The Deathly Scream - 𝟙

༒ Eighty-five ༒

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The soldiers had disappeared in smoke after I screamed. Leaving us behind with the people we loved. Most of them dead. August had found me laying on the ground, I couldn't feel the pain in my leg when he helped me standing up. I was in shock.

After searching for every person who was possibly alive I had found Cameron who ran towards me as quick as he could, supporting me when I could barely stand up straight. When we found our way back to the border of the castle, there was no one waiting for us.

The castle seemed abandoned, circled by dead people. Every painting in the hall ripped apart, the colours fading away in the water on the ground. They had ruined our whole home and I felt nothing. My emotions seemed to hide away, I couldn't even cry over the loss of my friend, the loss of my sister.

I stare in front of me, my gaze turning blurry every now and then when we find our way to the Great Hall. People had come out of the dungeons, staring at us in shock when we walk through the giant doors. Every chair that had stood for the announcement was broken, most of the windows were chattered. I look up when I hear people mumble panicked.

My father walks in front of us, holding the body of my sister in his arms when we follow him inside. August was holding Levi, not able to fight his own tears. He had lost his first knight. When we stand in the middle of the Great Hall, I sink through to the ground, Theodore and Cameron trying to catch me but they couldn't hold me.

My father did the same, holding his oldest daughter in his arm, falling on his knees. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Out of the crowd a girl with short dark hair runs towards us, falling in Cameron's arms the second she sees us. Audrey was crying heavily, not able to speak anymore. I couldn't but lean against Theodore, I was barely aware of anything that happened around me.

The scream had woken up something inside of me, but at the same time all my power seemed to have disappeared. Laying in Theodore's arms I look over to my father, his shoulders shaking hard when he lays my sister carefully on the ground. It is the moment I hear another scream I look to the crowd, afraid the soldiers had come back when I see Jade running towards Levi, falling on her knees in front of August. I couldn't breathe at the image of my best friend screaming over the body of the man she had loved.

I hold Theodore tighter, his arms locked around me while he tries to calm me down. Ezra appeared from a side door in the Hall, his face full of pain when he sees my sister laying on the ground. Elliott runs towards me and takes my hands in his' when tears roll down his face while Ezra sits down next to my sister, his head resting on hers.

I had never imagined he could cry like this, but apparently he could. He did love my sister and maybe she had loved him also.

'It was him', I whisper when I stare at the broken young man. Theodore follows my gaze and nods a little, patting my hair soft. We sit like that for a moment, maybe an hour. All of us crying over the people we had lost.

I still wasn't able to bring up any emotion. I felt empty, not even properly alive. I had lost my sister, I had lost my best friend while I was the one that should've died. I couldn't forgive myself.

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A week had pasted after the war and I hadn't left my room one day. The whole castle was damaged but we were lucky the dark soldiers hadn't found their way to the bedrooms. At least not all of them. Elliott took care of me when I did nothing but crying. It seemed that all of a sudden the feelings I hadn't been able to express needed to come out. I realised Valentina and I never had a great relationship and yet there was still an empty spot in my life right now.

Elliott felt the same, but he was better at hiding his emotions. I hadn't talked to anyone but my brother. I slept whole days sometimes, only waking up when I needed to vomit. Elliott wanted me to eat something, but guilt was all I could feel. My sister had died because of me, it should have been me.

I sit up straight in my bed when Elliott brings me a bowl filled with soup, my hand shaking when I take the spoon.

'Madame Orsini asked if you were eating well', he whispers when I don't say anything. 'I lied to her and told that you were finding your strength back', he adds soft. I look up at him, my eyes hurting when I blink.

'Rosalia, this isn't your fault. Olivia had seen her running out of the castle, she should've ran to the dungeons like everyone else'. I don't respond to him, trying to eat a little of my soup, but even after three swallows I have to put it down, afraid it will come out again. Elliott stands up to open my window, images of my visions passing by making me more nauseous.

'Every time I have a vision or dream the window stands open when I wake up again', I say, my voice hoarse. He turns to me in confusion, putting the curtain aside. The sun shining right in my face.

'What does that mean?' he asks.

'I'm not sure', I whisper before laying down again. After a while of staring out of the window, Elliott takes a seat next to me, doubting to start a conversation. All I wanted was to rest, but I knew that if I didn't get distracted I would feel nothing but guilt.

'They are almost done finishing the Great Hall. Madame Orsini expects the funeral to be in three days', he starts unsure. My stomach turns again and I lean to the side of the bed to vomit in my bucket. Barely something comes out.

'Father hasn't left his room. Not even August is allowed in there', he continuous, softly rubbing over my back, pulling my hair back.

'That was the second time he walked in with a woman he loved', I notice slowly. Elliott nods in agreement, staring out of the window again once I lay comfortable against my pillow.

'I'm sorry if I scared you by running away again', I whisper. Tears are stuck in his eyes when I say that and I can see that I had hurt him more than I had realised. 'I wasn't trying to safe Cameron this time', I add unsure but at least it makes him smile vague.

'Why did you do it?' He asks after a moment of silence.

'I knew Val had ran away. I guess I had a bad feeling about the situation'.

'And that was all?' Elliott turns to me questionable, realising I wasn't telling him the whole truth. I sigh deep before taking his hand in mine, thinking how I should express what has been bothering me.

'I heard her scream. Mom, I mean. During the first war she screamed before she died and that sound was haunting me. I couldn't stand it so I ran outside without thinking. I didn't have a strategy', I whisper.

'She was warning you', he guesses and I nod.

'If I hadn't had screamed that soldier would have killed father also'. My voice breaks at that confession, seeing the image before my eyes again. Elliott gestures that I should shuffle up and so I do. He sits next to me on my bed, his arm around my shoulder.

'We still have a long way to go until our lives will be normal again, won't we?' he asks a little tense. I look up at him, staring in the eyes of someone that once was my little brother, but now had become a young man.

'If we don't find out where Ivory lays or who the Shadow Woman is, we will never have a normal live again'.

'You can count on me, Rosa', he whispers. I smile up at him, feeling a little hope for the first time in days. That is the moment I fall asleep and for once, my rest wasn't interrupted by visions. I could sleep calmly in the arms of my brother.