All Of Us - Part 1: Summer

Chapter 41 - The massacre of Heom Pt.2

Trigger warning: violence
- Evangeline -

My eyes droop further as Aline and Ian continue to drone on in the background: "That's not how yah do it, blockhead !" "I'm the one who teached yah that move, yah twit !" "Listen, yah little..."

I can barely stay awake, much less focus on their mind-numbing conversation. Besides, I have other things to worry about.

Last night...

"It went for Bo first, the Untamed. It- Bo..." His voice shatters as his throat closes up and he chokes on his own words, croaking and spitting. "Bo was killed, in front of my eyes. Eaten. And I didn't move, Eva, didn't bugde ! Bo tried to fight it off. I can still hear her scream: Run ! Run, Day-or ! But I didn't. I stayed as it... It looked at me, blood splattered across its jaw. Ready to pounce. But I had seen the milkiness in its dark eyes. The Untamed had been blind. Bo's mouth, which she used so constantly, had been her downfall, though in a way none could have expected. Despite its infirmity, I saw the sheer animality in its gaze, the hunger, the rage. I had never been that terrified in my life, and haven't been since - nor will ever be again. It's a promise I made to myself, back then in the woods."

"So I stayed perfectly still. Boy and beast, or maybe only two monsters, facing themselves off. Whatever it is, the Untamed turned away eventually. Outside our hut was pure chaos, with fire and cries and the sharp stink of blood. The creature turned away, attracted by the commotion outside. It was only as its midnight tail disappeared around the corner of the door that I began to run. I didn't even look back," his words fragment, breaking down and down into tiny shards which stab my heart with every one of his punctuated sobs," and I didn't stop running for about forty-two hours, barely stopping to eat, not bothering to sleep. I only kept moving along, deeper and deeper into the forest, Bo's voice echoing in my ears. It was only when the moon filled out again that I let myself collapse."

"I made a vow, that day. To never, ever run again. I would stay and fight till my last fuckin heartbeat, not stop still they all are six feet down under. All of them. All of the Isfalts - all the Barons, the Dukes and the Kings. And so that's what I've been doing."

"And that's what we'll keep on doing," I finished. My finger brushed against his. We stayed together, our breathing synchronised, our heartbeats identical. Looking at the stars.

Till, all of a sudden, he pushed me away and, with a brief apology, walked back inside.

Last night is all I can think about. His words, his tears, the feeling of his shoulder against mine... A whirlwind of feelings erupts in my lower stomach and flurries upwards, leaving debris in its wake. This blend of hatred, desperation, deep sadness and cold fury is overwhelming. I don't know if I can whisk it away. Dæor... I knew something must have happened. But I didn't realize how much he blamed himself until I saw the little half-moons cut into his palms at regular spaces and the fringe of blood steadily falling from it. He didn't tell me - he didn't need to; it was clear that he thought the Untamed appeared because of the blood he had drawn. The only person he blamed as much as himself was the King. The moment the Ruby King turned to Bo, Dæor's family was condemned - he knows this as well as I do. I clench my jaw. Yet another person who's life was scarred by him.

But Dæor isn't just "another person", now is he ?

I start. How can I think of such a thing right now ? Shameful red creeps into my cheeks, and I cover them up with my fingers.

Nonetheless, there might be some truth in my thought. Last night... When Dæor held onto me, tears streaming from his eyes, it felt... different than it did with Ian. Somehow. I felt like his lifeline - if I were to fall, it felt like he would plummet.