Passion | | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Nineteen

Astoria and Ominis continued to push on. The past few days had been extremely hard and difficult for them, but they kept the memory of their friend dear to their hearts. They were doing this for him now, and Rookwood would suffer for his crimes once and for all.

They had traced their steps back to where the Chimera attack had happened. Astoria found the shredded up pieces of paper that were almost dissolved due to the rain. "This is definitely where it happened." She said, crouching down to get a better look. "Which means we're on the right track. There isn't much of a path, but at least we now have a general idea of where we are."

It was hard to think that in this very place only days ago was where the tragedy had happened. As Astoria stood up, she looked over only a few feet away. On the ground and leaves around it was a dry red mark– blood.

Her stomach twisted up into a knot and she quickly pushed the feeling away, not wanting to cry again. She quickly made her way over to Ominis, trying to forget what she had seen. The sound of screams in her mind was just too much for her to handle at the moment.

"So what do you propose we do now?" Ominis asked, waiting for her to say something. They were both as clueless as ever. When Sebastian was around, it somehow felt like maybe things were going to be okay. But now that he was gone, it was making it so much harder to feel happy, to feel okay."

"We keep moving on this path, I guess." Astoria sighed, "I briefly remember when it changes, so I suppose that's the best course of action right now."

Ominis nodded, taking out his wand. He and Astoria continued on walking forward, in hopes to soon find their destination. They didn't know exactly what they were looking for though; A camp? Some sign of any civilization? Rookwood himself? Anything would really help at the moment.

"There were rumors that small camps had been seen only miles from here." Astoria stated, "Maybe one of those is a poacher camp. And the closer we get to the poacher camps, the closer we get to Rookwood."

"So do we just follow the lines of the camps? See if they have any maps, any leads?" Ominis asked, his brows furrowing.

Astoria nodded her head, "Precisely my thoughts. As of right now, I think that's our best plan of action. Without our map, we're a little lost, but I'm sure we can find a way. I'm not giving up, doesn't matter how long it takes me, I'm stopping Rookwood once and for all."

"And I will be there to help you every step of the way," Ominis said. "I'm not going to abandon you, Astoria. Not now, and not ever. We're stopping Rookwood together. I, myself have a few bones to pick with him."

Astoria knew Ominis was referring to the curse put on Anne by Victor Rookwood himself and now– the painfully obvious loss of Sebastian. Ominis was beyond angry with Rookwood now, and with the combined rage of Astoria, Rookwood didn't stand a chance.

Astoria's mind was still in an odd state. One side felt numb while the other felt sorrow. Hadn't the Sallows suffered enough these past twenty-four years? Anne and Sebastian's parent's dying when they were young, having to live with a neglectful uncle, Anne being cursed and so much more. It was cruel and unfair, and they just so happened to be the two people affected by it.

When Astoria thought about it, it had already been so long since Sebastian had found her in Hamilton. It was now November and things felt as cold and dry as ever. The swamp never really changed with the weather, it just got uglier as wintertime came closer and closer to arriving. And to think that she hadn't seen Sebastian for six year's before that made her feel even more guilty. He was gone as soon as he came, but this time, she thought she could never get him back.

Ominis noticed Astoria's sudden silence and grew worried. "Astoria, are you okay?" He asked, his head turning in her general direction. Astoria let out a sigh of hopelessness but still nodded her head, she didn't want to worry Ominis any more than he already was.