Chapter 14
Murder
"Now remember what I told you, Shadow. Chin up, chest out, walk straight, and speak clearly to anyone who talks to you."
"I know, mother! We've been going over this for weeks now."
Shadow waited by the door impatiently while her mother ran back and forth around the house in a hurried fashion, making sure everything was alright in the house while also going back to the mirror to put the finishing touches on her makeup and making sure the wrinkles were smoothed on her dress.
Shadow herself was now in her completed dress with her hair redone and put back up into a bun with a rose beret inside of it. Her mother had also let her put on makeup, explaining that since she was a level 3 now she was ready.
Shadow tapped her foot and fidgeted around the small area she was standing in. "Mother, come on!" She called out. "Father and Ronaldo left for the festival 10 minutes ago; we'll miss all the fun!"
"Yes, yes I know honey I'm almost ready." Her mother told her while adjusting one of the earrings she was wearing. After that task was complete, she flipped her hair back and gave herself one more good look in the mirror before finally turning to her daughter and nodding with a wide smile on her face. "Alright I'm ready."
She grabbed the house key from the table and motioned Shadow out the door. Shadow smiled happily and practically hopped out the door as Jade opened it. At first she wasn't that excited about dressing up to go to a one night event where snooty rich people would talk to her while getting themselves hopelessly drunk.
But after Shadow first heard the blaring music from the city that lived RIGHT next door to her little farm house, she began to get more and more excited. She became so excited that she nearly forgot the little confusion that occurred that morning. It was probably nothing anyway. Just a slip of the tongue on her father's part.
She lifted up her long dress slightly so it didn't touch the ground just as her mother said as they made their way down the city's paths and into the heart of the city where the festival was.
As they got nearer, Jade gave her daughter a glance to which Shadow acknowledged and stood up straighter with her chin up and chest out just as she told her to do, even though she felt ridiculous doing so. But her mother felt it was classy and wanted her daughter to be classy as well.
Jade gazed over her daughter with love in her bright green eyes. "You look simply beautiful, my darling." She whispered to her, slowing down slightly.
Shadow looked up at her mother and then sheepishly stared at the ground, coughing slightly as she muttered, "I don't look THAT great…"
Suddenly she felt a soft gloved hand on her shoulder and she stopped and looked up in surprise. Her mother was standing over her, suddenly looking very angry or just serious.
Jade crouched down until she was about the height of her daughter and looked her dead in the eye. "You listen to me, my sweetie," She began, "you ARE beautiful and you are radiant and you are perfect. Anyone who says otherwise is just blind or jealous. Someday you will have boys kissing the ground you walk on and doing anything just to spend one moment with you. You remember that, precious. There is no reason for shyness or lack of confidence." She pressed her hand against her daughter's cheek and stroked it with her thumb, not taking her eyes off of Shadow's until she finally nodded.
Her mother's smile reappeared on her face as she stood back up and guided her daughter the rest of the way to the festival.
Shadow stared straight ahead of herself and blinked in thought. Was her mother right? Would boys really find her attractive? She never really noticed it before, but lately she caught boys her level staring at her direction every now and again…but never had she thought that they were actually staring at HER.
She had never been that confident in her looks, even though her mother reminded her over and over again that someday she would be practically worshipped. She wanted to believe her, but she just couldn't find it believable. Every time she looked in the mirror she didn't see anything special about her, apart from her bright green eyes.
Her thoughts were broken by her mother's voice. "Shadow? Did you hear what I just said?" Her voice was raised to be heard over the loud music that was now playing a slow song.
Shadow blinked a few times to comprehend where she was. She was in fact in the center of her city, although it was barely recognizable by the hundreds of couples that were dancing together around it, swaying their bodies along with the music and holding their lover's close. It was actually quite dark, the only thing causing a little bit of light being the many different colored candles that were lit up all around.
Shadow watched in awe as the people in front of her moved in synch along to the music, watching their partner's move along with them with love in their eyes. Shadow felt a slight jar in her heart and realized that she wished that someday she would find someone that looked at her that way too…someday.
"Shadow?" Her mother prompted her again.
Shadow looked up at her so fast her mother nearly jumped back in surprise. "Can I go now, mother? I want to get a drink." She glanced over at the table that sat a little ways away from the dancers with a large bowl full of punch and small glasses filled with wine beside it.
