Page 61 of From Frost to Flame

“What is this place?” Lex said as he rose to his feet. He watched the people passing him curiously.

Two young pups, one with brown fur and a smaller one with black and silver fur, came dashing up the road. They tackled each other and went crashing right through Lex like ghosts. He turned and watched the pups shift into their human forms and his eyes widened.

“Is that...you?”

Silas's heart lurched seeing Castor and himself so young. Castor was taller than him, even then. “Stop it.” He knew The Ravenous One was somewhere in the shadows, listening. “Stop it. This isn’t...why would you...” His heart pounded in his ears. Even for her, this punishment was cruel. “Please, don’t do this.”

All he got in response was her distant, delighted laughter echoing around them.

“Why would seeing you as a kid drive me away?” Lex asked, looking at the scene with curiosity before turning to face him. “Silas, what is going on?”

“I didn’t want you to find out like this.” Silas looked away from the child version of himself. “I was going to tell you someday, but not now. Not when you—We just...I don’t want to lose you yet.”

“Slow down. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Dad, stop!” Castor screamed. It caught Lex’s attention. He took his hands away, turned back to the scene, and gasped in horror.

Silas was transfixed by his waking nightmare, even though he knew how it would end. He watched as Castor’s father, a tall, lean brunette, decked a young Silas square in the jaw. He still remembered every blow. Still remembered how badly he wished he were older so he stood a chance.

When the beating ended, Silas watched his younger self struggle to breathe on the brick road. Two broken ribs, a swollen lip, and a black eye. He remembered all the damage, but he hadn’t remembered how pathetically small he had been when this happened. How vulnerable. With adult eyes, his body looked so much more fragile.

His child self looked back to his own father, who leaned against the doorway of their house up the road. Silas had grown up to share his father’s face and stature, but his father’s hair was free of silver strands. Instead, it was pitch black all the way through. His father didn’t come to his aid. Instead, he turned and slammed the door closed. The sharp bang still stabbed something deep in his heart. Young Silas struggled to stand. He looked one last time at Castor, his only friend, crying while his father shoved him toward their house.

The colors swirled again. He knew what scene came next as soon as the false sky of stars opened above them. He wanted to scream and tear The Ravenous One apart.

Why does she have to take everything?

“Silas?”

He couldn’t answer him. All his wounds were being pried open, and the pain rendered him speechless.

“Silas, what is this awful place?” Lex asked in a quiet voice.

There was no use hiding the truth when it was all around them, so he took a deep breath and forced out his words. “It’s my home.”

Chapter Twelve

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