The Heart of the Darkness

by M. J. Padgett

  “At first, I didn’t know what Snow was doing. It was a long time before I... recovered from my grief. Once I realized, I tried to reason with her, but you know how she was. There was never anything that pleased her. She always wanted more and more, so I tried to build my own army against her.”

  “What about Scarlett?” I asked.

  “Snow had already destroyed the girl. I merely... used her to gain access.” Cole ducked his head and mumbled, something unlike him, considering his great power and ability. “I should not have, but I—”

  I ground my teeth and seethed. “Scarlett killed good people, Cole. And you let her!”

  “No, Ellie! I overpowered Scarlett just before we entered Schwarzwald, I swear it! Everything she did before she was under my control, she did for Snow!”

  “And the Seven now?” I asked.

  “I can’t let Snow absorb them. I can’t, Ellie. If she does, then I will never be able to stop her. I’d rather you hate me forever for killing seven people you love, then die knowing she will kill you and everyone else in all the kingdoms—the world if she has her way.”

  “She’s your sister, Cole. How can I believe you’re not working with her?”

  “Have I ever entertained her foolish whims? She is exactly what she was born to be and nothing more. She has no soul, Ellie.”

  “Neither do you,” I snapped. “And I don’t remember anything about her, so anything you say could be a lie.”

  Cole flinched but did not snap back at me. “Don’t I have a soul? I love you, so I must have something.” His voice was kind and soft, almost like it had been the day we met. “I must go. I don’t want to lose control,” he said. He glanced quickly at my mother and said, “I thank you for allowing me to explain myself, and I am... sorry for all I have done to you,” then shifted and disappeared into the black sky.

  Hayden wasted no time. “Annabell, I think I know a way to help you regain your memory. If the stars are coming to help you, it stands to reason they already know the truth. Once they are here, we can channel their power into a spell that removes mental blocks. I have a feeling Snow pulled a fast one on you, and there’s probably some sort of control on your memory.”

  “You believe him? You truly believe everything Cole just said?” I asked.

  Hayden chewed her lip, then said, “I believe him when he says he loves you, and because of that, I think he would rather share all his secrets than see harm come to you.”

  “But... I... I love Wil, and if I...” I lifted my eyes to my mother, the only one who ever loved me as a mother should. “What do I do?”

  “You do what you were meant to do, Annabell. You save the world. Everything else is a worry for later,” Hayden said just as a blinding light knocked us all to the ground.

  I hadn’t expected the arrival of my aids to be so incredibly bright, but then again, my own fall had been brilliant. Who knew why I expected theirs to be different from mine. Once the light faded, Pieter, Dannie, and Caroline stood before us in all their glory—which was, surprisingly, much more human than expected.

  “I have officially seen everything and can never be surprised again,” Jack said. “Wait! Wait, pretend I didn’t say that!”

  Hayden rolled her eyes and took in the three stars. Pieter, Parker’s old friend who drowned trying to save Parker and the Reichenbach twins, bowed to us and rose with a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen the forest from ground level. I must say it’s a bit colder than I expected.”

  Caroline chuckled. “Will I get to see my children? I’ve missed them,” she said, reaching for me.

  “I... I hope so. I wanted to thank you for doing what you did,” I said as my small hand slipped into hers. “You saved us that day, and you were so brave.”

  “It was the first good thing I ever did,” Caroline said. “And I hope to do many more before going back up there.”

  Dannie stared at Jack, whose jaw was slack as he took her in. Finally, she smiled and went to him. He opened his arms and took her in an embrace, reminding me Dannie was a casualty we had not anticipated. Sierra and Cecily’s old roommate was not part of the plan, but when she died, I knew I had to give her a chance to see this thing through to the end.

  “We missed you so much,” Jack said. “Will we have time to tell you everything?”

  “I already know all there is to know,” she said with a shrug.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot. You always were a know it all,” Jack teased, squeezing her again. “Can you guys help Annabell regain her lost memory?”

