CHAPTER 39

STONE COLD

It feels as if time slows down, the sound of thunder drums through the hall and through my chest. “Run!”

I grab my little brother’s hand and pump my legs as fast as they can take me. I hear my dad shout something, but I can’t hear what over the arrows of thunder striking the walls and floors all around us. They cave in, chunks of rubble fly about. Dust rises from the fallen debris, obscuring my vision.

“D-Dad!” I try searching for him with my eyes, but instead, I see orange and gild eyes glint dangerously. Instinctively, I feel a primal fear and run faster.

Wh-What’s going on!?

“Vaniriel! What in Thrice are you doing!?” I scream as loudly as possible, but only the faint shrillness of it makes an impression through the loud explosions of rock. “Stop! Stop!”

Students have begun to peer out from their rooms. They look on in shock at the destruction around them. A surge of panic takes root, droves of students begin screaming and shoving their way through the halls.

Quickly, they swarm around and I see Vaniriel get blockaded by the sea of bodies.

I take the chance to put as much distance as I can between her and us. My chest squeezes. I’m unsure if it’s from the strain of running or from my thoughts. I force it down and keep running.

We break out into the fields where we had a snowball fight just a few sun-ticks ago. It's evening now, the dusk arriving earlier now that it's winter. The sunset is orange and grey, the clouds are wispy, pathetic things.

I'm panting, my little brother's small hand gripped tightly in my own as we run across the courtyard. I hear the familiar voices of professors shouting and relief washes over me.

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But when I turn to look back, Vaniriel easily swats their magick away. Gusts of wind throwing them aside like mere insects. The relief is replaced with a cold understanding, there won't be anyone to help us. They can't.

Although we're running, it seems as if she's walking at a comfortable pace. She's in no rush. Somehow, the distance between us shrinks the longer we go on.

“Why are you doing this!?” I try again to communicate, my voice shrill.

“That thing is not your brother.”

I turn my face around to look at Noel's face. He looks terrified, as if he were a small mouse being hunted. His round eyes twinkle in the dark, almost as if it's one with the clear, silver snow all around us. The similarities meld together as if one.

My heart squeezes.

“Stop and just explain yourself before throwing around lightning bolts!”

She actually stops.

My reaction is a bit more delayed, I put a few more feet between us before halting.

“It's feeding off you.”

“That's not true! That can't be true! I have memories of him ever since he was born!”

“Your mind is a blank canvas, that thing's nature is able to paint upon your mind as easily as it is for you to breathe. Whatever memories you hold of it are not real.”

The words shoot through my heart like an arrow, it penetrates straight and true as I feel a fissure begin forming.

“That isn't true, right Noel!? We've been together ever since… Ever since…!” My head begins throbbing with the oncomings of a headache.

“We would freeze flowers with the local Winter Faeries. And remember that one day, we tracked a snow fox, its tracks were so tiny. We never ended up finding it, but we found its burrow. We've been to town every Yule, singing carols all the way there, dad always praises your voice because you sound like an angel whereas I'm completely tone-deaf.”

I'm huffing from talking without a stop for breath.

Noel's tiny hand is soft and too-cold.

His hands have always been cold, I shake the thought off. He avoids my gaze, opting to stare at the ground instead.

It slowly cracks the longer the silence stretches. Tiny splinters forming where there should be warm blood pumping through.

Why are all my memories of us during winter months? The thought makes me shiver and I push it away again. I look into his transparent eyes, almost pleadingly. They should be hazel, why are they the color of just-fallen snow?

“Please… Say something, Noel.”

His eyes slowly meet mine. They look gentle… And sad.

“I'm sorry, Aeya.”

The rest of my heart shatters.