Prologue

We clashed from the very beginning. The three of us, that is. Delilah, Benjamin, and me, Leah. And still some form of a connection must have been designed to bring us here, in this war zone, together. Fate was what brought us through all of the turmoil and heartbreak and love to face our end? Thank you fate--no sarcasm intended. I would not trade these people or these experiences, however mournful, for any appealing thing any one person could offer. Because inside of that hurt love grew and prospered, implanted in us and took over. The true beginning of our lives was that day. Now we are all but a single entity. Our minds are one, albeit mostly due to Delilah's interesting magic. Our movements are in sync and wrap around each other's as if it was coordinated, or as if we shared the same nerves. And after every monumental hardship we have faced, together, every time we have felt the sane world ripped from under our feet like a rug but stood up once again, here we are. Clasping hands, crying together. Letting our tears drain out the fears, and silently pass on the final goodbyes. Goodbye.

The tears, borderline desperate sobs, roll down my face leaving their bitter-sweet salty trails, and I try to remember how it was in the beginning. Back when things were normal… or at least sufficiently less insane. It seems like so long ago, as if that Delilah, innocent and unwise, cannot possibly have ever been. I feel like chuckling and yet also mourning as I remember how Delilah and I so hated each other. Now after everything, we are more than inseparable, and so much more than sisters. I glance at Benjamin and see his own tears staining his face, the wind blowing his unruly hair. It was an accident, and entirely my fault, that he was here in the first place. Had I brought upon him a death sentence? I still remember the hatred in his eyes, and the shadow of his face pierced my heart. More tears well up in my eyes… but who is to say they were not tears of joy? Why would I possibly be sad for myself when these wonderful things end? They were so much more than I ever deserved.

We are a team, although that term does not seem anywhere near good enough. We began together… and would end as such. Leah, the very beginning and the soul. Delilah, the backbone and the glue. And Me, the protector and secretly probably the most dependent. There was no longer a point in holding on to those few secrets in my head I'd clung to desperately. It seemed silly to have in the first place. No point. I reached for Delilah's hand to my left, and Leah's to my right. A new, refreshed strength flowed swiftly through me. I could feel this new magic… this influx of love and confidence. It was empowering. It provoked in me the power to accept this bodily death, and this acceptance stripped me of the paralytic fear. I would fight… until the very end. I would go down with a battle cry dying on my lips. I only hoped, selfishly, that if I must die I would go before Leah and Delilah. That heartbreak would kill me before the enemy got the chance.