"Aerona is making her comfortable, but I do not think she will last the night," Siors said heavily. "Perhaps you can give her some peace before she goes."
Lauren's blood ran cold, and immediately she tried to think of all the reasons why she shouldn't go in there to do the right thing. All of them died on her tongue at Siors' expression, the solemn acceptance that the village was about to lose one of its brightest lights. She bit her lip and thought of Aerona inside. The mother had been nothing but kind to Lauren, and now was about to lose her only daughter—much the way Lauren's mother probably felt right now back in California. She steeled herself as she nodded to Siors, dread spreading as she approached the small hut.
But nothing prepared Lauren for the sight of Mairwan lying in the bed she shared with her mother and brother, her face pale and lifeless, her hands folded gently across her stomach. If it weren't for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, Lauren would have thought her already dead.
"L-Lauren?" Aerona whispered, standing over the hearth. With tears running down her cheeks, she rinsed blood out of a rag that she had been using to clean the wound on the back of Mairwan's head.
"Hey," Lauren whispered, rushing over to her. She placed her hand on Aerona's back and retracted it just as quickly. Aerona was on fire and bone chillingly cold at the same time, a tumultuous sea of emotions that felt oddly similar to the tyllwyllwch.
"She's…" Aerona sobbed, rubbing the blood off of her red hands. "I don't know…"
Lauren wished she were a doctor, or knew anything about medicine. But she was just a stupid empath, and there was nothing she could do.
Except maybe stay with Mairwan until the end.
Lauren walked over to the bed, her feet made of lead. She didn't want to know what a person felt before they died, but she also knew Aerona would appreciate her staying with Mairwan when it happened. Lauren looked down at her hands, trembling with fear.
"Lauren?" Aerona asked.
"I'm gonna see if…well…" Lauren trailed off, her body not responding the way she was asking it to. She was petrified of what was going to happen, of having to face death.
"Thank you," Aerona whispered.
Lauren closed her eyes and gently touched Mairwan's small wrist, unsure of what to expect. But all that was left was…nothing. It was like touching old woman Owena.
"Did you feel her?" Aerona asked.
"Y-yes," Lauren lied. She couldn't bring herself to tell Aerona the truth. "But it's faint. Let me try again."
Lauren sat down on the bed and leaned over the small girl's frame. She sent up a silent prayer to whatever deity existed in this world and placed her whole hand on Mairwan's arm, and her other hand on the girl's warm forehead, willing her own consciousness to find something…
***
Lauren knew she was in Rhianu, or some form of the village. Everything was familiar, and yet it was different here—just as she was aware of her body, but not completely there. There was no one else there with her, and yet, she knew if she started walking towards the river, she would find the person she was looking for.
She saw the fire-red braids first, then the little body perched on the banks and looking into the white nothingness on the other side. Mairwan seemed a ghost herself—from her muted hair to her pale skin and freckles, everything was dull in color.
"Mairwan," Lauren said softly, standing next to the young girl, who didn't move to acknowledge her presence.
"Papa is calling me," Mairwan whispered.
Lauren nodded, straining her eyes to see the form of a man. But in this case, her empath powers did not give her the ability to see beyond what was in front of her.
"He's over there, on the other side of the river," Mairwan said, lifting her hand to point to the opaqueness. "He says it's time for me to go with him."
"Do you want to go with him?" Lauren asked, wondering why that thought gave her so much sadness.
"I don't know."
Lauren stood beside her for a moment, and reached out to touch the young girl's head. She didn't feel anything but air, but somehow she had connected with the girl. Mairwan turned her sad, hollow eyes to look up at Lauren.
"Would Momma miss me if I left?"
Lauren nodded. "And Eddy would too."
"I don't want to go, but I don't know the way back home."
"C'mon," Lauren said, offering her hand. "I know the way."
