Chapter 7

*trigger warning*

Mentions of sexual assault

Perspectives on Lilliana, Addie Ade and Rylee

The chilling silence was interrupted by the squeaking of rusted wheels, the cluttering of horse's hooves and the gentle muffled screams of a child. Though the prospect of seeing someone who knew where they were was exciting the child's screams became more and more prominent the closer, they got. The rickety trailer pulled by a single horse-like creature held a dark-looking man slender and much taller than they had ever seen if they were honest, he looked a lot like the slender man. Except this man was not a myth and he did have features; they were birdlike, and his nose was hooked. Somehow a man like this was much scarier than the Slenderman because looking into his eyes you could almost feel the dangerous intent and his lips had curled into a sickening smirk.

Ade and Addie felt his bad intent instantly and their blood ran cold because his aura had been darker than Ade had ever seen before. His shadow unlike all the other that Addie had seen did not slide on the floor but stood behind the man taller than him by at least five centre meters. As the others were to busy staring at the man who had stopped in front of them Rylee caught sight of a small little girl in the trailer. Her blood boiled and her back and arms burst into smouldering flames.

In a swift movement, Rylee pinned the man by the neck her flaming hands searing the flesh underneath them. The red-hot fury that coursed through their veins at that moment seemed to be much hotter than the flames on her body. Rylee cared little of the eyes watching as their own were gleaming with murders intent. What a vile act it was to even think of penetrating a child. Someone had tried with Rylee, a doctor whose hands were meant to heal but were coated in the lost innocence of his young patients. They had killed that man that morning and walked out of the office with skin so hot that it would burn any other who tried to grab them. "How dare you."

The man wretched and screamed under the hold of this furious human being Ade wondered how in all his years fighting to protect his people, the anger he held that he had never reached that level of divine hate. He knew this person was a loose fuse and the fire that engulfed her arms and back was terrifying a stark reminder that these people have struggled and fought through their lives. The child's cries fell on deaf ears as Rylee was focused on their newest enemy and Ade was captivated by the startling dark stance that they held above the taller man.

"If I ever see you alive again, ill kill you myself and I won't give a shit if the girl sees you disgusting waste of space on earth," the words were carefully said dripping with venom and malice. Addie had seen the burns on Rylee's body herself and could only wonder how they could risk their own life with an outburst like that. They had to be in pain but from the look Rylee now gave Addie and the small shivering child in her arms it did not seem like the pain was at all a thought in their mind. Ade saw the desperation in the aura of the young teenager the pain of seeing another woman act like the mother she yearned for.

"he took his horse but left his trailer, it might have something we can use to stay warm tonight or maybe some medical supplies," as much as Ade would have loved to be the one to point out this detail and seem like the hero Addie seemed to be the only one still thinking straight. Her ex had never allowed her to think when he beat her, she had gotten used to finding solutions in bad situations. All she wanted right now was to mother the distressed and inconsolable child. Ade had known that they were not too late to safe the young girl from a painful fate, but they had not been smart enough to safe her without her knowing she had been in danger at all.

As Addie was to busy tending to the cuts on the soft skin of the small girl and comfort her enough so that the trio could at least learn her name and Rylee was still on fire Ade began to look through the stuff the guy had left behind. It was not much in the trailer, but Ade had known that this small win was the difference between life and death for lost travellers. The blankets were dirty, and he dared not to think about what they had on them soaked into the fabric but wherever they were it was cold, and they would need the extra layers.

"I'm not touching that shit, I'm warm enough without it," Ade had heard the teen sneer behind hm obviously still fuming while they obsessed over the Fire that they had made with the embers falling from their hands. "you should get her to bed we don't know what tomorrow will bring but I can tell ya it's not going to be an easy ride," they hadn't meant for it to be harsh or overly blunt but you lose your sweet nature after a life in the hospital for crazy people. Addie agreed with Rylee it was not going to be easy for them and they all needed rest, but she also knew that it was not going to be easy for her to sleep. Shadows do not sleep.