Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 161

Eve

The suddenly blaring alarms nearly scared me out of my skin. It sounded like like a fire alarm. I calmed myself reasoning that it was just a fire drill or a minor security alert. But deep down, unease curled in my stomach.

But I continued to search for the painting that I had made for Jules. I startled when the door creaked open and I twisted to see Jules.

I sighed in relief, "You are here already?" I asked, taking a step towards her, eyeing the bruises that still remained on her neck. "Did you see the delta already. That was rather quick?"

The expression on Jules face was inscrutable, impassive as if she did not register what I was asking. Suddenly, she smile, some light returning to her eyes. "I was too excited. I wanted to see the gift." She beamed.

"Oh?" I grinned. "Of course." I turned back around and made my way back to the stack of painting that I was looking through. "I was just looking for you. You leaving caught me off guards and I am not quite done with the finishing touches." I told her as I sorted through the numerous works for hers.

The door slammed closed and through sounds of the alarm I had a startling metallic crack. I froze, my breath hitching in my throat as my eyes locked onto the broken door knob, the twisted metal glinting ominously under the harsh fluorescent lights. A shiver crawled down my spine, and my pulse thundered in my ears, nearly drowning out the incessant blaring of the alarms.

Slowly, I turned my gaze back to Jules.

She stood there, still as a statue, her expression eerily calm yet unreadable. The earlier warmth in her smile had vanished, leaving behind something hollow—something that sent every instinct in me screaming in warning. Her eyes, dark and focused, bored into me with an unsettling intensity, as if she were measuring, calculating.

"Jules?" My voice came out steadier than I felt, though the tension coiling in my muscles made me feel like a trapped animal. "What... what are you doing?"

She didn’t answer. She just stared.

A slow, creeping unease wrapped itself around my chest, squeezing tight. My eyes darted to the broken door handle again, my mind scrambling to process what this meant. The metallic crack still echoed in my ears like a warning bell.

I swallowed hard. "Jules, you... you broke the door." My voice was cautious, probing. "Why?"

Still nothing. Her face remained impassive, but something flickered in the depths of her eyes—something I couldn’t name, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

My fingers itched to reach for my phone, but I knew better than to make any sudden moves. I tried again, softer this time, forcing a nervous chuckle. "Hey, if this is some kind of joke, it’s not funny." My voice wavered despite my efforts. "You scared me."

Jules took a step forward.

I instinctively took a step back.

The air between us grew heavier, charged with something raw and dangerous. My throat tightened, and my thoughts raced, searching for some reasonable explanation, some way to defuse whatever was happening.

"Jules," I tried once more, my voice barely above a whisper, "you’re scaring me."

Her lips parted then, but the smile that curved them wasn’t right. It didn’t reach her eyes. It felt... wrong. Forced.

"I was too excited," she repeated, but the words sounded hollow now, mechanical. "I wanted to see the gift."

There was something detached in the way she spoke, as if the Jules I knew was being swallowed by something else, something darker. My stomach churned, and the instinct to run screamed louder in my head.

The alarms outside continued their relentless shriek, a cacophony that made everything feel surreal—like I was trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.

I took another step back, my foot hitting the edge of the canvas stack behind me. "Jules," I said carefully, "Is something wrong?" I asked. "You don’t seem..."

"Don’t call me that," she suddenly snapped.

I blinked, frightened and confused, my mind going in circles. "Call you what?" I whispered.

She did not answer. Instead, her face spilt into another smile, but this one was all teeth and sharp edges. My skin buzzed with raw, electric fear, my muscles coiling as though preparing for something inevitable.

My mouth went dry. "Jules," I tried again, softer, calmer, as if I were speaking to a wounded animal. "Please... talk to me."

She tilted her head slightly, an eerie mimicry of curiosity, but the glint in her eyes held nothing familiar—only something predatory lurking just beneath the surface. The alarms outside felt distant now, muffled under the pounding of my heart.

"You still don’t understand, do you?" Her voice was light, almost playful, but there was something jagged beneath it, like broken glass wrapped in silk. "I’m not Jules."