Warning: more death ahead. This one was really fun to write.
"Burn the Pages"
In the morning the peddler did arrive in the woods and Sìnead's parents entreated him. The moment he saw Sìnead he could sense the great power she possessed...and also that a seed of darkness had taken root. It would have to be eradicated...or she would have to be.
Sìnead crept down the stairs to see who her parent who invited in."
"Honey, this is Trevlin, he's going to take you to see the Dutches. She has people who will help you control your magic," her mother explained with a strained gentleness.
Sìnead's hazel eyes grew wide, "you're going to let him take me away?"
Pazele knelt before her, "Please...dear...you must learn control."
The girl's expression grew cold, "I'll never see either of you again."
"Once you're in control, we can visit you - we can be a family again."
"And we aren't now?" She exhaled, "I won't go with him. Let me stay here. Let me be alone. I won't hurt anyone else."
"That's the thing," Trevlin said uncomfortably, "I'm also here on behalf of her Highness the Duchess. If you do not come willingly I will have to take you by force."
"Why?" Sìnead demanded.
"The Dutchess is well aware of the corpse of Mr. Wooblex, a beloved subject, you left by the well yesterday, and of the two boys." He extended a hand, "come with me. you will be treated well."
"So long as I remain worth the Dutchess' time," she hissed. Sìnead didn't move. Her fists were clenched. They kept trying to help. Nothing helped. They wanted her to change. She couldn't change. Why couldn't they just accept who she was? Love her unconditionally?
"Please," her parents begged.
"I will not go with him," she repeated, sounding distant, for she was trying to force back eh white fear at the edges of her vision. She could feel her parent's fear.
They feared her. They had always feared her. They had masked their fear of her with forced love. Now they were afraid she would kill them like she had killed Dun, Uffish, and Wooblex.
Trevlin sighed, "Miss Sìnead, come with me."
Sìnead recoiled, and in the time it took to blink, the white wave of fear consumed her vision.
She blinked rapidly and found herself laying flat on her face. She picked herself up and peeked around, seeing the manifestation of her fears.
Dead on the floor lay Trevlin...and her parents.
Tears began running down her cheeks though she thought she'd long since forgotten how to cry.
Mechanically, and with no thought as to why, Sìnead stoked the fire in the stove, letting the coals spill out onto the dry floor boards. The simple task allowed her to think. Why should she be crying? She lit a piece of kindling and set the curtains ablaze. The three human beings on the floor seemed almost strangers. While the cottage began to choke with smoke, she searched Trevlin for a map. And no matter how much they had claimed to love her...Taking it in hand Sìnead waited outside the cottage until it was consumed with flames, leaving only when the fire began to devour the woods and cottages around the area. They could never truly love a being so cursed.
Uffish and Dun's parents thought their children had been killed by a monster…
Outside the fire's range, she began following the map to the estate of the Dutchess.
Now we're getting to the fun stuff...