~Layla~
The grass looked burnt under my bare feet. The trees that one stood proudly were turning into wrinkled sticks that could barely stand. It looked like life had been sucked out of the forest; the green leaves were now piles of ash residue laying on the ground next to the cracked trunk.
The roots were growing thinner and grayer; the colors of the flowers and moss, which once were enhanced under the sun, were now a black and white movie only nobody would laugh at.
I heard the roaring storm that was blasting over our heads, but not a single drop made it past the trees. The crowns still stood tall and protected the forest against unworthy eyes and preying hands. “Layla,” I looked out towards the little cottage; I was expecting to see Analise in her cheerful embrace with that warm gaze, but I wasn’t shocked when I was wrong.
“Analise?” She looked like a hollow shell of the woman she used to be. Black holes had formed around her eyes; her cheekbones were sticking out, and her lips were cracking like raisins, dry and gray. Her earlier porcelain complexion was now a memory in my mind as I stared at the dull, scratched surface of her skin. Her hand was hiding the most recent spot where her nails had scratched open her flesh. Semi-healed wounds paint her body, and crimson red spots adorned her white dress.
“What happened to you?” I whispered as I took careful steps towards her. I was afraid, afraid of stepping to close and afraid of hearing what she had to say.
“Layla, what have you done?” Her voice rang out in silent defeat, and my heart sank into my gut. “I-I don’t know,” I shook my head slowly to the side and tried not to look away from her.
My heart was aching; my eyes were desperate to look at any other thing, but she was pulling me in, and the fragility of her being was causing my legs to buckle under my body.
“You showed him…you showed him your powers. You gave away the last key,” she was trying to raise her voice, but it never went above a hoarse whistle.
I went closer and swallowed the fear that was pushing me back. I didn’t want to be here, but I didn’t wish that I was back in my house either. All I wished for right now was that I would simply not be.
“I was told to trust him by someone I trusted with my life. Analise, I am so sorry if anything I did caused-“ her hands flew to her sides and her back straightened to a stiff line.
“If? If anything you did caused this? Oh, child, look around,” she said and looked at the trees. She dragged her hand over the rotten bush and then turned back to me.
“This is all your fault. You showed him your cards, and now he knows exactly how to play. You doomed them all; he will never let you go now.” Her eyes fell to my chest and then down as she took me in. I swallowed the tears and violently wiped away the ones that strayed.
My hands started shaking, my heart was twisting in knots, and my mind was rotting in guilt and shame.
When she raised her head I saw a teardrop falling from eye and she let it fall, down past her nose and over her lips.
“Oh dear,” she whispered quietly as the wind.
“I can fix this,” I said and nodded my head. She stepped closer, closing the last inches between us as she grabbed my wrist and lifted it. She removed her necklace and wrapped it twice around my wrist; on the thin metal hung a small box made out of wood. Analise grabbed my hands and ran her thumbs in circles on the back.
“I don’t think you can.” She said and turned around walking the cottage.
But I have to be able to; there can’t be a scenario where I don’t succeed because that would mean I am the reason for the extinction of a species.
“Wait!” I yelled out.
She stopped by the entrance and turned halfway as I fell forward, remembering that there was one more important thing.
“Kade, I need to see him. Please help me see him,” her head fell, and she looked at the ground.
“I’ll see what I can do, but I won’t promise anything. Keep that safe, safe and hidden.” her eyes were filled with so much pain when she looked back up at me. I nodded my head and could only hope for the best. The door slowly closed behind her as she disappeared into the house.
“I can fix this… i’m going to fix this,” I turned around and drew in a sharp breath. The walls of the world were closing in on me and I could feel the time running out.
Had I really ruined everything? If I was the only key and I had unlocked the one thing that Nathaniel needed, was there any way for me to stop him now?
I wrapped my fingers around the box, felt the helplessness starting to eat me alive. Worse than anything else was the fact that once I woke up, I had no one to turn to for advice and guidance.
~Justin~
Alpha Kade’s men had brought down a mattress, a soft luxury that none of the other prisoners had the privilege of experiencing. I had learned their names; there was Alpha Sebastian, his father Daria, and his closest friend Dimitri. They sounded like something out of a James Bond movie, but based on the few hours I’d known them, I could see that they wouldn’t survive one hour out in the world.
Sebastian was a spoiled prick who thought the world owed him something, and his father was a grumpy bastard who believed he actually upheld some authority.
It was sad, really.
I used my arms as a pillow and stared up at the tainted ceiling. The smell of blood and rotten flesh was causing my mind to drift into an amniotic shock, which thankfully helped me fall asleep.
I heard tapping and hushed whispers. My eyes slowly fluttered open, but I was seeing through a fog before my eyes got a chance to adjust to the darkness.
“Shh, keep your voice down,” who was that?
I carefully pushed off from the mattress and walked alongside the wall so they wouldn’t see me.
I grabbed the bars and leaned in.
“When will you make true on your words?” It was Sebastian’s father; I recognized the whiny voice, but who was he talking to?
My eyes were adjusting, but my mind was taking its sweet time waking up. Kade told me how they sprayed a small dose of wolfsbane into the dungeon at night to subdue everyone but it clearly hadn’t taken effect on him.
“Just keep taking the blend; it’ll help wear off the effects of the wolfsbane. I’ll take care of the rest,” It was a woman’s voice. I leaned in further; my lips were breathing against the bars, and I could see his hands circling his cell door. Darian wasn’t affected by the acid flowing through the metal; it wasn’t possible for him to withstand that.
“Hurry up; I have done my part.” He seethed and pushed back.
She stood up and moved the chair. I took a step to the right and hit the mattress which slid an inch, it was enough for her head to jerk my way.
“Danielle?” She reached for a knob next to the door and turned it; the mist sprayed heavier through the ventilation and she disappeared in the fog. I stumbled back; my head spun from the dizziness, and my legs gave in as I fell onto the floor.
