Cruelty: Memory #3

Every day I was forced to follow Eaden around the castle. As far as I knew, it was a castle, either that or a substantial home made of stone.

At least once a day, she would send the kids off to play tag or something, and she would throw fire at me again. It was becoming annoying, to be honest. I feared the day I would be human, and I would not be able to handle the white fire.

It burned hotter than any other flame I’ve come across.

That is what scared me the most. If she had the chance to burn me while I was human, she would kill me.

How fast would it take me to burn? Don’t I want to leave this place?

I can’t leave if I’m dead… but at the same time, I would be able to escape if I were.

I hate this feeling.

She turned around to stare up at me.

“What is it?” I asked her.

She barely reached my stomach. She was small for a seven-year-old. Every other child here was bigger than her.

She grinned from ear to ear before fire surrounded me.

She was getting better at surprising me, this was bad.

I was quick to use my arm to absorb the white flames, and she giggled.

No one else has survived her fire, would I be any different?

This was different from the first time she burned me. The first time was an accident. I can’t forgive her, because every time since had been on purpose.

Did she expect me to burn? I honestly didn’t know what she thought.

Even if I feared for my life, it wasn’t worth letting her find out my secret.

She just continued to stare at me with a smile on her face.

Maybe she was used to killing everyone with her fire?

Perhaps me not dying was a relief for her?

I wanted to shake my head and say no that she was a monster, but I don’t know. She is a child, and she is secluded from the rest of the world because of the fire she controls.

People used to call me a monster too. I was nearly killed for it. Here she was safe, and Lucia was protecting her.

I have never seen that kind of love for another person. Eaden loves her just as much.

Speak of the devil.

I glanced up to see Lucia standing behind Eaden, and she smiled at me.

“Good morning,” Lucia smiled.

Eaden turned around excited and jumped into the older woman’s arms.

“I missed you!” Eaden shouted.

Behind Lucia, I could clearly see the Viking. He was never too far from her, and it made me wonder why.

Did she need to be protected? If she did, then why?

I stared into the eyes of the Viking, Maccon. His expression was unchanging.

He looked almost numb to it all.

His eyes reminded me of the ocean. They were that blue.

“Good morning,” I said to them both.

Maccon grinned at me. I wasn’t sure why.

I rarely saw an expression on his face that wasn’t stoic.

“I hope you two are getting along well today,” Lucia said mainly to Eaden.

“We are playing tag,” Eaden shouted in excitement, “Do you and Maccon want to play with us?”

Lucia smiled sweetly, “I would love to.”

Eaden looked at Maccon hopeful.

“If that is what you wish.”

He didn’t seem like a Viking. All I ever heard were stories of victory, death, and conquest. He was calm, and he was well mannered.

If he genuinely was a Viking, then what was Lucia?

I watched as Lucia set Eaden down so that her feet touched the floor.

“Where do we start?” she asked Eaden.

“Let’s play outside!” Eaden shouted.

They all looked over at me.

Did they not trust me outside?

I wouldn’t trust me outside either.

I won’t run away. I don’t know why I don’t want to, but I know I should.

It was a strange thing I felt, I don’t know why but I felt like they liked me.

It wasn’t as bad here as it used to be.

Lucia would make it a point to say Good morning or goodnight to me, so I saw her once a day. Maccon was always with her looking severe and sometimes even angry.

It was the first time I’ve had a family, well sort of.

“Boone, you’re it!” Eaden said as she ran.

I let out a sigh as I followed them outside.

It was the first time in a long time that I had fun.

We had spent hours outside, and we didn’t go back inside until the sun went down.

Eaden insisted on sleeping in my room, and even though I wanted to throw her out, I let her stay.

A few more days passed, and it didn’t stop. Eaden made sure to surround me in white fire, and I had to use my arm to extinguish it.

She grinned at me as the fire disappeared.

“Boone,” she giggled.

She has made sure not to call me by a number because she knows that I’ll ignore her.

It wasn’t today that I feared, but tomorrow.

I needed to keep away from her tomorrow.

“Eaden,” I said seriously.

Her giggle-fest ended, and she looked up at me with a smile.

“Can I take a day to myself tomorrow?”

I know it was stupid to ask, and I felt pathetic for even needing to ask.

She made a face, “But I want to play tomorrow.”

“Stop trying to burn me,” I told her.

She looked sad.

Part of me regretted snapping at her because I knew what was about to happen.

When she got emotional, she couldn’t control herself.

I could see her eyes changing.

“You can still sleep in my room,” I said, trying to sound calm.

Her face changed instantly. She looked a little distraught at first, and then she smiled.

“Really?” she asked.

I nodded, “I just want a day off from the fire.”

She frowned.

“After tomorrow, you can do it whenever you want,” I said, “I promise.”

Why was I trying to make her feel better?

I was the one who should be getting upset here.

She hesitated before nodding. She took hold of my demon arm and made me follow her.

It was going to be hard to explain to her why it changed tomorrow, but I had time to think of a convincing lie.

