𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑂𝐶𝐸𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑆𝑇 // 𝐴. 𝐷𝐸 𝑅𝑈𝑁𝐸

𝑋𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼

| XVIII. Le Premier Endroit |

—

The children were able to safely get out of the house, now Lucas and Amicia were trying to figure out a way to get rid of the rats in the barn. Marion sat with Hugo in her lap under a torch next to the barn, he was still very upset.

"You cannot be mad at her forever." Marion spoke softly, to which Hugo replied with another angry grunt.

Marion sighed, "We are all stressed, Hugo... your sister didn't mean to push you away."

"No! She hates me!" Hugo fussed, in his angry tone. He wasn't all that frightening, he sounded more like an angry little kitten. "I hate her!"

Marion wanted to clench her fists in frustration, but she didn't. She couldn't afford to irritate the wounds any further. What was she supposed to do in this situation? She wasn't his mother, she had no clue what to do with an angry, tired child. She was angry and tired, and barely knew what to do with herself!

"Don't say that, you'll hurt her feelings..." She muttered, and was answered with a pissy 'I don't care!'.

The dark-haired girl kept her gaze on Hugo as he stood up, probably wondering why Lucas and Amicia were dragging a bag of feed to lure a pig into the barn. Marion furrowed her eyebrows... were they going to let the rats eat the pig? Smart... but poor piggy.

"What are they doing, Marion?" Hugo asked, "Are they going to feed the piggy?"

Marion cringed, "Er... yes, I think so."

She didn't want to lie to the boy, but she also didn't want him to be even angrier with Amicia. The boy trotted over to Lucas and his sister, wanting to watch the pig eat- it seems his anger had dulled, even if it was just for a moment. Marion sighed, that likely wouldn't end well.

With the moment she had alone, Marion rolled up the leg of her bad leg. Her clothes smelled horrid... and so did the rest of her body. Her eyes widened, as she had rolled up her pants leg as high as she could, yet the veins still went on... how quickly was this spreading?

After rolling her leg back down, she lifted up her dirty beige tunic to find the blackened veins wrapping around her hip. But, a small trail was reaching towards her belly button... How far was it trying to travel? Where was its end goal? Marion didn't want to know.

"Come on, there's a ladder down the side." Lucas said to Amicia, as he closed the barn doors.
Marion stood up, following the group to the side of the barn. As Lucas propped the ladder onto the barn, Amicia rested her hand on Marion's shoulder.

"You look worried." Amicia whispered, and Marion shook her head.

"I'll tell you later..." She whispered back, and stared at the ladder.

"Uh... you all can go, I think I'll just wait for you out here..." Marion said, she wouldn't be able to make the climb without hurting herself.

Amicia frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well I can't exactly climb it." Marion snipped, and took a deep breath. Everything was getting on her nerves- she felt like her heart was pounding in her ears. "Just go."

After Lucas, Hugo, and Amicia climbed the ladder, Marion anxiously eyed the area around her. At every little sound, she felt like her heart stopped beating. Soon, she heard the sound of the rats devouring the pig... and mere moments later, rats flooded the area.

Now, she had no choice but to climb. As she gripped the ladder, She felt like her hands were being sliced all over again. She couldn't stop the tears that left her eyes, leaving tear stains on her dirty face. By the time she reached the top of the ladder, she was hiccuping, and her hands shaking.

The bandages had grown wet on her palms, a clear reddish-yellow fluid slowly seeping through. Marion didn't know what it was, possibly blood, or fluid from a popped blister... she was in too much pain to care. A sob ripped it way through her throat; she could feel her chest tightening and throat closing.

Her ears were ringing now... was that Amicia? Yes, yes it was... she was rubbing her back and urging her to stand.

She felt like she was watching her body, and not really in it... she didn't seem to register the pain while climbing back down the ladder, after Amicia shot some Ignifer-if she remembered correctly-at a fire pit. She felt like she was in a haze, her mind cloudy and breaths short and- and then Laurentius' house exploded?

Then there was running... lots of it. And lots of fire. Burning windmills and haystacks jumbled together into one big memory until they were on a boat. When did they get a boat?

She could hear the muffled voices of the people around her, but her eyes stayed locked on the hoard of rats mere feet away from them at the dock. Her head was killing her... every part of her body felt like it had been trampled by an angry bull.

Her chest was still tight, but it had begun to ache... like someone tied a rope around her heart, and pulled it with all their might. The dazed girl groaned, and clutched at the area over her left breast. She doubled over in her seat, while Amicia braced her shoulders and kept her upright.

Marion was gritting her teeth so hard she felt like they'd crack- why was her body in so much pain? She wasn't able to think, or breathe, or process anything... The boat rocked as she went limp against Amicia. Her vision was blurred, the incessant ringing in her ears had only gotten worse, and her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Her body was completely numb.

Until it wasn't. She started by feeling the tips of her fingers, then her palms... which were oddly tingly. Then feeling spread to her arms, then her chest, then her legs. She could finally feel herself breathing- her breaths were short and disorganized, but they were better than nothing.

She sat up, blinking a few times to orient herself. They were on a boat... away from Laurentius' house... Laurentius was dead.

"What was that?" Amicia cupped Marion's face, while the dark haired girl simply stared at her.

"I don't- I don't know..." She muttered, forcing her dry mouth to swallow.

The veins. Her mind immediately traveled to the veins. In a very uncoordinated manner, Marion lifted up the hem of her tunic to see no veins, as if they'd never even been there. Marion could only guess where they had traveled; her heart.

—

A/N

SO. So... this chapter was definitely a little itty bit rushed, BUT ITS OVER 1000 WORDS 🎉🎉🎉 LETS GO!!!

Marion ain't doing too good y'all. I wonder what's gonna happen. 🧸

YALL AINT PREPARED FOR THE DEVIOUS TOMFOOLERY THATS GONNA GO DOWN AT THE CHÂTEAU.

I'm so glad that y'all have kept reading this story, even through my month-long absences (Especially S0FTIEDiGGORY your comments always make my motivation skyrocket 😤).

I say this like every single chapter, but I have SO MCUH planned. So much. IM SO EXITED.