Him. All I see is Theo. His amber eyes and soft brown curls, and his sharp cheekbones and perfect pale skin. “Stela…” he breathes, looking at me with worry and tears steaming down his delicate face. Suddenly, I can feel my heart beating against my chest, soft air filling my lungs, and life refilling me. My hair is wet, my skin moistened. I almost drowned in the sea. I can still hear the crash of waves and feel the grainy sand on my body. I’m lying in Theo’s lap, his arms wrapped around me, holding so dearly as if I might blow away in the violent wind. I breathe in his scent. “You’re alive…” he says. “You’re alive,” he repeats. He lays a kiss on my forehead, beyond grateful for my breathing. “I will not leave you so soon, my love,” I whisper, laying against his chest, feeling the beats of both of our hearts.

Everything is so peaceful here. I feel weightless, like I’m floating. All the pain from before is gone, I don’t question it. There’s no point in worrying when everything’s clearly fine. It’s quiet, calm, there’s no stress, no need to rush. I’ve never felt anything like this before. The temperature is perfect, it’s not too dark or bright. Everything is perfect.

So why do I feel as if something is wrong?

Why do I feel, like I’m not supposed to be here?

Beep….. Beep….. Beep __ __ What is that?

My chest feels like it’s being pressed down on. Lexi? What’s going on? Beep….. Beep Why does everything feel so heavy? Her fingers just twitched! __ What is that voice? _Beep…Beep…Beep _ __ Why does everything hurt!?

No.

NO!

NO!!

**_Beep….

Beep….

**“Lexi? Can you hear me?_ __ Come on Lexi. Everyone misses you. I miss you… __ Please… I…. I can’t live without my best friend Lexi.” __ __ That’s Lilly’s voice. Why does she sound so sad?

I need to get to her. If she’s showing that much sadness, it has to be serious. I just need to get to her.

The light is too bright, everything is too loud. There’s something covering everything below my chest. Why does everything hurt? Why does it all feel so stiff? It’s like I haven’t moved in days. __ __ “Lexi?”

I open my eyes to see Lilly sitting next to me. Her soft chestnut brown hair, her sweet, chocolate eyes. She looks so tired. I manage to give her a small smile, it’s little, and weak, but it’s something.

I feel relief as she smiles back before quickly pulling me into a gentle, yet tight embrace.

As we sit there, with tears streaming down her face, I can’t help but feel like there’s something important that happened. I don’t quite know what it is, but I have a feeling that it’s how I ended up in the hospital.

Just as I decide to push it out of my mind for now, I hear a voice in the back of my mind. It’s cold, and haunting in a way that’s indescribable. But it’s definitely a woman.

“Enjoy your time now. You can’t outrun me or your destiny forever dear. It’s only a matter of time until we’ll see each other again.”

The princess’ eyes open.

Haze can’t believe it. She shakes her head in case she is hallucinating.

She did it.

She healed Princess Aziza.

As she blinks a few times to reorient herself, Ward practically throws himself on the bed next to her.

“Aziza!” Tears freely flow down his cheeks like a waterfall, showing how close he thought she was to death just moments before.

“Ward? What’s going on?” Her confusion seeps into her voice like a chilling breeze sinking into your bones. She sits up and brings her hands to her cheeks. “I feel…ok?”

He turns to Haze and Nova, who are just kinda standing here awkwardly. Gratitude so clear in his gaze. “Haze and Nova risked their lives to get here and heal you. You’re healed, Ziz. Fully healthy.” The confidence in his tone warms Haze’s heart. No one besides Nova had ever had this much faith in her.

The princess and Ward hug, embracing each other as if it was their last time. Maybe they realized how close it was to being the last.

“How did you heal me? Are you a medic?” Aziza questions once they part. She stares straight into Haze’s soul with those stunning eyes. Why isn’t she saying anything? Did her tongue swell up?

“Haze, my sister, is a magic user,” Nova replies, careful with her wording.

“I’m a witch,” Haze answers honestly, undoing what Nova was trying to accomplish. Nova steps in front of her, hand clutching the handle to her knife, poised like a mother bear, ready to defend her cubs.

