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“You have to go, Alice. It’s too late for me… They want you too.” An ebb works its way through my body, turning my movements sluggish, and blurring my vision. The world seems to spin around me, wobbling on no particular axis.
“Tell me. I’m not leaving,” I yell, stumbling forward.
“I’m in a building. A barn, maybe? I ran here after one of the tiny people stuck me.”
“Stuck you?” I say, spinning around, looking for what she’s describing but only finding woods and more woods.
“Yes. Something pointy. Stick-like?”
“A sword? An arrow?”
“How should I know? Whatever it was, it was laced with something. I’m pretty sure they poisoned me.” Her words echo in my mind as I push through the woods, remembering a shed-like structure near the clearing Kai and I passed on our way to Hell Hold, near where we saw her last.
“I think I might know where you are. Hang on.” I burst through the trees, feeling her connection grow weaker. It’s hard as shit to see, though. My head swims, making me stumble and forcing me to stop to get my bearings. “You’re going to have to sever the connection. The bond. I won’t be able to get to you like this.”
“You won’t die. You’ll feel it, but my death won’t take you with me,” she answers.
“You’re not fucking dying! Okay? Now, sever it so I can get to you.”
“Okay… but just in case, you were a good human. One I was glad to get to know.”
“No. I won’t accept that. Now cut the damn line so I can walk! We’re losing time.”
The cord snaps, taking the feelings, and the dizziness with it. The sharp pain disappears in my middle and I straighten, standing to my full height.
“I won’t let you down,” I say, knowing she can hear me, even if I can no longer hear her.
Sucking in a breath, I freeze as blue-hued figures materialize from thin air… Lost souls.Ghosts.This is not the time… nor the place, but I remember them. Was this what I saw in the cave? Me going after Luri?
The silence deafening as I launch myself through unforgiving woods, rushing past ghosts as they appear.Fuck!Why did it have to be at night? During the day, they stick to themselves.Mostly.It’s rare for lost souls to come out of the woodwork, but not unheard of.
Twigs slap against my flesh, searing marks and leaving bloodied welts in their wake as I push harder through the brush. A ghostly hand lurches from nowhere, wrapping around my arm and curling long nails into my flesh. I cry out as blood pulls through the surface of my skin. I flinch, swatting it away as I push forth. My heart pounds into my ribs, threatening to crack bone as my pulse rages in my veins.
“Careful, little girl. They already think you’re a monster,” a haunting voice calls after me. “Stay on this course and they’ll be sure of it.” Little hands grab at my clothes as their inky, dark aura slips across my skin like oil.
“They’ll doom her like the first prince.” It’s a young, innocent-sounding voice this time, and the chuckle the child makes sends fear clawing through my middle.
Something latches on to my ankle, sending me toppling forward. My hands collide with the ground as stone and debris slice into my palms. A stinging pain ripples up my arm as I yelp.
“She’ll never be good enough. Look at her crawl,” another voice says.
“It’s true! I’ve already seen two hordes of men with pitchforks. They’re coming for her,” a male ghost says, snickering as if I’m the entertainment for the evening.
I lift, pushing back to my feet as ghostly figures move closer.Pan’s children,doomed to forever roman the forest at night.
A thread snaps inside of me as my body ignites with flames. Power pulses out of my form, leveling the ghosts near me to ash. More blue-hued figures float through the woods, creeping toward me. I take off at a breakneck pace. My chest heaves as air burns in and out of my lungs, demanding them to stretch and hold more with every exasperated breath. I don’t stop until I breathe through the wood line and into the clearing.
* * *
Kai
“She left,” I shout, pushing open the door to Finn’s room. It’s much smaller than ours, but it’s on our floor, down the opposite wing.
“What? Who?” Finn kicks his feet over to the side of the couch so he can sit up. Smoke plumes through the air, a bright purple haze, as he takes a hit from the twisted glass hookah on the coffee table. Slowly, he lets it roll from his lips and filter out into the air.
“Alice fucking left, Finn. Do you need me to spell it out? Make a fucking map?”
“Do you blame her? Her cat is in danger. You said yourself that the masters were debating on going after it. She’s likely telling her to get her ass back to the prison world.”