Her mother sighed in frustration before smiling and stroking her daughter's cheek again. "Oh, alright. Go have fun. If you see your father, tell him where I am!" She shouted after Shadow as she raced toward the punch bowl.
When Shadow reached the table, she swiped a glass that was already filled with punch and took a sip. She eyed the glasses of wine for a split second before shaking her head. Her mother would kill her if she even tasted it…
She stood by the table and continued to drink her punch, not really sure what else to do. She didn't recognize anyone in the crowd of dancers and right now a slow dance was playing and she had no partner.
She leaned against the table and closed her eyes with a long sigh. She couldn't help but wonder if anything her mother said was true about her. She shouldn't be shy or lack confidence? How could she not? Everything was so much bigger than her right now…then again if she was afraid of things being bigger than her how would she face opponents like dragons and other evil creatures on her adventures?
A smile cracked along her face as she thought of this. She wanted to be an adventurer since she was little. She talked to passing by adventurers whenever she could and listened to their stories and learned tips that could help her. She had made up her mind a long time ago and it wasn't changing. She was a level 3 now and she could leave any day now and start her dream. The only problem was her parents.
With her father's one leg, she felt she needed to stay and help her parents as much as she could. She was sure Ronaldo felt that way too since he was a level over Shadow and was still at home. She didn't want to leave until she was absolutely sure that her parents were well cared for.
"Um, hello?"
Shadow's eyes suddenly flew open and she had to grip the table to keep herself from tipping over. She had been so absorbed in her daydreaming that she practically forgot where she was.
In front of her was a boy about her level. He had blonde hair with little spikes in them and a wide smile as he said with a laugh, "Sorry, I thought this was where you get drinks, not sleep."
Shadow glared at him indignantly and stood straighter with a huff. "I wasn't sleeping!" She snapped at him. "I was…daydreaming…" She muttered, realizing very clearly how incredibly stupid she sounded right now.
The boy stared back at her through clear blue eyes. "Bored too, huh? Yeah, this party just has a bunch of old people dancing around probably drunk." He suddenly looked different like he had just got a brilliant idea and asked her slyly, "Hey, want to go somewhere more fun?" He winked at her.
Shadow grimaced and felt her hands beginning to shake as he stared at her, eagerly waiting for her answer. "Um…what kind of fun?" She gulped out, wishing she could back away from his hot breath but was already pressed against the side of the table.
He smiled even wider, this time more of a smile filled with amusement and he backed off slightly. "Don't worry; it's not THAT kind of fun. Follow me!" With that said, he was off. He went around a building further away from the party and Shadow looked after him uncertainly.
She made a quick glance toward her mother to see if she was watching her. Her mother was not in the same place she was before and Shadow's gaze darted around the many dancers before she finally spotted her mother with her father. They were both headed away from the excitement of the festival in the opposite direction Shadow wanted to go.
Shadow figured she didn't have much time to think of it and decided that tonight she would live a little, start adventuring, and she placed her drink on the table and ran after the boy behind the building, away from the festival.
Shadow was surprised when she saw the boy waiting ahead for her, looking back at her with a smile as she caught up to him. "Thought you were going to chicken out." He said.
Shadow lifted her head high smugly. "I don't chicken out. I'm going to be the best and bravest adventurer in Runescape someday."
The boy laughed at this. "Well good luck with that. Just try to keep up with me oh 'brave' adventurer." He then ran ahead once again down the trail leading farther away from Shadow's home city.
Shadow scoffed and made a move to follow him, but at once stumbled over a part of her dress and ripped a piece of it clean off. She growled softly to herself before ripping more of the dress off until it was short enough to cover her but not make her stumble and continued to make her way after the boy.
She suddenly found herself stepping onto unfamiliar ground and she looked around uncertainly. This place…she had heard about it but had never gone here herself. Her mother and father had warned her about coming here because people have gotten sick from it over the years. What was this place called again?
The ground was made out of gray soil and the crumbling old houses looked like they could collapse just by one touch. The very air itself smelled of sickness and fear. Shadow didn't like this place at all. Why were they here? What was so fun about coming to such a horrible place?
