Heartmender Page 7

  The voices spewed threats and curses. But they were cut off by a new voice, one I’d never heard before.

  “Run, Addie. Run!” The tone was gentle, unlike Doctor Magnum's harsh command earlier.

  I pumped my legs hard and looked at the crowd once more. It felt as if time had stopped. The crowd held a mixture of faces. Some rippled confusion, some contempt. Schism glared at me, his lips curling back into a growl as his fingers flexed at his sides, but he never moved to stop me. The veins in his neck bulged, almost as if he was being restrained. A flash of gold hair caught my eye but vanished before I could recognize it. Turning back toward the doorway, I took the final step, the door slammed shut behind me, and I was greeted by a black abyss.

  Chapter 10

  Air whipped all around me as my body fell into darkness. I clutched my heart close to my chest, not knowing what was coming next. The rapid fall vibrated through my body before I slammed into the hard ground. Grunting, I ran my hands over my limbs, making sure everything was in the right place before sitting up, wincing from the pain.

  The abyss was dismal, the air thick with fog. And it was cold, much colder than Barracks. I looked all around, not recognizing anything. Where was I?

  I rubbed my exposed arms, and panic choked my throat as I searched for my heart until my eyes caught a pink hue glowing in the dark. Breathing a sigh of relief, I gathered the bundle in my arms. The air seemed to drop a few degrees, and I shivered. Maybe I needed a little more protection than my bare skin.

  Looking down at the bundle, I decided to use Lyle's sweater for an extra layer of warmth. I slowly unwrapped my heart, allowing the bright red light to shine. I couldn’t help but let out a gasp, fascinated at the sight. The warm strength of it seeped into my hand as I held it. And it was feather-light, so light that if it wasn't for the power throbbing from it, I wouldn't have realized it was there.

  An eerie feeling suddenly arose from the surrounding darkness. I quickly placed my pure heart in one of the pockets of the dress, feeling its warmth against my thigh, before I fully unwrapped the sweater.

  Lyle’s sweater fit perfectly over the white gown, covering everything that the dress didn't. I stood and adjusted the sweater before looking around once more.

  A black void greeted me in every direction. I laced my fingers together, knowing I would get nowhere by standing still. A musky scent filled the air as I sucked in a deep breath and took a step. The ground surrounding my foot immediately ignited with a gray light. The light was dim, only showing a few feet of ground, which was covered in a thick layer of fog. Looking around once more, I saw no other option but to take another step. As I did, the light extended, illuminating more of the gray ground.

  The obsidian abyss wrapped itself around me as I continued down the path, squeezing my fingers with each step. I needed to keep my mind and heart focused and not allow them to drift back to everything that had just happened. And everything I had left behind.

  After I traveled some distance, I slowed my pace and squinted in the dim light. There was something ahead. The beating of my heart quickened against my thigh. My heart. Did its bright light awaken something within these dark depths? I squeezed my fingers tighter, feeling the fear that had already planted itself within my heart rise to a new height.

  The fog whipped to my right, a rush of scratching following it. Panic gripped my heart as I turned in the direction of the sound. I had no protection or defense. I was alone.

  The fog whipped again behind me, and I spun back around, suppressing a shriek. My heart raced as it swung with my movements.

  Scratching came from where I had been facing, echoing into the emptiness as chills rippled up my spine. I breathed in deeply, squeezing my fingers numb. I wanted to close my eyes and pretend this was all a nightmare. But I knew it wasn't. And I knew I couldn’t.

  A long claw with skin like worn gray leather pierced the dull light. I took a step back, my heart trembling as the claw moved forward, revealing a sickly being attached to it. Its arms and legs were like a human’s, but deformed, as if they had been stretched too far. The claws on the ends of its fingers were as black as the void surrounding us and created a high-pitched, spine-tingling sound as they dragged along the ground.

  The creature crawled into the light, and I gasped in horror as its face came into view. Sewn shut with black cord, its mouth only allowed an awful moaning sound to escape from its thin lips. Its eyes were black, staring unblinkingly at me. My heart might as well be dead, for I knew I would be soon.

