The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The triumphant smirk that lay on Ember's face disappeared in an instant. It was only natural when she was faced with a red-eyed Elder. Something as simple as eye contact with him made her feel as though she was seconds away from imminent death. 

He maintained eye contact with her, compelling her with a croaky voice, "Silently walk over to me." Although she was determined not to move a single step, her body betrayed her. Each step she took toward the Elder became more unsteady than the last. "Kneel down and remain still."

As she knelt down in front of Abaddon, she desperately tried to stiffen her body in an attempt to settle her shaking. Despite her efforts, there were still tell-tale signs of her fear in her lack of breathing and the spike in her heart rate. Seeing Ember look so frightened rejuvenated a fraction of Abaddon's power, finally allowing him to slowly lift a hand up to her forehead. Her stomach felt as if it had plummeted down to the very core of the Earth when she felt the cold, clammy palm of his hand press to her skin. 

"You're lucky I can't dispose of you. If you were a regular human, I would've compelled you to stop breathing already." He paused, sucking in a sharp breath of air before blowing it out and continuing, "You know, it's quite a brutal death for a person. Suffocating on the land they have become so familiar with is so much more terrifying than any other form of death."

"I'll just have to settle with an equivalent punishment," He decided, making Ember's eyes widen. "And I know exactly what to do."

There was no time for her to take any wild guesses about what Abaddon had in store for her. Suddenly, all the light in the room was engulfed by an eerie darkness, almost like she had been teleported into a dark cave. Though, she quickly learned that it was not a cave that she was currently sitting in but a street, more specifically a street in the city. Her breathing became choppy as the sound of a gun cocking filled her ears. She begged herself not to shift her attention from the ground, but, eventually, her eyes shot upward. Staring right into her eyes was the beast. This was a memory of hers, yet it felt so different from what she remembered. From what she recalled, the beast never looked at her so longingly, as if he were silently begging for salvation. He never had tears running down his face. He never looked so human. When that thought ripped through her mind, a bullet ripped through the beast. The only thing that was the same from her memory was the sensation of the blood splattering across her face and into her mouth. It was just as repulsive and gut-wrenching as the last time. She hugged herself, pulling her arms and legs close to her chest, silently begging for the High-tiers to arrive and save her.  Unfortunately, the only person who stepped out from the dark end of the street was Abaddon. His shoes echoed down the street until he came to a stop in front of Ember.

"So many people have died around you." Abaddon's voice filled every inch of Ember's mind. She was unable to escape him. "Who will you ruin next?"

Suddenly, the beast's body was replaced with the bodies of five mangled corpses piled onto each other. Although they were bathed in blood and injured beyond recognition, she knew who they were by the feeling in her chest. It was a feeling that made her scream so loudly that even Abaddon winced. She continued to scream until she ran out of breath. By that time, she had begun wobbling toward the pile of bodies. Her hands shook as she touched the cold flesh of one heartless body, carefully pulling it away from the rest. The battered head lolled to the side, resting on her knee.

"Reed..." She gasped, now completely shaking, "Reed...Reed....Reed...no, not him. Not my Reed!"

Those frantic cries for Reed were eventually turned toward wails for the other High-tiers. The last one that she mourned over was Cohen. All the while, she knew none of them were actually dead, that it was just a figment of her imagination, created by Abaddon. Still, it felt so real. The leathery, cold skin that she felt beneath her fingertips, their frozen faces that used to be so full of life, all of it was too much for her to overcome. And so, she did the one thing she would ultimately regret for the rest of her life. She begged an Elder.