  Caroline squeezed my hand again. “We can. We’ve been waiting for this moment since we united in the Heavens. We’ve seen the truth, and we want her to see it, too.”

  Caroline released my hand and pressed her palms against my temples. I knew the pain to come, but I welcomed it. Whatever I had been missing was necessary to win the coming fight, but there was a small bit of dread, perhaps doubt, that boiled in my stomach. Once I knew everything, I’d have to face my foe, and I had a feeling it was about to get a lot harder than even I had anticipated.

  I wasn’t wrong about the pain.

  “You there, are you alright?” I asked.

  The boy raised his head, his face streaked with mud and tears. “I am lost,” he said. “I am lonely and hungry.”

  I moved closer and sat beside the boy, rummaged through my small bag until I found my only crust of bread, and offered it to him. He took it with wide eyes and a shaking hand, then inhaled it as if he had not eaten in years. Once he was through, I offered him an apple, which he also ate half of before returning it to me.

  “You should eat, too,” he said.

  My stomach growled, but I had already decided my fate. No sense taking a full belly over the edge of a cliff, not when the poor boy needed food. I shook my head and pushed the apple back toward him. Now that he stared at me, I saw he was quite handsome and much closer to my own age than I had initially suspected. In fact, his health seemed to improve drastically with each bite.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  The boy offered his hand and a grin. “My name is Cole. And my sister is hiding somewhere in the forest, but I doubt she will show herself until she realizes you are a kind person.”

  “What if I am not a kind person?” I asked, settling slightly closer to him. Who knew why, but I felt safer close to him, though it didn’t matter if something ate me in the forest. I had intended to leap from a cliff, so what harm could a monster do? Even so, his heart beat wildly, as evidenced by the pulsing vein in his neck, but he leaned closer to me in kind.

  “I believe you are kind. You shared your food with me, and you don’t even know what I am,” he said.

  I giggled, although it was forced. “And what are you?”

  “A vessel for darkness and evil. So is my sister,” he said, taking the last bite of an apple. I chuckled and tipped my head. “You doubt? It’s true.”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” I admitted.

  “Oh? Have you heard of all the things in all the world, Ellie?”

  “My name is Elfriede, the Princess of—”

  “I know of you, and Ellie suits you better. May I call you that instead?”

  I shrugged. It was no matter to me, considering I wouldn’t be alive much longer. “I suppose. Who is your sister?”

  “Her name is Snow.”

  “Cole and Snow? Opposites, I’d say,” I said, thinking of the blackness of coal and the pristine color of the snow.

  “Mmm, I guess, but my name is not spelled the same as the rock. We are opposites, though, in every conceivable way. She likes what we are where I detest it.”

  I groaned and leaned my head on his shoulder. “I detest my life, as well. I have powerful magic, but my father will not let me use it. What good is my life when I am a constant disappointment, and I cannot even use my gifts?”

  “Magic can be a curse, especially when it consumes you instead of you controlling your ability.”

  “But I d
o have control over it, very much so. I can show you, if you’d like,” I said, offering my hand.

  “I might hurt you. I wouldn’t want my darkness to—”

  I grasped his hand before he could talk himself right out of it. When I touched him, there was an immediate connection I had never felt with another person, something like a soul-deep understanding that we were meant to be friends from the beginning. I felt his darkness, deep and troublesome, stirring in every part of his essence, but it was no match for the light I had. I drew it in, let it move through me until the light found it, then expelled it with little more trouble than that required to clean a smudge from my fingers.

  “I feel... free,” Cole said. “How did you do that? Ellie, the darkness could be in you!” Cole leaped from beside me, and pulled me up, looked me over, then decided I was just fine. “It’s gone. There’s no more of it!”

  “I told you,” I said with a giggle. I had no way of knowing at the time just how much Snow hated that giggle or that I had become instant friends with her brother. He had what she wanted—an ability to control the darkness unparalleled by any vessel before them, more than she could control without losing consciousness, and a sense of duty she despised.

