RIBBONS • SIX OF CROWS

3

"Jordie?"

Little Violets voice had been hoarse, cracking through fatigue and lack of use. It took so much energy to keep her eyes open, her muscles aching from how she shivered while clutching her thin, shabby coat around her frail body. It's colour had once been a midnight blue so dark it was almost black, but now it was just a dull, dusty grey, just like her eyes.

"Jordie."

She didn't have the energy to get up from where she lay curled up between her sleeping brothers, eyes trailing the side of Jordie's grey tinged face angled away from her as she tried tugging on the end of her jacket. He must have shifted in his sleep, and the weight of his shoulder had her pinned slightly when she wanted to turn on her other side.

When he didn't make any move to acknowledge her, she shakily wiped the sleep from her eyes and leant forwards, fingers grasping the end of the fabric so she could pull at it in order to free it.

Just doing so left her breathless, her arms weaker than they had ever been, and she hated it. She pressed her lips together and pulled as hard as she could before pushing on Jordie's arm.

When she yanked it free, the girl slumped back against the stone wall with a heavy exhale. Dark spots ebbed her vision and she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes, her heart fluttering unsteadily from it all.

She glanced down at Kaz on her right, lying with his knees drawn in and head tipped to the side, his few and far between exhales coming out in clouds with the frigid air. Her eyes lingered on the angry, red blotches on the side of his neck before averting her gaze.

She knew she had the same markings beneath her clothes; they all did. The one on the back of her right hand had been the first to show.

When her eyes fell back on Jordie, who seemed to be sleeping deeper than he had in over a week. It almost made her feel a bit better, but when she noted the fact his breath wasn't clouding in front of his face, her heart fluttered again.

She turned go look back at Kaz, and then scrambled to her knees to lean over Jordie's figure. Her fingers were almost numb as she grasped his arm and shook him.

"Jordie."

Even speaking quietly hurt tremendously. She closed her eyes and fought the urge to cough, clearing her throat and wishing she hadn't as she began to taste copper.

She swallowed back the pain and disgust, and dug her fingers into his bony shoulder.

"Jordie, come on."

Violet leant over him, her red ribbon and hair falling over her shoulder. She stared at his lips, blinking hard for a moment.

"Jordie!" She whispered harshly, suddenly incredibly aware of the fact he wasn't even making the slightest of movements, his chest lacking the little rise and fall that Kaz's did.

Her lip wavered as warmth filled her eyes, blurring her vision.

She went out call his name again but her voice caught in her throat as she couldn't help the fearful tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

His lips were so grey they were almost blue.

Violet bit back a cry and put a hand out to his cheek so she could tilt his head up slightly. His skin was so much colder than her own that it felt like she was touching ice. His eyes remained closed, and she felt no air leaving his cracked lips. When she pulled away, his head slumped back down to where it had been before.

"Jordie, wake up." She shook his arm again desperately, voice cracking. It felt as though razor blades were tearing at her throat, but she forced the words out because her heart was about to burst out of her chest. "Please wake up..."

Violet already knew. She just didn't want to believe it, stubbornly clinging to false hope.

But the more her heart hammered against her chest and the stifling fear crept into her heart, she found herself on the verge of passing out, her vision blurring dangerously.

Trying to stifle her crying, she crept back beside her brother and clung to his ice cold hand that didn't twitch at her touch.

Her back against the wall, Violet closed her eyes, shoulders shaking with silent sobs as she drew her knees in and clutched his hand like a lifeline.

She wanted to wake Kaz and tell him something was wrong, but couldn't bring herself to speak or to wake him. He looked as peaceful as he could while horrifically sick and asleep, exhaustion lined beneath his hollow eyes, and she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Not wanting to believe it and feeling her head grow heavy with exhaustion, the girl tried her hardest to stay concious. But her heart felt intensely heavy and yet at the base of her throat all at the same time.

Through her tears, as the world slipped away from her dizzyingly fast, her eyes fluttered closed as her head slumped against Jordie's shoulder.