  The creature moaned again, scratching the long, black claws that extended from its elongated fingertips against the hard ground. The sound penetrated the darkness, and I hunched over to cover my ears at the loud vibrations. The creature moaned and scratched again before falling silent. I stayed huddled, breathing deeply, not knowing whether to flee or cry as the monster stared.

  The entire void rumbled at once. The sound of numerous claws scratching against the ground suddenly began, perfectly in sync with one another, as if performing a ritual. With each moment I wasted, the scratches came closer.

  The first creature moaned, and a multitude of other moans answered, coming closer by the second. Fleeing was my only option, and I ran in the direction I had just come.

  Extending its long, black claws, the monster swiped at me as I attempted to escape. Though my heart was still intact, the tips of the claws tore straight through the white gown to my thigh, slashing through the flesh. I let out a cry but found the strength to wrench away and continue running.

  My heart beat in terror as I sprinted away from the creature. I could still only see the few feet ahead of me that the gray light gifted me, leaving no clues as to where I was headed. My body screamed in pain, my lungs gasped for air, but still I ran.

  The moans followed me, the claws sounding as if they were inches from my skin. My legs were exhausted and covered in blood. Wasn't there anyone else here? Anyone to help?

  I tried to keep going, but my injured leg crumpled beneath me. Letting out another cry, I tumbled to the ground.

  All my running meant nothing, for the creatures were no more than a few strides away. I tried to move once more, but an immense pain shot up my leg. I cried out again, digging my fingertips into the hardened ground, breaking the tips of my nails as I tried to pull myself away. I thought I would last longer than this once I went through Schism's door. I thought I would have found Lyle before I died.

  Shadows shrouded the corners of my vision, blurring what little light highlighted my fallen body.

  The scratches and moans were practically on top of me, but there was nothing I could do. I reached my hand toward my pocket, hoping my pure heart would take away the pain of being punctured by claws, when a yellow light sparked in the distance. My body tensed as I narrowed my eyes enough to see a person running toward me, holding what looked like a lantern and a giant black rod. The light from the lantern revealed thousands of creatures like the first, lurking in the shadows. Panic seized my heart as the light exposed the evil in the dark.

  The person ran hard and fast. I shifted my body, trying to move out of the way, biting back the pain in my leg. Grasping my leg with my hands, I moved it a few inches, choking back wails. Sweat ran down my temples as I shuffled across the ground, leaving a bloodied trail behind me. I looked back to see where the figure was when a dark mass jumped over my body. I shielded my face, thinking it was the end.

  A crack sounded through the air, and I turned to see the figure simultaneously swinging the lantern and rod at the creatures that were surrounding me. The figure moved gracefully, shielding and striking like an experienced warrior, battling one creature after the next.

  The rod collided with a creature's face, causing it to moan loudly. The surrounding scratching and moaning stopped.

  Shoulders heaving, the figure stood, hands gripping the rod. He or she would not back down until the creature began to slither back into the shadows, accepting defeat.

  Relief filled my heart
until my savior turned, walked toward me, and shoved the lantern in my face.

  “This is new,” a voice huffed, sounding distinctly female. I tried to speak, but only a pathetic squeak came out.

  “Don’t talk,” the figure hissed, placing her hand with a soiled, fingerless glove over my mouth. “They’ll come back.”

  The figure pulled back her rod, a crack echoed within the abyss, and I was greeted by darkness once more.

  Chapter 11

  Warmth hugged my skin as the clanging of pots sounded in my ears. Was I back home? Silas had to be downstairs in the kitchen. I listened to the clanking of cookware for a minute longer, my head exploding with pain. My hand went to my pounding head, feeling a giant bump on the side.

  Was it all only a dream? Hope rose in my heart before I realized my heart wasn't where it was meant to be. The harsh reality weighed on me as my eyes flew open, darting around to figure out where I was. When I moved, a sharp sting pierced through my thigh. Gasping in pain, I sat up, knocking over a bowl that had been next to my leg. A green liquid flowed out of the bowl as it shattered on the ground.

