The Bearers

Chapter 5

Alexa PoV

Did you try to live on your own when you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire?
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone
When it's time to live and let die
And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins.
-TwentyOne Guns. [Green Day]

I opened my eyes to blinding white light.

I blinked rapidly, waiting till my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. When it did, I propped myself up on my elbows and looked around me, trying to figure out where in the world I was.

I was lying on a comfortable bed in a completely unfamiliar room. It's walls were completely white, reminding me of a hospital room. There were a few portraits on its whitewashed walls and an open window across the bed on which I was lying on.

The events of the previous night came rushing back to me. I had to clutch my sheets to steady myself.

Noelle, Faelan, the journey through the tunnels, the eerie presence, the way the flames encrusting my sword and how it turned white when I stabbed it. How it reduced into nothing but ashes when it was stabbed.

How I woke up in an unfamiliar place, the glimpses of the faces all around me. The absence of weapons on me which left me tense.

The last thing I remembered was being injected with something with had left me unconscious, bringing nothing but darkness afterwards. Until now.

I guessed that I was probably still in the Traherne Manor. I got up with some difficulty and moved towards the window and peered through it.

There was nothing there but a field of grass with horses grazing on it. The sun was high in the sky which meant that it was a little past noon.

The heat from the sun felt good on my skin. I longed for more of it but I needed answers and I was not going to get them from staring out of a window.

Outside, I found a short corridor which ran into a small sitting room. I looked around it, scanning it.

Right at the corner of the room was a door. I ran to it and tried the handle. Locked. I frowned, unsurprised. At least now I knew something. There was something in me that required locking up.

I banged on it with my shoulder continuously, not stopping until I was suspected that it was red and sore from all the tireless strain.

I switched to my fist and continued pounding. It didn't budge.

Finally, huffing in irritation, I gave up and slid to the floor, my back resting on the hard, unyielding door.
Silent moments dragged on, making me more restless by the minute.

Suddenly, the sound of the door being unlocked from the other side made me get back on to my feet.

I started at it, transfixed with surprise and paralyzed with terror.

Who could it be? Would they mean me any harm? It was evident enough that I couldn't trust anyone here.

The door opened up and a girl, perhaps a year or so younger than me walked in. Her dark brown hair shone in the sun and she she wore a warm smile on her face which reached her rich amber eyes.

Her skin was tanned which meant that she was from the the south. She obviously had to be related to Anthony in someway as she bore an uncanny resemblance to him. Minus the cocky smirk he permanently wore on his smug face anyway.

She stopped a few feet away from me, the radiant smile still on her face.

"Hello there, Alexa." She almost sounded genuinely pleased to see me. "We were anticipating your presence at the manor."