The Uprisen

Chapter 27

She watches the blood-stained dagger fall to the hardwood floor as her hands shake in front of her.  A foot away, a thirteen year-old girl falls to the ground, unconscious and bleeding out.

 What have I done? she asks herself.

She watches Mallory rush over in slow motion, and it's as if she's watching the sad part of a movie; silent and morbid.  It's that moment when the main character's life changes, and she's left wondering what comes next.

"Felicity," Mallory calls, though her voice is distant and muffled by the blood rushing through Felicity's ears.

She stares at the dagger on the floor, blood dripping from the tip, wondering what she could have done to avoid killing that girl.

"Felicity, hey," Mallory shakes Felicity's shoulders.  "Hey, look at me.  Are you hurt?  Are you okay?"

"I just killed that girl," she mumbles in a daze.  She looks around the room at the other dead elementals: Texans who have teamed up with the Seekers.  Then she looks at Mallory's shirt, disgusted at the smell and sight of the deep red that stains her grey T-shirt.  

Mallory tries to get her friend to focus, but Felicity is long gone.  "It's okay, Fel.  We're getting you home."  Slinging one of Felicity's arms over her shoulder, Mallory walks her friend out of the crime scene into their car and she speeds off to one of the motels they've been staying at for the past few weeks.  She practically carries Felicity upstairs into the room, and sits her down on the bed so she can check for any cuts.

As she looks closely, she notices the blood under Felicity's fingernails, the way her hands haven't stopped shaking since the girl hit the floor, the deep red soaking into her jeans.  Suddenly her red tipped hair is less of a fashion statement, but rather a question of whether or not it's blood or hair dye.

When Mallory concludes Felicity is physically fine, she grabs her friend's face and looks into her deep brown eyes and says, "Felicity, look at me.  You're okay.  Everything is okay.  Just breathe, Fel."

A tear falls from her eye as she looks past Mallory to the motel's grimy wall.  "I killed her, Mallory."

Mallory watches her friend sadly as she falls apart.  "I know you did, Fel."

"She just came at me.  I tried using fire, but she just kept coming."

"She wasn't going to stop, Felicity."

A gasp escapes Felicity's chest in a painful sob.  "I didn't want to kill her, Mallory.  I swear.  She just wouldn't stop coming."

Mallory pulls Felicity into a tight embrace, holding her as her body furiously shakes from shock and crying.  They seem to sit there forever, but Mallory doesn't care.  She'd take all night and the next day just hugging her friend to make sure she'll be okay.  

Eventually, Felicity runs out of tears to cry. Mallory holds her friend as she asks, "If I put you on an airplane, are you going to be okay?"

"Are you coming with me?"

Mallory considers leaving Texas behind.  Maybe this time she could leave without any fatalities, but she would also have to leave without any success.  The books, the Seekers, the families that need their help, she'd have to leave them behind.  "Fel, if I leave now, all of this would have been for nothing."

Felicity stares at the brown carpet expressionless.  "Then I'll wait until you come back with me."

She runs through all of the possible arguments she could make to convince Felicity to leave: she needs to go home, she needs to get help, she needs to get away from this place.  However, looking at her friend now, the best thing she could do for her is give her what she needs without any questions asked.  "Then I'll make it fast so we can get out of here, okay?"