Lightning lit up the room as Jade sat up with a jolt, covered with sweat and breathing heavily as her eyes darted around the room. She could hear the slow, rumbling thunder off in the distance as she sat back against the bed stand. At first her sobs came slow and quiet as she buried her face in one arm and hugged her knees close to her chest with the other. Then her body began to convulse in sharp jerks as her sobbing became uncontrollable.
As horrible as the dream was, she knew it was true. If she had not come here Ben would still be alive. Even though the thought was not really logical given how things transpired, she believed it true anyway. The kind old man had not deserved his fate. His only crime was taking her in and caring for her. His death was something she would never forgive herself for!
Deep inside her, something changed. She took all the pain, all the love, all her emotions that seemed to bring harm to the ones she cared about. She took them all and shoved them deep into her heart and encased them with ice, never to be released again. She lay back down and closed her eyes. The nightmares continued through the night. She welcomed them...deserved them.
After a virtually sleepless night, Jade crawled from her sheets and dragged herself down the stairs. She plopped down into a chair and buried her face in her hands as she slumped forward. Her mind was completely blank. Every part of her felt numb. However, the feeling of nothingness was a strangely welcome sensation. It was not pain or anger or even sadness, just...nothing.
With the numb blank feeling taking over her whole body, it was a surprise when she rose and started back up the stairs. Was she planning to sleep for a week until someone found her dead body? Did she want to jump from the second-story window and simply end it? But those would be conscious thoughts, none of which she was having right now. Something just drew her to walk back upstairs.
She drifted up the steps one at a time, barely aware of what she was doing. As she approached the door to her room she stopped, as if discovering for the first time that she was here, but not by her own choice. Tentatively, she reached out and turned the knob. Instead of walking through, she pushed the door in and watched it swing open as everything in the room came into vision from left to right. Then she saw it: the reason she was drawn back to this room.
The small wooden box on the corner of her dresser; the very one she kept her necklace in. The trim beneath the lid was pulsing with a faint yellow glow, rhythmic like a heartbeat. She slowly glided toward the box and touched it twice in quick succession, as if checking to see if it would burn her.
With newfound bravery she flung the lid open, seizing the necklace inside. She held it up and watched the yellow stone pulse with light as if it were alive, then tied it around her neck without hesitating and held the stone tightly, feeling its magic, its knowledge... It has begun!
It all made sense now! Those black bat-like creatures, they were also searching for him. The time is now! The very reason for her existence was coming to light. I’m ready to do...what I was born to do!
Numbness was replaced with determination. Emptiness was now a sense of purpose. But her other emotions, emotions that would only get in the way of her duty, remained in a prison of ice. She whipped around the room like a whirlwind, grabbing her things and throwing them into sacks. Those demons had a big head start, and she meant to cut into it as best she could. She ran down the stairs carrying everything she could and bolted outside.
Jade saddled her horse and secured her bags. She ran back into the house and up the stairs once more to retrieve her black hooded cloak, the very one that had become so famous in these parts. She adjusted the mechanical springs in her sleeves and tested them one last time. Suddenly, her movements became more methodical as she stepped mindfully down the stairs. She picked up a lantern from the table and placed it just outside the front door.
Grabbing a container of oil from the kitchen, she began dowsing the floor, all the way from the kitchen to the front door. Once outside, she threw the lantern into the house and watched the flames erupt instantly. She stood outside a moment longer as the flickering light became visible through every window. Jade mounted her beautiful white horse and rode to the top of the hill.
She looked back one final time, seeing that the house was now entirely consumed in flames. With tears in her eyes, she allowed herself one final thought of her father, one last greedy memory before she became the tool of death she was born to be. Goodbye, father...I’ll always love you.
With a mild sense of closure, the assassin dashed off into the forest, never to return here.
Chapter 7
Birds perched on the rooftop sang away as the sun shone brightly through Eric’s window. The combination of nature’s music and sunlight illuminating the room finally woke Eric from his deep slumber. After stretching followed by a long yawn, he turned toward the beautiful creature snuggled up against him.