Page 17 of Sound
“TV, brother. Humans did one thing right and that’s Netflix. You should try it.” Snickering, he heads for the door.
“I’m good, thank you.” Watching him go, I swallow my pride. “Moël?”
“Hmm?” Glancing over his shoulder, his scar pulls on the skin of his face. A lump forms in my throat.
“If I’m not back in a day, don’t come there.”
“If you are not back in half a day, I will level that place to the ground.” With a nod, he walks out of the room. “Go get your female, brother.”
13
Melody
My legs are getting numb where I’m still kneeling on the floor, the cold seeping into my bones. The knot that is loosened in my chest returns with a vengeance, like a physical pain spreading through my ribs. It’s one thing to know that magic is real and to see glimpses of it, like the golden rope snaking out from my chest to Seraphina’s. Somehow, I convince myself that what I’m seeing is a trick of the light, or just my frightened brain making things up because I’m scared out of my mind. It’s a totally different story when a cat is transformed into a human being right in front of my eyes.
I feel numb.
When the pain in my chest becomes unbearable, I suck in a lungful of air, the shock of it all blocking even the basic motor skills my body has … like breathing. Sharp pain spears through me, and I can feel it all the way to my back. Blinking fast, my head moves slowly to look around the room as if I’m seeing it for the first time. What am I doing? My shaking fingers thread through the hair falling around my face and tuck it behind my ear. I realize all this time I block everything I can’t explain, purposely ignoring it like it doesn’t exist. It is easier to deal with the situation this way. Otherwise, I may think I’m insane.
I’m not crazy, am I?
Everything is very much real, even if my rational mind can’t explain it. Fear of the pain she inflicts keeps me between these walls allowing her to do whatever she wants to do. Until I end up like Alto. Because apparently being turned into an animal is what comes next in this fantastical world I find myself in. Pinching my thigh so hard my eyes water from the pain does not wake me from this nightmare I’m stuck in.
No, this is real.
Magic is real.
My eyes lock on the violin propped on the chair. I remember dropping it when I had been forced to play it, yet here it sits. Back where it always waits for me, day and night. I can barely feel my heart, not sure if it’s even beating as I crawl on my hands and knees on the floor, moving closer to it. The moment my fingers touch it, warmth spreads through my hand, up my arm, and through the rest of my body. It’s like the instrument is alive and giving me a hug. I’ve always felt the sensation, but right now it takes a whole different meaning. This is not just my excitement of playing or my love for music. This is something else.
Snatching my hand back, I eye the violin like it may come alive and bite me. Stranger things happen every day, to be sure. Blowing out a long breath until my chest caves in on itself, I turn around to look at the room again. At my prison. What am I doing here? The question pops up again as my gaze travels over stained walls and simple furniture. I keep telling myself I’m biding my time until I can find a way to escape, but that is just the lie I create so I don’t give up. Either way, I know the truth. There is no escape for me.
There is no running from magic, from Seraphina.
My pathetic heart jumps once and kicks my ribs hard when my eyes stop on the part of the wall where Étienne disappeared. Do I dare follow through it? Can I live with myself if I leave Viola and Harmony behind knowing the same fate waits for them too? Another thought comes with that. If both of them are in the same situation as me, that means I’m not responsible for all those people dying. My two friends have the same curse as I do. Our music is cursed, and that should make me feel a little better.
It doesn’t.
Limbs trembling, tremors raking over my spine and clawing at my insides, I lift off the floor. Some primal part of my brain kicks in, and with one fast glance at the violin I turn my back to it. It won’t help anyone—definitely not Viola or Harmony—if I’m stuck here myself. I should’ve listened to Étienne and left with him when I had a chance, especially since he promised to come back for them anyways. It’s not too late, right? I’ll go through that wall and hide somewhere until he comes back. At least I won’t be here. And he did say he will come back.
Urgency rushes over me, coursing through my veins. The thought of being out of this place is so overwhelming I’m afraid to move. If I do, it may shatter the fragile hold I have over the sliver of hope still alive inside of me. My chest is rising and falling fast, my gaze darting left and right as panic chokes me like a fist squeezing my throat.
“You can do this, Melody.” Voice cracking from emotion, the words whisper through my numb lips. Determination burns hot and bright with each breath I take. “I can do this.”
The shock wears off, releasing me from the frozen state I’m in. Remembering Étienne and the shape of his clothing when he was here, I look down at my bare feet. My eyes snap at the boots, the only footwear I have here. One is still next to the chair where it always is, and after swiveling my head around, I find the other across from me closer to the foot of my bed. Snatching the one closest to me, I rush to grab the other. The high heels are good to use as a weapon, but they’ll be horrible if I’m trying to sneak out of here.
The blood is rushing through me, buzzing in my ears like I’m in the middle of a tornado. My feet slap on the floor with the couple of steps it takes me to get to the desk with all the makeup on it. Gripping the toes of one boot, I lift it over my head, smashing the heel down on the wood as hard as I can. Bottles of foundation, lipstick, and mascara jump from it and sail through the air. The loud thump locks my muscles in a vise.
I freeze.
The air is cold where I snort it fast through my nose, hyperventilating from fear that Seraphina has heard the noise. Straining my ears is useless because I can’t hear a damn thing from the fast beating of my heart that lodged itself in my throat like a lump. Eyes wide enough to pop out of my head, I stare at the door expecting her to storm in and kill me. Deep down I know if she catches me she won’t think twice about it. Now that I know Viola and Harmony must be the same as me, she doesn’t really need me, does she? She has two more that she can force to play. Two others she can turn into cats.
Hysterical giggles spew from my mouth, the sound foreign and crazed.
When nothing happens and no murderous bitch storms through the door with magic aimed at my head, I tighten my hold on my boots. The bed pokes at my brain from the corner of my eye, so I turn my gaze to it. The metal frame stares at me accusingly as if calling me all sorts of stupid. Clenching my teeth, hearing them grind loud enough to raise the hair on my arms, I walk up to it and press one knee on the thin, hard mattress. Lifting the boot as high as I can over my head, I bring it down on the metal as hard as I can, putting all my body weight behind it. The thin heel snaps off and flies away. It hits the wall then bounces off it, making me duck as the damn thing almost stabs my eye. Not waiting, I switch to the other boot and do the same to it. This heel goes flying too, but it lands at the foot of the bed when it ricochets off the wall.
My tail bone sends a stabbing pain up my spine when I sit too close to the edge of the bed. Ignoring it, I shove my feet in the boots and zip them up, my eyes not moving from the closed door. Adrenaline raises goosebumps all over my body.
So close. I’m so close to freedom.
