When Snow Falls

-Chapter 16-

I didn't say anything, staring at my father's eyes. They were a darker red than they had been at the party, but still weren't normal.

He lowered himself to the floor gingerly. "What are you doing here?"

I didn't break eye contact. "Uh, well, I was going to ask you some questions, but I think--" I swallowed. "I think that one of them has been answered already."

He chuckled lightly. "I can only guess which one that is." He tapped the ground beside him. "Are you going to ask about the others, or just stare?"

Just that one sentence sent chills down my spine. While my father would make smart comments or snap sometimes, he didn't say things in the tone he spoke in.

I went over to him and sat down. He moved his arm away slightly, which only made me grab his hand. I recoiled slightly at not being able to feel him, but then remembered.

I pulled his arm closer to me. Small specks of blood had dried near a few of the needle marks. "What happened to you?"

He sighed. "Muraes. They are trying to do something stupid."

"Like make you turn?"

Dad stiffened. He pulled away and touched his head. "Exactly like that. You know, since it's just the brightest idea anyone could have."

I couldn't help but giggle, even though the situation wasn't funny. Dad looked like he wanted to but just grinned instead.

My smile faded. A rat scurried from one end of the cell and between the bars. "So, what are the needle marks from?"

He took a deep breath. "The thing you--we--have is different, even though it goes by almost the same name. When someone is born with the capability for magic but never uses it, the magic can bottle up until it explodes. Once that happens, it's called--"

"Miralis," I interrupted. "I know, Nutcracker told me."

If Dad was bothered in the slightest by me calling someone "Nutcracker," he didn't show it. He nodded his head and continued.

"The other way for miralis to happen is with someone who doesn't have the capability for magic. Somehow, you can make magic a liquid form and inject it into someone. When enough of it is in them, then another person wakes up inside their head."

"Like the natural version?" I asked. "Because apparently, if it's natural, the miralis-person is you, just really, really mean and really, really creepy."

Dad clenched his fists. His knuckles turned whiter than his face, if that was possible. A thin trickle of blood ran down his fingertips and plipped into a puddle of water on the stone. His breath hitched, then sped up.

He closed his eyes. "Back up, Clair."

Like an idiot, I didn't move.

Dad grit his teeth together and slammed his hand against the wall. A loud crack echoed in the cell, but the crack wasn't from a bone of his breaking, it was from the wall breaking.

It did make me move, so plus side to that, I guess.

I grabbed onto a cell bar, squeezing it as tightly as I could. Wet from water dripped down it slowly, running down my hand.

My father froze. His body shook like he was cold, but the air was warm.

"Dad?" I whispered. "Are you..."

He pushed himself into a corner and fixed his eyes on a spot in the middle of the cell. "It's not the same," he said quickly. "If it comes naturally, it's a different version of you. If it comes through liquid magic, then it's an entirely different being."