Page 20 of Tainted Souls

“Did you make sure she was dead?” I asked the girl instead of doing it myself.

She nodded. “She was cold to the touch.”

The relief that washed over me was shameful. For a moment, I was glad I did not have to go in to ensure the girl was dead.

Guilt rose in me.

“We should let someone know,” I said, reaching to squeeze her shoulder as I turned away from the girl inside the room. “Come. There is no use staying here.”

The girl listened. She was almost like a child as she let me help her up. She wasn’t wearing her shoes.

“Is this your room?” I asked as we walked away from the room with the dead girl and kept walking until we reached the next door.

“Yes,” she replied, her voice shaking as she babbled. “I couldn’t sleep. We get up early, Liltra and I. She has an early shift, and I have to get up early to prepare the dough.”

She was rambling. I decided that it was better to let her talk. She needed to get it out.

“We have breakfast before our tasks,” she continued. “I knew I shouldn’t have interrupted her sleep, but I wanted to talk to her about—" She stopped as if she couldn’t believe how stupid that was. “About the stableboy and the lady who visits him at night. I thought it was scandalous. Liltra didn’t like gossip. But I thought it would distract her from-"

“From?” I asked.

Her face was pale. Before she responded, she stared into the abyss and hugged herself to keep the shaking down.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t know why she would do this.”

She broke right then. Tears sprung from her eyes, and a wail rose from her as she brought her hands to cover her face. She mumbled something I couldn’t pick up on.

We had stopped in front of her room, but we were still too close to the dead girl’s room. I wasn’t sure if it would be wise to leave her there.

“What is your name?” I asked, not knowing what else to do.

“Seren,” she replied. “And her name is Liltra.”

I didn’t want to tell her that she had already said that. It was as if she wanted to make sure I remembered who her friend was, even after the girl was gone from the realms.

“I need to tell someone what happened,” I told the girl. “Will you be alright, staying in your room?”

She nodded. She kept shaking and crying as I helped her into her room and made her sit on her bed. She sat, staring at the opened door across from her bed. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks, but her gaze was empty in shock.

Her gaze darted up sadly. I knew she remembered seeing her friend hanging from the ceiling as I instinctually followed her gaze and stared at the ceiling of her room.

“I will come back as soon as possible,” I told her assuringly.

She didn’t acknowledge my words at all.

I turned away from her, and as soon as I was out of her room, I ran. I didn’t know where to go and who to find, but I knew I had to tell someone to make sure they would find her.

I ran until I came across a guard. He looked suspicious as I ran toward him.

“There is a girl,” I shouted. “She is dead.”

The guard was young. He was probably around my age, with thick brows that made him look older despite his innocent brown eyes that betrayed his age.

“What?” He asked, but I saw his posture change. “Was there an attack?”

I was already next to him. My lungs were on the verge of giving out from the run.

“No,” I said breathlessly. “I think she killed herself.”

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