Princess Aziza’s eyes fill with panic. She scrambles up against her headboard, getting as much distance between herself and Haze.

“Ziz, it’s ok! I trust them,” Ward assures her. Those words appear to settle her a tiny bit, but her apprehension is clear.

“Why? How do we know they actually healed me? How do we know your trust isn’t manufactured by their dark magic?”

Nova is fuming. This time, Haze puts out her arm to stop her. “I truly only meant to help you. I had no reason to heal you. But I did. You don’t have to believe me, but witches can’t make people trust them.”

The princess is silent, a little mouse cowering at the sight of the predator.

“My sister just saved your life. Would it kill you to be a tad grateful?” Nova exclaims.

It makes her happy to have her sister defending her, but this isn’t the time. Haze slowly approaches the bed, giving the pirncess enough time to leave her position.

She is still up by the headboard with Ward next to her. Haze sits down on the bed, not touching the princess but near. “I know you trust me. Or trusted me before. I wouldn’t have been able to heal you if you didn’t.”

“I was barely aware of anything going on around me,” Princess Aziza explains, but it sounds like she is trying to justify it to herself than to them.

“But you did trust her before knowing she was a witch. What is so different now?” Ward questions.

“Everything is different,” she replies.

Nova comes to stand close to Haze. Her arms are crossed with a hard look on her face. If one was looking for sympathy, it wouldn’t come from Nova.

She is pleasantly surprised when her sister gentle says, “Witches aren’t all what you were taught. I know Haze better than anyone. All she’s ever done is want to help.”

Pride radiates from Haze. Her sister is almost never this polite and restrained. She almost is acting like a normal member of the realm.

The princess appears deep in thought by her furrowed eyebrows and intense stare. Haze can’t help but find it a little cute.

“You healed me? Permanently?” There still apprehension, but not as much. A small voctory.

Haze nods, “Yes I did.”

The princess fully relaxes back into her bed. She bows her head and says, “Thank you. I mean that.”

“Can I ask you something?” Haze asks. She waits for a response. It takes a full 30 seconds before Princess Aziza gestures to go on.

“Can I stay? I want to show you and the royal family, the whole world really, that witches are not all bad.” It’s a passionate plea. It might be hopeless as well, but Haze is never one to lose hope. Not about this. She will stand strong through the storm.

Nova is nervous. Haze can tell. Nothing about this interaction eases her sister. Nova hates when their lives are in other people’s hands. Both of them are wild spirits, having grown up in the Wild Thicket. She knows what Nova is thinking. That they aren’t meant to be cooped up in a castle.

Normally Haze would agree, but she needs to do this.

She and Nova can clear the witch name. For so many.

That is, if the royal agrees.

“Yes, under one condition,” Princess Aziza finally answers.

“What is the condition?” Nova demands, even more on edge than before if that’s possible. If they were on a cliff, Nova would be falling down to the crashing waves.

Folding her hands in front of her, she looks so proper. “I supervise you. While you healed me and I am greatly in your debt, that does not mean you have a pure agenda.”

Her sister mouths the last two words with a mocking amusement, but Haze hushes her.

“We have a condition,” Haze brings up. The princess and Ward look at her expectedly. She lets her sister take it from there. “We are not kept prisoners here. Haze and I can leave if we want without anyone tailing us or arresting us. As long as we don’t do anything to upset the royal family of course. Sound good, your royalness?” she says with a roll of her eyes.

Princess Aziza and Ward both look at one another, perhaps looking for an answer within each other.

“I accept your condition if you accept mine,” the princess answers.

Haze looks to Nova, but she shakes her head. That doesn’t mean she thinks she should reject the offer. Her sister is leaving it up to her.

“Ok. We accept your condition and your condition only, Princess Aziza.”

A laugh that sounds too sweet to be called a laugh comes out of her mouth. It has the lightness of the breeze. Like a bird’s song.

“Please, we are about to spend a lot of time together. Call me Aziza.”

