Chapter 42 Scarlett
Scarlett
I stumbled forward, catching myself on a tree. If it had hurt, I couldn’t feel it.
I couldn’t feel anything.
My head was spinning, my limbs weaker than I had ever felt them before, but I had to push forward.
I needed to get home.
It was the only thing that kept ringing through my mind.
“Tick tock goes the clock, I know home is near, tick tock goes the clock, I can feel him so very clear.”
The wind picked up, forcing me to pull my hood closer as I trudged through the woods, from tree to tree, using them to support me.
I had to keep going.
The sun was rising on day seven, which meant it was officially January 1st, the new year.
I was supposed to start it with Azrael.
I was supposed to start this year with a good fuck from my husband.
I remembered everyone always talking about their resolutions in church. Making more money, buying more things. I had never made a resolution before, but this year?
My only resolution was to never betray my husband again.
Even if I had to die. I would rather that than have another cock, another male hand, another pair of lips, take what wasn’t theirs to take.
Azrael.
Azrael.
Azrael.
“I’m coming, you have my word.”
Another tree.
Another.
Azrael.
Azrael.
Azrael.
Another tree.
I stepped forward and felt the shift in the world, forcing my eyes open. I hadn’t realized they had closed.
Concrete.
I looked up, my tired heart skipping a painful beat.
A building. It was a building.
I pushed forward, which was dangerous if only because I lost my trees. I was out in the open now. I was exposed, but I kept pushing forward.
One foot in front of the other.
Azrael.
Azrael.
Azrael.
I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t just a puppet they could use. I was fucking royalty and I would act like it until my very last breath, even if my outer shell was weak and malnourished.
I pushed through the front door, a small bell chiming around the room.
The smell of eggs and bacon assaulted me, causing my stomach to turn. The only thing I had eaten in the last week were two squirrels and some fruit. I was so hungry, but I couldn’t eat here. I couldn’t show my face, or they would call the police, and without Azrael, I would be taken away.
So, I kept my head down and walked to the counter.
“What can I do for you, hon?”
I gave the universal sign for pen and paper without looking up.
“You okay?” When I didn’t respond, she shifted, leaning closer, forcing me to lean back. “If you’re a runaway, baby, I promise you, nothing is worse than being alone.”
I made a pen motion again, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she sighed.
A moment later, a pen and napkin appeared in front of me. I only speak ASL, please call this number and tell them it’s Scarlett.
“ASL, huh? Well, not many people know that. Okay, one second.”
I thrummed my fingers, looking down the bar as I took a seat. There was a man not too far down that was enjoying a plate full of food and a coffee.
My mouth watered and hunger in the form of nausea rumbled painfully through me, causing my mouth to water.
“What happened to your fingers?”
I immediately pulled the sweater over my hands and tucked them under the table.
“Hmm,” she hummed. “No answer. Got another?”
I paused, my brows furrowing, my chest tightening, my blood vibrating. Why wouldn’t he answer? I was the only one who knew—
Until Malachi called.
I swallowed and reached out, scrawling down another number and pushing it towards her.
“Is this safe, where you’re going?” When I didn’t answer, she said, “sweetheart, whatever’s happened to you, the police can help.”
I shook my head once and glanced back to the plate of food in front of that man. I had a few dollars, but I couldn’t eat in front of anyone or—
“Hello.”
My heart skipped a beat, and it was an effort not to look up. I could hear her voice. Distant enough that I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I could hear her.
My sister.
“Yes, I’ve got a, uh…Scarlett here—” Silence. “Hello?”
A sob shook through me.
“I’m sorry, hon, she hung up. Listen, can I get you anything? A coffee, a water?”
I shook my head, grabbed the napkin and scrawled down a message for her before sliding off and heading back to the door, my knees shaking.
“Scarlett!”
I had no idea how far away I was from them, but I knew they were coming. It was finally over.
I was going home.
~~~
My eyes widened as I watched the car pull up.
Lucy jumped out at the exact same time Olivia did, and Poppy jumped from the passenger side, both girls running for the door only for Olivia to stop when Lucy turned towards the trees.
Towards me.
Poppy shouted something.
Olivia tracked Lucy’s eyes and my heart slammed. They couldn’t see me yet, I was too deep in the trees, but Lucy could smell me. She could smell her family.
When she started at a sprint for the trees, it suddenly felt like a dream. Everything seemed floaty and unreal.
Olivia started sprinting after her, her hair whipping behind her, Poppy cursing but quickly following after.
