Drabble:86
POV:Third Person

They'd all believed he saw nothing, that he knew nothing-the doctors, psychiatrists and even his aunt-and for a long time, he believed it too. That he remembered nothing from that accursed night a decade ago.

But he had seen things, and his subconscious had stored them. And after Spokane, revealed them. Via nightmares. Not nightmares really, but a kaleidoscope of half-buried memories that his mind had been protecting in its innermost sanctum, just biding the time…

At first, they were small glimpses and snatches of flashbacks-nothing more than sharp, maniacal laughter, breaking of glass and the ever-present red eyes mixed with the voices of his parents, which made him think that maybe he was seeing the Spokane strigoi, distorted by his dreamscape.

But then, the flashbacks sharpened, faces came into being-Lucas and Moira, both with jet black hair, all tall and elegant and deadly fast. Their eyes, no longer icy-blue, but red-tinged, their fangs more elongated and their voices…oh god, their voices!

Christian still didn't know that these were glimpses into his memory, so he talked about them with no one, just tried to stay up as much as possible, not wanting his memories of his parents to be tarnished. But Fate clearly had other plans, because nearing Mason's funeral, he realized that his dreams were real, no more imaginary than the girl with the jade eyes, who helped keep his panic-attacks from the nightmares at bay. And then, he remembered what had happened that fateful night, in sickening nightly installments, of course.

By bits and pieces, he remembered it. The deathly cold beauty of his parents, Tasha sending him up to his room, telling him to bolt his door and not come down until she came for him. Then, raised voices that had made him crawl across the carpet in his room and peek out into the hallway below only to see Lucas backhand Tasha while Moira tried to come up the staircase. That's when Tasha started using the one advantage his parents did not possess-her element. Lucas and Moira had screamed, so inhumanly that Christian had to clap his hands over his ears and close his eyes. When he looked again, only minutes later, there was blood dripping from Tasha's face and both his parents had severe burns. Shattered glass littered everywhere. Just when Tasha was about to collapse, the front door burst open and an entire entourage of guardians spilled forward. Hard-faced, grey-uniformed, stake-wielding guardians, whose purpose could not-would not-be mistaken. Within a few seconds Lucas and Moira had succumbed to their final death, screaming as they went, and the guardians were hovering over Tasha, who had fainted. Christian, wide-eyed and shaking, had retreated to his bed and squeezed his eyes shut. Exhausted and shocked-traumatized-he had drifted off, only to be wake up in a hospital bed, snuggling against his aunt.

Don't come down, she'd said. Tasha had decided to sacrifice herself for him….

After the scenes in his head made sense, Christian was equally horrified and awed. Overwhelmed by the selflessness and bravery of his aunt, distraught when he realized that his parents had tried to kill her, and him too, eventually. That's when he knew he was done being a victim-ashamed of his parent's turning, traumatized by Spokane. He'd had enough. Now, he was gonna fight for the helpless and weak, just like his aunt had done for him. He would welcome the nightmares, to keep his memories of the monsters sharp, to keep his resolve of annihilating the monsters glowing. He was a fire-user and now, he'd learn how to really use his magic. After all, he was still alive because of it. Not only because what Tasha had done, but in Spokane, if not for his magic (and Rose's wits), he'd be dead now. No more. Never again!

Thanks for reading! Please Review!

PS-Have any of you read Daughter Of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor? If not, you could give it a read. It's amazing!