With the backing of a princess and a respected knight, the realm will just have to listen to them now.

Right?

——— (So if you’ve read my Trust series, for the past two stories, I wrote the name “Waylen” instead of “Ward.” I don’t know how I did that, but I fixed it now. If you noticed that, just know it was a mistake 😂. How did I write the wrong name for like three stories? 🥲)

The sky bled the fifth time Silas came back to life.

He awoke in a still room, the red rain pattering against the stained windows. He laid in bed there, dazed, trying to recollect his memories. The room felt familiar, a small cramped study with maps and papers pasted everywhere like a wallpaper of clues. Faint whispers echoed off the rough stone walls, punctuated by the occasional scurrying of creatures. The smell of metal and rain burned his nostrils, and that’s when he knew exactly who’s bed he occupied.

Silas sat up, looking around until his eye caught a shadow curled up in a chair, reading a small book he had no doubt was as cursed as her.

“Well, look who’s decided to join the land of the living.” Vanya sighed, slamming the book shut. She stood up and sat at the edge of the divan Silas was crammed in, her head cocked as she curiously inspected him.

“Not by choice” Silas said, teeth clenched and mouth dry.

Of course it was Vanya fucking Lace.

She was a small and scrawny woman with a kind looking face, but she was also one of, if not the most terrifying person in his life. And for good reasons to.

It was generally a rule of thumb to fear all necromancers, especially those in the favor of Mazik, the God of Death. And Vanya was his favorite mortal out of the lot, in charge of making sure Silas would not leave their plane of existence until he completed Mazik’s impossible request.

“Did you honestly believe hurling yourself in front of a carriage to be trampled by horses is a clever way to go?” Vanya asked. “If anything, you just amused me.”

Silas frowned, already weary of their exchange. "Anything to escape your company.”

It wasn't accurate to say he attempted to end his own life this time. The first three attempts ended with Vanya painstakingly reconstructing him, piece by piece, until he realized all it did was wear his body down. Yet, it suited him for her to believe it was intentional. The thought of enduring her relentless torment, reminded every day if she knew he perished beneath a horse's hooves accidentally, was unbearable.

Vanya reached for the binding on Silas’s torso, slowly unwrapping it. His blood soaked through the cotton and onto the bed, but he was too bitter to apologize for it. Instead, he quietly took deep breaths, which proved difficult because of his recently trampled lungs.

“Ah, by the end of the week, you'll be good as new,” Vanya said, two cold fingers gliding over a bruise on his ribs. He shivered. “But until then, I'd suggest keeping a safe distance from any horses.”

Silas nodded, though his mind wandered far from Vanya's words. Exhaustion gnawed at his bones, begging for peace he did not have. He was tired of living, and he was tired of dying. He was tired of the gods and Vanya, and the empire who couldn’t care less about folk like him. He was tired of the fact that he was almost thirty, and his life was reduced to this. He was simply too weary, bone-deep tired.

“How do you do it?” Silas asked, long fingers covering his face.

“Do what?”

“Wake up every day knowing your just a pawn in a game you’ll never be a part of.”

Vanya hummed, tugging on the tips of her auburn hair as though she could shake an answer out of her head. “When the gods return—“

“If”, Silas interrupted.

"When. Because you'll prevail one day. So when they do return, I aim to align myself with those destined to reshape our world."

Silas hated that she kept reminding him of that. Years ago, when he was barely old enough to court someone, he had found out the chemicals in his lungs would kill him very soon. So when Mazik appeared in the mist, telling him the stars promised him a far greater destiny, Silas was inclined to believe.

Now looking back he was sure there were no stars. No prophesy. Only a god bullshitting his way into the mortal realm.

The gods banishment from the planet centuries ago wrought change. Seasons reversed, the sky rained acid, and fog was a sign that they were not happy. There was almost always fog.

So the deal was, Silas would find and rid of the stone that banished the gods, and until then death would elude him.

It was an awful deal, as now death seemed like a blessing, and the stone was impossible to find.

