Ch10: The Great Sacrifice

"Ugh!" Valeska let out a weak squeal as Hadeon kicked her roughly. V collapsed helplessly, coughing and choked.

V's eyes were stinging from the thick blood seeping from her head wound. She tried to figure out what was going on. They surrounded her, giggling like demons, in a strange, dark, dank room. The stench of blood as sharp as iron wafted across the icy tile floor until her hands were sticky with traces of her own blood.

A ghastly grin between their jaws, with a predatory look in their eyes that seemed to be eager to do something vile to Valeska.

The rumble of lightning flashes like the work of a gigantic camera flash, a gruesome scar under her hooded jacket revealing Shivani's left face shattered—after Valeska had defended herself, jabbing the broken glass repeatedly; she had no choice as they were endangering Nero's life. The look in Shivani's eyes was full of vengeance, hatred, and a desire to kill her.

"You all—how did you find me?" V was shivering from the cold, breathing hard.

Hadeon hissed hatefully, then stomped furiously on Valeska's head. V grumbled in horror ache, the flood of blood in her head rushing even more. Then Hadeon spat, "You think you can just walk away? Live happily ever after?! I won't let it happen! Your life will always end up like scum! Not even your death! How dare you try to kill us! You're insane and exhausted of your pathetic life, bitch! Because of you, Dad is in a coma right now! You destroyed our home!"

V chuckled in between growls of excruciating illness. "Oh, yeah. Y'all living on the streets now? Congratulations on your foolishness! You deserve it!"

Once again, the crowbar in Hadeon's hand flew, hitting Valeska's face. The sound of metal clashing with jawbone; V's world seemed to stop spinning. The white spectrum blinded her eyes. Hadeon wanted to hit Valeska once more, but Shivani held him back.

"Not now, Hadeon! I wanna make her suffer first! You hear me, bitch?! After we've had our fill of torturing you. It will be their turn to defile your body! Not even a dog will be willing to eat your carcass!" Shivani chuckled cruelly, her hand gripping a dagger with a shiny, pointed tip.

V laughed bitterly, her bloodshot eyes flashing with rage. All this time she had acted foolishly; abusive actions in any form were things that should not be tolerated. She never regretted striking back at them. "That's good news. Without me, you just useless parasites. Why don't you all just die?"

"YOU BASTARD!" Hadeon brutally hit Valeska's back with the crowbar.

The sound of breaking bones rang out loudly, and under the thunderous explosion of lightning, Valeska growled in soreness. She was finding it increasingly tough to move. V's breath was intermittent, and she hissed hatefully, spitting blood. "That's all you can do, losers!" 

Hadeon threw the crowbar away in disgust, this time pulling out a pistol from under his jacket. His patience was burning out. "Come on! Talking out of your ass again! I'll blow your head off!"

"Fuck you!" V cursed hatefully—she had never been afraid of death. In fact, she was eager to die, but fate always forced her back to life. "I do not fear death!"

Shivani bent down, grazing Valeska's face with the pointed end of her dagger. "You're gonna feel the excruciating ache I'm going through! Even worse than I feel, you bastard! When I thrust this dagger into your face so many times, can you still act so tough?! I can't wait to see you get ripped to shreds soon!"

Valeska shut her eyes as Shivani raised her dagger in the air. She prepared to tear her face apart while giggling viciously. Shivani bellowed smugly. "Oh! Let's enjoy your nightmare torture!"

"Argh!" but Shivani shrilled when a black flame with a red glow flared up, devouring and burning her hand that was holding the dagger. Shivani was frightened with misery; she screamed in despair as if a madman as the black flames grew even larger—and consumed her entire right arm. "HADEON, HELP ME! MY HAND! SHIT!"

"Asshole! Where did that fire come from?!" Hadeon swore, reaching out to help Shivani. "Roll over, Shivani!" He opened his sweater, hitting Shivani's hand with it.

"Damn it, the fire keeps getting bigger!" Shivani cursed in horror, the burning pressure melting all over her skin, scorching part of her right hand. "Hadeon! Do something! It hurts!"

Surprisingly, the fire continued to spread until it burned through Hadeon's sweater, maximizing his backing away from Shivani, who ran out of the abandoned warehouse, screaming, raving in despair as if a man possessed, and falling down in agony under the lash rain, hoping that the fire would die out. "NO! THIS DAMN FIRE KEEPS BURNING ME! IT'S SCORCH! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"What the hell happened?!" Hadeon was disgusted in the doorway of the warehouse; his eyes widened wildly; he could do nothing but watch Shivani, who screamed hysterically, even under the lash rain, did not make the black fire go out. Hadeon's guts shrank; he was too cowardly to reach out, considering his sweater was burnt to dust. With one hand cupping his head, Hadeon yelled furiously, as he couldn't believe that he let Shivani die by burning so badly. Hadeon was bewildered in temper. "Oh my, Shivani!"

