Ember

Chapter 20

 Lately it seemed that all I did was dream. 

Days were spent, worrying about the coming fight that we were sure would happen. 

And the pregnancy was taking it's toll on me, I was constantly tired, sending me into a deep sleep that gave me vivid dreams. Sometimes more. 

For instance, right now I appeared to be in a meadow, all alone.

The wind caused the long, dry grass to sway. The scene could have been considered perfect.

If it wasn't for the blood smeared in a trail across the grass. 

I felt compelled to follow the rusted scent, my mind not comprehending the situation. 

Part of me knew I was dreaming, another part of me did not. 

I followed the trail as it led me through tall trees, no footpath, just a long trail of the rotting scent. 

Eventually the scenery changed, the trees thinned out til I stepped foot in a large clearing, the floor matted with broken twigs and ripped leaves.

Looking around, I felt a spark of recognition. I had been here before. 

Was this from my other life? Was I Seraphine?

Looking down at myself, I did not feel like her. I felt like me. 

I was still dressed in the modern fabrics of my era, though they were rugged and torn. 

But what I saw in the middle of the clearing made me realize why I was still me.

I was watching myself. Seraphine. But she almost wasn't. 

A girl who closely resembled myself, more so than she looked like Seraphine. This girl was not strong and magnificent. She seemed utterly terrified, yet at the same time wild. 

Her hair was knotted and she wore a ripped white dress that was far too modern to be Seraphine's, yet something I would still consider old fashioned, Victorian, almost. 

But the ivory dress was practically destroyed, it was ripped up and covered in mud. 

But the girl herself was most terrifying. 

Her eyes were crazed, but her face was soft, she was beautiful, I couldn't understand why she was here.

Until I saw the source of the blood. 

Below her hands, was a body. 

Stark naked, and covered in blood, it was unmistakably dead.

The girl appeared to be trying to hide it among the decaying leaves, but it was difficult to hide such a large man. 

In a sick way, the sight compelled me towards it. I found myself trudging through the dense ground over to the girl. 

She didn't notice me. That, or she couldn't see me. 

The sound of a twig crunching under the weight of something had us both snapping our heads up, eerily in sync. 

A man in an aged suit stepped out, his eyes wide in shock. 

Marcus?

"Susannah?" He whispered in shock, his eyes immediately going to the mangled form. 

"Malcolm." She replied, her eyes glossing over. "I had to... he... he knew." 

After a moment of looking lost, Malcolm nodded, seeming to understand her reasons.

"I want us to leave." She cried, standing up and walking towards him to grab his hands. I watched as the train of her dress snagged on twigs and ripped, she didn't seem to notice or care.