They were really coming for me, they had to be.
They had to be.
My body, as if in relief, collapsed to hands and knees, the earth digging into my numb palms. Still, no tears came, no emotion, no anything.
Maybe I was tired.
Maybe I was broken.
A broken doll covered in rags and blood, finally returning home.
“Oh my God,” I heard Olivia breathe a few moments later, the sound of a sniffing dog surrounding me.
She hit her knees in front of me, her familiar scent surrounding me like the most beautiful perfume in the world. “Scarlett,” she whispered, her hand appearing in my eyeline.
I flinched back so severely that I fell to my ass and crawled back a foot or two, my widening eyes locking with hers. Wait, I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t mean it.
Her eyes widened and then softened as she took me in, remaining exactly where she was. She held up a hand. “It’s okay,” she said gently, Lucy watching me from her right, as Poppy ran up behind her, her dreads wild, her eyes wide and filled with fire. “What is that? Around your face?”
My own eyes widened. I kept forgetting about it, but every time I remembered, the panic shook me to my very core.
I inhaled sharply and reached for it, pulling at it, trying to get it off. Trying to rip it from my fucking skull, strangled grunts and groans falling from my lips, getting louder and louder.
“Stop,” she told me softly. “You have to stop. Poppy.”
Poppy stood as I continued to dig, and slowly walked to my left side, staying in my line of sight as she crouched down and gently reached for the hood.
I watched her unblinkingly, my heart slamming painfully in my chest as I continued to fight with the muzzle, snarling, whining.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Olivia explained. “I know you think we will, but I promise, Scarlett, we wouldn’t dare. You’re safe now. Baby, you’re safe.”
I was panting, my heart pounding far too hard. “Azrael,” I signed with bloodied, shaking hands as Poppy removed my hood. “Azrael, Azrael, Azrael, Azrael—”
Her eyes flicked to Poppy’s and back, her shoulders tightening. “He left,” she told me carefully. “After Malachi called, he told everyone to go to their church, and he disappeared. We haven’t heard from him since, Scarlett, I’m sorry.”
I searched her eyes in complete disbelief, hearing Poppy stand. “It’s padlocked.”
No, no. He wouldn’t just leave. He…he had to be tracking Malachi. He went silent, turned into a ghost, to try and find me.
Wherever Malachi was, that’s where Azrael was, I was sure. If we found Malachi, we found Azrael.
“Azrael has bolt cutters in the car,” Poppy said a second later. “In the trunk.”
Olivia nodded. “Go, I’ll get her up.”
But as she walked by me, she slowed, pulling my eyes up to hers, the blue green so familiar and welcoming, it caused my lungs to freeze. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” she told me. “Not ever.”
I watched after her as she ran for the car before my eyes found Olivia’s again. “She means that metaphorically,” she explained gently. “You’ll still have your privacy, she’s just…” Olivia smiled. “We all feel a little extra protective right now.”
Olivia stood and held out a hand. “Do you feel comfortable with help, or do you want to do this alone?”
I stared at her hand for a long time, my heart beating too hard, my breathing coming too fast. Did I? She didn’t scare me. I was fine. Wasn’t I?
Was I okay?
It took a long time for my mind to process that question, but slowly, I finally slid my freezing hand into her warm one and used her to pull myself up unsteadily.
My legs shook painfully, my entire body screaming.
It felt so normal now that sometimes I found myself wondering if I would ever feel relief ever again.
“This isn’t forever,” I heard Olivia say as I stared down at my trembling legs, Lucy on my other side as if she were ready to catch me if I fell. “It will feel like that for a long time, but it’s not, I promise.”
~~~
January 3rd, 2024
I had a dream once.
I was in some sort of castle made of gray and black stone. There were wrought iron fences and a beautiful gate that kept out all those who wanted to fight against us.
Lining those fences were vines covered in thorns and the deepest red roses I had ever seen in my life. At the base of those rose bushes yellow flowers had been planted, bright and shining. The color of the sun.
I was in the drawing room, looking at the world, at the vast sea of trees beyond the gates, while I drew pictures of people with no faces.
I had this dream years ago. Was it a premonition, a vision, or something else? Had I been allowed a glimpse into my future or had my future become this because of that one dream?
I wasn’t sure, but there was one thing I was sure about; I was in agony and it wouldn’t stop. My entire body hurt, inside and out. I could feel the bruises, the scrapes, every ounce of torture they had inflicted, and all I wanted to do was sleep until it disappeared.