Soulbreak - A MCYT 3rd/Last/Double Life FanFiction

Chapter 26 - The Tale of A Liar and Tilly

It was well into the night before Martyn made it back to camp. Pearl hadn't moved from her bed, she lay curled in a little ball for the rest of the afternoon. She was busy trying to sort her thoughts into relevant and crazy. So far so good.

Martyn peered into the little room, the events of the day etched into the lines of his face. He carried a bundle of what Pearl recognized as her things – a bundle of bloodstained clothes, her red-dyed hood, her axe, unlit torches, food, and a few other miscellaneous items. And a blanket. Pearl looked up at Martyn, a little smile cracking the stone.

"Pearl?" Martyn called softly. His eyes hadn't adjusted to the gloom yet.

Pearl sat up cross-legged in her blankets, the vacancy leaving her eyes. Martyn lit a torch. For some reason, he looked scared. The flickering light from the little flame cast haunting shadows on Pearl's face, accentuating the lines of weariness that etched her features.

Martyn cleared his throat, attempting to break the unsettling silence. "I brought you your things, Pearl. You should warm up and—"

Pearl's eyes, vacant pools of uncertainty, met his gaze. She accepted the items mechanically, her movements devoid of their usual grace.

"Look away. No peeking." Pearl spoke finally as she stepped into her undergarments and baggy cream-colored blouse. The rest of her things lay untouched at her side, her food uneaten. "You're back," Pearl murmured, her voice a hollow echo of its former self as she pushed past Martyn to sit down at the fire.

Martyn hesitated, concern etched across his features. It was very un-Martyn like "What happened out there? It was like you weren't even here. You vanished."

A distant smile played on Pearl's lips, devoid of warmth. "I died, Martyn." Pearl paused, but couldn't refrain from adding, "Duh."

Martyn's brows furrowed. "What does death feel like?"

Pearl's laughter, a discordant melody, filled the tent. "Scott got stabbed. I felt it, and then... there was darkness. Cold, dark darkness. Not very pleasant, not at all." Darkness exactly like what the other feels like... Pearl refrained from mentioning "But I woke up here, alive. Like nothing even happened." The bitter note in Pearl's voice was hard.

Martyn's concern transformed into a palpable fear. He took a step back, the weight of the situation settling heavily on his shoulders. It was like he could sense the internal conflict. "Pearl, something else must've happened. This... this isn't like you. You - you're different."

Pearl's laughter escalated, an unsettling crescendo that sent shivers down Martyn's spine. "There's no helping this, Martyn. I just died, of course I'm not me. This isn't even my body."

Martyn grimaced. The woman before him, once vibrant and full of life, now seemed like a mere reflection of her former self—an embodiment of what she once was.

"You'll die soon, too. You can't run from it, Martyn. The echoes will find you, too. We're all going to die, over and over again. Only one of us will remain."

"Pearl, please snap out of it." Martyn grabbed Pearl's hand in his own. It was cold. She felt like the dead. "What can I do to fix this?"

"You can't fix death, Martyn." Pearl laughed, the fire reflecting in her eyes.

"Your eyes." Martyn dropped Pearl's hand, jerking violently. "They're ringed with yellow."

"My second life, Martyn."

"This isn't right." Martyn shook his head, backing up.

"It doesn't feel right. You're the only right thing about any of this. Just... just stay with me." Pearl sighed, reaching for him. Grasping for her last link to reality.

As the flames of the campfire flickered in the cool night air, Martyn cast a wary glance over his shoulder, half-expecting insanity to come upon him at any moment too. Like she was contagious.

"I - I can't do this anymore." Martyn's eyes filled with pain. "I'm sorry Pearl."

"What - what are you saying?" Pearl gasped. She felt like another knife had stabbed her. Realization dawned. Martyn was scared. He was scared of her. Is he... is he scared I'll hurt him...? "Martyn, I swear I'm of no danger to you."

"Pearl, look at you. You're a danger to yourself."

Martyn didn't even grab all his things. He just vanished into the woods. Gone as quickly as he had come. Martyn's words echoed in Pearl's mind as she gasped, trying to process what had just happened.

"You and me, we could build something new, something better... I won't leave you. I never did. Grian, he's scared of you, of what you'll become... but I... I love it."

Pearl's knuckles whitened as she clutched her axe.

"Liar."

. . .

Tears streamed freely down Pearl's face. She was running, but she didn't know where. She had thought Martyn was someone she could trust. She could rely on it. She thought she meant more to him.

But she had been wrong, oh so wrong. The cruel truth penetrated her skin like icy nails. Bit at her, an icy gale. She had been betrayed again. First by Mojang, unsurprisingly. But now Scott and Martyn... it hurt... it hurt like fire. But Pearl knew all too well that fire wasn't all bad... it was a burning sensation that cleared the mind, renewed the soul... it could electrify one with an unexplainable inferno of power.

Yet the void remained unfilled. Pearl collapsed in a pine forest clearing, her body wracked with dry sobs. When she looked up her eyes were unfocused and puffy. She was drifting back to neither here nor there. She hadn't drifted this far since Grian had returned... and she had left him... because she loved him because he was safe... safe from this. Pearl looked up.

Looked up into the cold black eyes of a wolf.

The wolf met her gaze coolly, unthreatening, but in a way that said it could be very threatening. Something in Pearl's consciousness shifted and she raised a shaky hand to stroke his face.

"Why hello there, darling." An empty laugh broke the silence, and a warm tongue lapped Pearl's cheek as she chuckled. Her hand went into her cloak and emerged with a leftover bone. The wolf's eyes warmed as it nuzzled into her chest, munching down the treat.

"Haha!" Pearl laughed. "Okay, girl... you wanna be my new baby?" Pearl teased, "You can come along..." A desperate hope gleamed in her eyes. In response, the wolf cocked its head to the side and gave Pearl's cheek a quick laugh. Pearl beamed and hugged the wolf.

"Okay doggo... let's see... Glory? Rosi? No. Okay... Tilly." The name felt right on Pearl's tongue. "That good?" Pearl asked, her voice hopeful. The wolf nodded firmly. Tilly seemed to understand. Pearl hugged the wolf close, her eyes dampening.

Nothing would happen to Tilly. Not on her life... or anyone else's.