"Pretty neat, huh?" Shadow jumped and turned around in anger at the boy who seemingly popped out of nowhere.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She snapped at him crossly. "Why are we here anyway?" She continued to look around, trying to see if there was something, if anything interesting for them to do in this god's forsaken place.
The boy stepped up in front of her and lifted his head. "We are here to explore and to find adventure. You said you wanted to be an adventurer right?"
Shadow blinked at him. "Well…yeah. But isn't this place's air tainted with sickness?"
The boy snorted. "I don't believe the AIR is filled with sickness. I believe the people that live or did live here are so mentally retarded they think this place is cursed and so they infect their own brains, making themselves and others around them think this place is dangerous."
Shadow looked taken aback. "You've really given this a lot of thought haven't you?"
The boy shrugged even though a smug smirk was emerging on his face. "I got lots of time to think I guess. So, you ready to explore Witchaven or not?"
Shadow mentally snapped her fingers. That was what this place was called! "Where are we going?" She was beginning to feel excited now. Maybe they would be the first ones to discover something here and she would become famous before she even started her adventure.
The boy laughed and motioned her forward, leading her toward a leafier and more secluded part of the little rundown town. She followed him and he stepped aside to reveal…more leaves and foliage.
She opened her mouth to make a comment before he put his hand up to stop her and then began to brush away the leaves and plants that lied down on the ground in front of them.
Shadow's eyes grew wide as before her an open door leading underground suddenly appeared from under all the plants. "How did you find this?" She gasped at him, coming closer to the door to investigate.
"You can find a lot of this if you look hard enough." The boy told her. "I haven't gone too far down it yet because I didn't have all the supplies, but with two people I think we can manage it. Assuming that you can take care of yourself and I won't have to protect you?"
Shadow lifted her chin up and stared directly at him. "I can handle myself fine. I was just hoping that I wouldn't have to protect YOU." She raised an eyebrow.
The boy smirked at her and looked at her up and down. "The dress and the beret in your hair are just a little misleading."
Shadow frowned and at once tore the rose beret out of her hair, releasing the bun and letting her black hair flow freely past her shoulders. "Better mister fickle?"
The boy flashed a sly look. "You could lose the dress too." He said teasingly. At an angry glare from Shadow he smiled wider and shook his head fondly. "Come on; let's go in before anyone realizes we're missing."
Shadow made a move to follow him, but before she could she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as a loud bellowing split the air.
"CHARLES! What the HELL do you think you're DOING?" Shadow couldn't help but fall back to the ground and shrink back until she was practically hiding in the plants scattered around her.
A very tall, very large man with HUGE muscles stomped over to them in a huff. He had short blonde hair and had a long, red scar running down along the right side of his skull. He had a snake tattoo on his left arm and his eyes seemed to have no color but blackness in them.
"F-father!" The boy jumped up and planted his body between his father and Shadow, blocking her from his view. "What-what are you doing here?" He stammered.
"What am I doing here? Looking for my good for nothing excuse of a son, THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING HERE." He yelled at the top of his lungs. "I thought I told you NEVER to come here and here I find you DISOBEYING ME?"
The boy hung his head and Shadow could see that he was shaking now. "I-I-I'm sorry father. I just thought-"
"You THOUGHT?" He interrupted. "Charles, get back to the house or so help me I will beat your ass and lock you in the basement."
The boy's head shot up. "No! Father not again, please! I will never do this again, I swear-" He stopped talking as he suddenly made a choking sound and Shadow hopped back farther into the plants, completely hiding herself from view.
The father had grabbed the boy by his spikey hair now and was dragging him roughly away, with the boy kicking and making horrible pain filled noises.
Shadow stayed crouched in the plants until she was sure they were gone. She let out a shaky breath and looked at her hands. She was trembling mercilessly. Never before had she experienced such abuse from a father to his son.
She took deep breaths attempting to calm her before stepping out of the plants and looking around slowly. Everything seemed to be clear. She glanced toward the open door before shaking her head. Adventuring was the last thing on her mind right now. The moon was high in the sky and the festival would be ending soon. She needed to find her parents and get out of here.
