Lullaby

5• Soul Within a Soul

•A•
North

My life has always been point blank. Bad shit happens, I survive . I care for someone, I protect them. It's as simple as that.

But with Lullaby everything is changing.

I no longer see in black and white. Now there's grey areas too. She's the grey area.

Before, if we were hungry, we ate. Now I find myself thinking what she'll prefer or if it'll be the best thing for her. Before, if danger came knocking at our doors, we fought. Now I worry about if she'll be safe or if someone needs to stay behind so she's not scared. None of those situations have even come up yet. But I still worry about them.

I've never put someone's concerns or fears into my decisions before. It's always been what's best for the team. No matter what it had to be what was best for us all.

But Lullaby changes everything...

Lullaby causes me to worry constantly. She's the grey area, the things I never concerned myself with before. They had never mattered.

Emotions never makes for the best decisions and yet here I am, staring down at my soul bleeding out on the ground, wondering if she was scared while we were planning.

Did she cry for us?
Was she scared and alone while we took our sweet time?
Was she in pain?
How should I hold her?
Should I hold her?
I don't want to hurt her.

"North!"
Sean?
His voice is distant, underwater.
"NORTH! She needs you!"
Sean. What to do I do? How do I fix her?
"She won't last much longer! Mark her now!"

Lullaby needs me. My baby needs me. Focus.

I clench my fists at my sides before looking at Doc. I no longer stared down at our beautiful soul in pathetic wide eyed horror. My eyes were determined slits looking right at the man who'll tell me how to fix her," What do I do?"

Sean looked horrified. I tried not to let that get to me. A scared Doc was bad news.
"Bite her. Wherever you want, just bite her!"

I nod and crouch down beside the tiny gem of a girl who looked like some stellar goddess as she lay there on her stomach. The sight was sinister yet lovely at the same time. Lovely only because her blood was so alien.

I'd never heard of a soulmate reacting to soul neglect this way. Usually it's fire. They burn within until they slowly turn to ash - blowing away like a distant memory when it's all over.

I knew of this one child - Mira. It was about a century ago. She'd been found when she was a little tyke and had the prettiest red hair, like red fire. She always followed me around annoying the hell out of me.

Her guardians had finally found her when she was six and were getting their home ready to take her back to. They never returned for her...

Demons had attacked them just as they were leaving, damning little Mira to a painful death. Her soul neglect had been odd. No one had seen a soul disintegrate like that in centuries.

She faded.
Just faded into the air like dust in the wind.

I remember it well. I should, seeing as I held her in my arms as it happened. Little brat kept babbling about her guardians as it was happening. She kept saying things like," Where's Valentine?" " Is Sawyer coming back?" "When is Robin going to be here?" "I want my Damon!"