Caedes

29 | destiny

Thursday, 7:08 P.M.

With the desert wind in our faces and the setting sun at our backs, we raced through the red valley. The only sounds were my rapid breaths, Vee's exerted snorts, and the even beat of his hooves.

The smile didn't leave my face until we reached the road beyond the end of the canyon. As expected, there was a parking lot and a hiking trail here. Edged between red rock walls, the canyon was beautiful, a sight to see. Hell, on a regular day, this was probably the perfect place to spend time.

But not today.

The entire area was a battlefield. Several cars had crashed into one another and were left with shattered windows and open doors as if their occupants had fled mindlessly. Glass shards littered the ground, some tainted red, and deep orange flames slowly ate away at the interior of a particularly beaten blue sedan. Numerous puddles of dark liquid reflected sunlight, creating a stark contrast to the dusty asphalt around them.

Then there were the bodies strewn across the whole parking lot.

There must have been between twenty and thirty people. Some lay on the ground, limbs extended at odd angles, while others were still perched in car seats or leaning on benches near the trailhead. Cuts and scratches covered the exposed skin on most of their arms and legs, but the majority had a fatal wound to the head or neck. Amplified by the hot asphalt and lack of air currents, the scent of fresh blood hung heavy in the air.

The eerie silence was only broken by the sound of Vee's hooves as we made our way through the wrecks. Again, I couldn't take my eyes off the scene, but this time, I wasn't confused as to why. This dark side of me that longed for violence was a much greater part of my being than I'd first thought. And one thing was certain, it wouldn't be satisfied until everything was blood.

Still...there was something else. Something I shouldn't be feeling.

Sensing my turmoil, Vee turned toward the road. Following his gaze, I released a single, ragged breath. It was empty. No sign of Cris or her red Jeep. Good. For whatever reason, she'd heeded my warning. That was all that mattered. She shouldn't be here when the others—my real family—arrived. It wouldn't end well for her. For anyone.

Staring at the deserted road, steadily inhaling the smell of rusty metal, I was...torn. Was this what uncertainty felt like?

My presence alone was enough to set people off, and denying the satisfaction wreaking havoc brought me was pointless. It was as much a part of me as Vee was. Even more so now that Caedes was back in my possession. I had more control, but I could never stop.

All these...people were just collateral damage in a fight they couldn't win. I wasn't one of them, I wasn't human. Looking at their lifeless forms, I felt...nothing. Not even a tiny bit of remorse. Anyone who relentlessly and without reason attacked another being until they could no longer fight back or stopped breathing altogether didn't deserve any.

Sure, I'd set them off, but they didn't have to go along with it. Mike hadn't. Ellen and Cris hadn't either.

But Annabelle... Annabelle had. It hadn't even taken much, just an itsy-bitsy impulse and she'd jammed a knife into her husband's neck. So, that was it? She was weak and that's why she had to die?

A scream, more shocked than frightened, pierced the silence.

Vee spun around. Right next to the trailhead sign stood a family of four. The kids, two boys no older than ten, had their faces pressed into—presumably—their father's stomach. Both were shaking. Rubbing their backs frantically with both hands, the father scanned the parking lot, wide-eyed and unblinking. The woman next to him cried into her hands, tears streaming down her face.