Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.
She knew
Even before the trio of children in front of her spoke of what had happened earlier in the village, Ivy Walker knew. She felt as though she had known it all day, feeling a heaviness in her heart where should have been only joy, a heaviness that she couldn't quite place and one that she definitely couldn't understand.
She knew.
Now she knew where the heaviness had come from, why it had been tying her stomach in knots like talking about Those We Do Not Speak Of. Ivy knew that the children were talking about Luicus. Her Luicus.
She knew.
As soon as she dropped her seeing stick to the ground, fingers shaking too much to hold onto the wooden staff, Ivy knew that she would find her love, her Luicus at his home, hurt perhaps beyond saving and dying. The victim of an action that no one could understand and never would.
Without hesitation, she raced toward the house where she knew she would find the man she loved, ignoring the calls of her sister, her cane waving wildly in front of her. Ivy ran without faltering, the only thing ringing in her ears being the pounding of her feet against the grass and the beating of her heart.
Her blind eyes threatened to shed tears and she knew that her heart was threatening to let them spill. And still she ran, faster then she had ever run before, faster then she had run when she was racing Noah to Rest Rock, faster then she had run when she was playing tag with the other children years ago. Faster then she had run from Those We Do Not Speak Of. Because what she was running to was much more important then any of those other reasons and goals.
She knew.
Ivy knew that she had reached Luicus' house and she stopped, forcing herself to keep steady, to refrain from rushing into the room. She swallowed a deep breath, her eyelids blinking away salty tears from the corners of her sightless eyes. She tried to compose herself, to get an iron grip on her heart and enter the room with a belief that she didn't feel. The belief that she would find Luicus inside unharmed and her worries would have been for nothing.
But she knew that that was not what she was going to find.
Even before she entered, Ivy knew that her hopes, her thoughts, her dreams of her life with Luicus were no longer. She knew that what she was going to find in that room would change her life forever, one way or another; it would tear out of her heart and destroy her in ways she had never imagined.
The room was too silent, and Ivy felt her heart slowly begin to shatter. Her mind repeated a single word over and over, No, and she couldn't seem to understand why she could think only that word. Her mind was no longer allowing her to think those pleasant thoughts about a pleasant love with the man she loved more then anything.
Ivy called out for him, prayed for answer and felt herself begin to collapse when she didn't get one. Luicus couldn't answer her, this she knew, she had always known.
She found him then, on the ground, motionless and cold, bleeding, his true color pouring free. Ivy doubted she had ever felt so much blood in her entire life.
It wasn't fair! Absolutely not! It wasn't fair that life would take away the only thing she had to live for, the only person she loved and the only person that loved her and knew that she was something other then the blind school mistress. The only person that saw her the way she saw herself. Ivy felt her tears return then as she cradled her love, her still Luicus, pressing him close against her chest. It wasn't fair, life could not do this to her! It just could not happen, Luicus could not be taken from her. She could not live without him. It just was not fair.
But life was never fair, Ivy realized as the sobs came, tearing her into pieces, filling her body and her heart with a pain she had never felt before. No, life was never fair.
This was something she knew.
She knew
Even before the trio of children in front of her spoke of what had happened earlier in the village, Ivy Walker knew. She felt as though she had known it all day, feeling a heaviness in her heart where should have been only joy, a heaviness that she couldn't quite place and one that she definitely couldn't understand.
She knew.
Now she knew where the heaviness had come from, why it had been tying her stomach in knots like talking about Those We Do Not Speak Of. Ivy knew that the children were talking about Luicus. Her Luicus.
She knew.
As soon as she dropped her seeing stick to the ground, fingers shaking too much to hold onto the wooden staff, Ivy knew that she would find her love, her Luicus at his home, hurt perhaps beyond saving and dying. The victim of an action that no one could understand and never would.
Without hesitation, she raced toward the house where she knew she would find the man she loved, ignoring the calls of her sister, her cane waving wildly in front of her. Ivy ran without faltering, the only thing ringing in her ears being the pounding of her feet against the grass and the beating of her heart.
Her blind eyes threatened to shed tears and she knew that her heart was threatening to let them spill. And still she ran, faster then she had ever run before, faster then she had run when she was racing Noah to Rest Rock, faster then she had run when she was playing tag with the other children years ago. Faster then she had run from Those We Do Not Speak Of. Because what she was running to was much more important then any of those other reasons and goals.
She knew.
Ivy knew that she had reached Luicus' house and she stopped, forcing herself to keep steady, to refrain from rushing into the room. She swallowed a deep breath, her eyelids blinking away salty tears from the corners of her sightless eyes. She tried to compose herself, to get an iron grip on her heart and enter the room with a belief that she didn't feel. The belief that she would find Luicus inside unharmed and her worries would have been for nothing.
But she knew that that was not what she was going to find.
Even before she entered, Ivy knew that her hopes, her thoughts, her dreams of her life with Luicus were no longer. She knew that what she was going to find in that room would change her life forever, one way or another; it would tear out of her heart and destroy her in ways she had never imagined.
The room was too silent, and Ivy felt her heart slowly begin to shatter. Her mind repeated a single word over and over, No, and she couldn't seem to understand why she could think only that word. Her mind was no longer allowing her to think those pleasant thoughts about a pleasant love with the man she loved more then anything.
Ivy called out for him, prayed for answer and felt herself begin to collapse when she didn't get one. Luicus couldn't answer her, this she knew, she had always known.
She found him then, on the ground, motionless and cold, bleeding, his true color pouring free. Ivy doubted she had ever felt so much blood in her entire life.
It wasn't fair! Absolutely not! It wasn't fair that life would take away the only thing she had to live for, the only person she loved and the only person that loved her and knew that she was something other then the blind school mistress. The only person that saw her the way she saw herself. Ivy felt her tears return then as she cradled her love, her still Luicus, pressing him close against her chest. It wasn't fair, life could not do this to her! It just could not happen, Luicus could not be taken from her. She could not live without him. It just was not fair.
But life was never fair, Ivy realized as the sobs came, tearing her into pieces, filling her body and her heart with a pain she had never felt before. No, life was never fair.
This was something she knew.