My Soul to Reap (Archived)

Dead Silence

     Skylla, true to her word, brought me out of the room. But only to the entryway, where we could still look in. I was torn between wanting to know what was about to happen and not wanting to watch, because the image of blood and corpses wouldn't leave me. There still seemed like there were so many people, but I was starting to recognize them now. Faces from the upper room of Alpha, Jun and Tallie, even some of the people from the bus were here. And of course there were my friends, looking horribly outnumbered even though I knew some of these people were on their side.

It sounded like thunder. A few people screamed, scattering to hide or at least get away from the centre of the room. Instead of a cloud it was a sickly green, the colour of Kayin's smoke. Which meant it had to be Kayin. I got out of the way as people poured past, those who knew exactly what was going on but not wanting to be part of it. It seemed wrong that Kayin would be first to strike, but of course he would want to minimize the casualties. These people- or, really, non-humans, moved quickly enough that the doorway was clear in minutes. I peeked around the corner, convinced I needed to at least watch what was about to happen. The fighting had already started, blurs of colour and flashes of metal everywhere. I couldn't help but cringe, and my whole body tensed up.

There was blood, blood everywhere. It ran over the floors and I was terrified it would reach me, that I'd be stained in it so that I was never clean. I must have been shaking, because Skylla grasped my shoulders firmly again.

"I need you to tell Brie something," she said, her voice surprisingly hoarse. I wanted to tell her that wasn't possible right now, that she'd just have to wait and tell her herself. But I didn't. "I want to tell her I'm sorry that I never got to sail her around the world. That when I saw her turn we all wanted to take her away, wanted to put her on a ship and let her be free. She needs to know that, okay?" I nodded, but I was frowning too. I had no idea why it was my job, why she was even telling me this.

She stood up and ripped the train off her dress, the whole thing landing in a heap on the floor. I frowned until I realized that her dress really ended in shorts, and now it looked more like a catsuit than a party dress. I backed up, shaking my head. I knew now, what she was going to do. And it hated myself for not being able to stop someone who I'd just started to trust, just started to know. There was so much potential with her, so much I could know. But she held her head high in a sense of finality, like she'd accepted whatever was about to happen.

She strode into the middle of the battlefield, ducking and swerving around attacks. And then she opened her mouth and sang, the melody floating through the room and stopping her enemies. I closed my eyes and let out a silent scream, knowing what came next.

Kayin was fighting Tallie. It was horrible to watch, her all teeth and claws and him countering everything with that green mist. It almost seemed acidic, like every time it touched her it burned her skin. She flinched every time, so I could only assume. But when Skylla sang it slowed her down, like she was distracted or just unable to move. The notes were impossibly high, so the melody cut through any sound the fighting was making. And that's when the smoke engulfed Tallie, overtook her very being. It was gone for a second and then she screamed it out, head thrown backwards before she collapsed onto the floor. Before she died, lying as a corpse on the ground.

It was happening everywhere, but that was the only point when I knew both parties fighting. Brie's dress didn't come anywhere close to slowing her down, and it had actually ripped up both sides. Or, more likely, she'd ripped it herself. The scythe was straightened and flashing through people like water. Everything was spins in her fighting style, graceful lines and smooth motions. She spun the scythe like a baton, raising its spinning form above her head like she was going to use it to fly away and cutting down everyone that got close. The worst part was they bled, somehow the scythe's cuts made people bleed now. It was happening, the bodies were piling up and the blood just kept coming and coming.