Chapter 22: Consoling

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A storm was coming. Thunder shook outside, beating its drums all across the country. The winds were playing with everything that came in its path like children with new toys.

Adaline's feet brushed the soft carpet that lay around her bed. Her legs carried her towards the long glass window. Everything was covered in darkness. The silhouette of a lone tree stood outside in all its might in the starlight.

She was not in her room but that did not matter. Whatever lay ahead was important. She was being drawn towards something. The tree outside looked very familiar to her. Had she seen it before or was she looking at something she had seen all her life?

She touched the glass with her right hand and a lightning struck the tall tree. The flames burning released a similar sensation in Adaline's hands. A bright white light flashed across her eyes. She felt herself fall, her lungs filling up with water as someone forced her head under water. She felt a sharp pain on her chest. "I'm sorry, my love." She heard a muffled noise.

She woke up with a loud gasp. Her eyes were heavy and filled with tears. "It was a dream." She held her face in her hands. "Just a dream...." She controlled her heartbeat. She couldn't have the entire castle shake because of her fears.

Adaline did not open the door to anyone that came to see her. She refused to attend her lessons, refused to eat and refused to meet anyone. Everyone supported him, and she did not want to be a part of it. She was back to her senses.

She stared at the alienness around her like she had when she first spent her night there. She pulled her bag out and swung the knives around. She used a fruit as target practice for her knives. She armed her bow and was ready for a fight. She was ready to get out. But she needed stimulation for that.

She needed Simon's comforting words and her father's approval. She was young. She was still the little girl that feared anyone touching her, afraid of being knocked over with that uncomfortable sensation.

"Adaline?" There was another knock at her door in the afternoon and though she wanted to ignore it, Adaline rushed to open it. That was the only person that she would meet.

"Freya." Her eyes filled with tears once again as she saw the woman in white outside.

Freya walked inside and embraced her friend. "What happened? Why are you here and not down for lunch?"

Both of them sat down on her bed while Adaline rubbed her eyes. "I'm so so sorry." She whimpered. "I should have listened to you." She told Freya what she saw the previous night while trying to hold back the venom in her voice.

Freya held her hand in hers. "It's not your fault."

"But it is! Of course it is! I've been a fool to underestimate him. He knows that hurting people would anger me."

She had specifically told him not to harm anyone just to make her powers work. She asked herself if he was trying to play with her mind. Was he trying to break her down completely so that she could use her powers to its full extent?

Freya did not know how to make her see what she knew to be the truth. But she had to try somehow. "Did you see the Darkling-"

"I didn't have to." She snapped. "He killed her all the same."

It hurt to think about it but it was all that she could do. The woman's eyes were haunting her. Adaline couldn't get them out of her mind. She could still smell iron and salt in the air. It hurt to think about the bloodied dress that lay in the corner of the room. She couldn't get rid of it even though she wanted to. She needed a reminder to keep her vision clear.

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