Chapter 8: Reflections of Betrayal

Ida felt angry and furious. Her body trembled slightly. Tears streamed down her cheeks, wetting her face. At that moment, she wanted to destroy something. She took off the ring that restrained her power. She looked around angrily. She pressed her left hand against the oak tree next to the bench she was sitting on. She allowed her anger and venom to flow into the tree.

Within two minutes, the tree's leaves began to turn yellow, and its branches and trunk started to wither.

When Ida withdrew her hand, the tree was nothing more than dead wood. Yet, Ida's anger had not subsided. She still wanted to destroy something.

Suppressing this feeling, she put the ring back on her finger and started walking home quickly. She was still crying out of rage. When she arrived home, she threw herself onto her bed. She pressed her pillow against her face and screamed as loud as she could.

She had been betrayed. She had considered Batuhan a friend, trusted him, and felt safe with him. But Batuhan had pushed her away.

As for Atilla… He had warned Ida. But she hadn't listened to him.

When her scream into the pillow ended, the silence that echoed in her room began to hum in her ears. Tears were still streaming down her face, but this time, it was more out of deep disappointment than anger. Her trust in Batuhan was shattered, and Atilla's words started to resonate in her mind.

Among the complex emotions within her, one thing became clear: she had lost her trust in Batuhan. Every moment she had shared with him, every secret exchanged, now surfaced in her mind as toxic memories. Atilla's warning echoed once more in her head. "Why didn't I listen to him?" she thought. Perhaps he really knew something; perhaps Batuhan was truly dangerous. But this thought only brought her more pain.

Ida stood up and began pacing restlessly in her room. Her mind was filled with anger toward Batuhan, while at the same time, she was trying to suppress the urge of her dark power to escape uncontrollably. She had never been so angry at anyone before; no one had ever made her feel such a deep sense of betrayal.

For a moment, she paused and found herself in front of the mirror. When she looked at her reflection, she saw a girl she no longer recognized. The girl who once trusted Batuhan and felt safe with him was now replaced by someone who had succumbed to her powers, unsure of what to do with her anger.

She took a deep breath and sat back on her bed. She was aware of her power, and the temptation to use it gnawed at her mind. But at the same time, this power was a sign of how much harm she could cause if it went unchecked, just like the tree she had just killed.

As Ida struggled to cope with these growing dark emotions inside her, she knew she had to make a decision. She was no longer sure whom to trust, but somehow, she had to learn the truth. She thought confronting Batuhan was meaningless. That door was closed now. But Atilla… Atilla knew something, and what he had said still echoed within Ida.