48: Flames of ruin

They’d killed all of the guards. Every single one of them, all grossly disfigured with body parts strewn along the gate. And then, as though to serve as an example, Lovita and Floran were impaled on  the palisade fencing, their blood pooling onto the floor. It was almost too unbearable to even gaze upon, and the images of blood and bodies occupied my every thought on our journey to the airport, right until we boarded the private plane with Theo.

“I’m truly surprised that you called,” Theo said after about an hour of silence. Nicholas was unconscious and sprawled out on one of the seats. I was surprised that he was breathing after last night’s debacle. He’d pushed himself and used up all of his reserves and now, his body was suffering the consequences.

“I… I had no other choice. After I found out about Dante’s absurd plan I knew we would need an escape plan. You were the only person I… trusted.” Kiyan said with his head lowered and his eyes cast down to the ground. His words, however, had caught my attention.

“How did you know about Dante?” I asked curiously.

Kiyan sat up slightly and sighed before running his hands over his face.

“I wanted to officially leave Wolfsbane. But before I even got the chance, Dante had decided to call a meeting. It was there that he revealed that his brother, Daniel, was actually the leader of Wolfsbane. Then, he accused Nicholas of killing his brother, forcing Dante to take his place. He rallied the masses and convinced them to march to Nicholas’ home as a final stand to overthrow him and take back the whole of Iris. I had to play along… Dante and I had never really gotten along, and I feared he’d suspect me. But as soon as I got the chance, I came to help you. I was always weary of Dante− he had a knack for twisting the truth− and now I see that my suspicions were more than warranted,” he said.

I felt like a complete and utter idiot, letting him fool me the way he did. At some point I truly thought that Dante and I would be really good friends. I thought that he was someone whom I could trust. But I proved to myself that I was naïve and way too trusting. Perhaps I had become too comfortable, too out of touch with reality, and I had only myself to blame.

The events of the past few days were enough to keep me occupied throughout the long flight and the thoughts plagued my mind right until we landed and the warm, humid Bouvarian air touched my skin.

The airport was filled with the seemingly regular hustle and bustle of people travelling. Theodore had Nicholas sprawled out on his back, and although we caught a few curious glances here and there, every person seemed far too preoccupied with their own lives to pay us too much mind.

We took Theodore’s car, a very humble, silver hatchback. We loaded Nicholas’ sleeping body inside and then Kiyan sat in the front seat while I took the back. I could tell by the way Kiyan fidgeted his hands that he was extremely nervous. The sexual tension between both Kiyan and him was almost suffocating and I began to wonder how exactly Kiyan had gotten Theodore’s number in the first place.

Nonetheless, and for my own sanity, I decided to put an end to the ensuing silence by asking, “Kiyan, you said you wanted to officially leave Wolfsbane. Why?”

A moment more of silence passed us by before Kiyan sighed and sank into his seat, “I didn’t feel as though we were making the difference that I wanted us to be making. Day by day the agenda seemed more to revolve around vengeance than moving forward and striving for unity. I figured my skills would be best suited elsewhere… with you guys.”

I was almost surprised by his words before recalling his strange behaviour during the last conversation we’d had before all of this Dante madness.

“You want to join the team?” Theo asked.

Kiyan nodded before suddenly folding his arms across his chest and saying, “But if you idiots won’t have me then I’ll find my own thing to do.”

I could tell that there was a hidden sense of fear behind his voice and so I placed a hand on his shoulder before saying, “Of course you can join!”

I had no doubt in my mind that Zestonia was currently in complete and utter uproar and so as a former member of Wolfsbane and a rather aggressive activist for change, Kiyan was a perfect addition to our small, dysfunctional team.

“As long as you don’t mind teaming up with lycans…” Theo said sarcastically and under his breath. But Kiyan heard and shot him a glare.

“What’s going on between you two?” I finally asked.

“Nothing!” both said in unison. I shook my head, knowing that both would be too stubborn for me to squeeze anything out of. And so I turned my focus on Nicholas who seemed still soundly asleep. He looked so peaceful, so innocent. If I had my work with me, I’d scribble a few sentences together to capture just how beautiful he was. And as I thought about writing, a sore sadness arose in my chest. All of my work, had burned to a crisp in that house. Years and years of writing on my pages completely down the drain, and with it all the dreams I’d once had. Of course I could start anew, but the new versions would never be the same as the old. The thoughts and feelings put into the old copy were so unique and passionately written that they couldn’t be replicated.

We reached Theo’s humble abode in roughly half an hour. It was a beautiful cottage fenced off with a short stone wall with a stone path running right between a gap in it leading right to the steps of the front patio. The patio was shaded by a canopy of passion fruit vines. But they seemed rather odd, with goldish tendrils flowing through the leaves, glistening in the sun. Outside was a nice, swinging wooden bench which faced towards a pond. The closer to the pond we got, the stranger it seemed to look. The water had soft silver wisps running through it and strange white and black fish.

“I wouldn’t get too close to that. It’s a portal to the underworld,” Theo said warningly.

“You just have a portal to the underworld lying here in your yard?” I questioned.

Theo shrugged before using his free hand to grab at one of the passion fruit leaves and throwing it in the pond. Immediately the water began to swirl uncontrollably before completely pushing to the side revealing a bright golden mirror-like surface.

“It only works if one of the leaves of this passion fruit vine have touched it. Otherwise, it’s a deathtrap. The moment you step foot into the pond, you turn into one of those fish,” Theo said.

The golden mirror shortly returned back into water. The fish now had a more sinister look to them and I actively made it a point to stay away from the pond as I continued on the stone path.

“So people have accidentally fallen in?” Kiyan asked.

“Not accidentally. Some of them I threw in there. But for good reasons. Each fish in there was once a human or lycan monstrous enough to make your blood curdle.” For a moment I wished that Dante was a fish swimming in that pond.

After Theo’s frightening explanation of his death trap of a pond, he led us into his home. I was quite surprised by the interior which seemed quite larger than the exterior had led me to believe. But more than that it seemed comfortable and homely. The walls were painted in the colour of black and silver. To illuminate the place there were lights places in every corner of every room and candles here and there, some scented with caramel, vanilla and jasmine.

“I have quite a few guestrooms so you can take your pick. Almost all of them have their own bathrooms.” Theo said before carrying Nicholas through the passageway.

“I’d like to stay with him…” I said softly.

Theo smiled and gave a nod before leading me down further and turning into one of the rooms. It was painted in a soft lavender colour with a large bed big enough for about three people. Theodore set Nicholas down and I sat on the bed next to him.

“Tomorrow I’ll whip something up for him to help him recover faster. Will you help?”

I nodded eagerly. Anything to help him recover.

“Alright then. The kitchen is just past the living room. Melissa and I have kept it well-stocked so you can help yourself to whatever you’d like.”

*Melissa*. It felt like a century since I’d last spoken to her. So much had happened in such a short period of time, and I needed to discuss it all with her, especially now that everything about Dante had been revealed.

Just then Melissa herself came bursting into the room, her face flushed and her chest heaving heavily as she panted.

“It’s great to see you again Ariya,” she said with a worried smile on her face, “You all are going to want to see this…”

And with that she rushed us to her room where the TV had been on. Kiyan, who’d heard the commotion, followed closely behind us. The moment my eyes set sight on the screen; they widened in absolute horror. There was fire everywhere and there were streets filled with broken cars and litter. But that wasn’t what chilled me to the bone. It was those cold brown eyes that stared back at me. Dante’s eyes, filled with the flames of ruin.