrist. A faint reddish light appeared at the tip of the wand, indicating that Ominis could now see everything clearly. Marvolo raised the wand in their joined hands to Ominis' eye level, turned, and leaned in so that Sebastian, desperately trying to tear his own skin with his nails, was right in front of his younger brother's face.

"What happened to him, little Ominis? Did you do this to him?" Marvolo asked venomously, gripping the struggling Ominis tightly, "and even if it wasn't you... right now, you're to blame for not being able to help him. All you can do is watch attentively. And don't even think about closing your eyes, or you'll regret it."

"Marv, please," Ominis whispered almost inaudibly. Every sound that escaped his mouth was met with a cutting pain in his throat, with the repulsive metallic taste of blood. Nausea washed over him again, but he swallowed hard, "I'll do absolutely anything you say. I won't resist or scream. Let me help him."

"No, Ominis. You've pushed the limits and completely shattered my trust when your tiny, gentle fist landed on my face so ungently," Marvolo whined in an offended tone, resting his chin on Ominis' shoulder and applying pressure, "you better obey to me now, and then maybe I'll allow one of you to survive this night. Perhaps even both of you, if you behave very well."

"Marv, he could harm himself. He could... kill himself," Ominis mumbled and sobbed. If Marvolo had no idea what Sebastian was muttering, what those names and words meant that broke through his agonizing cries and tears, it was clear to Ominis that his friend's consciousness was now in that very dungeon where their entire life had collapsed, where Anne, his dearest and closest person, had perished by his own hands.

"Well, well, don't cry... This will still be your fault, not mine, Ominis. I don't give a damn about him, and you haven't done anything to have a chance to help him now," Marvolo said, smiling and tightly holding Ominis in this repulsive, painful embrace.

"Please... I beg you..." Ominis whispered, but Marv just shook his head slowly, continuing to make him look straight ahead, right at Sebastian.

Sebastian writhed on the floor in uncontrollable spasms; his muscles reacted to the heavy memories as sharply and painfully as his brain. He gasped with cries, interspersed with howling and whimpering, sounds only a wounded, dying beast could make. He gazed at Anne's lifeless body lying on the smooth marble floor in front of him, instantly frozen and breathless, her eyes staring blankly ahead. He gazed at that shell, which held the most beautiful and purest soul of all for sixteen long yet insanely short years.

He shifted his gaze to his hands, stained with blood, and saw the hem of his robe soaked in blood, slowly rising towards his ankles. Or it was he who descending into that fiery, salty ocean? The pristine white marble around Anne's body still shone brightly with purity, blinding his eyes. Her skin began to display violet and burgundy patches, her eyes sunk into her skull, her hair fell out.

Sebastian fell to his knees with a muted splash, clutching his head with his hands, and screamed again, piercingly, mournfully, horrifyingly. The darkened and withered hand, once belonging to his sister, rose and pointed at him with a finger. Her head slowly turned towards Sebastian. The lips, fused and rotten, opened with difficulty, and a hoarse, otherworldly whisper uttered, "It's all your fault, Sebastian. All because of you."

The blood had already reached his waist, it was so thick and viscous that it hindered his movements. He covered his face with his hands, hearing his own scream from all sides, feeling the pain in his body, which was somewhere else. He just wanted it to finally end. No one and nothing could help him escape this hell, and he knew it. No matter how hard Ominis tried, he would never heal his soul, he would never be able to reconcile him with the past. Without past Sebastian Sallow, there is only his imitation, his shell, capable of loving someone only halfway. "I don't want to make all these sacrifices, Sebastian," he heard a familiar voice and removed his hands from his face.

Next to Anne's body stood Ominis, deathly pale, with an expression of absolute indifference on his face, on which blood was flowing, dripping from his icy eyes. He thrust his fingers into his chest with a sharp movement, and they sank softly into his flesh, like into a sponge cake. "I've already given you everything I have, except for my still-beating heart," he pulled out a hand from his chest, in which a bloody red lump was pulsating, "do you want to take that too? Why?" Ominis tilted his head questioningly, and the skin on his neck tore open, revealing bright red veins intertwined with blue and crimson vessels. Sebastian screamed even louder; his fingers began to tear his own skin. He wanted to escape from here, to stop feeling this pain, to stop seeing those he had hurt, to stop feeling this overwhelming guilt. Meanwhile, the hot blood had almost reached his chest.