She left her rose beret lying on the ground, vowing that tomorrow she would reclaim it before her mother even realized it was gone. She ran swiftly through the town, not taking her eyes off the towering buildings of her city.
As she grew nearer she realized it was much quieter than it had been before she left. Was the festival over? Did her parents realize she was gone?
Just as she reached the outside of the city, she stopped and looked down at her dress. It was torn, dirty, and muddy…her mother was going to kill her.
She briefly considered going back to the house and changing her clothes before her mother got a good look at her but decided against it. She just wanted to find her parents and forget the frightening scene she had just witnessed.
She hopped into the city and scanned around. There were only a few dancers left, dancing one last time to a song that was very calm and nearly silent. Around her other people were beginning to pack up the festival. Shadow must have made it just in time! But where were her parents?
"Shadow!" Her brother's voice called to her and she looked forward to see him running up to her. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you-"He stopped and looked at her. "What the hell happened to you?"
Shadow shook her head. "Never mind the dress. Have you seen mother and father?"
Ronaldo bit the bottom of his lip. "I was hoping you knew where they were. I haven't seen them since father said he was going to find you guys."
"Well they have to be around here somewhere. They couldn't have gone too far. Come on, let's go." Shadow walked around her brother and chose a path to walk down.
Ronaldo chuckled quietly. "As slow as they walk I'm surprised they got outside of 10 feet from this place."
"This isn't the time for jokes!" She snapped at him.
"Would you relax? They have to be around here somewhere. As far as we know they might have already gone to the house."
"I just have a bad feeling. I just want to find them, go home, and forget this night ever happened." Her shaking had subsided a little now that she had her brother with her, but she wouldn't fully calm down until she had her parents by her side.
"Why are you acting like this? You're not a level 2 anymore, Shadow. You don't need mommy and daddy to take care of you." Ronaldo said harshly. What had pissed him off so much?
Shadow clenched her fists and sped up in an effort to get away from him. She'd look for her parents by herself if it meant getting away from her brother's attitude for a few seconds.
"Shadow? Where are you going?" He called after her. "Aw, come on I didn't mean it!" She ignored his cries and trotted away faster.
She found herself leaving the city's stone walkways and wandering farther and farther away from the heart of the city and more so the outskirts of it. Somehow she felt like something was calling her, like an invisible unknown force was leading her.
And it was scaring the hell out of her.
Why would she need leading? Why did she feel so terrified of what was to come? She felt her heart beating faster and was running now, her feet practically flying over the ground. Her hair flew freely in all directions, getting in her face and half blinding her for a few seconds at a time.
The moon was high in the sky and stars were beginning the dot the dark blue atmosphere. What time was it now? 11:00? 12:00? Too late for Shadow to be searching for her parents.
Finally she reached the outside of the city and she bent over, clutching her knees as she sucked in precious air. She had barely even felt the burning in her muscles or the screaming in her lungs for oxygen as she zoomed through the city.
Finally she got her breath back and she slowly stood up. At once she froze at the setting in front of her. The smell of blood was fresh in the wind and Shadow felt a shiver traveling up her spine.
She was facing a dark quiet area with a few trees. Without really comprehending what she was doing she stumbled numbly into the trees, slightly following the scent of blood as if she were a starving wolf looking for an easy meal.
After going a good few paces into the trees Shadow began to make out figures lying on the ground and she felt her blood freeze. She could make out distinctive shapes on the figures and she couldn't move. She made a choking sound with her throat, still not moving a muscle.
"Shadow!" Her brother's voice behind her was close, but felt so far away. As if it was coming from a different time zone or a different dimension.
"There you are." There was relief in Ronaldo's voice as he reached Shadow's side. "I thought you had-"His voice was cut off and Shadow knew without looking at him that he had seen what she was looking at…and had recognized what she had recognized.
"NO!" Ronaldo screamed to the heavens and back, pushed past Shadow, and crouched down at their mother and father's sides. Shadow couldn't take it anymore and felt hot tears sting her cheeks. She felt her legs give away beneath her and was forced to crawl to her parents.
She searched their bodies through glassy eyes. They were covered in blood with punctures in their necks and chests. Their clothes were torn as if they were fighting back whoever did this to them. The most heart breaking thing was their eyes that were still open, staring lifelessly up at the sky.
