in which a girl with a heavy burden tries to find her way through the trials and torments of the earth they've come home to.
OR
in which she must rebuild.
EMBERS
JOHN MURPHY
DEATHLIES 2016
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN T...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
S I X T E E N
The common occurrence of waking up alone, locked in a cell, had been broken at long last. Like a witch's curse, shattered by the coming together of two souls.
As Althea sits up, brushing a hand through her mess of hair which she likened to a bird's nest, Murphy stirs beside her. His arm lay across her lap, curled around her waist. Grumbling at her movement, he opens his eyes to reveal the piercing blue.
Glancing down at him, she smiles her smile that made her so incredibly difficult to work out. "Morning," She says.
"Morning," He replies with less enthusiasm, almost causing her to laugh. Murphy pushes himself up onto his elbow, his spare arm still wrapped around her and his thumb somewhat comfortingly rubbing circles on her waist.
"You should get out there. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do today," She tells him, her voice lacking its usual hum of haunt and horror. "I don't want to keep you from it."
Retracting his arm and standing up, he lets his eyes lock onto hers. "I'll see you later then." With the nod of her head, he turns and exits the tent. Out into the bustle of the camp where the wall was being constructed.
-
Another occurrence that was a change in Althea's routine was that her solitary space beneath the tree of crows was taken by a small girl; Charlotte. She was young. Much too young to be thrown to the Earth as one of the hundred, one of the expendables. She was curled up, asleep beneath the protection of the crows. But the nightmares still crept in.
As Althea approached her, she could see her body shaking in her slumber. Between her lips, fearful cries emerged that pulled at Althea's heart.
Finally at Charlotte's side, Althea sinks down beside her. Letting her back lean against the solid tree trunk and a hand reaching out to touch the frightened girl on the shoulder. Her fingers grip the small body of Charlotte, waking her from her nightmare. She sits up suddenly, her eyes wide with fear and her breathing ragged as she snaps to look at the stranger beside her.
"You have bad dreams too, huh?" Althea asks, taking her hand back into her lap. Charlotte seems to calm.
"Every night," She replies, ducking her head down as the tears begin to well up in her innocent eyes.
"I do too." Althea looks to the girl, dry eyed. "I wake up screaming, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our demons, Charlotte. Some of us encounter them differently, you're not alone by any means."
Comforted by the words, Charlotte shuffles beside Althea and leans into her. Her head rests on Althea's shoulder, surprising her. Never had she been in such a position where her words struck safety into the mind. Steadily, she lifts her arm and wraps it around the shoulders of the small girl at her side.
"Thank you," Charlotte whispers and the words of gratitude should have warmed Althea's walled off heart, but there was something about the child that unsettled her.
There was something else to her. Like Althea had already encountered her, but never had she met the child until today; only seeing glimpses of her as she worked around camp, only knowing her name from the loving nature of Bellamy, treating her like his own sister.
Her very aura was rapid, not like Murphy's, but in its own way. It warped and contorted itself as if it were battling on its own against a thousand soldiers. Althea's chest tightens as she feels the aura. It was not a good feeling.
Resting her head back against the tree, she falls into the belief of he child in her arms being more than a girl haunted by her dreams. She was tormented whilst awake too; never settled. Sympathy was all she felt as her heart strained for Charlotte. A girl too young to be so broken by her own mind.
Most importantly, within Charlotte Althea saw herself. Perhaps it was only the nightmares that reminded her of herself, but maybe it was the fear in her eyes when she awoke that reminded her of her own vulnerability.
As the crows sang all around them, cawing and laughing at one another, Althea allowed her eyes to close for just a moment. And in that moment, she was at peace with the lullaby of the crows sending her off to a blissful sleep.
-
I have so many conflicting feelings when it comes to Charlotte -in other news, there's probably only one or two more chapters before the end of part one of crow girl. [NOT EDITED]
