The Vanishing Sonata.

Carmilla's words rang in Elijah's head,

"Please save me."

Blue eyes stared deep into Elijah's. His mind was filled with shock and confusion.

The sight of the accursed Sygil was still lingering in his vision. He took a step back and stared back into her eyes.

"Why should I believe you?"

"You have to help me. They are already working to get you." She could sense Elijah's hostility toward her.

"You spin tales about mysterious people, yet you don't even know their identity." Elijah didn't want to believe a word of her story.

He refused her poison like truth. But the chill creeping up his spine knew it was real.

"For all I know of you. The one who butchered my men while smiling. This could all be an exaggerated lie.

Yes, a final trick to make me free you."

Elijah's words were lashed with denial and anger. Carmilla's desperation grew as she saw her last hope fading away.

She closed her eyes for a moment as if she was preparing herself for something.

"I'm willing to form a contract with you." She declared with a determined voice as her eyes grew desperate. It was her final attempt.

The silence filled the dark prison cell.

Elijah looked towards Sebastian, he was the only one he could trust.

Sebastian placed his hands on Elijah's shoulder as he knelt before him, bringing his face at Elijah's level.

"Young master, we must first discuss it with lord Arthur. You don't need to rush yourself."

Elijah nodded in agreement.

Sebastian stood up and faced Carmilla.

"You spoke of those who marked you. Tell me all you know about them and that mark." He commanded in an emotionless and flat voice.

————————————

The night was long and suffocating to Elijah.

Every time he closed his eyes he would see those blue eyes, pleading him from the void. Thinking about The purple sygil writhing on her severed flesh made him nauseous.

He had forced himself to dine with the Duke earlier.

Outside his window, the two moons hung in the sky, wind slithered through the leaves like whispers.

What am I supposed to do now. I can't pretend that I never saw anything. Why is this all happening to me?

I just want to be at peace.

Who are they? What do they want ?

What should I do ?

God, why are you doing this to me?

Elijah's thoughts were filled with questions with no answer. He was facing something he couldn't even imagine.

The night faded as the birds started chirping and the faint sunlight entered his room.

A soft melody entered Elijah's ears through the open window of his room.

A piano.

The music pierced through his numbness. Elijah lifted his body and sat beside the window.

"Who's playing piano at this hour?"

Elijah sat frozen by the window, soft breeze carried the scent of the morning.

He let the melody drown him. It felt like a balm against the dread he was feeling.

It stopped.

The music suddenly stopped. Anxiety coiled in his chest as he grew restless.

He started pacing around the room.

It began again.

The same tune, sweeter now. Elijah felt enchanted as he started following the music.

He was standing outside his room before his thoughts could follow.

He moved through the empty castle corridors and up the spiral stairs like a ghost.

The music swelled, it was closer now. Early morning felt cold and dark, but the piano kept pulling him gently like a mother's hand.

He drifted through the castle halls and found himself standing before a large wooden door.

Light bled from its crack, the music swirled around him.

Elijah felt rejuvenated and alive, for a moment all his lingering thoughts vanished as he opened the door and entered inside.

What he saw stole his breath,

A sanctuary illuminated by the faint morning sun. Old portraits lined the walls, it seemed like the ancestors were trapped inside them.

At the centre was a grand piano, its polished wood glowing like warm honey.

"I have been waiting for you."

A girl with raven hairs, no more than ten-years old, said while her fingers danced across the piano keys.

She wore a midnight-blue velvet gown, a moonstone pendant pulsing softly at her throat.

Her deep glacier-blue eyes, identical to Carmilla's, lifted as she looked at Elijah.

"You're Elijah" she said not pausing her playing.

"Who are you?" Elijah was still mesmerised by the melody.

"Lyra" a sad smile appeared on her face, "she's my Aunt. The one in the cell."

Before he could speak, the music changed.

Notes became like liquid mirrors, reflecting fragmented visions into Elijah's eyes.

'Carmilla laughing, braiding Lyra's hair under a normal moon.'

'Young Lyra hunched over and tracing a dust filled manuscript.'

The vision zoomed into the manuscript's pentagram.

'Purple lines of the pentagram throbbing like veins on Carmilla's skin'

'Elijah's blood fuming from his skin, his eyes burning red, as he slashed away Carmilla's limbs.'

Various other fragments of her memories were revealed to Elijah as the song intensified.

"She's all I have left." Lyra whispered through the song.

She stopped playing, turning to him. Her eyes were calm, but strange like she's looking into a fog.

Elijah noticed that her body was fading as if she was an illusion or a ghost.

"She told me things. Things I don't want to believe. Impossible things." Elijah said while observing her fading figure.

"She spoke to you? She hasn't spoken clearly to me in weeks. She Only whispered to 'them'."

"Them?" Elijah practically spat the word.

The charm of the song was over,

"What are they, girl? Ghosts like you?" Elijah gestured towards her fading figure.

"I'm not a ghost. My Aunt… she told me that she found someone who could help her. She said only you can save her."

"So she can still communicate in her state?"

Elijah was at his limits. He was clearly not ready for anything more.

His tired mind was urging him to deny everything and stay ignorant.

"Please believe her. She's being controlled by them." The girl stood up, her small fists clenched.

A deep determination filled her desperate eyes.

"Please help her. She's not just a monster." Lyra urged him as her body started fading away.

"…."

Elijah felt weird, he just stood there watching her fade away.

I might already be going insane. If not, I need to do something before it happens.

Lyra vanished from his vision as the bright morning light entered the room.

Her song had faded but Elijah now remembered everything that happened during the assault. Her song showed him the missing pieces. He could feel the rage like power burning inside him.

Suddenly a smirk appeared on Elijah's lips as the illusion around him faded, he found himself leaning on his chair beside the open window of his room.

Insanity's a luxury I can't afford.

Not when I felt her truth in the music.

Not when this hunger wakes inside me.

You hear that God? And you! the mystery bunch?

Carmilla's right. Lyra's right.

And I?

Stared at his small hands, a faint crimson aura emerged from his palm as he focused on his now awakened mana core and felt the mana coursing through his veins.

I don't need anyone else. I will make it myself.

I'll create the peace for myself.

I'm done being weak. So, let the madness come.

Watch me.

I'll save them.

No more running.