4 months earlier…
The heat was unbearable, searing her skin. Lucia pulled Lea closer to her. The fire creeped closer towards them. She distantly registered the screams of her family..? friends..? Neighbors? She couldn't tell.
“It's going to be fine.” She mumbled, unsure if it was for Lea or herself.
It all happened so quickly. They were all sitting down for dinner when the ground shook the roof caving around them. It was so harsh and violent she didn't even realise before it had happened, and then the fire came.
The waves of heat washed across Lucia’s face as she sat there, unmoving, stuck like a rock in her chair. Her mother had grabbed her, pulled her up. “What are you doing Lucia?” She had shouted over the roar of the flames. “Get out!” Lucia looked up into her mother’s brown eyes, like her own, but registered nothing. Across the room, her father was helping Granny Coraline out of her chair at the head of the table as her older sister. helped Lucia’s mother let go of her, turning to scoop up Baby Lucas from his high chair. “Lucia!” She shrieked, desperately shaking her as her words finally reached Lucia. Immediately, Lucia was up out of her chair, sprinting across the room to reach Lea.
“Up.” Lucia urged her, reaching for Lea’s arm. Lea just shifted her position. Lea Lycan, her sister with the same dark eyes and hair, just like hers, just like their mother’s. The village ladies called Lea slow, some went even as far as to call her simple or dumb, but Lucia knew better. Her twin sister was just quiet, shy, reserved. But it didn’t help that instructions took a bit longer to process. Or the fact that her sister had an unknown medical condition, one that led to serious seizures. Witchcraft, the devil, people whispered.
That's where they were, Lucia reaching for her sister when the second crash came, shaking the ground as fire raced across the floor. More of the roof caved in above them, falling too fast for them to dodge. There they were, stuck under the rubble of the house they grew up in, the house they learned to walk in, where they spent all of their happiest memories, waiting as the fire slowly crept towards them.
Then it happened. The man with the blue eyes pulled them from the fire, pulling them out of the fire and into the fresh air. She thought he was nice. She thought he had saved them. She was wrong. She was so, so wrong.
What she should have done was obey her mother. She should have run. She should have gotten out. Her mind still hasn't caught up with her yet and all Lucia wanted to do now was crumple to the ground and sob, but her mind told her not too. They were too close to the fire, to the smoke, to the ashes, to the ruins. And that much emotional stress, combined with the bad air, could trigger another of Lea’s seizures, and that was the last thing Lucia needed now. So she put on a brave face, brushed back her hair, and did the same with her sister.
When they both looked presentable enough, Lucia knelt on the ground beside Lea, rocking her back and forth in an embrace. The man hadn't moved from standing in front of them after he pulled them from the house, he was looking around, was he looking for the rest of her family still. They were around the back of the house, everyone else probably escaped through the front.
A memory flashed before her eyes, a warning, and all of sudden, Lucia knew who was responsible. She could picture her father, pacing in front of their fireplace, waving his arms nervously while their mother, Maria, sat watching in a chair with Grandma Coraline in the corner.
“It’s him, Maria. He’ll be back. He knows. He’ll come for us, or worse-” He had glanced towards the bedroom Lucia and Lea shared. Lucia quickly ducked back behind the door frame. Her father’s expression was something she’d never forget as long as she lived, fear, terror, anger, pain, all combined in one single look. And the determination that lay in his eyes, along with the tremor in his voice as he finished. “He’ll come for the children.”
She was thrust back into the present as she clung to her sister, looking up to thank the man who saved them, but the words caught in her throat. The man's palms were red and burning auburn. No that's wrong. She must be blinded by the smoke. She glanced around, there all alone, no mom, no dad, no one. A another man almost identical to the one but with shorter hair crept up behind the first dirt covering his boots and palms.
“Got them?” He asked, coming to a stand behind the first.
“Yep.” The first grinned, looking down at them.
Lucia hugged her sister tighter and shivered, despite the heat from the fire. Something about this didn’t seem right. What did he mean “got them?” did he mean pulling them from the fire? Instead of looking at them, Lucia chose to examine her sister. Lea looked completely awful, to put it lightly. She’d thought she had made them at least a bit presentable, but clearly her state of mind was affecting her perception of the word “presentable.”