  A sigh came from behind me. “That was my favorite bowl."

  The fear billowed over, and I panicked. Flailing to the side, I attempted to escape from my captor, only to find that my injured leg was completely numb. Falling forward, I landed on the hard floor with a grunt.

  “Calm down, girl,” the voice commanded as my captor approached and helped me back into bed. “Reacting like that will get you nowhere in here. Especially when you have no idea what you're doing.”

  Heat filled my cheeks as I reluctantly laid back down. I clasped my hands in front of me, squeezing tightly as I breathed. Cloves and cinnamon swirled through my nose as a woman a few years older from me, stood before me. A tousled bun of curled white hair protruded from her scalp with a midnight streak standing out in front. Several strands hung around her face, barely concealing the mix of scars and fresh scratches on her copper skin. Yet as the firelight danced across her face, I could just see a smattering of freckles across her short, thin nose.

  Layered with a brown vest and matching pants, the woman wore a man’s shirt that was probably once white, but was now yellowed with age. Her hazel eyes beamed with curiosity as they studied me, but her mouth was set in a devious smirk.

  “Not what you were expecting? Well, you definitely weren't what I was expecting, either." Her eyes traveled to my injured leg.

  I followed her gaze to my white dress, torn to the thigh and stained with red blood. Dirt and grime covered the remaining areas that weren't red. My injured leg was covered in dirt, blood, and the green liquid that had spilled from the bowl. Curious, I unwove my fingers and placed my hand on the wound. A tingling sensation fluttered beneath my fingertips.

  “What were those things?” I asked the woman, fearful of eye contact. But a sliver of hope seeped into my heart, seeing how this odd woman had helped me instead of feeding me to the monsters.

  The woman crouched down and began gathering her broken bowl. “Siti.”

  “What?” I had never heard of such a creature.

  She stood up and discarded the broken pieces in the back room. The fire was small, making it hard to see beyond the few feet the two of us were in. The clash of the broken pieces being set down echoed across the room before footsteps approached again. Pulling out a cracked wooden chair, the woman sat down next to me.

  “Siti, or Life Parchers. They feed on all life that enters this realm. They were once humans, but now . . .”

  A shudder ran up my spine and down my arms as I imagined those monsters as humans. How could they have traded their hearts to become such horrid creatures? Another shiver danced on my nerves when alarm rang through me. I couldn’t feel the beat of my own heart. Frantic, I reached toward my pocket. The feeling of the familiar thumping brought instant relief.

  The woman watched me suspiciously before her eyes widened in understanding. “So that’s why they were after you.”

  My shoulders tensed as my hand grasped my heart protectively. What was she talking about? I slid my eyes back to her, not moving my hand from my pocket.

  She frowned, and a slight wrinkle formed between her white brows. “No one ever gets past that wretch at the gates with their heart. I could practically feel the life coming out of you when I carried you here.”

  My body relaxed a bit. So that was how I got here. "Thank you."

  “Don’t mention it,” the woman said, clasping her gloved hands behind her head as she leaned back. “I’m surprised and impressed you got past Fracious with your heart.”

  “Fracious?”

  “Yeah, you know.” She sat up, motioning. “Long dark hair, beady eyes. Arrogant.”

  I knew someone who fit that description, but his name wasn’t Fracious. “You mean Schism Breaker?”

  “Is that his name in your realm?” She barked out a laugh. “How pathetic.”

  I bit my lip, hesitating as I tasted a salty mixture of sweat and grime. I feared the answer to my next question but asked anyway. "What realm are we in?”

  The woman’s face immediately hardened. “Don’t be stupid, girl. How could you jump through the gates and not know what you were getting yourself into?”

  “Schism never said where the doors led.”

  She huffed. "No, he wouldn't, would he?"

  “Wait,” I said, trying to understand. “Where are we?”

  A hardened look passed over her face. “Ophidian’s Realm.”

