Cursed

Chapter 14

Eva's POV
The village is small. It's always been small. Though it looks smaller with some of the buildings now completely burned to ashes. It's all black, white and grey. And despite the fact it was burnt to the ground, a cold breeze rushes through the roads, sending shivers down my spine. Even nearby vegetation matches the state of the buildings. Charred, black, dead.

The gravel path used to dig into my feet when I ran down it as a child. My shoes were flimsy, occasionally non existent. But now, the only thing making me aware of its presence is the crunching sound as I walk along it.

My first stop is the Ebony house. Where Maven and James once lived. Appropriate to their family name, the house is an ebony colour, a burnt skeleton of what it used to be. What remains of the front door crumbles as I lay my hand on it. The wooden floor beneath my feet seems just as likely to break, though it stays intact as I walk inside.

What used to be an extravagantly decorated room, clearly influenced by Maven's Pure blood, his Pure upbringing, looks like a bomb landed in it. Though, that's not too far off the truth.

Sunset pours into the room through the crumbling walls and the severely broken windows, glistening off some shards of glass. Underneath the glass, a piece of paper lies, it's edges blackened by the flames and dirt. Years of dust and ash has aged it, but I can still make out the photo.

The closest thing I've ever had to a family photo. Maven, James, me and Mum. Tears drop onto the crumpled edges as I go to carefully fold the image. For now, it'll remain safe in my pocket, the remains of the only family I ever had.

The rest of the house matches the bottom floor: ruined. Memories were made here, and I'm fortunate to say the memories didn't crumble and burn with the building.

Next the Sutton's house. It's exterior matches that of Maven's old home, yet the inside is somehow an even bigger mess. Then again, it looked like it had been ransacked hours before the fire was even set. The remains of books, photos and whatnot scatter of the floor, a layer of ash lying underneath, thick as snow.

In Flynn's old room, I find the remains of a basketball. The one we'd spend our time playing with, the one that gave me a friend to rely on in this place. And another thing I find in the room: an old diary, most pages missing or illegible. One stands out though.

Dear Diary,
I don't want to say goodbye to Surrek. I don't want to say goodbye to anyone here. What if people don't make it out? What will I do then?

My friends might die.

Worst of all, no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find Eva. Unless she's already left, then she might die in the fire. She can't die. She promised me she'd make sure one of the last half bloods left wouldn't die at such a young age. She promised me she wouldn't die.

And I promised her I wouldn't let her die.

But at this rate, that's what will happen. She'll die, and there's nothing I'll be able to do about it.

"We have to leave now."

That's what ma and pa have been shouting the moment they found the note about the fire. And "now" is coming closer and closer.

Please don't die Eva.

And to everyone else too. Don't die.

And for a period of time, he believed I did. I think it was clear to anyone from Surrek that "Princess Eva" was actually the little street rat they knew for so long, so when the princess was announced dead, I wonder how everyone reacted.

Did they cry? Were they joyous?

How did mum react?

Next the local library, the small little building which somehow seemed to fit more books in it than almost every other library I've been in. The shelves would reach the ceiling and there wasn't a massive amount of room between some shelves.