Rising From The Ashes of Her Past

Echo- Fire and Ice

Echo-

The moment my father pulled the car from the driveway I felt the stirring in the back of my mind, something was wrong, something felt off. Then it happened, my brother opened the connection within our minds that allowed me to hear what he heard, to see what he was seeing.

“If I tell you..” Maye’s voice cracks, she looks as if she is going to cry, “If I tell you, will you tell your brothers, will you share with them so I never have to say it out loud again.”

I feel my head nod with my brothers. I look over at Lynx and his head bobs in agreement as well. Maye takes a deep breath, steadying herself to tell the story. I draw a breath in trying to control my emotions. I know that while we are all connected any reaction I have will translate to my brothers. I steel myself forcing all emotions to the back.

Maye starts to weave the story of her life, and all the things that lead up to the night she ended up at our house. It isn’t a pleasant thing to hear. Nothing about the words she is saying seems like they can be real. My jaw is clenched so tight that my teeth may explode from the force of it. The stir inside my mind becomes a full on rage storm when she mentions her mother taking her sister out to be abused the same day her father passed away. I see Lynx clenching his jaw at this too. My father seems to notice the tension in the air, but keeps his eyes on the road and his mouth closed.

“his lips pressed against my neck” Maye shutters at the thought. I clench my fists together, a low groan forming in my throat. “and she left me there”

Lynx makes a choking noise at this part of the story, I don’t know if he will be able to keep listening at this rate. I see him close his eyes, taking deep breaths. I feel Lynx lean into the link between our minds hoping to find something resembling calm between myself or Ashe, but he comes up with nothing more than swirling anger. I bite my tongue so hard blood is pooling in my mouth, but it does the trick.

“I was only 12, not even fully developed,” Maye says, tears forming in her eyes. I remember Maye at twelve. A scrawny girl who had no light in her eyes. Maye had always been quiet, but after her father died she had practically become mute. I pull an image of Maye up in my mind so my brothers can have the idea of what this man was excited to touch. “as if my skin had burned him”

My father raises his eyebrow perplexed as this statement leaves Maye’s mouth. I wonder if my mother is listening and offering the same view to my father as my brother is to us. It felt like an invasion of her privacy for all of us to be listening in right now, but I couldn’t bring myself to shut the link and let Ashe fill me in later.

“I woke up in my bed, and my sister informed me that I had missed my own fathers funeral” This is the statement Maye makes that makes me absolutely certain my father is listening to the same thing as I am. A low guttural growl leaves his lips as the wolf inside of him fights to take over. I remember the day of her fathers funeral, I remember Maye’s mother telling us that Maye couldn’t bring herself to come. We had always thought Maye was too down to see her father laid to rest, but the truth was much worse.

Maye’s sister Lauren had shown up to the funeral so beaten down, her eyes covered with thick makeup. Lauren had said she wore the makeup to cover the circles under her eyes from crying. Another lie. Elaborately created web of lies spun to mislead my entire family. My relationship with my father had been strained in recent years, but I know that if he had any idea of the hell Maye had lived every day he would have stepped in to help both her and Lauren.

My heart swells with pride as Maye tells Ashe how she pulled herself up from the lowest point of her life. I can’t believe both Lynx and Ashe are too blind to see how amazing and strong Maye has always been. I bite down on my lip knowing now is not the time to think of all the ways my brothers are wrong about Maye. I pull all my focus back onto the connection between Ashe and I. “Then when I was 18 she met Raymond”

The tone Maye is using has shifted, she is no longer sad about what she is saying, now she is angry. I can almost feel how angry she is just based on the look on her face. I don’t know how I will do it, but I will kill whoever this Raymond guy is. I would never let anyone make Maye feel the way she is feeling right now. Even if I one day submit to the bond I have with Holly I know that I will protect Maye until I take my last breath.

“My sister was allowed to work, but only because on the nights she was at work Raymond would enter our room and try to take my clothes off. My mother said he had no interest in my sister because she was all used up, but I was untouched” Maye says the words without a hint of emotion in her voice. I almost threw up the pizza I ate before getting in the car.