  “Annabell, you’ll be just fine,” Hayden said. I felt her stroking my hair as the memory faded, but another was on its heels.

  “Cole, what are you doing?” I asked as I wove through the trees, searching for him. It was late, and the sun was nearly tucked behind the horizon, but the early evening chill didn’t bother me. I enjoyed the cold, but I did not enjoy wandering the forest searching for my beloved.

  “I have a surprise for you, Elfriede, if you can catch me,” Cole said, and a thick spread of underbrush shook before a flash of darkness crossed my path and darted south.

  “Oh, I do tire of your games of catch, Cole! Wait for me!” I stomped my foot then decided I had better run if I didn’t want to be left out in the forest all night without my surprise. I darted through the trees again, listening for any rustling and watching for his shadow.

  “Over here,” he teased, then crossed my path again with such speed I hardly saw him.

  I stopped in my tracks and crossed my arms. “I will not be teased,” I said and tilted my chin upward.

  Cole rushed forward and stopped in front of me, strands of his black hair falling into his face. He had grown and filled in quite a bit over the years, and now he was a handsome man whose face occupied far too many of my dreams, not to mention my waking hours.

  “Petulant child, they said. It seems they were right about you,” he taunted.

  I pursed my lips. “What would they know? They hardly knew I disappeared,” I said and dropped my hands to my sides.

  “Petulance will get you nowhere with me, little princess.”

  Tears sprung in my eyes, so I turned away from him.

  Cole turned me back, pulled me into his embrace, and kissed my forehead. “It is their loss, my love. Come, I will take you to your surprise.”

  His hand slid down my arm, where his fingers tangled between mine. I followed him at a pace more appropriate for a human, which I knew annoyed him, but he made no complaints. I knew the path well. We were headed to our special place, a hidden field of wildflowers where we often lay together staring at the clouds. But once we left the thick forest, I was taken by surprise. Where there had once been a field now stood a grand castle fit for the wealthiest queen in all the world.

  I gasped and gripped my dress at my chest. “Cole?”

  His smile dipped into a single dimple on the right. “Do you love it?”

  “For me?” I stared up at the sweeping arches and towers.

  “Anything for you, Elfriede. Come, let’s explore your castle, shall we?”

  “You built her a castle?” Snow’s taunting voice echoed behind us, her ever-present judgment always enough to ruin any moment.

  Cole turned to see his sister, who stood against a tree, eating an apple. Her black hair curled around her face and spilled over her shoulders in waves. Snow had been jealous of me from the first moment, but she seemed to tolerate my presence if only because I made her brother happy—or perhaps because I limited his power by siphoning his darkness, leaving her the more powerful of the two.

  “What do you want now, Snow?” Cole asked, biting his cheek.

  “I was merely checking in on my brother and his pet.”

  “She’s not a pet!” Cole sprang toward her, but I caught his arm and pulled him back toward the castle. Once we were inside, he would forget all about his sister and her jabs. I hoped one day she would see that what I offered Cole was peace, and in that came a certain quiet the forest had never seen before. If she would only let me offer her the same, then perhaps she would be happy as well.

  “Touchy, touchy,” she teased. “Well, I must say this is a grand castle, but it will never make up for the things you do behind her back, brother.” With that, Snow darted away with the same speed Cole possessed, only she left confusion and sadness in her wake.

  I had always wondered what Cole did when he was away, and if Snow was to be believed, it was not pleasant. I swallowed with great difficulty but let him choose how and when he would explain his sister’s accusations.

  His dark eyes melted me in place, always so comforting and loving, but I held up my defenses as he opened his mouth. “I found a small village just beyond our usual absorption location. There is a young girl there, one who—”

  “Another you love?” I asked, my lip trembling.

  Cole scoffed and took my hand. “Do not let my sister point you toward false truths, Ellie. I love only you, and no other will ever take your place. The girl in the village, she is a beacon for darkness, and I was only trying to help her.”

  “By absorbing it? That is why it has taken so much more to dilute yours?”

