Me and the Devil: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter NINETY NINE - Need

(La petite fille de la mar - Remastered - Vangelis)

The moonlight danced against their skin, twirling back across Anne's cheek now pressed firmly to Sebastian's shoulder. The glow scraped against the tips of his reddened ears and flushed against his fingertips that dug into the fabric of her clothes.

Ominis had found my hand and wound his fingers through my own, squeezing gently though I could feel the tremble in his touch.

I didn't know how long we stayed like that - bodies silently accompanied by the sting of smoke in our nostrils, the tang of burnt metal on our tongues and the brush of stray tears on our cheeks.

It felt like an eternity.

It felt like an instant.

No words dared touch the air as Anne pulled Sebastian back on his feet, brushing past my shoulder with a low nod and red eyes. She guided him with shaking steps back towards the house and Ominis and I trailed close behind, kicking up bits of crushed snow as we went.

The pain in my leg begun to pulse with each step as the adrenaline drug through the snow until there was nothing left but a swollen knee cap and aching bones. Ominis seemed to sense my unease and tossed my arm over his shoulder, allowing me to rest my weight on him. I could have sworn I felt a warmth on the edge of my nose from the red light of his wand as he guided me this time.

Dipping my eyes to the ground I watched as white bits of falling snowflakes filled the siblings' footprints ahead of us only to be trampled down once more with our hobbled toe tips and heals. 

A few more crunching steps and too few deep breaths later, the four of us piled through the door of the house shivering and desperate for the heat.

My skin prickled at the sudden warmth and my palms begun to sweat as my body forced itself to acclimate.

Anne tucked Sebastian into the corner of the couch, knees to his chest and covered him with a blanket. He caught her hand as she moved to pull away and their eyes locked - seconds of silent discussions cutting through the flickers of the fireplace.

Ominis carefully dropped me into one of the kitchen chairs before quickly finding my bag and digging out one of the Wiggenweld bottles.

"Its really not that bad-"

"Hush. Just drink it. Please."

And that was that.

Anne had ducked behind the curtain and as I tossed the liquid back quickly, I watched her return with a small blue box and place it on an end table aside Sebastian. Though it was much too dark to see too many details, I could just make out a very worn latch on the front. She spoke softly, but I couldn't make out the words. Her frail fingers flicked the fastener twice before it popped open and she raised the lid. Sebastian didn't move from his corner but peeked over the arm of the couch as she worked.

Pressing something along the side, she stood back and sweet, small notes tinseled around the room.

A music box.

One note after the other wound behind our ears, weaving an otherwise deafening silence with life and something that tasted a lot like promises.

My eyes dropped to the table below me, landing on the closed spellbook left out in our haste. The tattered pages still shut tight, I trailed my finger across their rough edges, shuddering as a chill crept beneath my fingernails. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, feeling a lot like the phantom feeling of eyes on my skin.