Lynx lets out a noise between a hiss and a groan. How cold do you have to be to prostitute your child out and then call her used up. I have nothing more than hatred swirling around in my mind right now. I can feel that Lynx is in the same boat as me. Ashe is surprisingly collected. He has managed to find some bit of calm within himself, and I lean into that feeling hoping I can feel the same way.

I keep my composure for only a moment, all my anger comes back when Maye says, “He would put his cigarettes out on my skin, and use his pocket knife to make little slashes at me”

Suddenly I remember the bruised knuckles on Maye just days ago, her purple fingers on clear display, unable to be hidden by clothes. Maye had fought this man so hard that she had nearly broken her own fingers to get away from him. An image flashes through my mind of Maye scrambling away screaming and crying. I am not sure if the thought is mine or if one of my brothers has made themselves think of the image, but I quickly have to push it away.

Maye talks about waiting for her sister to return for her and my heart shatters for her. Lauren would not have been able to leave the pack lands without my father knowing in some way. I know exactly where this part of the story is going and I don’t want to listen anymore. I know that if Lauren never came home it is because something happened to her. I don’t care if my father has Raymond locked in a prison cell. I am going to track him down and slit his throat.

" When I left my shift that night something in the bushes scared me,” Maye says, her breathing has deepened, and I know her story is going to end soon.

Lynx curses in our open link, he tells us he is the person who scared Maye that night, he had been out for a run when he saw her. He promised he hadn’t followed her at all or meant to scare her. Ashe quickly tells Lynx to quiet down. I don’t want to miss even a moment of the rest of this. My mind is restless, I am aching to know the ending of this.

“My limbs started to move on their own accord, fighting back. We struggled for a few moments before the blackness started to take over my vision, my arms and legs started to tingle. Then they felt like I was going to burst into flames. The last thing I remember is seeing a horrified look on Raymond’s face.” Maye’s words tumble out of her mouth quickly. I barely catch them.

Holy s**t, Maye shifted! Maye has a beast inside of her! The news crashes into me like a truck running me over. Maye was said to never have a beast. Her twin died at birth leaving it next to impossible for to have something swirling inside of her. Maye having a beast meant there was a chance she would have a destined, and that means there is a chance it could be me. It is my turn to be shushed by Ashe through our heads.

“ When I left my room I was surprised to find that Raymond was dead.” Maye’s words are flat, completely devoid of emotions. I get the feeling that she wants to remember taking his life away from him. Maye keeps going with her story, she tells us the name of her beast.

“Agni” The word seems to bounce to every corner of my skull. The name is alluring and beautiful, and I find myself imagining beautiful flames swirling around the name. Ashe slams the link in our minds closed, putting a thick wall between his thoughts and mine. Lynx looks back at me, raising an eyebrow, just as confused as I am. The car stops on the edge of the trees that line our borders. I shove Maye and Ashe out of my mind and focus on the task at hand.

My father leads the way into the dense treeline, his wolf takes form in front of us, putting his nose to the ground. Darkness envelops me as the trees grow more dense. I focus on the sound of heavy paws hitting the ground in front of me. Lynx is silent behind me, and he has also put a block up between us in his head. I am alone inside my head for the first time in a very long time, and I miss the presence more than I would have imagined I would. We reach a small clearing in the trees where three men stand stark naked. I advert my gaze, cheeks flushing red. The younger of the three went to school with us just a year ago, he was the same age as Maye’s older sister.

“Show me what you found.” My fathers voice calls out flatly. He is out of beast form again, standing on his two legs. His face looks angry, but I sense something lingering under the surface. The men all stand a little straighter upon hearing his voice.

“We were just following up on the... The body of that young girl we found earlier. Digging a little deeper to make sure nothing else was buried with her.” One of the men says, crouching down. My eyes have adjusted a little now, and I see the dirt has been dug out. I step closer to inspect the hole, it smells of fresh dirt and rot. “Well. We found another set of remains.”

“What can you tell me about the remains?” My father says, crouching, putting his face closer to the overturned dirt.

“It is another female sir. Looks to have died around the same time based on decay.” The man in the middle says to my father.

“Her name was Everly Micheals,” The man just older than myself says to my father. “She.. well she was Lauren Fluer’s closest friend.”