Mairwan slid her hand through Lauren's. It fit firmly in Lauren's hand. In fact, her whole form seemed more solid the closer they came to the village. Lauren spotted Aerona's house—or what she remembered to be Aerona's house—in the distance, and the stone at her neck began to warm. She knew if they walked through the threshold, they'd be home.
Home, but not Lauren's home.
She'd never see her home again.
The sky darkened as sadness settled in Lauren's chest, as if a cloud passed over the sun. Mairwan tugged at her arm. Her eyes were trained on something in the distance, something Lauren could not see.
"What is it?" Lauren asked.
She heard the beating of wings, and dread snaked up her spine. A shadow crossed over them, and she knew in the pit of her soul that it had come in her moment of weakness. The world, too, became darker, windier, reflecting the hurricane in her own mind.
It only grew more violent when Lauren heard the hissing laughter, as loud in this world as it was in her mind. Mairwan heard it too, and she began to cry in fear, clinging to Lauren's arm.
"It's okay," Lauren whispered, unsure if she was telling the truth or not.
With a great thud, the monster—the Anghenfil—landed in the middle of the village, smoke pluming from its flaring nostrils, and its ruby red eyes, now the same terrifying color as her necklace, stared only at Lauren.
"Get back," Lauren pushed Mairwan behind her, hoping that she'd find bravery by protecting someone else. The monster moved its head slowly as it surveyed its prey, and Lauren could hear it purring happily.
"You will not return."
The voice was at once quiet and echoed loudly, filling the dark space around them. Mairwan whimpered at Lauren's side.
"What does it want?" Mairwan asked.
"I don't know," Lauren lied.
The monster laughed, the hissing bursts of air sending chills down her spine.
Lauren tightened her grip on Mairwan; she was damned if she had just saved the young girl's life and this stupid monster took it again. The Anghenfil stood between them and Aerona's house, now covered in tyllwyllwch, as was the entire village. The only light, it seemed, was coming from Lauren's stone and from the belly of the beast.
"Mairwan, can you see your house?" Lauren asked.
"N-no," Mairwan whimpered. "Don't leave me—"
"I'm not," Lauren said, and she heard the monster laughing again.
"She is of no consequence. Give it to me, and she will go home."
"Give what to him?" Mairwan asked.
"Look at me," Lauren said, crouching down and grabbing Mairwan by the shoulders. "When I say run, I want you to run as fast as you can into the village."
"But—"
"I'll be right behind you."
"You can't escape."
"RUN!" Lauren screamed, nearly dragging Mairwan forward. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, pulling Mairwan along as they narrowly missed the snapping jaws of the Anghenfil. Lauren nearly threw Mairwan in front of her, but the girl found her footing and began running on her own.
Behind her, she heard the Anghenfil roar, and then fire exploded around them, lighting the dark sky with an eerie orange glow.
Mairwan stopped in the middle of the street, the fire dancing in her eyes. "Lauren, I'm scared!"
"MAIRWAN, RUN!" Lauren screamed, turning to look at the Anghenfil as it tilted its head back and roared again, spewing fire into the sky. Ash and fire rained down on top of her, but it didn't burn or hurt the way the stone at her neck did.
"Wait, what?" she blinked, looking down at her chest. The st
one was glowing as though she were cleansing the tyllwyllwch. She turned to look back at the Anghenfil, and it hissed when the light from the stone reached its eyes.
With the Anghenfil distracted, Lauren scooped Mairwan into her arms and ran forward into the village, unrecognizable in the fire. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the way it looked, how many houses down Aerona's house was from the edge of the river.
The stone glowed brighter when Lauren spied one house in the distance, and she knew it was the one. She put Mairwan on the ground and knelt down to her level.
"Lauren, I'm scared," Mairwan cried. Lauren heard the Anghenfil roar again, but she shook off her own fear, knowing that getting Mairwan to safety was more important.
"Your house is right here," Lauren said. "Walk in the front door, and you'll be home."
