REALMWALKERS

23: Need to Flee

~ Rowyn Knox ~

Scars and his friends have left the house, but Scars said he'd be back soon. So, I sit in the kitchen, staring at the window. I am stating out into nothing, unable to see anything more than the blue and gray sky beyond.

But I can't believe what has happened here. It cannot be possible. Because even though I knew him in another world and even though I lost him in that world ....

Scars isn't just anyone. Not just some random fae or whatever he's become. No. He is much more than that, I just cannot bear to think of it. He's still suffering, more so now than ever.

Shane is Scars. Scars is Shane.

I know that, but .... it is an impossible thought. I cannot just get over this, the fact that he's trapped now, in a new, beaten and scarred body. He's got wings now, beautiful. They are brown and white, feathered like a hawk. He's not my Shadow as I knew him. But he still is, regardless of whether or not he understands who I am, as well as who he is.

Scars was reborn from a dead human as a fae with wings. And somehow, he is here. But what does that even mean for the others? I can't think of anything else, not even the fact that dinner is rapidly approaching, which means that soon, Cora will be back. And when she does return, how do I tell her everything? How can I tell her that her father is the reason that Shane is what he is now?

He is gone, but not really. He is still himself, but ... it is locked away behind a bunch of false memories. He doesn't remember me, but I remember him so clearly. Shane is somehow still in there, and I will not let him be hurt again. Not again, not now that I have power to help him.

The door that leads to the porch and into the kitchen opens, and Cora comes in. She smiles as she sets down her large satchel, but when she sees my face, her smile fades. Bright green eyes sparkle with concern as the only friend I've got here sits down beside me.

"Rowyn. What's wrong?" Cora asks me.

"I ... have some things to tell you," I say.  "And I do not think you will like to hear any of it. But please, listen to me. I'm telling the truth. All of it, okay?"

"O - okay, tell me, then," she says.

Taking a few breaths, I turn to her. "He has a machine. It is in the basement, and it's surrounded by people in cages, suffering. They are reborn from death, turned into .... well, I'm not sure exactly what. But I.... I know one of them, and I freed him and three friends. They were trapped and suffering, they were in pain. Cora, your father is experimenting on people. People who died, he turns into a new kind of being. And one of them is Shane, my Shadow, who died because your father turned me and him into the authorities, back in my world. Cora, he calls me a Realmwalker, but I do not even know what that is! Cora, I... we need to get out of here. Now.'"

"Oh," she whispers. "How ... can you be certain it is really him, really Salvatore that does this?"

"I found his books, Cora. Not to mention that it's in a basement that's locked by a key I found in his study. Cora, we aren't safe here. I think we should flee, before he returns. Before we become trapped. Just like them."

Her tan face drains of color. "Is that .... Shane?"

I turn, watching as Scars walks in through the kitchen door. He looks so much like he did as a human. But also so wildly different. His tan skin is slightly paler than normal, his blond hair curls over his forehead. He is covered in scars, just like his new namesake. His green eyes are always glowing, and his strong features are made much sharper than normal. His wings, feathered, brown and white, looking like a hawk.

"Shane."

Scars looks at me. "Shane?"

I blink, then nod slowly. "He has amnesia, Cora. But yes, this is who I was talking about."

Scars turns to Cora.  "You. You are the daughter of the fae who did this to us."

"Shane, I mean.... Scars.... Cora did not know that you were even down there," I say. "She didn't know about the Machine. Please, Cora. Please, Scars. We need to flee this place, soon. Before Salvatore finds out about this, before he knows we stole you guys from there."

"I can take you to the place where the others are," Scars says. "But I need to know this fae here can be trusted."

Cora looks at me, eyes wide.  "Rowyn, we .... what of the others?"

"We need to go, now," I tell her. "Please, Cora. I need to get the three of us out of here, as soon as possible."

She sighs. "Very well, then. I will come with you."

"But can she be trusted?" asks Scars.

"I trust her," I say. I turn to him. "And if you trust me, Scars, which you certainly can, then please. Trust her, too. She won't hurt you."

"I won't hurt anyone," says Cora, softly.  "I do not want to see anyone in pain. But Rowyn, didn't you say there are others?"

"There are," says Scars.

"But we need to get our bearings, see who is an ally and who isn't, before we can save anyone else," I say. "Come on, we must  go, now."

The three of us step out onto the porch, and are walking toward the woods, when a voice calls out.

"And where are you going, you three?" Hawthorn asks.