Page 3 of Of Bone and Ash

“I-I’m killing them,” I whisper to myself in an odd realization. But the problem is, I don't care. I don't feel bad… I feel alive!

“No,” I whimper, curling in on myself, scared of the darkness and myself… scared of what I might do if I let the darkness consume me. What if I can’t make it stop? Another body falls as I scream, pain and anguish tearing through me as I release the shadows, letting them pillage every room in the house. I collect so much light that my chest hurts, and I stumble, crashing to the ground as the darkness sweeps over me, and I surrender to it.

“Fina?!”

A familiar voice echoes through my mind, waking me from the nightmare I’ve been stuck in. I sit up with a gasp, coughing as I try to breathe. The air is heavy and thick with smoke, making it hard to draw in air. I wipe at the dirt covering my face, then frown, realizing it’s soot, not dirt. One glance around the room tells me that my nightmare followed me into reality as I spot the bodies of three men lying lifeless on the floor. But it's the small, broken body that has a sob bursting from me as I struggle to my hands and knees, crawling desperately toward her.

“Maddie?” I rasp, my throat raw, feeling like I’ve swallowed knives. When I finally make it to her side, I grab her cold hand and squeeze it. “Maddie? Wake up!” I plead, shaking her arm, needing her to open her eyes.

“Serafina!” someone shouts, and my eyes widen, realizing who it is.

“Maddie! Gabe’s here. He’s going to take us somewhere safe, but you have to wake up,” I whisper, shaking her arms some more, but she won't even look at me. Reaching forward, I turn her face and then startle when lifeless brown eyes meet mine. “M-Maddie? Please… please don’t go,” I beg, tears clouding my vision as someone shoves the door to the room open.

“Gabriel!” a girl shouts as she steps into the room. I pay her no mind, my attention on my friend. She’s going to wake up. I just need to give her a minute. “Fina?” I can see the girl with the pretty purple eyes I met when my brother came over last time reach out a hand for me, but she slows, thinking better of touching me. Probably for the best. I don't want my monster to take her light. “Sweetie, you're safe; it's okay. Your brother is here,” she soothes just as heavy footsteps thunder into the room.

“Fina! Thank God,” he chokes out, falling to his knees at my side. His big hands scoop me up, cradling me to his strong chest as I cling to Maddie's hand.

“Gabe?” I whisper through my tears.

“I’ve got you,” he whispers the same words Maddie said on the stairs when she saved me from the first man. “You're safe,” he mutters, more to himself than me, as his hands move over my arms and legs, looking for injuries.

“No! You have to help Maddie. She's not waking up!” I tell him, swallowing back the tears. Gabe will fix it—he fixes everything. I feel my brother stiffen before he kisses my brow.

“Fina,” he whispers, pain etched in his voice. “I’m sorry, love. She’s gone.” I shake my head. No, no, that's not right. She was just here. She was fighting and…

“We need to go before Dante gets here.” I hear my Uncle Dax say at my side. I’m not sure when he arrived, but I glance up at him, watching as he kneels next to Maddie’s motionless body and slowly reaches out, dusting his fingers over her face and closing her eyes. Gabe starts to stand, and I shake my head, tightening my grip on Maddie's hand.

“I’m not leaving her,” I argue, refusing to let her go.

“I’m going to bring you to Attie. Then I’ll come to help Madison, all right?” Gabe says, his other hand moving to mine, prying it off Maddie.

“No!” I shout, reaching for her as my brother's breath hitches. I can feel his body tense as he stares at me with eyes identical to mine.

“I’m sorry. I have to get you to safety,” he whispers into my hair, kissing my head as his magic circles around us, and we fall into his shadows.

“It’s been three weeks, and she’s still not talking.” I hear Gabe growl to Atlas as my brothers argue in the hallway outside my door. I roll my eyes, returning my new doll to its small bed. They always talk about me now, whispering to each other and sending me worried looks. It's like they think I can’t hear them when they’re only a few feet away.

“Just give her some time, Gabe. We still don't know what exactly happened in that house. You have no idea what's going on. She’ll talk when she’s ready,” Atlas snaps, making me sigh and lean back on the fluffy pillow behind me.

I briefly consider going out and talking to my brother to tell him everything, but then the darkness that awoke that night shifts inside me and I bite my lip, concentrating on its every move. It's like a living thing inside me… a darkness that lurks in the depths of my very being. I can feel its hunger and briefly wonder what it would do if I let it out. I’ve been able to keep it inside so far, but every time I think about telling Gabe or Attie what happened the night Maddie died, I feel it grow, like it’s excited, wanting out to show them itself.

Will they look at me like I’m a monster? Will they think differently of me when I tell them I crave more of the light I took that night? I can see it now, flickering at the center of everyone I know.

I heard Gabe tell Attie that there were twenty-two men in the house. Twenty-two men who suddenly died with no explanation. Maddie didn't have the magic to kill them that way, and I… Well, I was a young girl who wouldn't come into her Fae form for at least another eight years. I’ve heard them all trying to figure out what happened. Gabe has asked me several times, yet I haven't been able to answer him. I haven't uttered a single word, knowing that once I do, my family will know just how big of a monster I am.

The thing is… I know exactly how many people I killed that night. I could feel their light as I ripped it from their bodies, and it wasn’t twenty-two… it was twenty-three. What will my brothers think of me when they realize I’m the one who killed Maddie?

I squeeze my eyes shut as I listen to my brothers and shake my head. No. I already lost Maddie, I can’t lose them as well. I’ll stay silent for now. It’s safer that way. Standing, I move to the small white desk at the corner of my room as my brothers’ voices slowly fade as they walk away. I grab a few markers and a coloring book before opening to a blank page and try to focus on keeping the color where it’s supposed to go.

“Who are you?” a soft voice asks, startling me enough that I drop my marker and gasp. Turning, I look at the person who somehow snuck up on me and blink in surprise. I stare up into dark brown eyes.

It’s a kid—a boy.

Tilting my head to the side, I stare at his dark hair and oddly wide shoulders. Confused, I look back at his face. He’s looks a little older than me, but he’s really tall, reminding me of a few kids I saw in my old neighborhood. The boy is definitely older than me, but he doesn't look old enough to be as big as he is. He has to be close to my brother's height!

Leaning to the side of my chair, I look around his big body and see that my door is open. How the crap did he get in here without me hearing him? I’ve always been able to hear people enter a room I’m in, even Attie, who has magic shielding abilities. I scowl at the boy, curious and frustrated about how he did that.

“Who are you?” he asks again, head tilting, nostrils flaring as he crouches at my side, his dark eyes narrowing on the fresh scar on my left cheek. I got cut that night in Maddie’s house. It wasn’t deep, but it did get infected. The wound has finally healed, but left behind a red line. “What happened?” he asks, his curious tone turning to one of worry as he extends a big hand toward my cheek. I lean away from him, and he stops. His frown deepens as he nods. “You don’t like being touched?” he asks as he sits on the ground beside me, bringing him to eye level.

---