The mirrors had shown me black feathers still clinging to the skin on my back. Victor tried to pull them out, but they grew back, relentless. It hurt—like my skin and flesh were being torn apart.


    While the priest waited outside in a chaise, I noticed I''d grown taller—almost as tall as Victor now. I had aged in days, and I felt alien in my own body. My long white hair had turned silken black, my teeth yellowish and sharp, my tongue a purplish black. My eyes were vast, pupil-less ponds of black, too hollow to show emotion.


    "What am I, Victor?" I cried, but no tears stained the horror of seeing myself in that monster''s skin. His long arms wrapped me once more in the last embrace before I parted.


    "My child, my son," he said. "It''s what you are, and nothing else matters."


    "Where is he taking me?" I asked. Victor''s gaze sank to the ground.


    "I don''t know..." he murmured. "He knows if I did, I''d be by your side, and this is a test you must face alone."


    I wept and buried my face in his neck. "How will you find me when I''m done... if I survive..."


    "You will survive, and you''ll always find your way home," he said. "I believe in you."


    I packed a clean shirt and pants, and a notebook Victor said should be my diary. He begged me to write each day, claiming it''d keep me sane in isolation. That hinted he knew more about the fate awaiting me than he let on. Finally, he gave me a necklace with a rusty key dangling from it. He told me not to lose it, and when I asked why, he said I''d figure it out one day.


    "Promise me you won''t give up, Florian," he said, staring into my hollow eyes—his words crushed me. "Rebirth is harsh, but Magnus swears it''s worth it. Promise you''ll come back."


    "I promise..."


    The worst part of that day was knowing it was the last time I''d see him. I don''t know why the trust and hope I''d felt earlier melted into sadness and fear. I couldn''t even cry. It was as if those dark eyes had swallowed my tears and dried them forever.


    I climbed into the chaise, narrow and uncomfortable, and didn''t stop looking back until Victor''s face disappeared from the road. I watched the rooftops of the house shrink, the fence at the front door closing behind me, unwelcoming, as if it had cast me out.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I pressed the key against my chest and prayed—to whatever existed upon earth and men—to bring me back home safely, to see Victor''s face again. But something... something broke inside me that day.


    For two days and two nights, the chaise rushed amidst the woods, not stopping once, as if the horses were possessed by devilish creatures. But what did I know about what was hell-bound and what wasn''t? At this point, what I''d seen in myself was worse than anything I could imagine.


    We wandered across a wasteland where a fire seemed to have burned every form of life. The ground was dark and smelled of rotten flesh. The chaise stopped as Magnus blindfolded my eyes and ears with cloth, then tied my hands and wrists with rope.


    "This is for your own sake, son," he explained. "It''ll do you no good to know where we''re going or how to come back home."


    The feeling of suffocation returned, and all those times I''d been locked inside that chest in my mother''s room felt real and present. I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to break free from this prison, but I''d given my word to Victor, and he''d put all his faith in me. I imagined his smile, full of pride, and a welcoming hug. That kept the beast inside me at bay.


    When my eyes and ears were uncovered, I saw the peak of a deserted hill and heard waves crashing behind a rock building that resembled the darkest prison I''d ever read about. Greyish and dreadful, it crouched on the hill, almost floating above the ocean, its walls swallowing what little light kissed them. The giant gate, the only visible way in or out, seemed unbreakable.


    "Where are we?" I rasped. It was the first time I''d spoken since leaving home. My voice sounded harsh and low, like an old man woken from the dream of death.


    The priest smiled, but I couldn''t read what lay behind that rusty grin. "This might be the last place you step on Earth. And God help us if it happens otherwise."


    I knew then I wasn''t meant to leave that place alive. Maybe all the words he''d said to Victor were lies—or perhaps Victor knew there was no escape and couldn''t bear to be honest. I wouldn''t blame him if he did, for I was not something worth keeping. Fear coursed through my bones, so fierce I nearly ran now that I could. I wish I had, because what followed was worse than anything I''d ever imagined.


    A tall, imposing woman appeared at the gates. Thick metallic fences with spiked edges framed her. Her face was stern, devoid of compassion—I knew it the moment I saw her. I was pushed from the chaise like a captive animal, my face smashing into the dirt, my bags tossed over me like garbage. Anger surged through my veins as I twisted my neck to face the priest.


    He smiled as if shedding a mask he''d worn all along. "Take good care of this one... his father''s a powerful man. He must not return to the world of men unless he controls the curse—which we know has never happened. So toss him in the pit and forget him. Write reports for a week or two, then say he threw himself into the ocean."


    His words burned in my chest. At least now I knew Victor hadn''t been the one who betrayed me. In the blink of an eye, I leapt onto the chaise, my claws ripping holes in the wood and tearing off the door. The priest didn''t flinch, though I could''ve killed him right there—if not for the chain the woman threw around my waist, wrapping me tight and holding me back as the chaise sped away...