Chapter 60: Ch58. Not yet
A gust of frigid wind swept through the ruined throne room, carrying the scent of decay and something worse. Diego’s breath caught in his throat as he took an instinctive step back, his fingers twitching, ready to summon his knives. The sound of footsteps, slow, deliberate, impossibly heavy, echoed from behind the shattered throne.
Miles remained still. His fingers flexed at his sides, but he made no move to summon his scythe. Yet Diego could feel it, the way his best friend’s body tensed ever so slightly, like a coiled spring ready to snap.
Then, she appeared.
From behind the ruined throne, the Queen of Hearts emerged. Or, at least, what was once her.
Diego had seen nightmares before. He had witnessed the horrors of The Glitch, the twisted monstrosities that roamed the streets of their broken world. But nothing, nothing, prepared him for the sight before him.
Her form was a grotesque mockery of what the queen had once been. Her body was impossibly tall, draped in the tattered remnants of a blood-red gown that had once been regal, now nothing more than strips of fabric clinging to her emaciated frame. The colors of red and gold had long since faded, replaced by the sickly hue of dried blood and rot. Her skeletal fingers twitched at her sides, adorned with jagged rings that dug into the withered flesh beneath. And her face...
Diego barely stifled a whimper as he locked eyes with her.
Her skin was stretched too tight, cracking at the edges like aged porcelain. The remnants of her once-elegant mask still clung to her features, but it had long since fused with her decayed flesh. Her lips painted a deep crimson that seemed fresh despite the ruin of the rest of her body, curled into a twisted parody of a smile. But it was her eyes that froze the blood in Diego’s veins.
Hollow.
Deep, empty sockets where eyes should have been, yet somehow, he could feel them staring straight through him. A swirling abyss of madness, hunger, and something ancient that had long since forgotten mercy.
Then, she spoke.