Raphael and Michael hurried down the stairs. They must have been awake already, roused by the noise. Their faces were chalk white, eyes wide with terror Michael was already crying, Raphael held him tightly, as if he could shield him from the sight.
Father roared in pain as one of the creatures seized him not with bare hands, but with claws like rusty hooks that tore deep into his chest.
A wet, ripping sound, then he crashed against the wall not dull, but with a crack as if bones were shattering. Blood sprayed across the wooden beams, red streaks in the flickering candlelight. He gasped once more, then collapsed, the weapon still in his hand.
Mother tried to rush to him, but the second creature hurled her brutally to the ground. Its claws raked from her shoulder into her belly, tearing skin and flesh as though shredded by nails. She screamed a sound that filled my ears and that I would never forget then her body gave way.
Blood poured across the floorboards, spreading like a pool. Her eyes stared into emptiness, her mouth half open, as if she still wished to speak.
"NO!" I cried, throwing myself toward them. My hands pressed against her wound, yet my entire forearm was instantly wet, warm, slippery. I stared at my fingers red, dripping and pulled them back as if I could wipe away the blood. Panic surged through my throat.
Raphael clutched Michael, both of them weeping silently. No one stopped me as I knelt beside the bodies of my parents. I shook Mother, but her head only rolled to the side. Father's chest did not rise even once more.
I screamed in despair, but then the attackers suddenly recoiled.
For in that moment a blazing light erupted, triggered by the weapon Father still held in his hand. His blood seeped over the hilt, and the lines within it began to glow faint at first, then ever brighter. It was as though his death had awakened the blade. A golden radiance spread, like a signal powerful enough to drive them away, but too late to save them.
The man looked at me one last time calm, almost regretful.
"You invited me. That is enough for now."
Then the creatures vanished into the shadows.
I remained kneeling in the blood of my parents, their bodies still warm, my hands red and sticky. The light faded. And nothing could bring them back.