V didn't know exactly what was happening; between her weakness and distress, she tried to move slowly.

Hadeon was sobbing, his right hand still firmly gripping his pistol, his face bright red. He turned to Valeska. Pointing the gun at her head. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER? Damn it! You must have done something to her, huh?!"

V cackled maniacally and hissed. "That's karma for her; burning is not enough. May you burn forever in hell!"

"LET ME GO! Y'ALL BASTARD! VALESKA!"

"I found this bastard hiding, and he has seen our faces!" Hadeon's companion held Nero's neck hostage with a knive. "You're telling me our only business is with that fucking girl?!"

V's body shivered, her bloodied face pale as if she had just seen a ghost. She couldn't fathom why Nero was here! "No, Nero... how..." 

"Shut up!" Hadeon outraged, his eyes glaring fiercely, his face crimson under the dim warehouse light. He pointed desperately at Shivani's charred corpse burned by the fire out there. "You didn't see what happened to my sister! It shouldn't have been her who died! It's to be you, bitch!"

"V!" Nero growled; he collapsed—feeling stinging in his ribs; watching Hadeon kick Valeska brutally in the ribs too. He shouted in despair. "You're such an asshole! Let her go!"

Ares, let me out... sooner or later you knew this would happen... you can't escape your destiny. No matter how much you try, not wanting to acknowledge my existence, the time has come... ever since you met that girl. It's high time you used my divine power! Only I can save you both!

In between the four bastards arguing, something terrible happened to Nero; his body seemed to be on fire. In his subconscious, he saw that horrible figure again.

"Nero..." V cried out the name weakly; she crawled slowly, trying to reach Nero's hand, who was curled up in illness.

The burst pressure of the great power that had been sleeping inside Nero's child body grunted. A terrible disaster was about to happen in this place. Nero shut his eyes, unable to resist the onslaught of this power that was growing crazier. Seeing Valeska being tortured inhumanely ignited his wrath.

There was nothing Nero wanted now but to kill those who had dared to harm Valeska.

Temper, hatred, and vengeance that will awaken me... the god of death... yes, that's it, Ares. Be rageful, be hateful, be vengeful! KILL THEM!

"Shut the hell up! I'm not a monster!" Nero refuted; all his life he hated this damned power. Which only brought disaster, destruction, and horrible death around him. Nero couldn't show it, peculiarly before V's eyes. He could have lost Valeska if he let this terrible power rise.

Nero must not hurt V.

The blackish veins all over Nero's body stood out clearly. The monster's growling sound now filled his entire head cavity. It was vivid. It flowed throughout the bloodstream in his veins. 

You need me... for her safety. Or you want to watch her die... won't you die too if she dies? We're not monsters! We're gods of hellfire of death! YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT!

Nero squirmed, black smoke starting to rise from the pores of his skin.

"This is messed up! He has seen our faces! What should we do now?"

Hadeon snorted in exasperation, fed up with the cowardly behaviour of his comrades. After Shivani died in such a horrible way, Hadeon's mission had changed; Valeska and that damn boy had to die! "I'll kill them both!" he pointed his gun at Nero's head. "I know! It's all on you! Ever since you came, terrible calamities have befallen my family! What have you done, damn boy?! You're cursed!"

"No, asshole, stay away from Nero!" V punched Hadeon's leg repeatedly, the situation getting more minefield. Hadeon could go insane and shoot Nero. V tried to block Hadeon even though, in the end, a hard kick shattered Valeska's ribs again. She coughed violently.

"It's all on you! You must die, little shit!" Hadeon strident. Three shots of rage-filled decay shouted viciously under the explosion of lightning.

I swear, nothing bad will happen to you, right, Nero?

Faced with a precarious time, Valeska's power suddenly peaked; it happened rapidly; bullets rushed in that split second, aiming for Nero's life. V had no time to breathe; her heart seemed to stop beating. She only hoped to save Nero in time. She had once failed to protect her younger brother, and he died a horrible death.

She can't let that damned loss happen again. 

Valeska desperately got up, hugging Nero into her arms—three deadly 50-caliber bullets pierced V's back, which blew up her lungs, stomach, and heart.

Nero's terror howling teared up the cold air. "No! VALESKA!!"

***