Chapter 5 #2
“Rion!” she screamed. “Ky! Kaito! Where are you?”
A group of people ran straight into her and Ren, breaking them apart and knocking her cane from her hands again. A body toppled to the ground, skittering bones down a clattering rise, which could have consisted of dirt, or it could have consisted of bodies.
She had no idea.
“I dropped Selin!” one of the group yelled.
“Leave her. She’s lost to the Quiet,” another roared, stepping onto Eiko’s hand just as her fingers finally closed around her cane again.
She ignored the pain and pushed back to her feet, trying to shake Ren into awareness again. Eventually, she was able to force him to his feet and could begin to drag him along beside her.
“Rion! Ky! Kaito!” She screamed their names over and over while guiding Ren, her cane thrust out before her to trace a safe path away from the train.
“Here, I’m h-here.” Ky’s hands clutched blindly at her body before latching onto her. “It’s … she’s … light protect us, Eiko …”
“Just keep her talking,” Eiko hissed, assuming he was babbling about the monster in his head.
At least Ren and Ky hadn’t encountered a Rustling, like Prince Chasin, or they would have been cut open on the bone-strewn ground already.
Such a brave little girl, the monster in her head chortled indulgently, those hooks scraping a little deeper, a little more punishing. She could feel the sharp talons against the edges of her brain and was sure they were inflicting wounds already.
I’m not a little girl, she snarled back, before shouting again for her brother and Rion.
You’re all little girls and little boys, just one more toy for me to enjoy. The monster cackled gleefully, and that was when Eiko realised … she must be going the wrong way. She suddenly turned, dragging a silent Ren and a mumbling Ky with her.
Insolent. The monster’s lilt turned sharp. So now she was going the right way.
Ren began to fight against her, and Ky’s muttering turned panicked.
You already know what happens when you refuse, the monster snapped in a sound eerily, horrifically similar to the gnashing of fangs. It’s best you just let this happen. Let me in. Let us bargain. There is so much you want, so much you yearn for. I could give it all to you.
Empty promises, Eiko goaded, because she was an utter fool. She wanted to keep the monster talking, but that jab had admittedly lacked finesse.
Eiko … A second voice tried to wrap around the nape of her neck. Small and frightened. She brushed it away.
I could make you queen, give you wealth unseen, the monster promised, causing Eiko to stumble.
How the fuck are you going to do that? she shot back, astounded. What kind of monster had latched onto her?
Eiko, Eiko, don’t let me go, that small, panicked little whisper caressed the base of her skull. She brushed it away again. She had never considered that some monsters must be young and weak, but the one attempting to latch onto her neck felt like exactly that.
I can make you the most beautiful woman in the world, the slithering, female voice replied. I could wed you to the golden prince. And then I could kill them all.
“Light protect me,” she accidentally whispered out loud. That was … quite the twisted promise. “I thought you couldn’t harm anyone except with my own hand—” she broke off to the sound of Ky’s sudden, pained scream.
Ignore him, the monster demanded, focus on me, on what we could be.
Eiko! The panicked little whisper was back at her neck again, fading and frantic. Please, you have to help me! Please!
Maybe it was a trick. A ruse. But she felt her attention snag in that direction for the briefest moment.
I would give you the power to kill with your own hands, the female monster explained indulgently, as though she had sensed Eiko’s determination wavering for the slightest moment. We would do it together. Make you a princess. Kill them all. Make you a queen.
This is what you think I want? Eiko couldn’t help the horrified chuckle that fell from her lips. You severely misread me, monster.
The little flutter at her neck began to beat desperately, the small, scared voice fading further. Eiko … don’t let me go …
Already cursing the impulse, Eiko grabbed onto the sensation and tugged, encouraging that little voice to fill her head, hoping to drown out the sudden, enraged snarl of the other monster.
Save me, the voice pleaded, echoing and frantic, bouncing all around her head. Help me, hide me, save me. Set me free and I’ll try to help you see!
The words had her stumbling. The clumsy rhyme had been tossed out in such a desperate attempt to latch onto her mind, to seek protection inside her body. This little monster wanted a way out of the Quiet, and it couldn’t even offer her a solid bribe.
It would try and help her see? That wasn’t a promise. Those were just … words.
