Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"It must be done." Collin's voice, firm and resolute, cut through the thin wall, silencing Haylee's simpering. "For the baby. For Haylee. Master Feng is never wrong."

The words were a hammer blow, one after another. My heart' s blood. The Snow Lotus. A journey alone. It was a death sentence, disguised as a spiritual quest. My body, already a patchwork of pain and stitches, convulsed with a silent sob. I had no strength left. No fight left.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a violent crash. The impact sent a fresh wave of agony through my skull, my vision blurring. I saw Collin standing there, his face a mask of shock, then anger. He hadn't expected me to be conscious, to overhear their monstrous plan.

Behind him, Haylee emerged, clutching a small, gleaming dagger in her hand. Her face was twisted into a grotesque parody of concern, her eyes gleaming with a sick excitement. "Oh, Kira-boo! You're awake! Master Feng says we need to get started right away!"

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, a dry, rattling sound. I looked at Collin, my eyes burning with a cold, dead fury. "So, this is it?" I rasped, my voice barely a whisper. "You're going to sacrifice me for that pathetic little creature? My heart's blood? Are you going to murder me yourself, Collin?"

He flinched, his eyes darting away from mine, a flicker of something that resembled shame crossing his face. "Kira, you heard... you shouldn't have been listening!" He stammered, like a child caught in a lie. He still couldn't look me in the eye. "It's not... it's for Haylee. For the baby. You can't have children anyway, Kira. It's for the greater good."

The casual dismissal of my existence, the casual cruelty, was too much. With a surge of adrenaline, I pushed myself forward, my hand connecting with his cheek with a resounding slap. The sound cracked through the tense silence. His head snapped back, a red mark blooming on his pale skin.

He stared at me, his eyes wide, then slowly raised a hand to his face. "You... you hit me." A strange, almost bewildered expression crossed his features. "I deserve that, don't I, Kira? I know you're angry. But come on, baby, Haylee needs this. She's delicate. Just cooperate. It'll be over quickly."

Before I could respond, he grabbed my arm, his grip like iron, effectively pinning me. "Haylee," he commanded, his voice suddenly hard. "Do it."

Haylee' s face lit up with a terrifying glee. She approached me, the dagger glinting in her hand. Her eyes, usually so vacuous, now held a chilling glint of pure, unadulterated malice. She raised the blade.

I closed my eyes, bracing for the inevitable. The sharp sting of the blade. But it wasn' t my heart. It was my arm. A quick, searing pain. Haylee shrieked again, not in pain, but in feigned horror. "Oh, no! I pricked her! I'm so clumsy!" she wailed, immediately looking at Collin for reassurance.

Collin, his face grim, stroked her hair. "It's okay, baby. You're doing great. Just a little more. You need a full vial."

The world swam. I slumped against Collin, my strength draining with my blood. I bit down hard on my lip, refusing to give them the satisfaction of a scream. Haylee, emboldened by Collin's approval, plunged the dagger into my arm again, and again, and again, until a small, ornate vial she held was filled with my lifeblood. Each stab was a fresh torment, each drop of blood a further testament to their depravity. My vision flickered at the edges, my body growing cold.

Finally, she pulled the dagger free, holding up the full vial with a triumphant grin. Master Feng, who had emerged from behind Collin, snatched the vial, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Excellent! Now, the Snow Lotus. She must go to the peaks. Alone. For her own purification, and for the child's blessings."

I looked at Collin, my eyes empty, devoid of all emotion. He finally met my gaze, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. I closed mine. There was nothing left. No pity. No love. No hope. Nothing.

Collin' s heart clenched. He saw the blankness in my eyes, the utter defeat. No, Kira. Don't look at me like that. He wanted to reach out, to shake me, to demand a reaction. To demand the fire, the anger, the defiance he knew so well. But I was just... empty. She's always been so strong, so stubborn, he thought, a familiar irritation rising. She never gives up. She won't break for me.

"Nurse!" Collin barked, his voice sharp. "Get her bandaged up. Send her to the mountains. Alone, as Master Feng instructed. Make sure she has only the bare necessities. This is for her own good, for her spiritual journey."

They wrapped my bleeding arm, roughly. Then, they bundled me into a car, still clad in the flimsy hospital gown, a thin blanket around my shoulders. No warm clothes, no provisions. It was a clear message. This wasn' t a spiritual journey. This was a slow, agonizing death sentence. Haylee wanted me to suffer. And Collin was her willing accomplice.

The car drove for hours, the landscape slowly changing from urban sprawl to rolling hills, then to towering, snow-capped mountains. The air grew thin, cold, biting. My body, already weak, shivered uncontrollably. They threw me out at the base of a treacherous, icy path, pointing vaguely towards the distant peaks. "The Snow Lotus is up there. You know what to do." They left me there, a solitary figure against the vast, unforgiving wilderness.

I started to climb. Each step was a battle against the pain, the cold, the sheer exhaustion. But my mind was numb. I felt nothing but a dull throb. Haylee just wants to torment me. And Collin allowed it. The realization was a heavy weight, pressing me down. He was no longer the man I knew. He was a stranger, an enemy.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet trembled. A low rumble echoed through the mountains, growing louder, more ominous. The sky darkened. A chilling roar ripped through the air. Avalanche.

I tried to run, my broken legs screaming. I stumbled, falling hard onto the icy ground. Snow and rocks rained down, crushing me, burying me. I lay there, pinned, unable to move, the freezing snow quickly covering me. My body went numb. My eyes, open and unseeing, stared at the swirling white.

Ten years. A decade of my life, poured into him, into us. My love, my partner, my future. All crushed, destroyed, by his monstrous ego and her insidious malice. Why had I loved him? Why had I given him everything? I had been a fool. A naive, trusting fool.

The cold seeped into my bones, stealing my warmth, my life. I felt myself fading, the edges of my consciousness blurring. This is it, I thought, a strange sense of peace settling over me. It's finally over.

But then, a fierce, primal spark ignited deep within me. No. I wouldn't die here, not like this. Not at their hands. Not without making them pay. A single, burning thought pushed through the encroaching darkness. I would not love him anymore. Never again. And with that thought, a new kind of cold, a terrifying resolve, enveloped me, just as the snow covered me completely.