Don't Let Go (Third Book to the Other Side)

Chapter Eight (𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣)

I cannot explain why I find it so pleasing, but I am unable to move away from the open doorway. There is something so freeing about the loud noises echoing through the silent halls of the castle, something so delightful about the rain pounding against the balcony outside, something so powerful about the white flashes of light that illuminate the world for brief moments, something so sensual about the wind throwing my hair back.

I know I should be afraid of it, and there is no denying the little jolt of panic coursing through my veins every time the noise explodes, but I love it. It's powerful and dangerous and all it wants is to be free from the cage that keeps it locked away.

Maybe I feel like somehow, we are connected.

I lift my head as the wind slams against me, and I finally let go of the doorway and step forward onto the balcony. I am immediately pelted by the rain, but I do not mind. I keep walking forward until I am right at the edge of the railing, and finding a courage I didn't know I had, I leap up and sit down on top of it so my legs are dangling in the open sky.

A strike of the light cracks through the sky like a whip, and I reach out my hand. I want to feel its power and its freedom. I want to join it and let it become apart of me. 

A screaming jerks me from the momentary spell the light casts on me. I leap off of the railing, rushing for the safety of the castle while cursing myself and my stupidity. It was a mistake to leave, a mistake to disobey George.

He told me not to step outside, but I had to know what it was like. I should have listened. He told me it was for my safety, after all.

I duck behind the doorframe and push myself up against the wall, the scream playing again and again in my mind long after it had died out. I listen, but I don't hear it again.

A moment passes, and I stop to think hard about what I had heard. It had sounded frightened rather than accusatory. Like something was hurt.

I step back outside, soothed a little as the falling rain hits me once more. I do not stop until I am standing in the center of the balcony. "Hello?" I call out into the night, my voice sounding meek against the ferocity of the storm. I am not expecting a response, but to my surprise, a tiny voice answers my call.

"Help me!" the voice cries. It is different than George's, or anybody else I have encountered so far. Drastically different.

"Where are you?"

"Behind you."

I spin around, hands raised in case of an attack like George often warned there would be. My heart is racing, beating so loud I am sure whoever they are can hear it. "I don't see anybody," I return, searching as another strike of the light explodes above in the great endless sky.

"Look down."

I do as instructed, and my eyes fall upon a small body barely moving. A gasp escapes my mouth as I rush over to the tiny creature. I don't know much about it, but it has to be in poor condition. Its breathing is ragged and deep, and there is blood sticking to the throat of the white body. "What happened?" I plea as I bring it inside.

"I was flying," it returns, its voice shaking as if it takes too much out of it to speak. "And something attacked me."

"Here, it's okay. I'm here now," I say, kneeling in front of the door on the now-soaked carpet. My work is quick as my fingers dance up and down the body of the creature. I don't know how I know what I'm doing, but I'm managing to heal its wounds with ease. "What are you?"