42. Ash
Chapter 42
Ash
We followed a tunnel that spit us out into the forest beyond the King’s estate. Kane dragged me along by the arm, walking fast.
“Is this the part where you drag me out into the woods and kill me?” I asked.
“You’re hilarious. Walk,” he grumbled.
“You’re not making a very good argument for yourself.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Where are we going?” I prodded.
“I have to show you something.”
I hesitantly walked in front of him until we came to a large building that seemingly sprung up out of the middle of nowhere among the trees. It appeared to have three floors, with dormant ivy creeping up the sides of it and snow falling in the broken windows. The gray, morning sky overhead cast the building in shadow, darkening the interior.
“Inside,” he commanded from behind me.
“What is this place?” I gaped, looking upward at the faded bricks.
“You’ll see.”
I stepped up the cement stairs that were cracked and chipped away with time. Kane guided me down a maze of halls that somehow felt familiar. We passed a window that had curtains that were ripped but still hanging over the window. I stopped and stared at the window, a sense of déjà vu lingering in my mind. Kane stared at me behind those gray eyes, assessing my every move.
He walked down the hallway a bit further and pushed open a door, gesturing for me to enter. I tentatively followed behind him and peered into the room—a small space with a bed on each side and a crib in the middle. The room brought a great roaring beast to life inside of me.
My chest tightened—I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed on to the doorknob to hold myself upright. The dreams I couldn’t remember—they were memories. They all came rushing back to me like a wave, taking all sense of the world with it. Everything I knew turned upside down. I remembered everything; I remembered the gray eyes of the man who stood next to me and all they used to mean to me.