Page 12 of A Touch Of Death

Well, shit. She's a walking lie detector.

"We're sorry nonetheless," Zayn offers, guilt still flickering in his eyes the way it's twisting my gut. "I hate to ask, but were there any survivors before you escaped?"

Grief and agony spark in Novia's blue and green eyes, and she shakes her head, a lone tear escaping before she can stop it. With a crack in her voice, she tells us, "No. There were no survivors. Only me. I'm the last of the fae.The very last one in existence."

Chapter 7

Novia

Zaynlooks the most shocked out of all four of the guys after my revelation. I don't understand why, but he seems to grow paler, and his eyes widen, where as the others only raise eyebrows or look at me in shock. Zayn looks like he's seconds away from upheaving the pancakes he ate before this conversation.

"You're the very last fae?" Ezra asks with a frown, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"I already told you, my people were slaughtered in front of me. They killed every single one but me. I'm the only one that lived, the only fae that got out of that facility alive." The memories of my people dying right before my eyes keep assaulting me, crashing into my already battered and bruised brain. Grief cloaks my heart, tugging tightly until I'm breathless. Tears pool in my eyes, but I don't let them fall. I've shed enough tears for now. Crying won't bring them all back. My tears won't bring the two people who loved me with their whole beings back.

I heave out an uneven breath, falling back into the couch. I suddenly begin to feel tired again, but I force my eyes to stay open. "Do you have any more questions you want answered? I'm pretty sure I've covered the basics, but do you want to know anything else?"

Nix speaks up from beside me. "Yeah, I have one. How did you end up in the river?"

Oh yeah, I didn't explain my escape. Suppose that would be a good thing to tell them, considering I'm the equivalent of a wanted convict now. "I was chased after I escaped. I managed to hide for the night, but just as the sun started rising, the Top Psycho's lapdog caught up to me. He didn't see me at first, so I ran. I wasn't fast enough, and he chased me down, hunted me like I was his prey. He tripped over something, and I managed to get further away, but I ended up at a dead end, stuck on the cliff of a waterfall. He caught up to me again, and there wasn't any other option to get away from him... so I jumped."

A round of sharp inhales and incredulous expressions greets me, and I chew on my bottom lip to fight off the way their looks are making me feel. It's a bad habit I've always had when I feel tense or uncomfortable.

"You could have died," Ezra unhelpfully points out, annoyance flashing in his dark eyes.

My jaw tightens, and my eyes harden when I look at him. Anger suddenly rises to the surface, clawing at my skin and begging to be released. How dare he. How fucking dare he point out the obvious to me. How dare he state something I was already painfully aware of without any remorse. I rein in the bubbling rage and speak through clenched teeth. "I'm more aware than anyone here that a jump like that could have killed me. I expected to die when I jumped. I would have died a free fucking woman, instead of letting that slimy bastard get his hands on me again. It'll be over my dead body that I'm captured, tortured, and mutilated like I'm nothing more than a lump of meat to poke and prod again. I won't give them that power over me another time. If I have to choose my death over a life that's not worth living, I'll do it without a second thought."

The room goes deathly still, and my breaths are coming in quick. My barely restrained anger niggles at me, but I hold on to it with an iron grip. I need air. I need to be outside, away from...everything.

My eyes dart to the front door, and I rise from my seat without much thought. The need to get away for a little while is so strong that I can almost feel it scraping at my skin. I turn my body to face the guys, but I don't meet their gazes, though I do see Ezra looking a little pale. My voice is tight and strained when I open my mouth next. "Excuse me."

I hear two of them inhale, ready to speak, but I'm turning on my heel and heading for the door before a word can escape them. Flinging the door open, I step outside, and take in a much needed deep breath. I slam the door shut behind me before taking off towards the trees that surround the house and move past a gleaming red truck that does nothing to blend into its surroundings and walk straight into the woods.

I'm careful with my foot placements, but I still nick my toes and heels on thorns. The cuts are quicker to heal now that I've rested and been fed, so I pay them no mind and keep marching through the woods, brushing my hand over flowers and the rough bark of the trees as I go by.

The more I walk, the more my anger finally begins to drain, leaving a gaping hole in my chest for the grief and sorrow to take its place. The more time I spend surrounded by nature, the less I want to scream at the sky and curse the Fates for taking my family away from me. The sadness burrows deep in my soul, more so now that the rage I was barely restraining has begun to ebb away.

I find a small spot in the woods where the grass is flat enough to sit without rogue twigs digging into my skin, so I make my way over and settle onto the floor with my legs crossed. Absentmindedly, I begin the play with the blades of grass, picking one and twisting it into knots to showcase just exactly what's going on inside my head and heart.

The rustle of leaves, the wind floating through the trees, and the pitter patter of small animals scurrying about the forest calms me some more, and my body begins to relax from its rigid position. I twirl the blade of grass until it's a knotted mess before throwing it away and picking a broken flower with bent and tattered petals. Looking at the flower as I twirl it in between my fingers I realise I'm looking at a very accurate resemblance to how I'm feeling at the moment. I’m feel as broken as the flower, my heart tattered and heavy with the weight of the pain that's suddenly crashing down on me. Ruined with the realisation that I'm suddenly alone in the world; my family is gone, and so are my people. I'm the very last of my people alive. I've never felt such loneliness before.

Before I know it, tears are leaving liquid tracks down my cheeks, dripping off my jaw and onto the imperfect flower that's still in my grasp. I drop the flower and watch it fall, the petals wilting away and scattering in the wind when a breeze filters through the trees. Simply watching something so pretty and precious crumble to nothing but a broken stem has all the pain pouring out of me in broken sobs and anguished cries. I curl into myself, sliding to the floor until I'm lying in the grass, hugging my arms to my stomach and lifting my knees close to my chest.

Surrounded by nature, I finally break.

I pour my heart out into the grass, trails of tears dripping from my eyes while harsh sobs wrack my body. Sobs for my sister who will never marry or have children. Sobs for my father who I’ll never receive another comforting hug from again. Tears for my entire race that were wiped in mere seconds, children and adults alike.

I don't know how long I lie in the woods, breaking over losing everything. Finally releasing the pent up agony I've kept at bay for too long already.

A little while later, I vaguely hear movement behind me, but I don't move. I couldn't even if I wanted to. It's like my body has moulded itself into the earth beneath me, content to lie here for however long it'll take my heart to mend itself, to sew itself back together until it's whole again.

Finally, after a long,longwhile, my cries lessen, and my sobbing quiets down to sniffles and hiccupped breaths. My head feels cloudy and fuzzy, and my body has grown numb from how tightly I've held myself in the same position. My neck is sore, and my back aches something fierce, but I still don't move. I just lie here, staring mindlessly at the trees in front of me. Even when the large white and grey wolf trots in front of my face and leans down to nudge my cheek with his nose.

Nix found me.

He whines and nudges me again, but it's as though I'm suddenly empty. I can't bring myself to lift my head and acknowledge him the way I should. I don't have it in me to function normally right now, so I hold on to the numbness for a little while longer.

The giant wolf circles around me once, then twice, before stopping behind me. He's close enough that I can feel the heat pouring off him and warming my back. I then feel him shuffle closer until his entire body is lying down and pressed up against me. His nose tucks into the back of my neck, and the huff of warm air he releases tickles the hair at my nape. It's comforting, feeling him so close. With how near he is, a fraction of me settles.

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