THE DEVIL'S BRIDE
Episode 2: The Midnight Throne
By Rapwizzy Debaron
Evelyn stood at the edge of the staircase, unsure if her legs would carry her up or if her soul had already begun to drift.
Lucien watched her.
Not with hunger.
Not with pity.
With curiosity.
Like a storm studying the branches it had yet to break.
"You hesitate," he said.
"I'm deciding," she replied.
"Whether to run?"
"No. Whether to live."
He smiled again—slow, deliberate. "You already passed the threshold. There's no going back, little flame."
"Then I'll burn forward."
He turned, ascending the steps with a grace no mortal could replicate. Evelyn followed, her feet silent on stone that pulsed beneath her like a living thing. Each step took her higher, but also deeper—into a place that felt outside time, where the rules of gods and men no longer applied.
At the top stood the Midnight Throne.
A twisted sculpture of obsidian and bone, veined with veins that glowed faint red. Two winged statues flanked it—neither angel nor demon, just beauty and horror interwoven.
Lucien did not sit.
Instead, he turned to her fully.
"Strip."
Evelyn's breath caught.
He raised a brow. "Not your body. Your name. Your past. Everything you carried before crossing into my realm."
She exhaled. "And if I don't?"
"You'll drown in it."
Silence stretched.
Then Evelyn raised her chin. "I was Evelyn Blackthorne, daughter of silence, born of sacrifice. I came with chains, but I am not bound."
Lucien stepped closer. "Then who are you now?"
She held his gaze. "No one yet. But I will become someone who terrifies even you."
A beat of silence. Then—laughter.
Dark. Genuine.
"I chose well," he whispered.
His fingers brushed hers. A spark passed between them—real, sharp, electric. Not love. Not yet. But something ancient. Something dangerous.
Suddenly, the chamber shifted.
Doors opened on all sides—doors to nightmares, memories, buried sins. One by one, the shadows within took form, watching her.
Lucien looked at them. "This is the Devil's Court. They will test you. They will tempt you. Survive them, and you earn your place at my side."
"And if I fail?"
"You die. Slowly."
She didn't blink.
"Then let them come."
And the shadows lunged.
—
To be continued…
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