  “It is. I am sorry I did not tell you, but I feared you might be upset with me for wandering farther than we agreed,” he admitted.

  “She is happy and lives a good life with your help?” I asked.

  “She does, but it is thanks to you, Ellie. I merely bring to you what she calls to herself.”

  “Then we shall both go to her, and together we will find a way to cure her malady once and for all.”

  I tried to sit when the memory faded. Bits of what happened later fell into place—how we became friends with the girl, helped her to focus her energy to defeat the darkness she called toward her, and how she vowed to always stand by my side. Then Snow killed her just to spite us both.

  “I know it’s painful, darling, but you will survive it,” Jack said, then his voice faded into the next memory.

  “Snow has lost all control!” Cole screeched as he, himself, started to lose his grip on the darkness. The amount of it that poured from poor Lisel’s body as she died was more than I could manage at once, forcing Cole to do what he was meant to do. He held what I could not dissolve, at least until I had recovered enough to consume more.

  “Perhaps it was a mistake? Could it have been—”

  “You always try to see the best in my sister, but there is nothing redeeming about her. When will you see she is nothing more than this... this thing we are?” Cole’s voice rose, and his eyes flamed with the evil inside. I hated seeing his eyes that way—consumed with the thing we both detested. When he held that much, he was not the Cole I loved. He was mean and angry, and he often did things that disagreed with my sensibilities, such as murdering an entire field of cows so that his frustration would not be misplaced upon the villagers or me.

  “I am only hoping to see a better reality, but I suppose you are right. I’m well enough to take more, Cole. Please, let me ease the burden for you.”

  I reached for him, but he pulled away. It had happened before when he had absorbed so much of the darkness that he almost forgot who I was or that he loved me, but I knew I could coax him toward me with a sweet smile and kind words.

  “Come, Cole. Let me help you,” I whispered, then
let my fingers slowly intertwine with his. He relaxed and fell into my arms.

  “I promised her we would never let any harm come to her, Ellie. I lied.”

  “You meant what you said. It was not a lie,” I said as I let my light draw the darkness from him. The familiar charge made us both a bit light-headed, so we sat beside one another on the floor in front of our favorite fireplace. He leaned into my touch, sighing with relief so great I felt it in my own heart.

  “I love you, Ellie. I am sorry this is what our life must be.”

  “Do not be sorry, Cole. We are the balance between light and dark, between good and evil, but at least we have each other to love.”

  “Will you always love me?” he asked.

  I squeezed him tighter, holding him in my embrace. “I always will.”

  I felt tears slip from my cheeks as I remembered that moment. As each part of my life built on the last, I began to see the pattern. When I left Cole, I broke him. He had no one, and without me to stabilize the darkness, he had to take more and more. It made him—but wait!

  I sat straight on the bed, a single moment of clarity taking my mind from the memory recall.

  “Annabell?” Hayden asked as Caroline released her grip on my head.

  “Cole was... he wasn’t the one that killed Little Wil,” I whispered, but it was too distorted for them to understand. I shook my head and said, “Snow... she... I must remember more. Please, Caroline.”

  Caroline obliged and placed her palms on my temples again.

  “Why my brother wants you to drain his power is beyond me,” Snow said as she observed her image in my mirror. I had tried to appeal to her for Cole’s sake, but it seemed Snow, and I had nothing in common.

  “It gives him peace, Snow. That is all,” I said, fidgeting with the hem of my sleeve. Cole would return soon, and when he did, he would be angry that I let Snow into our home. Even so, I had hoped we would find common ground, and upon his arrival, he would see I had been right—but I was not, and now I had to figure out how to get his sister out of our home before she caused more trouble than her presence was worth.

  Snow chuckled. “Peace indeed. I wonder...” she said, then slowly turned to observe me. Her flawless face held minimal expression until her ruby lips curled into a grin. Before I could move, she grasped my arm and dug her nails into the tender flesh. I felt the familiar feel of the transference, but it was such a surge my light could hardly contain it. Soon, it could not.