What are you running from? Eiko asked, as her mind threatened to split. She was holding two monsters, trying to corral the spitting, writhing, violent creature into one corner while housing the timid, trembling one in an opposite corner.
They’re hunting me, he wailed. Save me!
Who is?
Eiko’s head began to pound, her limbs turning to lead, her grip on her friends slipping.
“Help,” she croaked, but Ky was a dead weight, collapsing on top of her, and Ren was scrambling away from her, scrambling in the direction she had been dragging him.
She couldn’t watch him go, but she could hear him.
He was leaving without her.
He was leaving her behind.
The man who had thrown away his life for his friends was now throwing away his friends in sheer panic for his life. The Quiet made little fools of them all.
“Ren!” She reached out towards the sound of his frenzied scuffling. “Help!”
Help! The little monster also reached out to her, both of them desperately straining and somehow … they touched.
Eiko could feel something twisting between her fingers, a cool weight gliding up her arm. Two fearful heartbeats slowing to beat in stuttered synchronisation.
We can help each other, the little monster promised, sweeping aside the growling, furious voice in the other corner of her mind. He brushed it away like an errant leaf. You and me, together, you’ll see.
I’ll never see, Eiko whispered back, tightening her grip on the pressure between her fingers. Monsters only promise what they can give. You offered nothing, which means you have nothing to offer.
We can help each other, he pleaded. I’ll give you everything I have.
You have nothing, she insisted.
Help me anyway.
If it was a trick, it was a good one. Because after all this time, buried deep inside, Eiko would always be that little fool running into the dark.
Fine, she said. I’ll help you.
She had never understood why they called it Silencing.
She didn’t understand until she opened herself to the trembling little monster, and silence filled her in a great, deafening flood.
She couldn’t hear the screaming, the yelling, the sounds of bodies hitting the ground, of bodies dragged across bones, of bodies jolting and writhing in pain, of live bodies scrambling over piles of dead bodies.
There was only her body: a vessel of light quickly filling with darkness.
It was cool and soft and sweet, the edges still trembling.
It was also vast. Shockingly so. It filled her to the seams of her skin before shrinking into something small, fluttery, and velvety, like a ribbon.
It turned outside, wrapping her skin in gratitude, and then it slithered between her fingers.
Pulling tight, it helped her to her feet, and pulled her forward, but she resisted, bending over Ky and trying to lift him.
With the little monster now settled in her mind, she could feel that she was a part of the Quiet. No longer an intruder or an empty vessel to latch onto.
We need to hurry, the monster urged, still fearful. She could feel him slithering around her fingers, lightly lifting her arm, hesitantly trying to urge her on. They’ll realise where I’m hiding. They’ll attack us both.
“I won’t leave Ky,” she said, doubling down stubbornly and shaking her friend until he swatted her hands away and scrambled up.
“We need to get out of here,” Ky said, voice shaken but full of strength. “Sun above, I’ve fucked up, Eiko.”
She didn’t question him; she just ran with him, following her monster’s gentle guidance as he tugged her fingers. It took her a moment to realise she wasn’t so much leading Ky as he was simply running in the same direction as her.
Because he was also being guided.
He had Silenced a monster of his own.
“What did it promise you?” she asked, wondering what could have possibly swayed him into such a risk.
“What did yours promise you?” he huffed back without answering.
She could hear the faintest sound of other booted feet moving in the same direction as them. Following them, possibly.
“Nothing,” Eiko snorted. “I think it’s a baby. It just wanted to escape the Quiet. It’s probably a trick, and as soon as we get back to the light, it’ll tear through me to escape.”
“Sounds promising.” Ky snorted, but he didn’t really sound amused. He sounded like he was running on fumes, fuelled by fear and adrenaline, hanging on by his fingertips. “What happened to Ren?”
Hurry, the monster urged. We’re almost there.
She kept her answer short. “He ran this way.”
“He left us?”
Something pricked against her vision, and for the first time in a long time, she found herself squinting, trying to focus.
Stupid, she scolded herself. You’re imagining things.
But she wasn’t. There were blurry pinpricks in the distance. Almost shapes. Almost colours. Almost light. Instinctively, she ran towards them, reminded of the starry specks that had guided her from the cave she had dragged Prince Chasin from ten years ago.