A movement caught Shadow's eye and she turned to see Ronaldo picking up an object. It was a dagger covered in blood.
Ronaldo slowly stood up, his teeth clenched and his eyes hard and filled with tears as he looked over the sharp object in his hands.
Before Shadow could even utter a word she suddenly heard a piercing yell into the night sky. "MURDERERS! MURDERERS!" The voice screamed over and over again.
Shadow and Ronaldo both swung their heads around, frantically looking for the source of the warning call, but it was already too late.
Shadow was closer to the city's grounds than she had previously thought as people began to charge toward them, their eyes widening and their faces filled with horrified expressions at the sight before them.
Shadow's fear gave strength back to her legs and she jumped away from her parent's dead bodies and yelled out, "NO! NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND-"
But her cries were drowned out as more and more people ran out from their homes and surrounded them, screaming for help and calling out for the guards.
Shadow was shaking, but she didn't know what to do. First there was the shock of her finding her parents dead and bleeding on the ground and now her brother and she were being accused of their murder. It was all too much!
Her heart was beating so rapidly she felt it was going to explode from her chest, and it didn't help when she heard the clank of the guard's armor as they were surely making their way toward them.
Shadow jumped as a sharp object landed inches from her foot and she looked up to see her brother had dropped the bloody dagger and was looking at her. "Shadow we need to run. Now."
"But we're innocent!" Shadow tried to reason with him through a shaky voice. "We just have to explain-"
"I SAID NOW!" Ronaldo shoved her ahead just as the guards came into view and Shadow ran with the force of a thousand horses with Ronaldo right behind her. She couldn't help but turn around hoping to get one last look of the people she had loved most in the whole world, but guards were blocking her view and Ronaldo yelled at her to keep running.
Her grief pierced her heart like the dagger had surely pierced her mother and father's chests, but Shadow's fear and confusion kept her running. She barely recognized the world around her. Everything looked so different. It was like they had entered a nightmare…except this was one they could not wake up from.
Ronaldo was running beside her now, helping her along whenever she stumbled and guiding her into shadows and smaller places that the guards, who were now pursuing them, could hopefully not squeeze into too easily.
"Ronaldo, what do we do?" Shadow cried to her brother through gasps of air and choked up tears.
Ronaldo didn't look at her at first, his eyes fixed straight on the path ahead of them. Finally after what seemed like hours he turned to Shadow. "We need to split up." He gasped out. "I'll lead the guards away from you and you run to the house. Hide under your bed and don't come out for ANYONE except me."
"I can't just leave you-!"
"I'll be fine." Ronaldo interrupted her. "Just trust me." He made one more glance behind them before saying. "Keep to the shadows. If any guards follow you, do all you can to get rid of them before getting inside the house. Go!"
Shadow and Ronaldo at the same time swerved to the right and the left, running even faster than before without looking back until they were far enough away from each other.
Without turning around Shadow could tell there were still a few guards on her tail, so she stuck to the shadows of trees and buildings, using the night to her advantage.
After a few moments had passed she could not hear the yelling of the guards or clank of their armor anymore and she chose a building and stopped beside it, making sure she was completely emerged in the darkness. Her breaths came out ragged and full of coughs, but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to get to her house.
She breathed in one more time and took off running, using mainly instinct to guide her through the darkness toward her house. She was close now. She could just out the fence that enclosed their sheep and could hear their baaing. What would happen to them now?
Shadow jumped over the pavement, passed their nearby bank, and finally reached her house. She yanked at the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. Locked…
Shadow took a deep breath to calm her better before shoving her finger into the lock and opening it after a few seconds fiddling with it. She had learned to do this a long time ago after she had kept getting herself locked out. She was surprisingly good at it.
She opened the door and slammed it behind her and, without thinking to lock it, ran through the rooms of her house and dived under her bed.
She curled herself up until she was neatly tucked away from view. She rested her head on the floor and let air flow back through her body. This night was literally hell.
She gripped the sides of her head and pressed her face into the wooden floor, sobbing loudly. Her whole body shook from the amount of tears she was allowing to flow. How could this happen? How could this happen to her family? Why couldn't it be someone else? WHAT HAD THEY DONE TO DESERVE THIS?
