Legacy Disowned - Book 2

Chapter 16 - When You and I Were Young

TW: Violence towards children, Violence towards women, Violence by children, forced organ removal, blood, death, abuse. This chapter is dark, but it is a part of the story that needs to be told and trust me when I say I did not include these things lightly. I do try to remain ambiguous so nothing is explicitly gorey, but if you think anything listed above will be too much, you can contact me at toonedupfiction@gmail.com for a summarized version.

"Wh-what is this?" Sebastian whispered, rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly. For a moment, he thought something had gone wrong with the pensive, because rather than reality materialising around him like it usually did, he had found himself plunged into a darkness so absolute it was disorienting. It was hard to imagine that this was a memory.

But then he heard it. A deep rattling breath that sent a chill down his spine. He looked up, squinting through the darkness for the source. It was faint, but there was the shimmering trace of a bluish iridescent aura that seemed to cling to the silhouette of a hooded figure looming above.

Understanding dawned on him as he realised where he must be. This was a memory and Darling was... there. Laying on the floor almost directly under his feet was another iridescent blue outline of a small girl and when he looked closely, he could just barely make out more of that odd glow moving between her and the dementor above. What was that?

It reminded him a bit of the strange darkness that had clung to the silvery emotion that Isadora had extracted from her father, but far less sinister. Was it possible that these were the "traces'' that Darling was able to see? Perhaps he was able to perceive them because he was seeing them through the memory of someone who could?

He didn't have long to ponder however, as a loud metallic clunk interrupted his thoughts. His head snapped in the direction of the sound and it was followed by a low groan as the door to the cell began to creak open. As the first sliver of light appeared in the opening, the dementor retreated upwards into the high ceiling. Sebastian followed the light as it crept across the floor and caught his first true glimpse of little Darling.

Her tiny hand trembled as she reached out to touch the bar of sunlight that had found its way inside. She gasped, and her eyes that seemed even larger on her small face than they did in present day, widened in awe. She couldn't be any older than 9, and for a fraction of a second Sebastian could only absurdly think how cute she was. But then enough light had streamed in, that he was able to see more clearly the state she was in. The linen shift she wore looked more like a pillow case than anything else, and it hung off of a form that, despite her lean muscles, appeared oddly frail. Her golden hair was a tangled mess and the dark circles under her eyes gave the impression that she was not allowed very much true rest. If that wasn't bad enough, she was covered in bruises. Sebastian assumed they must be from the physical conditioning she was put through, but why wouldn't they have healed her? Did the foul individuals that ran this place feel the darkness and dementor were so insufficient that they had to leave her in physical pain as well?

Sebastian had known that she'd suffered like this, but seeing it was something else entirely. What he wouldn't give to really be here, to be able to scoop up that little girl in his arms and carry her far away from the fate that awaited her outside. Outside in the light that she was still gazing at, transfixed, as if frozen between fear and hope.

Then without warning, she leapt into the world beyond. Sebastian was so taken aback by her fearlessness that by the time he followed, she was already colliding with a young boy dressed all in black.

Sonny Darling's wide brimmed hat was hiding his face, but even so Sebastian was a bit thrown by how small he was. Sure Darling had explained that the imposing man in the wanted poster was merely a transfigured form, but he didn't think he'd fully absorbed the reality that Sonny had also been a child until this moment.