cold hands clasp hers, pinning her in place.
All she wants to do is leave.
but the hands pin her there.
She looks up. The face is shrouded in mist, but when she turns her gaze on it the mist burns away.
She sees herself. She is terrified, her eyes moist, hopeless tears brimming, threatening to spill. She is bloody, her stomach soaked in red. She is at the worst moment in her life.
Cinder reaches out, wanting to comfort her other self, but before she can she feels another hand at her shoulder. cold, too. shivering, she turns around.
another Cinder. she is floating, floating behind her. terrified, too. her eyes wide, her legs kicking, trying to reach a surface. but she can't. her metal parts are too heavy.
cinder almost expects the next one.
Small, a child. little Selene tugs on her shoulder, gazing up at her. the area around her is circled in fire, and, gasping, Cinder tries dousing the flames. Kicking at it, blowing at it, pulling the little girl out.
nothing works.
the girl shrieks, the flames hungrily eating at her skin, at her feet, and Cinder is helpless as she watches the child burn.
she wants to leave. All she wants to do is leave.
she doesn't know if she said it aloud, but the stabbed girl turns to her. her eyes are understanding, calm now, accepting. she lets go of Cinder's hands, finally, and nods once. just once, yet she is full of such relief.
the drowning girl lets go of her shoulder, too.
the child, with a final sigh, releases her sleeve.
Cinder nods, simply.
And she steps into the light
far, far away, someone is grieving for the only girl he ever loved.