"But—"
"Just go," Lauren said, pushing her towards the burning house. She held her breath as the little girl pushed aside the curtain and disappeared.
Lauren breathed out; Mairwan was safe.
"You can be safe too."
"Yeah, I don't quite like your definition of safe." Lauren spun around to find the monster looming above her. It was keeping its distance, unable to look at her with the stone around her neck.
"I can defeat you with this, can't I?" Lauren said, lifting the stone by the chain.
"How can you defeat me if you still fear me?"
"I can handle this," she said, but the light dimmed and the monster cackled as panic grew in her mind.
"You have no secrets from me. I know what you fear. The things that you are even afraid to think…"
Lauren swallowed. The stone dropped against her chest, and the light vanished. Her cheeks flushed as she registered the heat of the village. The smell of the burning wood filled her nose, and the fire was suddenly very real. She coughed in the smoke, heard the monster laugh.
"I can make it all go away…just give me your pain…"
The smoke was thick now, and she choked on it. She hunched down to the ground, hoping that she could find clearer air, but found no respite. Things were starting to get hazy as fear replaced calm in her mind.
She struggled to focus, to remember that she could do this, she could defeat the monster.
If she could just stop own panic and focus.
"It is useless to fight me…just let me have it…"
Her mind turned on her, wondering why the hell she thought it was a good idea to stay and fight when she could have made her escape. She was so stupid for thinking she was strong enough to handle this.
She coughed again; the smoke and the fire and the constriction in her chest were too much. She fell to the ground as she gasped for breath. The monster towered over her, smoke pooling from its nostrils as it lowered its head.
"Let me take your pain…"
"No!" She struggled to keep herself awake, to breathe, to resist the pull of the monster.
"That's right….come to me…"
Lauren's eyes opened halfway as the burning village disappeared in a thick fog of tyllwyllwch, or perhaps that was the fog in her mind. She was very cold, the monster was very warm, and the promise of never feeling pain again was so tempting.
"You will never think of him again…"
Lauren's eyes closed.
"You will never be lonely again…"
She was teetering on the edge of an abyss, and knew if she slipped, she would never re-emerge.
"Let me take it all from you…"
It was going to be nice to never be afraid again.
"Lauren….Lauren…Lauren….LAUREN!"
***
"LAUREN!"
Lauren's eyes shot open and she gasped for air. She could hear voices, but the only one that mattered was the Anghenfil, hissing and sputtering in the back of her mind. She had been torn from its grip. She lay on the floor for a moment, stunned and scared that she had ventured so close to giving the monster what it wanted.
"Lauren!" Cefin cried, his face filling her hazy vision. "Lauren, what happened?"
Everything—Mairwan, the monster, the village on fire, and the Anghenfil—washed over her at once, and she found herself unable to breathe again.
"Lauren, you're safe," Aerona said, joining Cefin as a face in her line of vision. "You brought Mairwan back. It's all right."
Mairwan. She had been so scared when the Anghenfil appeared, and it was Lauren's fault that the Anghenfil almost took her. Lauren, who stupidly decided to stay behind and fight, and cowered at the last minute.
The monster was moving in her mind, and it only served to make her more panicked. What if it was coming for her at this very second? What if it crashed down on the house and crushed everyone in it, wrapping her up in its regenerated tail and flying her to do—
"Lauren, look at me," Cefin said, grabbing her face.
Relief. I am so relieved that Mairwan is back, but guilty—I never should have let it happen, now Lauren is acting so strangely—
Lauren returned to herself, Cefin's emotions overpowering her own fearful ones. In the absence of panic, she finally took a deep breath and looked around the room.
Siors and Aerona were white, the latter's eyes rimmed with red and her hands over her mouth. Eddy sobbed in the corner, and Mairwan was…
"You're awake?" Lauren gasped, staring into those brown eyes. They blinked back at her, tired, weak, but the light there.
"Lauren, what happened to you?" Aerona asked, stepping forward. "Mairwan woke up, but…you began swaying, and we couldn't wake you up!"
