I Was Born With A Bloodline That Ended The World-Chapter 115: Restless Ends

Rhian finally made it back to the dorm room. The walk there had been slow, his thoughts heavy.

It wasn’t that late, plenty of students were still out, sitting on benches, chatting near the vending machines, or heading back from training. But Rhian didn’t stop for anyone.

When he opened the door, the room was dimly lit by a soft glow from Aras’s side. The guy was already asleep, or at least pretending to be.

His blanket was pulled up to his shoulders, and he didn’t move when Rhian stepped in.

Rhian dropped his bag near the desk and stretched his shoulders. His clothes smelled faintly of smoke and metal from the forge. He grabbed a towel and headed straight to the bathroom.

The shower was hot, which was exactly what he needed.

He stood under the water longer than usual, letting the heat ease the tension from his back He wasn’t tired, not really.

His body needed rest, but his mind hadn’t stopped turning since he saw that picture.

The tree. The voice. Nia’s silence.

He rinsed off, dried up, and came back out in clean clothes. The room was quiet now except for the soft hum of the wall fan.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to wake Aras. He just moved toward his bed and sat down for a moment, looking at his phone again. Still no message from Nia.

He plugged it in, tossed it onto the nightstand, and lay down.

Eyes open.

Staring at the ceiling.

Waiting for sleep that wouldn’t come.

Rhian finally made it back to the dorm room. The walk there had been slow, his thoughts heavy.

It wasn’t that late, plenty of students were still out, sitting on benches, chatting near the vending machines, or heading back from training. But Rhian didn’t stop for anyone.

When he opened the door, the room was dimly lit by a soft glow from Aras’s side. The guy was already asleep, or at least pretending to be. His blanket was pulled up to his shoulders, and he didn’t move when Rhian stepped in.

Rhian dropped his bag near the desk and stretched his shoulders. His clothes smelled faintly of smoke and metal from the forge. He grabbed a towel and headed straight to the bathroom.

The shower was hot, which was exactly what he needed. He stood under the water longer than usual, letting the heat ease the tension from his back.

He wasn’t tired, not really. His body needed rest, but his mind hadn’t stopped turning since he saw that picture.

The tree. The voice. Nia’s silence.

He rinsed off, dried up, and came back out in clean clothes. The room was quiet now except for the soft hum of the wall fan.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to wake Aras. He just moved toward his bed and sat down for a moment, looking at his phone again. Still no message from Nia.

He plugged it in, tossed it onto the nightstand, and lay down.

Eyes open.

Staring at the ceiling.

Waiting for sleep that wouldn’t come.

Nia lay on her bed, still fully dressed. The room was dark. She hadn’t bothered to switch on the light when the sun dipped below the horizon hours ago. The only glow came from her phone screen, soft and cold against the shadows.

She blinked slowly as she sat up. Her eyes were sore, swollen, and red from crying. Her head throbbed lightly, and her throat felt dry, but she didn’t move to fix either.

The silence in the room wasn’t peaceful. It pressed in around her, heavy and unmoving.

She unlocked her phone with slow fingers, opening the contact list. Her thumb hovered for a second before scrolling to her mother’s name.

She opened the chat, stared at the last few messages, then locked the screen without typing anything.

Her breath hitched. She unlocked it again, scrolled down to Rhian.

Her thumb hovered over his name. She stared for a long time.

But she couldn’t do it.

Not yet.

She locked the phone again and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Nia lay frozen, her thoughts spinning into deeper corners she hadn’t meant to visit. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths as she stared at the ceiling.

"Pathetic."

The word sliced through the silence.

Her eyes darted to the side. No one was there.

She sat up sharply, squinting into the darkness. Her fingers moved to switch on the lamp beside her bed, But her arm wouldn’t move.

Her body wouldn’t move.

"Pathetic," the voice repeated, clearer now. It didn’t sound like it came from outside. It felt like it came from inside her head, curling into her ears and pressing against her skull.

"To think you had such grand dreams," it said. "To grow. To become strong."

"Shut up," she muttered, trying to pull her body free from whatever held it.

"And to only end up like your parents."

"Shut up."

"No, worse than them. At least they had strength. You can’t even reach the floor they stood on."

"Shut upppp!" she screamed, voice cracking at the edge.

The darkness didn’t echo. It twisted.

The ceiling above her stretched upward. The corners of the room faded. Her bed, the walls, the drawers, gone.

Everything warped around her, and suddenly she couldn’t tell where she was. Only the cold. Only the weight pressing in.

She wasn’t in her room anymore.

"It’s such a shame," the voice said again, quieter this time. "If you hadn’t reached your limit... who knows what could’ve happened."

It paused, like it wanted her to think about it.

"You know," it whispered. "What could have happened."

Nia clenched her teeth, but her jaw barely moved. Her limbs still wouldn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if she was paralyzed or dreaming. Or both.

"But maybe the lines were set already," it continued. "Maybe this isn’t a case of what could have happened... but what should have happened."

The words hit her like weight on her chest.

"Maybe you were never meant to go further. Maybe this is where you were always going to stop."

"Maybe," the voice said with certainty, "you deserved to stop here."

Nia wanted to scream again, but her throat burned. She didn’t know if she was crying or if the cold around her just hurt.

The voice wasn’t yelling. It didn’t need to. Every word it spoke pressed harder than any scream.