Scarred

Chapter 49

Eva's POV
A heavy silence looms over us as we exit the train station; Syrin is so close that it's beginning to feel unbearable. Just over the hill, that's what Sammy said before we got off the train, and even if she didn't tell us, I can already tell. I thought the smog over here was bad enough, but past the hill, all I can see is thick, dark clouds. Biting down on my lip, my grip on Cas tightens and I even feel his claws somewhat digging into my shoulder. I didn't think it would be this difficult to simply look at this place, but here I am, almost frozen in place as the others begin to walk up the hill. "Eva, you need a moment?" Sammy asks quietly, turning around to look at me.
"No... I'm coming..."

The hill isn't all that large, yet each step feels like a thousand miles, all of them heavier than the last. Unlike the area we encountered James in, every plant around seems to be dead, or at least dying. The trees hunch over, their branches almost completely bare. Even after the fire, Surrek didn't even look this bad. And that's saying something, because - for me at least - having to see the remains of my home was one of the worst things I've ever laid eyes on. But I think today, that sight will be bunked down to second place. Because Syrin is in view now, and there's no going back.

Atop the hill, I can just about make out the wreckage of a town though the smog is so big that it's more of a silhouette than anything else. This is it. This is Syrin: the place where Sammy and James grew up; the place that Maven's family still runs to this day.

"So this is it, huh?" I breathe, staring out at the almost ruined set of buildings that are supposedly a town. "This is where you two grew up?"
"It's worse than last time," Sammy mutters, eyes wide with fear as she reaches for mum's hand. "I thought maybe it would be better, but... god..."
"Yeah... you kids sure you want to do this?" James asks.
"If we give up now, we lose our trump card, our only hope for this to work," Cassie replies.
"Well don't say I didn't warn you if you don't like what you see... Maven doesn't know about this, does he?" He asks. I thought he knew. Did Sammy not tell him about Maven?

"I do, I'm sorry I'm so late though."

James almost freezes when he hears Maven's voice, but before he can say anything, Maven's arms are wrapped tightly around him.

"I know now's not exactly the time for this, but I've been talking about it with Charlie, and... we both realised that even if I do love Charlie, I want my husband back more than anything else."
"Are you serious...?"
"Yes..."

So he's made up his mind. I don't necessarily know how I feel about it. I'm glad, not only has he been able to make a choice, but James means so much to me. But at the same time, what's going to happen with Charlie. He's been with us for almost four years, I'll miss him if he leaves.

"Hey you two," he smiles after a moment, turning to Cas and I. "Am I going to get a hug from you or not?" A few seconds later, his arms are wrapped around me whilst I still hold tightly onto Cas. "It's gonna be alright, okay?"
"Okay..." I gulp. "I really don't want to go down there. But it seems we have no choice now..."

It's getting late, even without all the smog, it would still be dark out. Sammy suggests we set up camp a little past the train station in hope that the air will be a little easier to breathe over there. Thankfully, she's proven right and on top of that, Syrin's no longer in sight, something that manages to calm my nerves a little.

Once all the tents are set up, Sammy and James begin working on a campfire with some of the others whilst Cas and I talk to Maven. "Look what James gave me," I grin, holding out the book. "Do you remember this? You two gave it to me for my sixth birthday."
"How could I forget it? I remember reading it myself, and now you'll get to finish it."
"I assume it's a good book considering Eva was so excited when she was given it," Cas giggles.

As Maven flips through the pages of the book, my communicator buzzed in my pocket. Nervously, I pull it out to find that the one calling me is probably the worst person who could be at the moment. Biting my lip, I pick up, only to regret my decision in mere seconds.

"Eva Nix Kim-!"

I hang up immediately.

His voice is loud enough that almost everyone hears it, which makes my cheeks heat up as I place it back in my pocket. It's going to be a nightmare to face him when we get back. I've never heard him so pissed before.

"Your dad?" Flynn asks, sitting down beside me. "I wasn't expecting him to be so angry."
"Neither was I," I murmur. "I guess it makes sense though... he's gonna kill me when we return..."
"As if he'd do such a thing. The queen on the other hand-"
"Flynn!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Even if she did want to hurt you, we wouldn't let her and you know it," he replies with a smirk. "It's weird, getting to see everyone back together again. You and me of course, but Maven, James and your mum as well. It's just like when we were kids."
"Yeah... if only it would remain that way forever. I guess there's a chance it will though, as long as we can't fix all this."

As Flynn goes to respond, a familiar buzzing noise fills the area, but it's not my communicator ringing. Glancing around, I notice Sammy looking down at hers with a sigh. "Stay quiet Eva," she says, squatting down by us. "Can't let him know I'm with you."

Taking a deep breath, she picks up the call, holding it out in front of her so we can hear. "Something the matter Caleb?"
"I definitely think so. Eva, Cas, everyone, they've all ran off to Syrin of all places. They left some note behind but... fuck!" He yells.
"What's the big deal? Aren't you happy that they aren't stuck there anymore?"
"Sammy, it's not that simple and you know it. I'm struggling enough to keep my mother at bay as is, they said they'll return so for now it seems no one will get hurt, but think about what she'll do to Eva - to all of them - when they get back. I'm already surprised she's not done anything so far."

"Yeah, why is that? I know she hates Eva, obviously I'm not saying I want Eva to be hurt, but I would've thought she would've done something."

"It's an agreement more than anything. She doesn't think they'll be able to destroy her, she thinks they'll get hurt trying. She said she won't hurt any of them as long as Eva specifically keeps trying to break the curse. But all this Syrin nonsense is far from what she wants..." he sighs. "I'll have to find some way to keep her from hurting them... I have to."
"Well I wish you good luck. If I hear anything about them, I'll update you, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Thanks Sammy... goodbye."

He hangs up before she can respond, and that's when I realise that everyone else has crowded around as well. I suppose it does concern their safety in the end, it makes sense to listen in on what he had to say.

"Dad..." I breathe, pulling my knees to my chest. "Maybe I shouldn't have hung up."
"With how angry he sounded... I think you did the right thing," Lucky laughs. "I'm sure everything will be fine when we go back."
"I'm mainly worried about the queen," Hunter sighs. "What if she- I know this sounds stupid, but what if she does hurt us?"
"Maybe... maybe you guys can return a little later than me and Cas. We're the ones who have to stay there, if we wait for her to calm down, you can return then," I suggest. "It's the only thing I can think of."

"You do know that won't stop her from being angry when you return, right? Who knows what she'll do to you two," Cassie argues.

I know that, I really do. I'm trying to stop myself from shaking right now because the idea of having to face the queen's wrath is just too much.

"I... I think I'm gonna go rest. Night guys," I say after a long moment of silence. I head to the closest tent, and it almost irritates me to see that Cas follows. I wanted a moment alone.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood." He says with a soft laugh, opening up the tent as I lie down. "The queen... she really scares you that much, doesn't she?" Sighing, I roll onto my side, turning away as Cas sits down beside me. "Oh, I've got an idea of how to cheer you up."

He rushes out of the tent, returning not long later and sitting back down beside me. As I pull the blanket I packed over the top of me, I hear the sound of pages turning for a brief moment. And that's when Cas starts reading aloud. He gets through about a page before I turn around to look at him, but he's so invested that I don't think he even notices. I choose not to interrupt him, letting him continue to get invested in the world of the book as he reads.