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“What?” Confusion furrowed my brow.
“The book you are holding. It is about Kristia.”
I flipped the page, revealing the swirling writing of beautiful calligraphy. A single word, just as Marius had said it.Kristia.
“She was the fourth Claim that was sent to me. A shy girl, but the further I got to know her the more I sensed the fire within her. I have not met another like her.”
“And you just so happen to have a novel about her.”
“Wrong… I just so happened to write a novel about her.”
I flipped the page yet again. Once, twice, until the pages were filled with handwritten words. The pages so full and sentences so close together that it seemed there was no space left.
“I do not understand.”
“I brought you here so you could learn something about me. You think me a beast. Katharine and those before her have told me the stories people believe about me. And most of them are true. But I do not want to… kill anyone. I never have. Unfortunately you will soon see that I am not in control when it happens. I simply cease to exist for that final night. I understand this is strange to you, and you did not choose this. And I apologise for discussing the matter of your demise so frankly. But I too did not choose you. Just like I did not choose those who came before you. In truth, this room fills me with nothing but guilt. It is my reminder of what I have done, and what I will do again.”
I could not breathe as Marius spoke. Nor could I take my eyes off his. Not once did he blink as he spoke to me, unravelling his story as I held onto another of his.
“That book, and those around you, are my way of dealing with the guilt. I write stories for those whose lives I take. Create worlds and futures on pages in which I know they will never get to live. It is my way of honouring them.”
“Sounds like a lot of effort to me.” I couldn’t fathom it. Even holding the proof in my hands it did not seem real.
By the time I took my eyes off the page Marius was before me. His movements soundless and light. He took the weight of the book from my hands, closed it and turned it so the spine was facing upwards.
“Kristia is one of many of those stories I have conjured. You are welcome to read them… in your own time though. Just the thought of someone going through my work in front of me unnerves me.”
I crossed my arms, unsure what to do with them. What Marius had divulged did not sit well within me. It caused a strange, unwelcome tugging in my chest.
“Will you write one for me?” I asked, sharply.
There I went again, pushing the boundaries of the topic knowing full well Marius would not live long enough to write my name on the inside of a book.
“I will.”
I stepped towards him, closing the small gap until the book he held was the only thing separating us.
“And what will it say?”
Marius breathed deeply, eyes flicking across every inch of my face.
“That is yet to be determined.”
Being this close to Marius after the dream I had made my stomach jolt. I fought to hold his stare and keep up this illusion of confidence. But being so close made my knees shake.
“I fear I have lied to you about something,” Marius muttered, his face inches from mine.
Me too.
“Tell me.” I peered deep into his blood-red eyes, wondering how far I could see into his soul.
“There is someone I would gladly kill, without thought or hesitation.”
My arms prickled as his voice softened to a whisper.
“Who?” I said, watching his stare follow the movement of my lips.
“Thewitchthat did this to me. I know she has since died, but I also know that her family live on. And one day, when I find a way out of this place, I will be certain to rain hell on them all. Out of the memory of those I have been made to kill, I will do it. For them.” He gestured to the bookshelves. “And for you, Jak.”