She turned to look at me, “Lie about what?”

I stared at her, confused, did I speak out loud?

“You aren’t talking out loud,” she stated, “I can hear you.”

She what?

She let go of my hand, “Now I can’t.”

I nodded slowly. She could hear my thoughts when she touched me? What is she?

Her gaze shifted to the side.

She could still hear me, couldn’t she?

She didn’t look at me.

Eaden? I made sure to think it.

“Yeah?” she asked.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She made a face of terror, “I don’t know how to stop it!”

I sighed, “Just try not to.”

She nodded as she put her hand back in mine.

“Eaden,” I said.

She turned to look at me.

This was different, it had been a month, and things were definitely changing.

“I’m going to take a bath first,” I told her.

She nodded, “Can I come?”

I looked down at her, sternly, “I am a boy. We are not supposed to bathe together.”

She smiled slightly, “Okay.”

“Do you want to take one before or after me?” I asked her.

“I can take one at the same time!” she said excitedly, “I can take one with Lucia!”

Of course, there would be more bathrooms here.

Much of this place was still unexplored. I barely knew anything about it.

“Alright,” I said, “Go take a bath, and we’ll meet back at my room.”

She nodded fiercely before heading in a different direction.

Part of me felt nervous, now my thoughts were no longer private.

How long could she do that?

Has she always been able to read my mind?

I just shook my head, I was going to relax in a nice warm tub, and then I was going to fall asleep.

The whole time I was in the bath, I stared at my left arm. She wasn’t afraid of it. She knowingly looked right at it and grabbed my hand.

Didn’t it scare her?

I sighed before dropping the obsidian limb under the water. It was definitely one that belonged to a monster.

One of the downfalls of not actually being human, you were referred to as a monster. Often.

I took in a deep breath before completely ducking under the water to thoroughly wet my hair, rinsing the soap out of it.

I came back up for air and pushed my hair out of my face.

I got out, dried, and dressed before making my way to my room.

Part of me hoped she was still out, but by the constant squeaking and giggling on the other side, I knew that she was in there.

I opened the door, and she stopped jumping to look at me.

“What have I told you about jumping on my bed?” I asked her.

Lucia giggled from the foot of my bed, where she sat.

Eaden smiled sheepishly, “You took forever!”

“I’m sorry,” I said, “But I am here now.”

Lucia stood up before patting Eaden’s head, “Goodnight.”

Eaden wrapped her arms around her and hugged her, “Night!”

Once Eaden let her go, Lucia, pat my head and repeated, “Goodnight.”

I nodded, “Goodnight.”

She shut the door once she was outside.

“Sleepover!” Eaden shouted.

I just shook my head and picked her up to pull the covers down.

She giggled as I set her back on the bed.

“It’s time to sleep,” I said, feeling my head start to hurt.

It was happening.

I laid down on the bed, and she just stared at me.

“Boone?” she asked, “Are you okay?”

I nodded as I pulled her down so that she was forced to snuggle with me. It was the only way to guarantee her sitting still. Besides, she was warm, so I slept well too.

“Sing me a lullaby,” she sang, “Sing me to sleep.”

I managed to fall asleep faster than usual, even with her singing the same lines over and over again.

…

I woke up to the feeling of someone poking me.

I opened my eyes to glare at the girl who, in turn, looked at me with a wide smile.

“I can’t sleep with you poking me,” I stated before sitting up.

“Then you can play!” she sang.

“Do you remember our deal?” I asked her.

She made a face as she thought about it, “We can play outside?”

I sighed. I should have expected this.

“No burning me today,” I said.

She smiled lightly as her gaze went to my arm, and her eyes went wide.

Why did it look like she was horrified?

“Eaden,” I said, “You promised.”

“Your arm,” she pointed.

Shit.

“Boone!” she shouted, “What happened to your arm?!”

This couldn’t have happened another time?

“My arm is tired,” I stated.

She looked at me, skeptically, “You’re lying.”

“I’m tired,” I stated.

She got off the bed to look at me, “I thought you were like me.”

Like her?

“What are you talking about?” I asked, “How am I like you?”

She stared at the ground, and I could see the tears as they fell to the ground.

“Eaden,” I said as I got up to try to comfort her.

She held her hand out, and I instinctively took it with my left hand, and she looked up at me.

Orange.

I tried to pull my arm away quickly, but the fire had already burst from her hand as it sprawled up my arm.

A scream erupted from me as I tried to pull away from her. The fire was definitely hotter than I previously thought.

I could feel it burning through my skin.

I felt the flames near my face when they stopped.

I dropped to the floor, and I watched as Eaden ran from the room screaming.

Wasn’t I the one that should be upset?

She did it again, and I knew that I would no longer be able to trust this angry seven-year-old monster.

She was raised here in seclusion. She had no concern for human life.

I could no longer feel my arm, and I feared that it was no longer there. Did she really just cripple me? I asked her not to burn me, so she does it anyway?

She isn’t the only one that’s angry.