The house of rhapsody (Book 1 Of The Sanctuary and War Series)

The thoughts of Immortals

Deep in the darkened groves, the forest itself had been commanded to defend the house and it had dutifully lurched into life, with a grim purpose. Of course, from Niall's vantage point, calm and cool by the window sill, he'd been unable to see what was happening inside the wild realm. He had detected murmurings though, like ripples on a pond; the groan of ancient oaks and the grey, crowing clouds of frightened birds. By these signs he had known that something was going on. But it was only when the screaming started - and the suddenness in which it stopped - that Niall understood the truth of the disturbance.

He closed his eyes and pulled another, joyless drag from his cigarette.

As he sat quietly on the ledge, a thought began to leak into his mind, like rain through a broken roof; what had those men felt in their last moments? The hunters hadn't been good men but they'd been loved ones, to some; they'd been husbands, fathers and friends. And what now? They were vapour and history.

Niall was often like that. Pointlessly melancholic and fascinated with death. With the one thing that he was unable to achieve. Brooding and glassy eyed, he barely noticed as Shantellias arrived and tapped his shoulder.

"Sorry bout that. So...how about that walk? Seems Adelaide isn't here. We could go looking for her?"

Niall looked at her, admiring the way she could so easily wear a smile during such a time. He had no idea what she had just done, during her trip to the bathroom and he'd probably never know; for now, he was just content to follow a pretty girl wherever she fancied. He flicked the remnants of his cigarette out of the window, along with all of the gloom he'd been building.

"Yeah, why not," he said. "A walk sounds grand. I don't know any Adelaides, though. I'm new here; the name's Niall."

He would've offered his hand out at that point, if not for Shantellias's sudden realization. Mentioning a secret stash of kitchen chocolate had prompted the girl to remember her own, likely charred, batch of candies and she uttered another incredulous phrase that pushed Niall's lips up into a grin.

"Fudge! I forgot my candies in the oven!! Mother yak's hen butt!!"

With that, she was off, flailing away towards the sound of smoke alarms and the promise of burned treats. Niall wandered along in tow and stuck his head around the doorframe, inspecting the smokey kitchen space. Seeing the tray of blackened candies and hearing her frustration, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit of an odd lass?"

He grinned and waved his way through the smoke to reach the oven. Once there, he picked up one of the sweets, tapped it against the metal counter, before tossing it into the trash.

"You really cremated those things. D'you want a hand tidying up?"

At first she hadn’t minded all the blood and broken bones of those in the medical wing, even deciding to help out by bandaging wounds and helping some with their pain by comforting them to sleep. She could see they were running out of vial and tablets for the pain and as a child she suffered from chronic headaches that were unaffected by medication of any kind so short of trepanning they settled for comforting her to sleep which saved her from any Victorian hospital.

She flitted from bed to bed with her usual stoic look and cared little for what they were going through until one such patient grabbed a hold of her hand within a weak and shaking grasp his eyes filled with pain and suffering. His eyes bore into hers until they just… stopped. Then it was like a shock went through her and a small grunt escaped her lips, she took a few steps back like before with Lily and Zane but without the suspicion or coldness behind it.