Vanya rose from the divan, striding over to the bin and throwing away his bloodied bandages. “There’s some clothes over there” she said, pointing to a small wooden wrack near the window. Freshen up and meet me for supper. I got a clue on where the stone may be.”

When she closed the door, Silas found himself repeating her words.

You’ll prevail one day.

But what if he didn’t want to?

I couldn’t help but stare straight into her eyes as she stood above me, her silvery glare sending chills up and down my spine. She twisted the knife in and out of her fingers, holding it inches from my chin. I smiled back at her, welcoming my impending death. I let out no scream as she sent the knife straight through my chest. I let out a quiet sigh and close my eyes slowly. I feel my own blood run down my body, smoothly over my arms, slowly down my legs, and all the way down to my toes. The loud heartbeat in my head begins to dim, and I take a final breath. Good riddance cruel world… hello darkness.

I can feel my eyes snap open and my breath return. I sit up quickly and stare at my chest, there is no knife, no blood, no evidence of my death. For a second I think I’m a ghost, having a weird dream in the afterlife. I pinch my arm, but to my surprise I feel the sharp prick. “I don’t want to be alive…” I whisper. “No, no, no, no!!!” I scream to no one in particular. I glance down once more to make sure the blood is gone. Slowly I rise to my feet, still dazed after what just happened. I stumble over to a tree and begin to climb. I grab branch after branch, finally hoisting myself up to the top. I drop my gaze to down below, where the ground waits for me. I let go of the tree, and jump. I feel myself hit the ground, crashing down with a thud. I wait for something beautiful to happen, for something to carry me away. But no one comes, I am still alive.

“This isn’t fair.” I can’t help but say aloud to myself. “I just want to see them again,” my head screams at me. The world took them away from me, and now it won’t let me join them. “What more is there to do once everything you love is gone?” I think to myself. I feel my feet start to move, picking up pace rapidly. I feel myself running faster and faster. Closer and closer to home. Closer to where I know she waits. “I’ll ask her to try again,” I think.

Sooner that I know, I am standing before the old wooden door that I’ve seen slammed in my face so many times. I knock, once, twice, three times. The door is flung open quickly, and now I stare face to face with her. She jumps back and grabs her knife.

“I killed you once already, how are you alive?” She questions. I shrug my shoulders, and try to step around her. She stomps on my foot, blocking my feeble attempt. I feel no pain, and try to get past her once more. Looking past her, I can see the peeling walls of the house I used to call home. The ugly mustard colored wallpaper my little sister insisted she loved. I give up trying to get through the doorway and sit down on the porch.

“Just come inside the house Ellio,” she whispers. I slowly rise and walk inside without interjection. I try not to look at the couch, which still probably has Emmy’s favorite blanket draped over it. I look at my feet and follow the grooves and dents in the floor, which lead me to the dining room table. I sit down in one of the chairs, my chair, the one that doesn’t look like the other four.

“Julia, I think I’m broken…” I half-scream at her. She sits down next to me and rubs my back slowly. “I asked you to kill me… I forced you to do something you would have never wanted to do me otherwise,” I continue. “And yet you had the nerve to not die.” She finishes for me. I try to smile at her, but a weird frown is all that comes out. I think back to when we used to love each other, when we used to kiss in this very house. But… I screwed that up, and then my family left me too. I stupidly said no to the vacation to Costa Rica, wanting alone time after the breakup. I never even took into account what could possibly go wrong. I never thought that their plane would go crashing down into the ocean and that I would never see them again. As I look into her pitiful eyes, I know my life will never be the same again.

“Denise, Denise do you hear me”

I here the beeps of a machine tracking my heart beat. The smell of hand sanitizer fills the air. A doctor hover over me holding a mask to my face, by he slowly releases it. Behind him stands Ryle, with a frightful look. Yup, I died…again.

I push the doctors away and get up from the hospital bed, overestimating my legs and tripping over myself.

The doctor pick me up, and sits me back down on the bed.

Ryle, with tears in her eyes hugs me so tightly I would have sworn she was trying to kill me again.

