The Legions Broken Flame

Chapter 6

Ezra

(Before Ophelia loses consciousness)

"f**k that! No! I'm not letting you bo back there!" I yell at Ophelia when she starts to grab her bag. I rip it away from her and push her further away from the door.

"I don't understand! You know he's not supposed to know I left! I have to go back! Let me go!" She screams back at me. O's dad is the biggest waste of air to exist. I've helped her clean up from his beatings for years now, and the only reason he isn't behind bars or dead is because of Ophelia. for whatever reason she always pleads for me not to intervene.

So I help pick her back up, clean her up, and soothe her through her tears every time.

"I know that! But you're still not going back there!" Ophelia tries to push past me but I wrap my arms around her waist from behind and lift her. "You're not going back, O!" I say through gritted teeth as she kicks and screams for me to let her go. Soon she's sending herself into a panic attack, gasping for air as I try to calm her down.

As I've done many times before.

I look around for mom when I see Uncle Keegan in the corner of the room speaking firmly into his phone. Suddenly, Ophelia starts to slowly go limp in my arms and she mutters. "Ezra, I don't feel good." Then her eyes roll back before closing, and her head falls back against my shoulder.

My eyes widen as I stare at my best friend in horror. What the f**k just happened?!

"O?! Mom, she won't wake up!" I scream while setting Ophelia down on the couch softly. Mom pushes through the numerous family members that have now gathered around from our outburst. She kneels next to O and looks over her for anything wrong. Uncle Keegan makes his way over with the phone still held to his ear and I catch the very end of his conversation.

"She's alright, son. You did well, I'm proud of you. We'll take care of her. Now rest." With that he ends the calls and shoves the phone into his pocket. I stand abruptly and narrow my eyes at him.

"What the hell did he do to her?!"

"Ezra, calm down. She's just sleeping. She will wake in a few hours. You have until then to fix the problem with her father." Moms brow furrows and my eyes widen.

How did he know this was about O's dad? But a different question seemed more important as it had just dawned on me. "How did Soren do that? I know how his power works. Even before the Lessening started he couldn't reach that far. He shouldn't have been able to do that."

My uncle squares his shoulders and draws in a breath before speaking. "He can reach his flame anywhere is he tries hard enough."

I feel the color drain from my face at his words. "What?" I whisper, completely shocked.

Uncle Keegan nods toward Ophelia. "She belongs to Soren. It was only just confirmed by tonight's events, but she has been invading his dreams for months. Or so that's what he told me the other morning. The morning of her birthday to be precise."

I glance at Ophelia before turning back to my uncle. "We can't let her go back there. O's home life isn't great., and her dad..." I trail off as I catch mom looking at me, her eyes wide and her brow drawn together in shock and confusion.

"Oh, I know very well what that pathetic excuse of a man os capable of." My uncle seethesandni look at him confused. He clears his throat, regaining his composure. "Soren was able to push into her mind the morning of her birthday for just a minute or so. She didn't even get a chance to wake up. He just ripped her from the bed and..." He trails off, clearly thinking back to the moment. "It wasn't a pleasant sight, that's all I'll say. But we learned her name that morning. It was helpful considering what's happened." He gestures toward Ophelias still sleeping form.

"I'll get a guest room set up for her and keep an eye on her until she wakes. I'll come get you when it's ready." Mom says, her voice cracking, before she runs off up the stairs faster than I've ever seen her move. I pick Ophelia up and sit with her in my lap, waiting for mom to come back.

A few moments later I notice tears slowly sliding down her cheeks as she softly cries in her sleep. I wipe them away and hold her closer to me.

"Soren should be with her soon. Forcing their bond to overwhelm her would have had the same effect on him. He'll calm her down." Uncle Keegan assures me as he watched he's my interaction with O. "You care about her a great deal." It wasn't a question, but more of a observation.

I nod in response. "She's like my sister. I've always protected her when I could. I hate that I can't do anything for her right now."

"I understand. But you also need to understand that you can only help someone as much as they will allow you to. You aren't at fault for her treatment at home, only her father is to blame." He says, reading me like a book.

"Then why do I always feel so guilty letting her go home?" I mumbled.

"Because you love her. She is someone you consider family and you don't want her to be hurt in any way." He rests his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. "But you're still young. There's only so much you can do."

I sigh and nod with understanding.

"What started all of the commotion to begin with?" Uncle Keegan asks curiously.

"She has a nanny cam she sets up to alert her when there's movement outside her house. It's only a 5 minutes walk between our houses so if she runs she can usually get home before he tries to break her door down." I explain, holding O a little closer. "I guess she didn't get the notice until the camera was disconnected. He had to have found it."

I situate Ophelia better on my lap. "She sneaks out almost every night to come over for dinner while he throws their money away on booze, gambling, and cheap women." I spat out.

"How do you know what he's doing during the night?" My uncle asks with a slightly teasing tone.

I shrug. "I've followed him a few times when we were younger, before she would sneak out. She wouldn't tell me much back then, so I figured it out on my own." The things I learned about Charles Hartman those nights is what started my hatred for him. When I found out about the abuse, I started to loath his existence. I didn't know you could feel that way at 12 years old.

"I know she's scared, and that's exactly why I can't let her go back to that house. She's 18 now and he can't force her to stay there. Call it kidnapping, but I'd rather lock her in the guest room forever before I let her go back."

Mom comes rushing down the stairs before Uncle Keegan can respond. "It's all set up, you can bring her now."

I stand and carry Ophelia up the stairs and down the hall to the one extra room with the door open. Once inside I lay her down gently and tuck her in. There's a wet spot on my shirt from the steady stream of tears she's had this whole time. They've slowed down some as her brows pinch together slightly.

Soon her breathing evens out and she sighs contently. "Soren found her." I hear my uncle day behind me. "He will take over from here, there isn't much else we can do for her right now. When they wake up he'll come as soon as possible. I wouldn't be surprised of he actually flew here." He chuckles at the expense of my cousins fear and I join him momentarily. "She'll be fine. Let's let her rest."

I look at O one more time before glancing toward mom. "You'll stay with her?"

She nods. "I won't leave her, honey. It's okay."

My gaze sets on my best friend once more before I sigh and walk out of the rom, my uncle following behind me.

I turn to Uncle Keegan as soon as the door is closed, my expression and voice becoming more serious. "Are we just taking her from one bad situation to another? I don't want her with her father, obviously, but Soren is our next leader. Some of the other clans still see us as a threat and I don't know how I feel about O being in the middle of the chaos."

Uncle Keegan sighs, running his hands through his hair. "I don't know. But I know he cants be without her now. We will figure it our. For now, let's just worry about her father. He will eventually find her here. As you said before, though, she is 18 now. The law will not force her to stay there and he can't drag her back."

With that we make our way back downstairs to help clean up while we wait for Ophelia to wake up.