Chapter 46: Forty-one

It was time.

I needed to go back and they wouldn't allow a moment longer, they even weren't subtle about my timeline in their note.

You're needed for your service to the Flame,

If you chose to disobey a direct command, you and your family will be sentenced to death.

blah, blah, blah.

Short but sweet, glad to know they cared. Though the part about me and my family being sentenced to death was a little off-putting.

I'd seen the note when I first woke up and had dressed in my best fighting leathers before I snuck out of the house before dawn when no one could stop me.

The day was off. It felt fast like everything was happening in hyper-speed and all I could do was try my best to catch up. My mind had been racing a mile a minute since I woke up and I felt like my brain might just explode.

I thought something bad was going to happen. I felt it in my bones. Like a presence at my back just waiting for an opportunity to strike. It was the shadow of a possibility.

I wished ai didn't have to go and just stay at the manor where I was surrounded by my family.

But what choice did I have? I was a puppet and they held my strings, I was never my own person. My soul would always be bound in chains and left at the mercy of whoever wished it so.

When you lose your freedom, it's much like losing a loved one. There are stages denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. They come and go and after a while, you forget what freedom feels like.

Nothing ever felt the same, though.

Not looking at the night sky, because you know the sun will come up in the morning and you'll be forced to be someone else again—someone that you hate.

Not the peace you feel when you look at something you love because you're forced to wonder what they'd think of you if they knew who you really were.

You could never hold something close to your heart for fear that it would be taken away and leave you more shattered than you already were.

I was a puppet and the stitches that held me together were fraying. Slowly.

I approached the large worn down building, making sure my hood concealed my face before I stopped at the door.

I didn't want to have to be the person I needed to when I entered this place. I wished I could just be myself for once in my Cauldron damned life.

But we don't always get what we want, do we?

Closing my eyes I relished in the last few moments of peace. But my eyes opened again and I was no longer Danika Archeron.

I was a killer. I was a soldier. I was an obedient little minion.

Strolling up to the old worn down door like I owned the place I pushed it open, coming face to face with what you'd least expect his place to look like on the inside. All wealth and advancements, gold embellishments on the walls and marble-lined floors; a stark contrast to the broken-down exterior of the building.

Two guards stood on the side of the hallway and I pulled down my hood, putting on a look that dared them to stop me from entering.

The guards yielded nodding their heads and allowing me to pass. I began walking holding out my arm and letting it drift on the wall. I took the next left leading to a series of doors along a long hallway. I didn't dare stop and look, in places like these you never knew who was watching you. I kept my eyes on the door at directly the end of the hallway. It was dark oak with swirls and patterns and words I knew were in a long-lost language that even the people here didn't know.

I stopped directly in front of it, I knew how wide my eyes must look and felt the fear that coated my entire being like a large blanket. No matter how many times I'd come here my fear never lessened.

I raised my knuckle, hesitating for only a moment before I knocked surely on the door.

"Come in." I male voice called from the inside. No doubt waiting for my arrival.

I twisted the knob and pushed open the door coming face to face with the person I hated most in all the worlds.

"You summoned me," I stated, standing in the doorway with my arms behind my back. The perfect picture of an obedient little play toy.

"Sit." He spoke.

I did.

He cocked his head at me like a predator would with prey. "You've been busy, little warrior."

Little warrior.

Always little warrior. Forever little warrior.

"Where have you been?" His voice was so eerily calm. It was always worse when he was calm. I'd rather he yelled.

"Prythian." Short answers only.

"And how long did it take you to get back?"

"Three months."

"Why is that?"

"Because I made no move to escape." Never lie. Never lie.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't leave without my sister."

"And."

"I enjoyed myself there."

His calm mask cracked a little. I watched as he fought himself to speak the words he so desperately wanted to say.

You are nothing. You are a disappointment. You failed. You mean nothing. I could kill you if I wanted. You are little more than a child wishing for impossibilities.

But the calm won over. It always did.

Stijn smiled eerily and I knew what was coming next, "I'm so happy to hear that." he told me before looking towards the side entrance into the room, "Bring them in!" He called out and not seconds later the door opened.

And I stopped breathing.

Four guards brought in a blonde woman with brown eyes and a brown-haired boy with glasses.

Astrid and Flynn.

My comrades. My partners. My friends.

And deep down I knew.

I shot out of my chair, "What is this?" I asked as I stared at the people I was closest to.

Stijn rose gracefully from his chair, a stillness to him that only the Fae possessed, "Kill them." He spoke to the guards as he approached the exit of the room I'd just entered through.

"If you kill them, I swear to god I won't rest until every one of you is dead."

Stijn stopped. Turned around. Gave me a sad smile. And left.

And then there were hands on my back. Hands holding me back as people approached them.

Tears stung my eyes as I fought against the hands.

This was too fast.

All too fast.

There wasn't—

I couldn't—

My thoughts had scrabbled and all I could think about was the fact that the only two people who understood me were going to die. They were going to be gone, and then I would be alone. Always alone.

I fought.

And I fought.

And I fought.

But my attempts were futile.

And as two guards stepped up to each of my friends, Astrid and Flynn knew better than to protest as their throats were slit and their screams muffled as they melted to the floor.

I watched as they took their final breath and left to something greater. Leaving me behind.

I was alone.

All alone.

Always alone.

I erupted.

And I walked home wearing blood.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: honestly despise how I wrote this chapter, but it needed to be done. I apologize.