  “What?” I gasped before I could stop myself. I knew Schism’s doors led to somewhere bad, but I never thought it would be somewhere fictional. Ophidian wasn't real . . . right?

  I looked back at the woman. By the scowl on her face, I was sure she wasn't lying. I turned toward the shadowed wall before me, trying to remember the small bit of knowledge I had on Ophidian. He was practically evil incarnate and held the power to create nothing but hate and violence within a heart, turning it black.

  Black hearts. Just like my dream.

  But if Ophidian was real, was he the one behind everything happening in Barracks?

  “Don’t be stupid, girl," the woman chided, interrupting my thoughts. "You should’ve known you were damned the moment you walked through those doors.” The woman's face relaxed slightly, the wrinkle between her brows disappearing. “So, where’s this home of yours that allows victims still with their hearts to enter into the realm of evil?”

  I looked down at Lyle’s sweater, unwilling to let the woman see the fear I felt in realizing I was in Ophidian’s Realm. My fingers fiddled with the light blue fibers as I swallowed the saliva building in my mouth. “Barracks.”

  The relaxation instantly fled from the woman's face, the wrinkle between her brows returning, deeper than before as she clenched her jaw. Her muscles tensed so tightly, I thought she had turned to stone.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  I began to lean forward to offer comfort when she recoiled, shaking her head as if trying to rid it of a bad memory. After a deep breath, she looked back at me. The muscles in her jaw slackened, but the intensity in her eyes stayed.

  “Yes. Sorry, I just haven’t heard about that place in a long time.”

  Hope lightened my heart. “You know about Barracks?”

  The woman turned her back to me and strode toward the fire near the back room. Her steps were sure and confident as she took her black rod and poked some of the sticks, causing the flames to brighten. The space we were in was barely big enough for the two of us. If it wasn’t for the domed ceiling, we would have had to crawl around to get anywhere.

  Although the room was small, it was well kept. A series of colorful bowls and spoons lay on a wooden table next to the fire, each one stacked inside the other. A mat, woven with birch bark, sat close enough to the bed to reveal the intricacy of its work. In fact, everything besides the bowls and the black rod seemed to be made of wood.

  After the woman finished poking the fire, she re
turned to my side with a bright red bowl, similar to the ribbon surprisingly still holding back my hair. She sat back in her chair and began to layer more of the green salve on my wound. The mixture stung my skin on contact, and I sucked in a sharp breath. But as it seeped in, the cool tingling erased the pain, allowing the numbness to enter once more.

  As she rubbed the green liquid into my wound, she said in a hard tone, “Barracks used to be my home.”

  I watched as the liquid hardened, turning from green to white, creating a plaster cast around my thigh. I lifted my hand to feel the hard surface, noticing I hadn’t been grasping my fingers in fear since this conversation had begun. “It’s not anymore?"

  The woman took the bowl in her hands and walked back to the table beside the fire. She slammed the bowl down, causing me to jump. Her shoulders were tense as she gripped both sides of the table. “That cursed place will never be my home again."

  The hatred in her voice silenced me from asking any further questions. Luckily, I didn’t need to. Years of fury and pain had apparently given the woman a need to vent her frustration.

  “My mother always loved to learn.” She stared intensely into the fire. “She had stacks of books all over our house, each one with a different piece of paper marking the page where she had left off." My father would always laugh at her when she piled several open books, one on top of the other, trying to read them all at once. You could say knowledge was her addiction; she couldn’t get enough of it. She wanted to know everything about everything.

  “Heart Reign was a day away, and the discussion of what I wanted to trade my heart for came up at dinner that night. I said I hadn’t decided yet but was thinking about trading it for beauty.” She absentmindedly ran her hand over her white hair. “But my mother forbade it, saying beauty wasn’t worth the price of my heart. What I should trade it for was knowledge.”

  She had my full attention. I had never heard of anyone trading their heart for knowledge, nor had I seen or known of any vendors who offered it. It was an unattainable gift. After all, who would know everything about everything and be willing to trade it for a dying heart?