She continued crying for over half an hour, at times muttering words like 'mommy' or 'no…' or just a plain 'why?'
Finally feeling some of her pain beginning to ease now that she had let it out in some way, Shadow propped herself upright and waited for her brother more quietly.
After a while Shadow heard the creak of her front door open and she secluded herself even farther under her bed. Had the guards figured out who they were? Had they come to her house to execute her?
"Shadow?" The quiet whisper of her brother made her body shudder with relief and she popped her head out from under her bed.
"I'm in here!" She called out to Ronaldo, painfully noting the rasp in her voice from crying for so long.
Ronaldo ran into her room and shut the door behind him. "Did any of them follow you?" He asked Shadow while crawling over to the window and peeking out.
Shadow cleared her throat. "A few, but I lost them a while ago. I've been here for over half an hour."
Feeling satisfied that no one was outside Ronaldo ducked back down and crouched beside his sister. "You ok?" He asked her. "Your face is all red." He observed.
Shadow's first instinct was to put on a brave face and pretend that she hadn't been crying for the past 30 minutes. But that instinct was crushed by the need for comfort and the fear for what was going to happen next. Without really processing what she was doing, Shadow dove forward and embraced her brother, clutching him tightly and pressing her face against him. "I'm scared, Ronaldo." Shadow admitted in a whisper.
She felt her brother respond to her reaching out for security and he wrapped his arms around her. "I know. But everything's going to be ok. I'll get us through this, alright?" Even though his words were brave, his voice had broken halfway through his speech.
Shadow felt fresh tears surface in her eyes, but she bit them back. She had to have courage now. She had to face this alongside her brother.
A few awkward moments seemed to pass before Ronaldo cleared his throat and slowly let go of Shadow. "I've had some time to think before I came here and I think we should-"He suddenly stopped talking.
"What-?"Shadow stopped mid-question as she suddenly heard it too. The front door was slowly creaking open.
Ronaldo shoved her under the bed and crept over to the closed door they were beside. He lifted his eye to the peephole in the door and Shadow watched him tense up.
Shadow felt her palms beginning to sweat and she held her breath.
But all at once Ronaldo relaxed and opened the door to Shadow's surprise. "Ruby!" Ronaldo's voice was filled with pure relief.
"Ruby?" Shadow gasped out. She scrambled out from under her bed and practically slammed into the redhead in the next room, hugging her mother's best friend tightly.
"Thank the gods you're both here." Ruby said quietly. Her voice was dull and Shadow knew with a pang that she had heard about her parents. "The guards are looking everywhere for you two!"
"Have they figured out we're here yet?" Ronaldo asked her.
"No. But it's only a matter of time-"
"We didn't kill them!" Shadow blurted out, unable to take it anymore. "Please believe us. We found them both dead and lying on the ground and bleeding. We could never kill them! Why does everyone think we're murderers?" Shadow ended in a harsh whisper.
Ruby shook her head sadly. "Of course I believe you. I know that you loved your parents more than anything and could NEVER hurt them. But we can't worry about this just yet. I'm taking you both to my house. They've already searched it and it should be safe for now until we can figure out what to do with you two."
Ronaldo blinked at her. "But by doing this you're putting yourself at just as much risk as we're in…"
Ruby nodded solemnly. "I know. But I can't just sit back and watch Jade's children be proclaimed as murderers and be sent to be hung. I would rather die before I let that happen." Her word's sent a calming chill throughout Shadow. As long as she believed they were innocent, maybe others would too.
"Now come. We must hurry." Ruby pushed them both out of the house and shut the door behind her. She continued herding them away and Shadow couldn't help but look back at her house one last time.
It looked different. It looked darker and emptier. It was as if it were grieving for what happened and was yet to come just as she was.
Nothing would ever be the same again would it?
Shadow blinked open her eyes.
Her face felt hot and tear stained as if she had been crying. She slowly looked around the room and tried to remember where she was.
She was lying on the floor and just above her sat Midnight. She was staring back at her steadily, standing up after noticing Shadow's movements. Across the table Midnight was sitting beside was Gypsy Aris.
She was back at the tent.
Her senses rushing back to her, Shadow quickly rubbed her face to erase any trace of crying. Had her tears actually broke the barrier between memory and reality? Had Midnight seen anything?