The Anghenfil growled in the back of her mind and she forced herself to half-smile. "I guess I got carried away…I've never done that before."
"You looked like something was after you," Cefin said, more firmly than Aerona. "What did you see?"
Lauren caught eyes with Mairwan, and prayed the little girl wouldn't say. Or that she wouldn't remember. Mairwan seemed completely out of it, but Lauren knew that she couldn't keep the appearance of the Anghenfil a secret for long. But she could delay telling them until it actually became a problem.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Lauren said, pushing herself to stand. She was still wobbly, but she needed to be alone before she lost her shit in front of everyone.
The Anghenfil purred in anticipation of her impending hysteria.
On second thought, perhaps she needed to be with people.
"Lauren, I…thank you," Aerona said, stepping forward. "You saved my little girl's life. I can't ever…there's no way I can ever repay you."
"Don't worry about it." Lauren forced herself to grin and add, "Just don't ask me to do laundry ever again."
CHAPTER TEN
Mairwan continued to drift in and out of consciousness, but Lauren just knew she was going to be fine, and she told Aerona as much. Siors was in agreement, although he stayed through a cold dinner of bread and cheese. Cefin left soon after, saying he was taking the night shift again, and Eddy and Aerona, exhausted from the day, were asleep soon after the plates were cleared away.
Only Lauren remained alert and awake, offering to keep watch over Mairwan through the night. It wasn't like she was planning to sleep ever again; she was afraid what would happen if the Anghenfil was able to penetrate her mind. She could feel it back there, moving around in the space reserved for terrifying thoughts. She was still on the cliff, and it was at the bottom, waiting for her to slip off.
She rubbed her face, wishing she could just turn off her mind for once. Mairwan slept peacefully beside her, and Lauren brushed aside some of her hair to relish in the quiet calm of the sleeping mind. When Lauren lifted her fingers, she felt better for a moment, until her fears washed back of her.
One day, Mairwan would regain full consciousness. Then she would tell her mother how Lauren brought the Anghenfil to the village in her mind, how they were both nearly killed because Lauren couldn't handle it. And then what would Aerona do? Kick her out?
Lauren's panic resurfaced, and although she did her best to quiet i
t, but it continued boiling. Every question grew louder and louder in her head. She was a ticking time bomb, and things were going to blow up any day now. Either the villagers would find out or the monster would tire of waiting and return for what it came for.
And what would these people do when it did? If it was a matter of saving themselves or saving her, a stranger with no connections to this land, they would give the monster what it wanted, she was sure.
She could feel herself slipping down into the darkness and struggled to keep herself afloat. It was the sadness that attracted the Anghenfil. When she fell deeper into her dark thoughts, that's when it appeared.
Needing a distraction, Lauren stood up and walked to the door, stepping outside to get some fresh air. She turned to look at Aerona's house, ghostly in the moonlight and reminding her of the vision. The desire to go home boiled to the surface again, and she wished there was some way that she could just break free of this world and go home, go to a place where monsters only existed in the movies. Where the worst thing she had to deal with was whether she made it to work on time. Where she could just show up at her mom's house and spend the night when she had a bad day, or could spend time with her childhood friends. But she was stuck in this stupid world, tangled in circumstances out of her control, and happiness remained firmly out of reach. It was at once miserable, frustrating, and disheartening.
The monster growled, reminding her of its presence. She hissed at herself, angry that she couldn't even control her own emotions. It was the exact same thing she had been struggling with since she broke up with Josh, the incessant back and forth like the world's worst game of ping-pong.
She rubbed her face again, hoping that the action would release her from her thoughts.
Which was, of course, what the monster was promising, and that's why it made it so tempting. She could just package up all of her hurt and pain and give it away before she had to endure it. But she also knew that giving into a fire-breathing monster was probably not the smartest thing in the world. It wanted to take her heart; magic or not, she couldn't live without it.
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