Lea’s eyes were ringed with ash, smudged by Lucia’s attempts to wipe them off. Her cheeks were bright red from the heat, and her hair was littered with debris. Her clothing was torn and singed, and the corner of her skirt was gone, eaten by the flames, which had been beaten out by Granny Coraline. Lea was frail, frailer even than Granny Coraline, or Cora, as her friends called her, and Lucia worried how she was holding up. Although only two minutes older than Lea, Lucia felt an impending responsibility for her health and safety at all times. She’d sworn on it too, sworn by her most sacred oath. Her locket.
Putting on a brave face, she looked back up at them. They were still talking to each other.
“-re you sure we got the right girls?” The second one asked.
“Well how should I know?” The other one snapped back.
“Well then check them idiot.” The other growled
“Fine!” The first one knelt down, grabbing Lucia by the hair.
“What?!” Lucia shrieked, pulling back against the grip. But it wouldn't budge.
“There, see.” A searing finger jabbed the back of her neck. Lucia barely muffled a scream at red hot heat that branched across her scalp from the impossibly hot hands. How could he even stand them? How come he wasn’t screaming in pain?
“What about that one?” The other man wanted to know, reaching for Lea, who sat on the ground, staring straight ahead and picking at the grass at her feet. She was weaving another one of her many flower crowns, Lucia realized. In fact, her current flower crown, woven only this morning, was wilting on the top of her head. All the flowers in Saint Silsnia belonged to Lea’s flower crowns, Granny Cora used to joke.
He reached down to Lea, and Lucia gasped, they would hurt her if they pulled her like that. Lucia twisted away from the man’s grasp and dove between the other man and her sister, shielding her with her body. “No please.” She begged. “My sister, she doesn’t understand. She’s -” Lucia turned her head and mouthed silently to Lea I’m sorry. “Simple. She doesn’t understand. Please!” Lucia begged. “She has seizures, she’s very frail, please don’t do anything to her.”
Play along. She willed Lea, thinking hard as if to make sure the message reached her sister. She needn’t have. Lea Sofia Lycan knew when her sister was trying to get a message through to her. Quickly she lifted her head and stared straight at the man dumbly, practiced hands still weaving her flower crown. “Fairy.” She murmured stupidly.
“Listen brat,” the man with burning hands started. “I don’t care if your sister is frail, I need to know if she's useful to us.”
“She’s not!” Lucia pleaded in return.
“And how should you know?” The man covered in dirt bore onto her.
“Just… just don’t hurt her please.” Lucia thought back to her still burning scalp.
“Yeah, yeah sure,” the first one returned, shoving Lucia to the side roughly, and reaching for Lea. Lucia could practically see the smoke rising off his hands.
“Wait no!” She tried to jump back but a dirt covered boot blocked her path.
“Stop, stop, STOP!” She shrieked, losing complete control over herself. In a fluid movement, she’d bounded up, barrelled past the man holding Lea and kicking him hard in the shins. As he howled in pain and grabbed his leg, Lucia pulled Lea to her feet. “Drop the flower crown.” She pleaded. “I’ll make you a prettier one later.” Lea understood and dropped the crown, but not before shredding it to pieces in her hand and blowing it in the man’s face. That, on top of Lucia’s kick, just angered him.
Lucia pulled Lea by the hand, begging her to hurry, and nearly dragging her as she stumbled along. “GET THEM!” She could hear the man bellowing in the background, and Lucia’s heart pounded faster. You know you can’t push her. Lucia thought, side-eyeing Lea. You’ll give her a seizure. Lucia glanced over her shoulder. They didn’t have a choice though, so Lucia summoned all her strength and picked up Lea and carried her. She was light for her age, mainly skin and bones and just enough fat to keep her alive, but that didn’t stop Lucia from staggering like a drunk man under the unfamiliar weight.
Sparing a glance back, she knew they were gaining on them. There was no way they could both make it. Options flew through her mind. Finally she made her choice. Placing Lea down, she grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes, pleading that she would realize the gravity of the situation.
“Run, please Lea. Don't stop till you find mom or dad or anyone in the village.” The words stumbled out of her mouth, hurried as she heard the pounding feet behind her. Without a word, Lea pushed a flower into her hand before turning and running as fast as she could. Before Lucia could even get a breath, her time was up and a smoky hand pressed on her shoulder. Twisting out of the grip, she tried to run away but the ground in front of her shook and rumbled, and she stumbled back. Now she was truly stuck.
