Run Away ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter twenty-six

Devil Town by Cavetown

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Fifth Year

"Who is that?"

"That's what my body once looked like." Marceline's voice cooed in his head.

It felt like it was a dream at the time. Sebastian was starting to become comfortable with slipping back and forth in his subconscious. Everything felt so eerie and dreamy that it hadn't fully occurred to him how dangerous it was to be looking through the intruder's memories.

The open field and fresh summer grass had seemed so real as he stood there. The air around them even felt warm against his skin, but he knew it wasn't real. It was the depths of winter and he had been sitting in the Undercroft with his back pressed against the cold stone wall. If he simply opened his eyes then it would all disappear in front of him. Yet somehow his mind could bring him into a memory so clear that it felt like his own.

A young Marceline Elm stood in front of him with long white hair running long down her back as she went around the farm doing her chores. It wasn't easy work: milking cows, and setting hay, and she couldn't have been older than eight. Or even younger, the girl was much smaller than he expected to see. A tiny fragile looking child that was all skin and bones. 

"I was born sick," Marceline's voice clarified, "The village doctors told my father that he should have buried me with my mother. No one expected me to live any longer than a week. But my father was so heartbroken that my mother passed by bringing me into the world that he didn't have the courage to put me in the ground with her. He was a weak man."

"He loved you," Sebastian corrected.

Marceline didn't answer back.

The little girl had looked sick, but more importantly, she looked happy. Bright red eyes that seemed to glow in the daylight were full of life and a smile hung on her face despite all of the labor work.

Sebastian felt anxious just looking at the younger version of the witch. He couldn't help but think about his sick sister. It was the whole reason that he was trusting the witch so much. The bright smile on such a sick child reminded him so much of Anne Sallow. 

It was odd for him to believe that the happy child before him would grow into the cold dark voice that he heard. This had been the start of the witch's journey into the dark arts and blood magic. As a child, Marceline looked innocent.

"Marcy! Marcy!" The look of pure joy washed over the pale girl's face at the voice of her friend.

A moment later another girl appeared with her head above the fence. Her toes dangling off the bottom tier to reach over so they could see each other. "Are you done yet?" The friend asked, "I have something to show you!"

The two must have been the same age, but couldn't have looked more like opposites. The friend hanging off the fence had bouncing black curls compared to Marceline's straight dead white hair. Her face glowed with health, bright pink cheeks from the burn in the afternoon sun.

"What is it?" A young Marceline asked with all the excitement a child should have.

"It's a surprise!"

Sebastian Sallow followed the two children like a ghost haunting them. Even if this had happened long before he had ever existed, it felt all very real to him. He could feel his boots pressing into the muddy ground under him with each step.