Rune Stealer

Going Out

"Where have you been?" seethed Mercy when I walked through the door to my chambers. Mercy had been making my bed when I walked in, now she stood pointing a chastising finger at me.

"I had gone out to talk to Story," I told her. I picked up the worn, green book from the night stand and sat on my bed, looking up at Mercy.

"I thought you had ran for it," exclaimed Mercy. "I was so worried," Mercy breathed in a low whisper.

I glanced out one of the windows and measured the sun. It was around nine o'clock. I'd been gone for longer than I planned. "I am sorry for worrying you," I apologized, staring at the worn emerald cover in my hand.

"It's quite alright Miss," exhaled Mercy. Mercy busied herself with finishing my bed. Lost in thought, I sat with my legs crossed underneath me atop the bed, my eyes still glued on the cover of the ancient emerald book.

"Laika?"

Mercy's voice snapped my out of my trance and I glanced up expecting Mercy to order me off the bed. However, she was not looking at me with her eyes narrowed, but open wide with concern.

"Miss, your hair," she said quizzically. I looked back at her with my eyebrows raised. "It's a rats' nest." Then the cloud in my brain flew away and I remembered.

"Oh," I breathed. It was then that I smiled, a wide, cheesy, fake smile that showed no teeth. "It was windy outside."

And then, as if she understood - god forbid - Mercy smiled, a sweet, altruistic smile. She then walked over to my side of the bed, took my hand in hers, and pull me to the vanity. She forced me to sit on the stool and picked up a small comb to begin picking away at the rats nest on my head. The rhythm of the comb lulled me into a trance, which was soon met with a soft noise.

A soft tune resonated in the air. It went on quietly, yet beautifully. My ear strained to hear where it was coming from and I realized it was coming from Mercy. Mercy hummed a beautiful lullaby. It was slow and melodic, but it also sounded a bit melancholy. Each note she hummed tugged on an emotion and before I knew it, my whole body was listening. I hung onto every note with every fiber in my body.

Her voice mesmerized me and gave me a sense of familiarity. It's been a long time since I've listened to someone else sing. With a gasp I recognized the lullaby. I realized why it affected me so. It wasn't Mercy I was hearing hum this beautiful lullaby. I was hearing my mother sing it from years ago. It was her voice that resonated in my mind.

Every time she sang, it was as if the whole village stopped and listened. Her voice was so melodic, so alien that you just had to listen. Whatever tone she sang it, that's what you became. If she sang a joyful tune, joyful you became. If she sang a lullaby, it lulled you to sleep. This lullaby, however, was her favorite. She hummed it more than she hummed any other song. It always made me feel at peace, safe, and loved. It was what she sang to me when I woke up in the middle of the night with nightmares. It was what she sang when I came home crying when the other kids of the village have been making fun of me. It was what she was singing when I reached into her mind and-

Abruptly, I stood up. Mercy stepped back, eyes wide and mouth open.

"Is something the matter, Laika," she asked, voice drenching in concern. And fear, I sensed fear. With a stoic expression, I turned to the scared Mercy.

"I apologize for startling you," I announced, "but I must... go." I spun on my heel and left the room. My hand twisted the doorknob, the door flew open and I left.

I didn't take two steps before I ran into a wall. And I didn't blink twice before I realized that the wall was Cress.

Quickly, I mumbled an incoherent apology and then quick stepped around him, a wave of darkness consuming me. Cress called out after me, but I didn't respond; I just kept walking.