Page 55 of Magpie
Then it dawns on me.
My key.
My mind fills with the image of the two halves of Sean’s key, snapped in half by Alister. He severed Sean’s connection to him, and to the eternal youth that connection brought.
I am such a fool.
Of course no one leaves the House. They can’t. Because Alister holds everyone’s key in a place none of us can reach, and as long as he has your key, he owns you.
My eyes fall on my desk, resting on the various items strewn across it. Including a serrated dagger. I step slowly forward. My hand traces the blade, the edge deadly sharp.
I slowly curl my fingers around the cold steel handle.
It’s long into the night before I hear him walking down the hallway that leads to my room. I’m in bed, my back to the door, but I haven’t slept a wink. The door opens with a soft creak, and he steps slowly toward me. I’m staring straight ahead at the wall, my entire body taut. The bed shifts as he sits on it, his hands running gently through my hair. I stiffen against his touch.
Noticing it, he whispers, “I am sorry for hurting you, Magpie, but I know one day you will see that I did it to keep you safe. To keepussafe.”
It takes everything in me not to shake, but I grip the handle of the knife tighter.
“It is a pity to lose Sean.” I nearly shout at him for daring to speak his name. “He was a great asset to me, but ultimately he tried to take you away from your true purpose, and I couldn’t allow that.” Alister’s voice is soft and caring, like he is givingcondolences at a funeral. I want to rage, to scream, to do anything to block out the sound of it, the feel of his fingers trailing through my hair. He disgusts me. How I ever felt peace in his arms is something I will never understand.
“You stole him from me,” I breathe, my voice breaking. I am surprisingly calm as all my senses zero in on this moment.
“Magpie,” Alister sighs.
I speak over him, my voice strong. “You stole everything from me, Alister. My life, my family, my past. You stole it all. Youdevouredit, until nothing of me remained.”
He has the decency to not deny it, but his hand has stopped stroking my hair. I can feel the anger and frustration at my continued defiance beginning to radiate off him. He expects me to crawl into his arms, to let him coddle me, to let himuseme. What a blind woman I once was to find comfort in the lies of his embrace.
“Yes,” he says, shocking me by speaking at last. “Yes, I took the thingsyouno longer wanted. The things you were only too happy to throw away for a life with me. I didn’tstealanything, Magpie. You gave it to me.”
I close my eyes, breathing in deeply. I cannot remember Maggie, cannot pull the memories of her to my mind. But I will never believe that she agreed to be used to endlessly feed the insatiable hunger of his soul.
“She may have given you her life, Alister,” I say, slowly sitting up in bed, “but I’m taking it back.”
In a flash, I spin, raising my hand high above my head and plunging the knife into his chest with the strength of my rage. And that strength isvast.
He lets out a wet, startled gasp, tumbling back off the bed with the force of my attack. I fall with him, landing on top of him as I press the knife even deeper into his chest. He tries to dislodge me, but he is coughing, choking on his own blood. I waste notime and saw a jagged gash across his chest. Tossing the knife aside, I press my hands on either side of the gash and peel them apart. Alister lets out a gurgled scream as I open a gaping wound in his chest, staring down at the void where his heart should be.
“M-Magpie,” he stutters, coughing around the blood that spurts from his lips.
I hold his eyes for one moment, forcing the fire of my hatred into my gaze as I say, “My name is Maggie.”
Putting my hand deep in the wound, I begin to search.
It’s storming, covering the streets in cold sheets of rain. Wind gusts through the city, sending the rain pelting into my face as I run down the road. I am soaked to the bone, the black dress clinging to me. My bare feet scrape on the hard concrete as I sprint down an endless series of sidewalks and streets. I don’t know how long I run for, or even where I’m going, taking twists and turns at random. My mind is racing alongside my feet as I try to put as much distance as possible between me and the House.
I’m about to give out from exhaustion, my body numb from the rain, my mind numb from the events of the night. I’m staggering at a slow pace, swaying on my feet. The rain has stopped, but I am still dripping a trail behind me as I trudge on. More and more people are taking to the streets, and for the first time that I can remember, theynotice me. People stare wide-eyed at the shoeless woman in a short black silk dress, soaking wet and looking like she’s about to pass out.
Deciding I’m too weary to interact with anyone, I slow and turn into an alley, hiding behind a dumpster. I slide to the ground, my legs finally giving out underneath me. Closing my eyes, I lean my head against the brick wall behind me, feeling the first rays of the sun touching my face as it rises fully in the sky.
I open my eyes and look up, squinting against the blinding sun. I feel like I’m seeing it for the first time.
Peeling my tired gaze away from the bright sky, I look down at my hands. They are clasped tightly in front of me, Alister’s blood rinsed off them long ago, yet I can’t shake the feeling that they will always be tainted.
I open my hands, staring at the black key. The one with the bird in flight on the handle.
It should have startled me, to walk into a decrepit barn only to find myself back in that all-too-familiar house, but I find myself only grimacing at the sight. I stand in the entryway, shifting on my feet. My courage seems to have fled the moment I stepped back into the House, leaving me to fend for myself. I chew my bottom lip, looking at the rooms on either side of me. The House is just as empty as I remember it, exactly like the first time I stepped within the cage of these walls. I should have seen it then for what it was: a tomb.
