The thirty lives Lena took were like strong fuel, a big tank of stolen energy that kept her going for a while. But stolen power doesn't last forever. The tank started to empty, and the hunger came back, meaner than before, like a wild animal that needed to be fed.
Lena felt her pretend normal life starting to break apart. She felt that old dark craving again. The human world, which she had used so badly, was now her hunting ground again. Her eyes landed on Lake Victoria, shining bright under the African sun. Two young girls, laughing and splashing in the shallow water, suddenly looked like food.
"It's my time," she whispered, the monster inside her taking over completely.
She moved faster than anyone could see. One second the girls were laughing, the next they were caught by something invisible. Lena attacked the first girl, quick and rough, twisting her neck in a flash, stopping her laughter forever. Then, she turned to the second girl, her hand ready to strike. But something stopped her. A feeling, a warning deep inside, a sense of… danger.
She hesitated, her gut screaming at her to stop. There was something different about this girl, something… strong. Lena, for the first time in her dark journey, felt fear. She couldn't explain it, couldn't understand it, but the feeling was real. She pulled back, not killing the girl, but still rough, shoving her hard so she fell.
A scary quiet fell over the lake. The laughter was gone, just the ripples of fear spreading across the water. Lake Victoria, which had seen so much life and death, was about to see something even bigger.
Lena, still so hungry, her power boosted by the lives she stole, had hunted for too long, going after the weak, the ones who didn't expect it, the ones who couldn't fight back. She had become a monster, a dark thing, a hunter eaten by her own endless hunger. And now, her time was up. She had hunted someone with a strong and powerful spirit of death, a spirit that wouldn't let it go.
The power she had stolen, the lives she had taken, turned against her. The energy she wanted became her end. The spirit of death, woken up by her terrible acts, came to collect what was owed. It struck her down, fast and sure, putting out the dark fire that had burned inside her.
Lena, the queen who was kicked out, the monster of the lake, the hunter who scared the village, was gone. Her time of terror was over. It felt like all the water in the world the big oceans, the seas, the lakes, the rivers, the springs was crying for their fallen queen. Things were balanced again, but it cost so much. The Queen had died.
While Lena was doing all those terrible things and her life ended so violently, Leon was stuck in a deep, strange sleep. He wasn't dreaming about the places he knew, the mysterious world or the village. Instead, he was trapped in scary visions that felt so real. He saw Lena's brutal attacks through her own eyes, from the first person she killed to the last fight. He saw the fear in the eyes of the people she hunted, the cold way she moved, the dark hunger that drove her. He felt the rush of stolen power, the creepy satisfaction of the kill. He was just watching, unable to do anything, seeing the monster his beloved had become.
He woke up with a gasp, his heart beating fast in his chest, his body covered in sweat. The pictures of Lena's violence were burned into his mind, the horror of what she did a heavy weight on his heart. He felt so betrayed, a deep sadness and loss. He had loved her, trusted her, believed in her. And she had become a monster.
Lena... gone? The queen... dead? It felt like the whole world was sighing, a watery sadness everywhere. Balance, but at such a cost. My Lena.
Then the dreams not dreams, nightmares. Her eyes seeing what she saw, doing what she did. That first kill the fear then that coldness in her. That hunger it felt real, that awful pull. The power and that twisted joy? I saw it all. Every single terrible thing. I just watched, helpless.
Waking up., heart pounding, sweat It's all still there, burned in my head. Lena, that violence, it's a weight crushing me. Betrayed, that's it. I loved her. Trusted her. Believed in her. My Lena, she became a monster.
Even as those terrible images swam in his head, a cold voice echoed inside him. A voice full of old power, a voice he knew deep down. Mistress Para.
"Leon," the voice crashed like thunder, full of sadness and fury. "My daughter is dead. And it's your fault."
He knew, somehow, she was right. Even though he didn't do those things, even though he didn't see what Lena had become, it was his fault. He had loved her, trusted her, and he had been blind. He didn't see the monster right next to him, the monster he had let into his life, his bed, his heart.
He knew Mistress Para would come for him. He didn't kill Lena, but he was tied to her, by love, by marriage. He was the one who brought her here, who didn't keep her safe, who was fooled by her. In Mistress Para's eyes, he was guilty.
He got out of bed, his heart heavy with fear. He knew Mistress Para's sadness would be like a storm, a rage that couldn't be stopped. She would come for revenge, for justice for her daughter. And he, Leon, the man who loved the monster, would be her target. He would be the one to pay for Lena's sins. It was coming.
Leon cried, his tears a mix of sadness, regret, and feeling like he had lost everything.
The Mistress Para's cold words kept ringing in his ears, making the guilt even heavier. He thought back to his life before all this, before the mysterious world took him. He had wanted to be someone important, a leader, someone who changed things. He had dreamed of a good future, full of success.
But it was all gone now, washed away by fate. "Mysterious ruined my life," he cried, the words full of sadness for what he had lost. "Ruined what I wanted to do, ruined my dreams."
He remembered the day those strange people first came to him, calling him "a son of destruction," someone between two worlds. He had thought they were crazy, but now their scary words felt true. Being a mix of two worlds, the very thing he was, had caused so much trouble, a constant fight inside him. It led him to Lily, to love, to losing her. It led him to Lena, to being betrayed, to this horror.
The weight of being both human and siren, the burden of his past, pressed down on him, breaking his spirit. He had tried to connect the two worlds inside him, to find peace. But he had failed. He had been torn apart by the fight within, a victim of who he was.