BEAUTIFUL FLOWER | MATTHEO RIDDLE

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

T R I G G E R W A R
N I N G

none

─── ･ ｡ ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

F O R T Y S E V E N

"HOW long has she been like this?"

I stared Daìnn straight in the face, his eyes lingering on mine even after I'd looked away. I grazed Epiphany, learned her new structure; the way she leaned casually as if always in pain, against the wall with her head back, chin up.

"At least a few days." I mumbled, my eyes carving the new hollows of her pale cheeks. "It's getting worse." 

"Yes." he spit. "I can see that well on my own."

He'd spent hours looking at her, wisping through parts of her mind, listening to her vitals. He wrote things down and gave her ailments, then used spells and charms. Each time, however, I watched him get angrier and angrier, and more irritable as he tried to conceal it.

"Do you know what it is?" I asked hopefully, my back turned toward Epiphany, who was now sleeping. This was the most Daìnn and I had talked since our child years. The longest we went without arguing in possibly forever. "Do you know how to fix it?" I ran a hand through my hair.

"No!" he whisper-yelled. Then again, "No." quieter this time. "I have no whisper of a clue as to what is going on with her. I don't know what spell or force of magic was used, and because of that, I don't know how to fix it. I can't reverse something that wasn't done."

Heat flooded my veins, and worry escalated. He was my last resort, the one person who I thought would have the answers I needed to fix her. If he didn't know, then nobody did. If he couldn't fix her, then no one could.

"What's going to happen to her?" I leaned against him, my hands behind my back. He leaned into me, too, with his head against the wall, and searched my eyes. He answered me before he even opened his mouth.

I knew that look anywhere.

"We must make sure she is comfortable." was all he said.

I nodded once, then turned to the corner. There was a hand on my shoulder-- Daìnn --and I shrugged it off, pressing my hand against the splinters of the wood wall. It was cold, biting into the palm of my hand. And yet, Epiphany had laid here all day every day, without a single complaint.

Epiphany, who had no idea what end she would meet. Who kept hope, no matter how dark the situation. Epiphany, who, out of all of us, deserved the most, and got the least. Epiphany, who was far too young to have to understand any of this.

There was a shuffle behind me and the shack's door opened; a cold breeze whipped at my cheeks, biting my hands and lips. Epiphany stirred, and I pushed Daìnn out into the snowy air, stepping behind him, closing the door quietly behind my back.

"Do we tell her?"

He looked at me, then the sky, and I watched as the snowflakes fell and landed on the bridge of his nose. Counted them. Counted the ones that landed on my palms as I held them out. He let out a deep breath, one that he had been holding ever since he stepped foot into that shack.

"No." he spoke, shortly. "No, we do not tell her. We make sure she has no clue. Then, when necessary, we hold her hand."

I thought about it. It was better for her, to not know. She wouldn't worry, wouldn't cry as much, wouldn't be afraid. She wouldn't be able to sleep with that on her conscious. But what if I don't wake up? she'd ask me. But what if you do? I'd tell her.

Daìnn began to walk away, kicking snow behind him, almost falling a few times. I called after him once more before he was too far. How long?  He knew what I meant. Weeks. He'd yell back. But how many? I'd ask. Not enough. He'd say.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The days began to blur together the less I paid attention to them. I found myself sleeping during the day and wide awake at night, alone under a quiet castle. I'd visit Calantha a few times, only to sit with her for a few moments before returning to my own dorm. We didn't speak, just stared.

My mind was occupied with thoughts of Epiphany, how long she had and what I was going to do after. What story would I have to make up? Who would I tell the truth to? Voldemort, and the woman he was speaking to. Who she was, why she sounded so eager. Calantha, and how to become normal again.

There was a flutter, a small whisper of paper on the edge of my bed, and I sat up. There, as I'd assumed, was a small envelope. When I picked it up it burned my fingers, and the tips of it disintegrated into nothing. I read:

Mattheo,

I request your presence at the Malfoy Manor. This is urgent. I have news, and I have instructions for you that I will not disclose under these circumstances. You are requested once you get this.

I set it down. No return address. It was from Voldemort, of course. I could tell by the way he worded his sentences, and by the handwriting. Elegant but messy, if even possible. I laid back, feeling the fire of the ashes once forming the letter pile in my hand.

I sighed, he'd known I'd gotten it. Known I'd already read it. It was enchanted to burn once read, and the ashes would appear before the one who cast the enchantment as if a reply was being sent. I've gotten your letter, it would say.

My head turned to the clock on the wall. 03:13 AM. I had nothing better to do, and I was wide awake. I might as well see what it was he wanted. More so, he had information for me. It could be something about the woman, or a lead to whatever he had planning. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to go.

It wasn't like I had a choice.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The walls had begun to peel inside the manor, revealing the brick that lay beyond. Portraits fell off the walls and were dressed upon the floor, some torn and shredded. On one, Malfoy's face was cut out, leaving Narcissa and Lucius each hugging a headless boy.

A dark brown splatter covered some of the walls, with piles of glass blown beneath them. The foul smell of blood and iron almost burned my nose, and there was rotting in the air. Breathing felt difficult, and my stomach twisted as I walked deeper into the house.

It was empty again. The same dull, lingering quiet coated the grotesque-smelling air-- I recognized it right away.

As I walked through the house, though, the only thing I could think about was Epiphany. I should be with her right now, making sure she wasn't alone. I knew Daìnn was there, laying with her, holding her, but still, I should be there.

I should've been there.

─── ･ ｡ ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───