She’s 12 and hasn’t died once. That must be a record or something. People get revived like getting their yearly shots. It’s really not a big deal, but Ryle has never seen anybody die.

“Ryle, it’s fine, it’s just a revival. When I get out you can push me off a building. It’s big deal.”

She gasps in shock and shakes her head.

I remove all the needles from my skin and put my pants under the hospital gown.

“Well doc, if you let me out earlier I promise I won’t jump off of cliff again.”

He looks at me, then back to my sister.

“Denise, we need to talk.”

This gets Ryle scared and she blurts out, “is she ok.”

“It is fine silly” I say with a giggle. I’ll be out in a minute.

She hesitantly leaves and the doctor shuts the door ad locks it. For the first time, I’m scared of doctor Tillman.

“Look Denise. You have died thirty nine time. Thirty being on purpose.”

When death is takin out of the equation, I don’t fear anything. Jumping out of cliffs is no worse that getting a little scratch. But I guess…I do it because I want my parents attention. Although that I would never admit out loud.

“Denise, the government has chosen you for selective pickings.”

“No!” I cry out. “I’m only sixteen I have two years before I’m eligible.”

“They are qualifying you as an adult for the amount of time you died!” He screams. “Since you were eleven I have warned you that rare cases like these happen when kids die to many time. There’s nothing I can do Denise.”

Tomorrow I will be killed for good. And if I’m not, I’ll be sent of to labor camps.

The rest of the day is a blur. I tell my parents and they respond with a simple, “don’t blame us for your mess.”

Ryle however cried for hours. Suggested we run away. When my parents went to bed, and Ryle cried herself to sleep, I grab a flashlight and leave. Before I exit I leave a note for Ryle on her chair. I write about how I’m sorry. How I wish I didn’t do those mistakes. And how she can’t follow my footsteps. I also said I loved her, and she would forever be my little sister. I said words our parents would never say to us.

I walk to the edge of the cliff and get ready to jump. If I die, I die on my own terms.

I bend my knees ready to leap. “3…2…1” I whisper, but before I can jump I hear a whisper in the bush.

I look around with my flashlight, terrified my parents noticed I was gone.

“Over here” voice says.

I point my flash light at them and see a dark haired boy, covered with dirt and twigs.

“Come with me.“

With nothing at stake, I do, and that was the best choice of my life. Because now, I live in a world where I embrace my death.

“Do you think that’s gonna do it?” I hear a voice ask. “It had better.” Another reply’s. I feel a cold liquid slide down my throat. It’s sweet, but sour. Cold ,but hot. Tasty, but bile. I blink open my eyes. There are four figures standing above me. And I slowly began to make out their features. My mothers long, blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. My fathers bald head, tan skin, and gray eyes. I blink a few more times and the other two figures come into focus. The twins, my husband, and my best friend. Naomi’s long black hair, Wyatt’s short black hair. Naomi’s olive skin, Wyatt’s as well, and their brown eyes. If it hadn’t been for their opposite genders, you wouldn’t be able to tell the two apart. “Why are you guys standing above me like a bunch of creepers?” I ask. Naomi’s eyes tear up. “Oh my, your alive?” “Last I checked!”I giggle. Why are they acting like this. My moms eyes welling with tears, my fathers as well. Wyatt just stood above me wide eyed. I try to sit up, but a sharp pain in my chest pulls me straight back down. My father gasps, and moves to prop me up against a pillow. Not my pillow. I look down only to see a hospital gown, not my clothes. A doctor comes into view, frizzy brown hair, pale skin, round glasses, and blue eyes. “She lives! What took you so long?” He jokes. Wyatt shoots him a look so harsh, if looks could kill, he’d be the one in the hospital bed. “Chill lover boy, it was a joke.” “Someone mind telling me what’s happening?” “Ah yes, you were shot.” “Excuse me?” Shot. Oh my goodness, they thought I was dead. “Yes, in the attempt to save an innocent avloe. A person from beyond the wall, in case you forgot.” A memory flashes through my brain. It had been a young boy, probably born beyond the wall, and a gun pointed at his forehead. Me, Naomi, and Wyatt had been doing it for quite some time, saving avloe’s, either escorting them back beyond the wall or hiding them somewhere so the could have a normal life. “Did he…” “He lived.” Wyatt smiled. “Good. My almost dying was good for something.” I smile back. “The government doesn’t quite agree.” My mother commented. As if on cue we hear a loud banging on the door. “Marlee, James, and Naomi Parter, your under arrest for breaking the fourth law. Surrender yourself or we will remove you forcefully!”