"You alright?" Midnight asked, putting out her hand to help Shadow up.
Shadow cleared her throat in fear that it would accidently break. "Yeah. No problem." She accepted the Soulless' hand and got to her feet. Her head started to spin and she grabbed it before turning to the gypsy.
"You are a very twisted lady." She stated simply to Aris, who merely chuckled and nodded as if she already knew this.
"You're not the first one to tell me this, child. Tell me, were you able to find the memory that you were searching for?" She asked her.
Shadow's eyes darkened as she suddenly recalled her memory. Her heart felt dull and her throat dried up so much that all she could do was nod.
Aris entwined her skinny fingers together. "Was it not what you expected?"
Shadow looked away and allowed her hair to fall over her face. "It WAS what I expected. There was just a part of me that wished that I would be wrong." She added in a whisper before flicking her hair back and addressing the gypsy in a louder voice. "Thanks for your help. The…" she swiftly glanced up at the crystal stars hanging above her, "stars be with you..." She finished awkwardly and exited through the tent flap.
She heard Midnight make an odd grunting sound before following behind her. The Soulless said nothing as she walked beside Shadow.
Shadow's gaze didn't leave the ground until they were far enough away from the tent and near the heart of the party that was still going on as strong as ever. It was as if the memory only lasted 5 minutes in real time…but to Shadow it felt like she had spent hours under the spell of her own self-conscious.
She felt a sudden nudge and looked up to see Midnight nodding in a certain direction. Shadow followed her gaze and felt a smirk twitch in the corner of her mouth.
April had apparently returned, now wearing a skinny purple dress that at least hid more than her previous attire, and was dancing around with a mug of beer in one hand. Shadow guessed it wasn't her first one. Her brother, Argon, was glaring in a corner farther in the distance as he watched guys ogling and fighting to be the first ones to dance with his sister.
"You don't have to follow me around." She told Midnight. "If you want to go have fun with April and Argon I'm not stopping you."
Midnight shrugged. "It's getting late and I'm tired. If you're heading back I might as well too."
Shadow didn't even bother trying to argue. She was tired too and had had a long day. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and try to dream a happy nonrealistic dream like a normal person. She had also wanted to be alone for a while but apparently that wasn't going to happen…
Shadow and Midnight both walked together in an awkward silence back to the guild. Shadow wondered what Midnight was thinking. Could she tell something was up? Did she have some crazy physic power that she never told her about…could she read her mind right now?
They stayed quiet until they reached their room. Shadow sat on her bed and massaged her face, trying to ease the headache she now felt from hitting the ground because of that damn sleeping powder. She went to the gypsy looking for answers…and she found them.
But was it the right decision? Maybe some memories weren't worth remembering. After all, she must have locked them away in her mind for a reason. Her mind started going into turmoil. She suddenly felt like she needed to talk to someone. She couldn't keep carrying this weight on her own!
She suddenly looked up and stared across the room. Midnight was on her own bed with her secret book that she wouldn't let anyone else near. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was moving as she muttered words while her hands hovered above her open book. This was a nightly routine done by the Soulless.
Shadow hesitated and took a deep breath. "Midnight?" The Soulless stopped moving her mouth but didn't open her eyes so Shadow just kept talking. "I know we never talk about our pasts, but dammit if I don't tell anyone this I think I might explode." She paused, waiting for a reaction.
Surprisingly enough, she got one. Midnight opened her eyes and turned to look at her. "I figured this was coming. You were mumbling words in your sleep and your face was turning red as if you were…" She stopped talking awkwardly. She then shut her book with force and all together faced her almost angrily.
"Why do you insist on being friends with me?" She suddenly demanded. "I'm not someone you can easily become friends with, yet you've tried for 6 months. I can't feel pity or make you feel happiness if I myself can't feel happiness. So why bother trying?"
Shadow blinked back steadily. "I believe you CAN be a friend. You may not be able to show or feel emotions, but I can tell that your heart hasn't forgotten about them. The small things that you do, a twitch of your face or a waver in your gaze convinces me this is true." She took a breath. "Besides…you're more of a friend to me than you realize. No, you don't feel pity and you're incapable of making me smile but when the few times come, you LISTEN and you UNDERSTAND. That's what makes you a friend to me."