All eyes snap to the youngest of the men. I feel a stabbing in my stomach and my dinner makes an appearance. Lynx has a hard look on his face, he is still blocking me out. Everly was just twenty years old. She finished school right around the same time as Lauren would have. I took several steps back not being able to stomach seeing her.

“There is one more thing sir..” The older man stays a little quieter this time. “This one bears the markings of someone recently bonded. Her palm slashed open. The other girl's palm was cut, but only about halfway.”

My father shoots into a standing position, a look of horror written all over his face. His face pales, “They were completing the bond when he killed them”

The words hang in the air. A bitter pill to swallow. My veins feel like they fill with ice, and something inside me snaps suddenly. I take off through the trees, running as fast as my legs will take me. Realization dawns on me, the remains they had uncovered this morning had belonged to Maye’s sister. The urge to be next to her is overwhelming me. My legs move without being prompted to do so and I am flying blindly through the woods. Faster than I ever could have imagined I could go.

I emerge from the trees into a smaller area of town. My eyes quickly scanning my surroundings, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. I am no longer running, but my feet don’t stop. I reach a house about halfway down the block and I am unable to make myself move from my spot. The house is completely dead, no lights, no movement, but I am unable to move. My eyes are locked on the front door. Maye appears out of thin air, moving so deftly that I don’t even hear or see the door move. Maye quickly makes her way to the sidewalk, stopping a mere ten feet in front of me.

Maye takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. I think about reaching for her, pulling her into my embrace, but I hesitate. The hesitation is enough though. A small flame flickers on the front porch of the house. Maye’s face breaks into a smile, and flames shoot high into the night sky, engulfing the entire house in a massive inferno.

“What did you do??” I shout, snapping out of whatever trance I was in. My arm automatically goes to grab Maye by her upper arm.

“I.. well I don’t know.” Maye says her voice is genuine, but she still has a huge smile on her face.

“Listen Maye, can you stop it? It is going to spread to other houses if it keeps burning.” I say, realizing that this is going to quickly become an issue.

A crease forms in Maye’s forehead. She is concentrating on something I can’t see, but her eyes snap to me suddenly, “No, I can’t stop the flames once they have started, but you can.”

“What do you mean I can??” I nearly shout again, my eyebrows knitting together. This girl has to be out of her mind.

“Close your eyes” Maye says, her voice is steady. I hesitate, what does she mean? “Trust me, close them.”

My eyes finally flutter closed. I feel Maye lace her fingers between mine, my heart is pounding loudly in my chest, but I do my best not to react. Maye leans in close to my ear, her hot breath fans my face.

“Now imagine ice, ice everywhere, covering the entire house, matching every flame” My eyes shoot open again at her words. There is no way she is serious right now! How can my imagination take away flames this big? The wood porch is already charred black. Thick black smoke is billowing into the air.

“You are nuts! We need to call the fire department! Or my dad!” Reality sinks in to me, people are going to die if something doesn’t happen quickly. I rip my fingers from hers, I have to get away from her.

“Please. Please trust me. I know you can do it. She told me. Agni knows you can do it. Please just try.” Maye says, her eyes are pleading. The name of her beast bounces around inside my skull.

I close my eyes as she instructed me to do. I take deep breaths in and out. I don’t know what to picture when she says ice, so I start out small. In my head I picture the house in front of me, it starts out as a small flurry. A single flake of snow falling onto the porch, landing with a sizzling sound. The air around us feels colder now that it did moments again. Arctic cold air blows from my nose, my teeth chatter in my mouth against the cold. I think of the way snow and ice dump out of the sky in the winter. I think of skating on the frozen pond behind my house. I remember the year the ice was too thin and I fell through. I picture the house surrounded by the icy water I had fallen into. I don’t even know if what I am doing is going to help.

I open my eyes, and find the house is no longer ablaze, not even a small flame. My eyes widen in shock, I finally come to my senses. “You can’t tell anyone we were here.”

I rip my hand away from Maye and turn to sprint down the road. I can’t be here, not with Maye, not this far away from my father. I run through the trees making sure to listen for feet following me, but I don’t hear anything. I run until I hear the familiar voice of my father carrying through the trees. I stop just before the clearing, taking a deep breath so I don’t come in panting. All eyes snap to me when I enter the clearing.

“Where the hell have you been?” My father demands the second I come into view.