Fate had her remain with her father and youngest sister the day the debt collectors came.
It was fate that her father let her go.
It was fate that gave her a new husband, a new home.
It was fate that her younger sister disappeared.
It was fate that...
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Iyla didn't move from her position in the entryway. She just stared at Nesta's face, looking for the lie. Iyla knew her sister wasn't a liar, but Feyre couldn't have died. Her baby sister, her beautiful, fierce, baby sister, didn't die.
She could only hear the pounding of her heart ringing in her ears, but Iyla looked at Nesta and quietly demanded, "repeat what you just said, I'm afraid I misheard you." She hoped she misunderstood. She clenched her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.
"Feyre died," Nesta confirmed without any emotion.
Iyla stared into her sister's eyes, saw her truth, and then turned to the still open door. "I need to leave," she mumbled and walked out of the door. Iyla knew herself well and she knew she was currently in shock, but when that wore off, she would head straight into the bit where she couldn't breathe, see, or hear properly. She was not inclined to have her sisters witness an episode like that again. Not after the last one.
"Wait!" Elain tried to hold her twin back, but Iyla shook off her light hold. The blonde twin removed her slippers and dropped them onto the drive. She took off into a blind run into the trees that lined the drive. She didn't know where she was running, she only understood that she needed to get away from the house. Away from Nesta and her emotionless face telling her that her sister had died.
Breathing heavily, Iyla had no idea how far or how long she ran into the woods surrounding her father's home. "Feyre died... Feyre died..." she repeated in her breaths as she ran. Had it been seconds, minutes, hours, days since she started running? How long had her baby sister been dead? Was Aunt Ripleigh a lie as Iyla had suspected from the start? Had her father sold her baby sister for the riches he claimed to have found? Were all the sacrifices she and Feyre made for their family for naught?
"Feyre died... Feyre.. Feyre..." she continued to sob as she ran.
"Iyla!" she heard someone calling for her, but she couldn't stop. She kept running. She wanted to run from this place until 'Iyla' didn't exist anymore. "IYLA!" she heard again. "Gods, how are you so fast," came another call from behind her.
That last voice sounded like her little sister. Now she knew something had gone wrong in her head. "Feyre died," she breathed as she continued to run.
"Iyla, I am here. Iyla, I'm alive," called the voice from behind her again. Iyla did not slow her stride, but she did look over her shoulder to prove to herself that Feyre was not chasing her as her mind was making her believe. Her mind created an image that was similar to her sister, but just a little off. A little taller, a little smoother, a more polished version of her beloved little sister ran toward her from behind.
"I've gone mad," Iyla said to herself. She turned forward and continued to run until a body manifested from shadows directly in her path. It was too late for her to slow or change directions and she collided with the body.
"Ooof," Iyla heard a male voice say as she plowed into the body and they collapsed together. "Shhh..." the voice said as she felt a hand rub her back.
Iyla realized too late that she was allowing a body that had seemingly manifested from shadows, to hold her in a hug while rubbing her back. She hadn't even processed that she had stopped running.