[S.C, Bloodlines. CH 7]

[Cleo’s point of view]

The city sped by in a few seconds, the mountains a moment after. Out in the forest’s only the smells passed by. Her speed was a blur, no car or human would see or feel their presence. Only one place would be safe.

Yet she’d had no time to warn her. Lexi’s mother had a very large house in the city, yet Lexi always escaped to the getaway cottage she’d bought next to Marvel lake.

By car it would have taken at least an hour and a half. Yet in her phase speed, it took maybe fifteen minutes. At the door she knocked hard.

After a few seconds, she knocked harder.

“Lexi I swear to god you better open this door!” She howled into the forest around.

Thankfully her only neighbors were on the other side of the private lake.

“Cleo what do you….” Lexi gasped, wearing only a bath robe.

Gabe was at the door a second later, reaching for his sister for a second. Before Lexi pushed him into the house.

“Cleo take him away.” Lexi motioned with her arm.

Setting Amelya down on the table, she moved toward Gabe.

“I don’t want to leave her” Cleo argued for a second before she seen Gabe’s eyes starting to shift to black. “Get him out now! I’ll fix her, I promise “ Lexi begged.

Cleo bear hugged the new vampire, pushing him straight out the door. Phasing off into the woods.

“I told that girl to leave you be” Lexi scoffed, grabbing a few things from the other room. “This is the second time you’ve nearly got dead. This is no place for humans”

After an hour of doctoring, Lexi leaned back against the wall. It had taken eight stitches and a bit of vampire blood, but she’d be fine.

“Is she ok?” Gabe was the first to come back inside. He looked to the floor as if he was ashamed. “She’ll be fine.” Lexi sighed. “Where’s Cleo?” “She stopped in town to pick her up some food” Gabe looked over his sister still laying on the table. “She looks so peaceful “ “She needs to be turned. Or she’s gonna end up dead. Cleo has to know this” “Cleo has to know what?” Cleo stepped into the house with a drink and Mc Donald’s. “That you can’t keep being around her if she’s not gonna be one of us. And where’s Jayden?” Lexi was focused on Cleo as she wiped Amelya’s hair out of her face. “I know… and I don’t want to share her. Not with him or anyone else ever” Cleo rubbed her stomach and she started to stir. “Wake up, beautiful!”

She looked over at Cleo before scanning the room. Gasping when she met Gabe’s gaze.

“Hey sis” Gabe waved a hand slowly. “Am I dead” Amelya asked, reaching up to her head. “No, I got you here safely” Cleo was quick to hold her hand. “A few stitches, but you don’t seem to have an brain damage. Hopefully the blood will help” “I feel weak… but energetic “ Amelya tried to lean forward. “How’s mom?” “Wait! what happened to mom?” Gabe was moving toward his sister, but was stopped by Lexi’s arm. “You can’t. That’s why we are out here” Lexi stepped forward, between them. “She was taken…. Warren….” Cleo made eye contact with Lexi. The fear between them solid in the air around them, chocking the air. “Who’s Warren?” Gabe asked, trying to read the two girls. “An (S-Class Fugitive). One of the most notorious killers in our entire world.” Lexi’s mother stepped into her cabin. “What in gods name is she doing here?” “Amelya was hurt, Warren nearly killed her.” Cleo was standing between her and Amelya. “That’s it. Where’s Jayden?” “Not sure. She’s mine” Cleo shot back. “This is why I wanted nothing to do with this. Tonight she’ll have her ceremony. And if I hear anything more about who’s she belongs to, you’ll both be fighting to the death.” “You can’t be serious?” Lexi questioned. “Watch me. You’ll both be staying here. To far for him to travel.”

