𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐒✔️

SIXTEEN|ALTUM

"Mouse... is it really you?"

A spark had ignited, and through it was born a flame. Flickering and fighting and strong. It grew by the second, bonds forming, memories I didn't even know I had resurfacing.

"Mar.."' I mumbled the one word that came to mind. Mar, short for Marus.

A second of silence.

Shattered by the oblivion, memories danced in the darkness, reflecting a long shed light off their backs. I remembered him. Mar. Marus.

My brother.

The flame turned into an inferno as I threw my arms around him. He was stiff and unmoving for a full faced moment, my heart clenched with the worry that he would reject me. Time had passed, people moved on, he should've forgotten me. But he didn't. He incased me in his warm embrace. He chased away the darkness, making room for the light. He just as I had remembered, lemon grass and sage.

"I can't believe-.. I thought you were dead." He squeezed me tighter. "We all did."

"So did I." I whispered under my breath, unsure as to wether or not he had heard me.

For a long time, I wished I was dead.
Memories cams flooding back. The dam had broken, washed away, and not nothing was left to stop the irreparable tide of what had been.
Among the rubble I saw the familiar faces of my parents and sister smiling back at me, along with Marus.

"Where's mom and dad? Where's Mare I want to see them!" I beamed, for a the first time in as long as I could remember the gaps began to fill, puzzle pieces fell into place, all that was missing was my parents and sister. Excitement brimmed at the edges of my conscious, threatening to spill and over flow of he kept me waiting much longer. But he didn't move. His face dropped. "Mar?" I frowned, "Marus, where are they?"

I had a horrid feeling that squirmed in my gut like a bound soul, begging for freedom. Something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" I said firmly, "Where are they?" Marus had always been able to frustrate me like no other, even when we were young, but something about this was different. He wasn't teasing me, he was hiding something. "Fucking tell me!" I snapped, glaring into his ocean eyes.

"They're dead."

My world fell.
Crashing and clattering it fell apart around me. I didn't know how I feel, I didn't know if I could feel. Grief heaved heavy at my chest, tugging on my lips and clawing at my eyes and throat.

I refused to cry out. Screams battered my lips, a long held rage begging to be released. It wasn't fair.

Amongst it all the only word I could manage was a hoarse, "What?"

"I'm so sorry Mouse, I didn't want you to find out like this." He stared at something high up with a distant look in his eye. He was empty, a hollow shell of the boy I once knew.

"How."

Marus bit his lip, toying with his words for a moment. "There was a fire." The stitches of my sanity seemed to be unthreading as the moments passed. I was falling apart at the seams. "The pack-house went up in flames, they were gone in seconds..."

He looked away too soon. He was leaving something out, however at the moment I was too preoccupied with trying not to break down in front of the entire ball.

"Excuse me." I whispered, pushing through the crowd. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't much care. I searched for Astoria but she seemed to vanished the moment Marus appeared.

I found a hallway that lead away from the ball room. I pushed my back against the wall and let the tears fall.

"Everything has a price."
Astorias words rang true.

With very little time I had gained so much, my memories, what I thought was my family. The cost... My parents and sister.

My heart clenched so tightly I thought it might explode. They were gone. Mom. Dad. Mare.

Torn apart by flames. Burned alive.

I emptied what little contents my stomach held into the nearest bin. I retched until my throat felt like sandpaper and I had nothing left inside me.

Moms kind eyes bore into my mind, her smile. Her white blonde hair, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

Dad, he was scanty, and embarrassed in discourse, but once in a while, when the drinks were to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye. He had always seemed cold, he had to, he was a man of status, but as soon as he saw my mother, everything within him softened. Dad's only issue was he was far too good at having favourites, everyone knew that Mare was the jewel that twinkled in his eye. Probably because she most resembled mom. I felt guilty when I realised how Mar had always been shoved to the side, never good enough for dad.

None of it mattered now.
Nothing mattered anymore.

The air was too hot, my dress to tight. I ripped the thin gold chain Astoria had lent me from around my neck, throwing it to the floor. I needed to breath. Sobs wracked my body, I tried clutching to the memories I had as they slowly drifted down stream, replaced by the void and echoing nothingness.

I needed to get out. I wondered the halls, searching for an exit, a window I could climb out of. Anything.
Desperation began to scratch at my heart and lungs, clawing gashes into the already marred organs that were deep and red and bloody.

I stumbled upon a pair of grand oak doors, without preliminaries I pushed my way through, gasping for air.

Waves of him crashed over me.
His office. It was empty, thank god, I didn't need to be seen in a state like this. I scanned the room for any semblance of escape. A red silk curtain hung on one wall, I didn't stop to think as I pulled it open. I assumed that behind it would be a curtain... I was so, so wrong.

I took a few steps back in shock, but then spun around as a low, rumbling growl shook the very floor I stood upon came from behind me.

***
Have any of you read any of my other books, and if so which one/s?😁
No one seems to have caught on yet ;)
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