Marvolo continued to tightly hold Ominis, forcing him to watch Sebastian convulsing on the floor. Ominis pleaded silently with someone invisible to stop what was happening, but in his chest, there was a glimmer of hope that everything would be fine. How many times similar episodes had occurred with Sebastian in Azkaban could only be guessed. No one helped him cope with them, no one healed his wounds, and yet he survived. But watching this was still excruciatingly painful. He wanted to turn away, to close his eyes, but Marvolo only gripped their fingers on the wand tighter, compelling Ominis to keep watching. He bit his lip until it bled, trying not to make a sound, trying not to provoke Marvolo into even more cruel madness.

Suddenly, they heard a sharp crunch. Ominis jumped in fear. This crunch sounded so much like the sound of Sebastian crushing a glass with his hand. But he didn't see any glass anywhere. After a few seconds, he smelled the rich herbal scent of Wiggenweld Potion, and his eyes were fixed on Sebastian's hand, which he had difficulty putting into his pocket and pulling out a handful of shards from under the potion vials. Everything that happened next took less than five seconds, but to Ominis, it felt like an entire century. He seemed to see every speck of dust swirling in the air, every microscopic wrinkle on Sebastian's skin, every groove and irregularity on the wand that Marv pressed against his cheek.

Sebastian's gaze cleared and rested on Ominis' face. It was heavy and dark, but deep within, those mischievous sparks sparkled, those little devils danced, the same ones that anyone who knew Sebastian Sallow in his school years could recognize. His lips curved into a smile that made Ominis' heart sink to his heels.

"No, Sebastian, please," he whispered hoarsely, freezing in place. On that beloved face, he read everything in an instant, everything he couldn't decipher over this long month. His eyes welled up with tears, and his lips trembled, but Sebastian only smiled wider in response.

"Forgive me, Ominis," Sebastian said in an absolutely calm, quiet voice, again tugging at the corners of his lips mournfully, "I don't want you to keep sacrificing yourself."

His hand tightened around one of the large fragile shards. It rose upward, seeming to take an eternity, and throughout that eternity, Sebastian never stopped grinning and looking into Ominis' face, which had become unrecognizable. He once again tried to break free from his brother's firm grip, but it only grew stronger. Marvolo was spellbound, his eyes fixed on what was unfolding before him, without any intention of intervening. 

With a quiet, moist sound, the shard pierced Sebastian's neck on the right side, precisely penetrating the carotid artery. His hand jerked a few times and then pulled it back, allowing the bright red salty liquid to gush out. Sebastian took one final breath before letting the blood crawl up to his crown and cover him entirely.

Ominis let out a piercing scream as Sebastian's body fell into a rapidly spreading pool of blood beneath him. Marvolo's hands loosened their grip, and Ominis lunged forward, despite instantly losing sight of the room around him. He no longer felt the pain from Marvolo's torments on his body; he only felt the tearing sensation of boundless love and equally boundless despair. He would never be able to fill this gaping void within himself again.

When he reached Sebastian's body and pressed it against himself, his trousers and the hem of his cloak were soaked through with blood. Without realizing what he was doing, he cradled Sebastian's lifeless form in his arms, traced his fingers across his face, leaving invisible crimson streaks. He whispered everything to Sebastian that he hadn't had a chance to say but desperately wanted to. He couldn't believe that the only person he had loved so passionately and unconditionally would never speak to him again, never touch him again, never make him feel anything but this endless pain and loneliness.

He barely audibly pleaded with Sebastian to open his eyes, choking and gasping. He pressed Sebastian's slowly cooling hand against his cheek, kissing it with lips wet from tears and blood. It's impossible. He didn't want to believe that it had been so difficult for Sebastian to return to a normal life, that he might not have wanted to come back here at all. Had Ominis truly been unable to help him? Had he once again made a massive mistake that was now beyond correction? Was his life merely a series of wrong decisions that had led to the death of the person dearest to his heart? He should have kept his distance from Sebastian and Anne right from the start. He should have ignored their greetings and inquiries back on the Hogwarts Express. After all, he was a Gaunt, and all Gaunts were incarnations of evil, bearing only pain and death. Why had he realized this only now?

He held the lifeless body of the most precious being in the universe even tighter, but tears no longer streamed down his cheeks. His eyes darkened, and the gentle, sapphire-blue glow turned into an unfathomable, lifeless abyss.

"Well, well, what's going on..." Marvolo said with surprise and a hint of disappointment in his voice. Ominis' wand snapped in his hands with a crunch, and he discarded the broken halves into the corner of the room, but Ominis didn't even hear it. Swirling around on his heels, Marvolo Gaunt adjusted his cloak and calmly walked out of the room, casting one last assessing, unsympathetic look at Ominis before leaving.