Unwilling to give in, Lucia pressed back up, reaching a position so that her head was slightly lifted. From that, Lucia looked out of the corner of her eye, unwilling to give away Lea’s position. She could see Lea’s figure, just a sliver of shadow, distorted among the trees. The shadow was moving, deeper into the forest. Silently, Lucia cheered her sister on. Lea was smarter than most gave her credit for.
Meanwhile, Lucia had bigger issues on hand to deal with. The two men were now bent over her. Good, Lucia thought. With both here, there was no one to chase after Lea, and the longer of a headstart she had, the bigger the chance of survival she was given. The hand was clenching her shoulder so tight now that she could feel it carving an indent in her shoulder. You are stronger than this, you just have to get away. She thought, folding her lips to prevent her cries. When at last she gave up her struggle, the pressure lessened and Lucia opened her tightly folded fingers slightly to peek at the flower Lea had given her. It was a Gladiolus flower, a pale purple-pink flower that Lea so often used in her crowns. Gladiolus, the sword lily. Gladiolus for courage and strength. She could hear Lea reciting. Tears burned in her eyes. Lea knew so much. Why wouldn’t anyone give her credit for it? Trust her sister to find the perfect flower. Lucia folded her fingers again, closing them over the flower. Strength and courage. She sat up straighter.
“We lost one.” The second one spat, venom dripping in his words.
“It's fine, we only needed her.” the smoky hand gripped her shoulder tighter with a grin that made her stomach churn. His eyes flicked down to the flower in her hands. “What's that?”
“N-nothing.” She forced out, looking up at him. Without a word, he ripped the flower from her hand and she felt something hard lodge itself in her throat. No. He held the flower flat in his hand in front of her
“Now it’s not.” A sick tone of amusement lining his voice as the flower burst into flames on his palm, and as the last thing her sister gave her burnt to ashes in front of her eyes, Lucia felt something in her break.
The tears that had gathered in her eyes spilled over, and Lucia hunched over, sobbing her heart out. This was too much. First her house, then her family, then her sister and now the flower. A pain stabbed her chest, and she lost it completely. “STOP IT!” She shrieked, howling her grief out. “GIVE IT BACK!” She sounded like a petty child, but inside she felt helpless. Her whole world was collapsing in on itself, crushing her in the middle and she was powerless to stop it.
By now she was drowning on her own tears. The men had tried to pick her up, to move her, but all she did was curl in a ball, pretend she was a rock and cry. Rocks didn’t cry, yet this one spouted enough tears to create another ocean. Rocks didn’t move either, and neither did this one. However, when the men talked of finding the other one and taking her instead, for Lea’s sake, Lucia swallowed her tears and stood up willingly.
She could feel herself trembling, the fear coursing through her like a shotgun. Her breath was labored and congested and the tear tracks on her face were already starting to dry. She quietly turned to the two men, oblivious to her in their argument, though she doubted she could get away without them noticing. They were too smart for that.
“W-what do y-you want with me?” She asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. They both stopped their argument and turned to her and the way they looked at her was even more haunting that the look her father had worn all those years ago, one that made the air around her seem frigid and hard, with breath like it would tear holes in her lungs if she tried.
She steeled her nerves, imagining flattening them with her palms while really a cold iron hand gripped her heart. The cool metal of her locket seemed to soothe her. You’re doing this for Lea, she reminded herself. A sense of calm washed over her, but her heart seemed to race as one man bent down to look her in the eye.
His blue eyes bore into her and his auburn hair shone with the moon light, a sight that would have been pretty if he didn’t scare her so much. A mysterious smile seemed to overtake him and a shiver went up Lucia’s spine. Stay calm, she ordered herself, but the way he eyed her made her both nervous and uncomfortable. “Why Lucia. Don’t you know who I am?”
“N-” She went to answer but the words seemed to be trapped in her throat. Did she tell him her name? She did right? She had, for him to know it.
“Oh, you wouldn't remember me. You were so small.” He cooed, tipping her chin up with his finger, which was no longer searing to the touch. But the uncomfortable warmth branching up her chin didn't sit well with her. “Lea too.”
“N-no.” Lucia stammered, yanking away from him. “I- I-” She stuttered, for there was something very familiar in the way he was watching her. Almost like… she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. If only Lea was here.
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