Without another word she was gone. Leaving the teens to deal with the damage.

“Why didn’t you tell her about our mom?” Amelya asked nearly falling off the table. “I’m sure she heard it all. She’s good about getting information “ Lexi added in. “Get her to the sanctuary.” “She’s hardly good enough to travel.” Cleo looked at her best friend. “Especially with just me” “It’s not just you dear sister. Her mother sent me to help” Jayden appeared cocky grin on his face. “Great”

Jayden put Amelya on his back, feeling her warm skin on him. It was more intoxicating then the drugs he’d enjoyed in the downtown clubs.

“Her presence is intoxicating “ “Shut it or I’ll take her up on the fight to the death” “You wouldn’t dare” Jayden laughed, taking off out the door.

The mud was becoming too much for the horse. Axton could hear the driver getting nervous. He knocked on the trap door on the ceiling, ‘I can proceed on foot!’ he called. ‘Are you sure, sir?’

The rain had given way to a dense fog, which washed away all colour from the dark landscape of the marshes. It felt like it was past midnight, yet it probably wasn’t even six o’clock. Axton paid the driver and set off, his feet sinking into the mud, much more than he had envisaged. As he glanced back towards the hansom, he shuddered while its silhouette faded into the mist.

The woman Axton was going to visit risked puerperal pyrexia. Concentrating on the procedures, he felt the weight of his leather bag in his hand. He had left his London study as fast as he could, with all the necessary tools, and more.

The storm began raging again. The sideways rain whipped his face. He cursed himself for letting the hansom go. He couldn’t tell if he was on the road any more. He had no bearings. A cold feeling crept up his spine.

Fear and frustration blended into an icy mask, clinging to his wet face. Nowadays, you could get a message through to Newfoundland in two minutes, huge ships were unloading electrical cables under the oceans, but getting to Clapton Hill was an ordeal.

The thunder echoed in his head, sending his thoughts in a whirlwind. How could he still have to wade, half buried inside the ground, drenched and frozen in a globalized world of iron, steel and machines? How could everything be so projected into the future, yet so backward at the same time?

A tiny speck of light appeared in the distance. Axton squinted and eventually made out a figure, staggering in the distance, holding a torch, its flame sweeping in all directions, disappearing and reappearing in the gale.

A technological world, yet we are animals. Beasts. The way we come to this world. Through excruciating pain. And often accompanied by death. We have overcome distances, we have the telegraph, but we still die like animals. He frowned.

At that moment a pale, wide-eyed face emerged from the raging storm. A limping old man agitated his arms and ushered the doctor to follow him. ‘The baby is born already!’ he said, his hoarse voice covered by the screaming wind. ‘How is the mother?’ the doctor shouted. But there was no answer, the man was already several feet ahead, making a huge effort, as their boots sank deeper into the ground at every step.

As the two advanced for what seemed hours in the storm, Axton recalled opening rib cages, cutting through skin, hammering bones. A butcher, he thought. That is what I am. The divine construction of the human body, enclosing the horror of its insides, a hellish mixture of flesh and bones, entangled in a web of infinite tiny ducts, soaked in flaming red blood. I carve my way through it like a meat merchant.

The woman was almost unconscious, but Axton swiftly acknowledged she was not in danger. She was kept warm, her brother and daughter next to her, the old man who had come to meet him, tending the fireplace.

Axton’s mind was a perfect storm, an ocean of swarming thoughts, eyes frozen into a cold stare, trying to pierce through the desolation before him. The contradictions of a world he was beginning to refuse to accept.

‘The shed…’ the old man said, his voice almost imperceptible. All stayed silent. Axton crossed the stables and reached the shed, where the baby had been settled next to an old metal stove.

As he moved toward it he could hear the wheezing, rasping breaths. The small blob of rags stirred. The man leaned forward and looked into the eyes of the baby. Its eyes, black like coal, like its long beard, looked up at him. A skin scarred by hundreds of years of perseverance. There was an ancient wisdom in those eyes.

