The Dark Ember

Uncle Elijah

Hope shook me awake and then we went downstairs and saw dad at a table with a lot of goodies. He said "Now, you can't call yourself a connoisseur if you have not sampled every one of these. Hmm? Here." he handed us a pastry and we each took a bite, Hope and I said "Mmm, it's so good!" dad said "Did I ever tell you the story of my first beignet? No? You are in for a treat. Long ago, three French nuns came to New Orleans looking for a fresh start. And they came here. They marched right into our courtyard, and they presented your Uncle Elijah and me with these rather lumpy-looking, sugar-coated pastries. Well, needless to say, we were entranced. We set them up quite well." Hope said "Why did they come to you?" dad said "Because there was a time when we were regarded as royalty. You might even go so far as to say I was king, which would make you both princesses." 

Mom came in and said "Good morning. I guess apple turnover is fruit." dad said "Well, I saw no harm in indulging our daughter's sweet tooth. All things in moderation, of course." mom said "Okay. Don't eat too many. You'll get a stomachache. Can we talk? Have you seen Elijah?" dad said "I thought he was with you. I haven't seen him since he left for Marcel's last night." dad left and I said "We know where uncle Elijah is." mom said, "Where is he?" Hope and I looked at each other then we said "The Hollow has him now." mom went off to talk to people about saving him. We finished breakfast and went to find mom again. Hope said "Mom?" Mom said "Ember, Hope. I didn't see you there, sweetie." Hope said "Uncle Elijah is sick, isn't he?" mom said, "Uncle Elijah is very sick." I said, "Well, can we help him?"

Mom said "We're doing everything that we can. I promise." Hope said "Maybe we can help aunt Freya do a spell to make him better." mom said "That's very brave of you girls." we walked off to play Jacks but Hope was acting strange so I wasn't gonna leave her alone, Hope saw Keelin and said, "Will you play jacks with us?" Keelin said "All right. It's been a while since I played." I said "You just bounce the ball, pick up the jacks. That's it." I showed her Keelin said "Okay, I'll try. Nice one." she did it and Hope said "Kind of. Kind of did it. Yep. Now, try it again." Keelin said "Okay."

That night while we should have been sleeping we instead went into a room with a necklace, mom, dad, and aunt Freya, dad said "This is not happening. For a thousand years, my brother and I have walked this Earth. Countless times, death has come for us and countless times, we've denied her. He's not gone! He can't be." Hope said, "What is that?" Mom said "Girls, oh. Go back to bed, sweetie, I'll be there in a second." We instead walked to aunt Freya who had the necklace and laid our hands on her shoulders and she said "Did you see that? Did you feel it?" Hope said "Uncle Elijah." I said "He sounds so far away." mom said "He's in there. You heard him, right?" Freya said "Yes, I heard him. He's somewhere inside, but..." dad said "But what?" Freya said, "His voice sounds distorted, broken, like radio static and I just heard... his screaming."

...

Mom brought us back into the room and said "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." Hope and I grabbed hands and said "It's okay. We're not afraid." Freya said "Ready?" mom said, "So he's just in there somewhere, clinging to broken memories?" Freya said "The core of his being has retreated deep into his subconscious, but, yes, he's still in there." mom said, "And I just search until I find him?" Freya said "You don't have time. There are too many memories for you to randomly search. You have to think, where would Elijah find refuge? It has to be somewhere that represents the fundamental basis of who he is. Hopefully, that's a good place. When you find it, draw him out and wake him up. But be careful, his mind is unstable." Hope said "Mom? Be careful." mom said "I'll be right back, my sweet girls." Freya said "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz." Hope and I grabbed her hands with our free hands and spoke with her "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz."

Mom screamed "Freya!" we continued to chant "Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz." mom screamed again "Freya! Elijah. Please. Stop!" Hope and I screamed "Mom!" we ran to mom and Freya said "Tillate... Girls, stop!" Hope said, "Aunt Freya, please, do something!" Freya said "Girls, I need you to focus on the spell." mom said "I'm not trying to fight you. I'm just trying to bring you home." Freya continued the chant as I said "Come back, Mom, come back!" Freya said "Hope. Ember. If we don't maintain the spell, we could lose her in there." I said "Let us help. We can save her." Freya said "Now, listen, I need you to trust me. This is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna put you both inside the pendant. When you're in there, I need you to call out to your mom. Okay? Now, when you're in the hallway, do not open any doors. Do you understand? Okay.Okay. Hey. Lay down, okay? I'll see you soon. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz. Tillate ulaz."

We laid on either side of mom and closed our eyes as Freya chanted. We ended up in a white hallway full of doors, with one red door at the very end of the hall. Hope said "Mom? We're here. Mom? Where are you, Mom?" Mom yelled "Emberlyn! Hope! Stay there! Girls! Please don't do this. Please don't do this. Please don't do this. Please. Please!" I screamed "Mommy! Mom? We can't find you." mom said "Girls. Stay there. Mommy's coming." Mom came from the red door and mom pulled us into a hug Hope said "Are you okay?" mom said "I'm okay. I'm okay." I said, "Where's Elijah?"

Elijah said "I'm right here." mom pulled us behind her and said "You need to leave. This isn't safe." Elijah said "It's okay. It's me." mom said "Go home, babies. Tell Freya it's safe to fix the pendant." we woke up and chanted with aunt Freya "Leigheas brotin. Leigheas brotin. Leigheas brotin. Leigheas brotin" mom woke up and we hugged her again and said "Mommy!" she kissed our heads and held us tightly. Hope and I went to our room and we sat on the floor playing jacks, dad came in and Hope said "The Hollow, she's getting stronger." dad said, "You can sense her?" I said, "We're connected to her." Hope said "When we first got here, there was always music outside, people dancing, laughing. But since she came back, it's so quiet. Like she's draining everything out of the city. She already took Uncle Elijah. And soon she will come for the rest of us." dad said "Listen, girls, I know you're scared. But over the years, a lot of bad people have stood against our family, and all of them have fallen. The Hollow is no different." Hope and I said, "No, she is different." Dad left the room and we continued to play.