Midnight didn't say anything at first, almost as if she were taken aback, though her expressionless gaze gave nothing away. Finally she stared at the floor and mumbled, "thank you."
Shadow felt this was as good a time as any to spill her guts. "I've never had a real friend before. I was born in a solitude farm house with my parents and my brother. The memory that I just relived tonight confirmed my suspicions of how my brother and I came to be the way we were. When I was a level 3 and my brother a level 4, our parents were murdered in cold blood. Apparently the murderer had dropped his dagger and my brother picked it up. Right afterwards we were suddenly depicted as murderers and no matter what we said to deign it no one believed us. We had to go into hiding and my mother's friend Ruby took us in until someone tipped us off and we had to run away all together from where we grew up at. We never found out who the real murderer of our parents was or who first accused us of murdering them."
Midnight had lifted her head once again halfway through the story and had listened intently. When Shadow finished, Midnight shut her eyes and sat back on her bed. "I knew what it was like to lose someone you cared about deeply."
Shadow couldn't help but widen her eyes. Was Midnight really going to share HER past? "I'm not asking you to reciprocate." She couldn't help say before she continued any further.
Midnight's eyes suddenly flashed open and her pale face almost seemed to show color. "I'm not asking permission. You unburdened your own troubles; I believe it would be only fair to unburden mine."
Shadow sat up straighter and nodded as Midnight dove into her own story.
"I was born in a little house with my mother and my sister. My father was never around, really. My sister disappeared when we were both very young. She was always sneaking out. When I was old enough to leave my house and start my life I decided to search for my sister. I searched for years all around Runescape, but I never found her. I became known as the 'crazy girl' who was obsessed with looking for her sister that was presumed dead a long time ago. I became so obsessed that I was slowly losing my mind. The pain was becoming so bad that every night turned into a battle just to come up with reasons not to kill myself. I had all but ruined my own life in my search so save my sisters that was surely already over years ago. So I did what I had to do."
Shadow listened to her friends' words very carefully. She had mentioned 'pain' and Shadow knew now for a fact that this was back before Midnight was a Soulless. "What did you do?" She prompted.
"In order to save my own life, I decided to take the advice of someone I met on my travels. He was exactly like I am now, a Soulless. He was going through similar chaos I was going through and told me how he became cured." She sucked in a large amount of air. "There is this being deep in the Wilderness that feeds on the souls of humans. She is as smooth as a snake and cunning as a fox. She can get inside your head and tell you exactly what you want to hear. Just her name, the Soul-eater, should have made me rethink my decision. But I was desperate, so I went to her and asked for her help. She told me that I would never feel pain again…she neglected to mention that I would never feel ANYTHING again. She claimed my soul and made me how I am now. She basically made me her own little puppet, like all the other souls she took. Not only had I been cursed rather than cured, but the empty space inside of me that my soul used to inhabit was overtaken by some kind of monster. Whenever I became angry, a dark side of me took over and I couldn't control what I did. The book that you see me read and meditate by is the only thing that controls this beast inside of me."
Shadow had clenched her teeth so hard she felt like they would crumble away any second. "Why didn't you ever get the Soul-eater to take back the curse?" She whispered.
"You don't think I tried? I demanded so many times that she take back this-this-…HELL. She refused every time, simply telling me all decisions were final."
Shadow shut her eyes tight. "What is this horrible creature?"
"I don't really know what she is. She takes on the shape of a giant banshee."
Shadow tightened her hands into fists until they turned pale. "Does this…thing have a name?"
Midnight made an odd sound through her throat. "Of course she does. I'll never forget her name. It's one I curse every single night…her name is Bellvor."
Just like that Shadow decided something. It was a rash decision and probably not very smart but she was going to do it.
She was going to seek out this Bellvor and demand that she give back Midnight's soul.
~To be continued~
Finally, we find out more about Midnight's past!
Even though this is one day late, Merry Christmas guys! Hope you guys have an awesome new year :)
The final decisions are made and my co-author and I now know EXACTLY where this story is going…all we/I have to do is write it. Thanks for being so patient and I swear I'm writing as fast as I can. In my defense, you guys are getting REALLY long chapters.
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