Its face lit up, a smile making its way slowly through the wrinkles, a familiar expression of delight, of recognition.

Then the baby in the rags opened its mouth and spoke, in a low, ancient voice.

‘You have no idea how far technology will go,’ it said. ‘You have no idea.

‘The body that you see has come back many times, transformed. And you cannot imagine what it means to be conscious while your own spinal cord reforges itself, while you feel each vertebra reinventing itself.

‘All while your memories, like crystals, gradually fall back into their timeline.

‘Believe me, I suffered, how I suffered. You cannot imagine the pain. The muffled sounds of the world outside. Not knowing until the last moment, whether I would reemerge in the time and place I hoped for, or if the body could bear me once again.

‘You see, humankind will ultimately be detached from the physical, the essence of time transformed, and nature bent beyond recognition.

‘Humans will free themselves of the bonds of nature, and to overcome overpopulation, will encapsulate their existence within a framework devoid of the laws of physics.

‘Eventually they will find a way to tune into the wavelengths which ignite life itself, synchronizing the instant of death with the spark of life.

‘And so will it be that no new humans will be born, for it will be those that are alive that will repeat their lives again and again for eternity. And they will die and be reborn throughout the ages, moving back and forth through time, bringing linear time itself to an end, an endless closed loop in its stead.

‘And one day the sole desire left will be to reach back to the origin. To confront the moment in which it all began.

‘I came back here to gaze straight into the eyes of he who started all of this,’ the baby said. ‘He who was responsible for draining existence itself of all purpose.

‘To try to remember why.’

It stared into Axton’s eyes, black as coal, clearly its own, only one thousand years younger.

Storyline 12 The guards holding myself and Liam were too busy with the massive lightning, wind, and smoke to notice we broke free of our bonds. Smashing their faces in I tried to run to Elena's side but the cyclone of wind was too much. Giant crackles of lightning danced across the throne room floor from its center. One final one thundered out narrowly missing Anton as he stood in front of the King's throne cracking the padded stone in two. The cyclone had stopped and the smoke cascaded around everyone. I searched for her but the smoke was too thick. Her companion had emerged healed and in a new form. I couldn't believe my eyes, she was dead a minute ago. “Elena!” I called to her as the smoke around her still body cleared. : Theo, get Elena into the waters, they will heal her.: called her companion to my mind. : How are you speaking to me?: : You and Elena are bonded and now so are we. Same with your companion and Elena. We can discuss it later. Get her to the pool.: I nodded and ran to Elena’s side. My mind raced at the thought of them coming back to life. Though with the way our companions can control the elements, revival could be possible. It was possible given seeing her companion alive and in a different form. I checked Elena’s chest, It didn't feel like she was breathing. Liam helped me pick her up and walk her to the water pool a few feet away. As I held her lifeless body in the small pool in the throne room I prayed her companion was correct in that the waters would revive her. She used all her strength and energy to revive her companion after she was attacked by king Anton’s creature. That massive energy drain left her lifeless. Her anemia usually left her weak if she exerted herself too much but this was much worse. The seconds that passed felt like hours, i watched her face but nothing came back. I leaned in to whisper to her to come back to me, that i loved her and didnt want to live with out her. The water began to glow around us, some vines from below rose and took a hold of her from my arms pulling her under. Seconds passed again as i searched for her under the waters surface. The glow was too bright to see down. More seconds passed then she emerged from the water gasping for air. I caught her and held her close as she regained herself. Her eyes met mine and she smiled, then they darted around the room, “Where’s my companion?” “Shes more then fine Elena, look over there.” I said moving her to the edge of the pool. Liam helped her out as i got up and out of the pool. She stared at her conpanions new form flying in the air and fighting Anton’s creature in the throne room. :Feeling better?: asked her pet. :Im fine. Are you ok?: :More then ok. Now get up here and help me defeat this thing! We are stronger together!: I could hear their thoughts to one another clear as day. So could my companion. With the other guards help he was out of the cage and ready to fight.