Before The Last Bell

The warning bell began to toll ominously throughout Slatefall, cutting through the thunder. The first of three warnings. Everyone knew what it meant: return to the safety of Slatefall's wards before nightfall. 

I pressed my cheeks closer to the rusty window bars, feeling the cool breeze and raindrops. It was a great respite from the usual smell of decay and mildew from my cell. Unconsciously, I hummed the childhood rhyme that everyone in Slatefall knew by heart, matching it with the ringing of the warning bells.

“Your heartbeat calls to them like a light.

Fear not, Slatefall’s wards keep you safe at night.

Step outside, your life will end

For you will feel the fatal embrace of the rend”

The sun disappeared beneath the dark clouds, already making twilight in the valley arrive sooner than expected— darker. The woods that surrounded Slatefall were dangerous, but night was when the rends came out. The few who had the misfortune to come upon a rend would be found the next day, their remains scattered between branches and the forest floor. Unrecognizable.

As the last echoes of the first warning bell faded away, I slumped over to the corner of my cell. Small trickles of water made their way through the stone walls, and a small puddle started to form.

 It had been six days since I had been dragged here based on the count of disgusting meals that my guard, Brant, had given me. I honestly did not even know why they bothered feeding me. We all knew my time here was coming to an end anyway. Tonight my dinner was some dried meat, a bruised apple and a piece of bread. I methodically picked through the mold that was growing on it, forcing the good pieces down.

“Great meal, Brant. You really have outdone dinner tonight.” He did not bother answering, sharpening his blade, indifferent. He never spoke to me. I was not sure if it was because he feared me or hated me. Both were not very good options.

Jagged lightning shot through the sky as the rainstorm thundered on. Brant got up, no rush or hurry. Every step Brant took was deliberate, like everything else he did. He lumbered through the room and started lighting candles. Their warm glow cast warm shadows, a cozy ambiance if I wasn’t in a jail cell expecting to be hanged by a mob of angry village people tomorrow.

“Never thought of you as a romantic type, Brant.” I bit into the dried venison, gnawing aggressively since it was so leathery. Brant smiled. Almost.

The door slammed open, and a large man entered, kicking the door shut behind him. The heavy smell of rain and wet leaves followed him. He was soaked, the hem of his cloak dripping water on the stone floor. Brant paused as he sharpened his blade to glance up before slowly continuing, completely unbothered. The man did not bother speaking to Brant as he crossed the room quickly, his body tense. He removed the hood from his face, his large hands wrapping around the cold iron bars. I still remembered the way those hands had dragged me across the town, throwing me in here like some criminal.

“Get up,” he said roughly.

“Elrick, to what do I owe the pleasure? I thought I would not see you until my hanging after church, which is rather ironic if you think about it.”

Elrick did not answer. He looked like he had not slept in days based on the stubble on his jaw and dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were shot and glassy. He pushed a strand of his hair that escaped his messy knot away from his face. He had used Lily’s blue ribbon to tie his hair back. I swallowed back my tears.

He looked miserable.

Good, it made two of us.

“Have you come to torture me then?” I taunted angrily. I knew I did not look much like a fighter, with my hair full of hay and tangles down to my dirty petticoats. But I would not make this easy for him. For anyone.

“Here for revenge on a crime I did not commit?”

Elrick took in my stance, slightly confused, before realizing what I was doing.

“I am not here to torture you. You think I would-” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had a recent cut on his right cheek, blood slowly trickling down his pale face. Outside you could hear the rain slowly stopping. 

Elrick started pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Restless. “I need your help,” Elrick said, his low voice sounding strained, costing him his pride. “You need to come with me.” 

“Why would I want to help you?” I asked, bored. “Besides, I am starting to like it here. I get to rest all day with Brant for company, he’s quite a chatterbox. Plus the food is a delicacy.” As if to prove my point, a cockroach crawled over my stale bread before scuttling away, refusing to eat it.

Elrick’s jaw was tight, I could hear his teeth grinding as he spit out quickly. 

“I was wrong. You did not kill Lily.” 

“I told you and everyone that I had nothing to do with her death.” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice. “She was my best friend.”

“You were the last one to be with her. What else was I supposed to think?”

“When were we ever apart?! You never liked me because I am different-”

“A witch. You do not have a soul-”

“I am not a witch! I am…eccentric.” I uncrossed my arms and took a small step closer to him through the bars. “Elrick, I never would have hurt your sister.” I wiped away a small tear that had managed to escape, angry at myself for letting him see. Daring him to say something. A candle nearby flickered, almost going out. 

“I know that now.”

A dog barked somewhere far away, unaware of people hurrying inside. Elrick looked outside studying the color of the sky, calculating how much longer before the last two bells would ring. He grabbed the bars again, his knuckles white. The cut on his cheek was drying, turning a russet color as a faint bruise started to form. “I should have listened to you. I am sorry.” 

I did not reply, too stunned to even say anything back. I was not expecting Elrick Sterling to say that. I did not think he even knew those words. He leaned in closer, his eyes desperate.

“I believe she is still alive; she went past the wards.”

A small hysterical laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it. “What in the world would make you think that?”

“She is alive.” He glared at me, daring me to kill the only hope he had left. The only belief that made him keep going another day. “We never found her body.”

 “If you think that she is alive, did it ever occur to you that she left on her own?”

“Why would she do that?” He snapped.

“Are you serious!?” A candle nearby lit brighter, burning far too fast, melting into a puddle before snuffing out. Brant did not even try to be brave. He recoiled, his chair falling over as he stood up quickly away from the puddle of wax. Elrick did not even bother flinching, his eyes focused on me. He did not look away at the brightness that flared in my eyes before they dimmed again. Brant looked at me warily before righting the chair and sitting back down.

“Could it be because you were forcing her into a marriage contract that she wanted no part in?” I growled.

“It was a smart match. The Elders willed it and gave their blessing.”

“She was having nightmares, Elrick!”

“Everyone has nightmares.”

“Every night?!” Shadows darkened the corners of the cell. “You should have known she did not want to marry him! She begged you not to let her marry that old drunkard. She pleaded with you to go against the Elders’ wishes! Just once! Yet you did nothing!”

Finally, there was the bitterness I had in my heart. It was not even that Elrick hated me. It was the fact that he did not see how wrong it was to force Lily to marry, to do anything against her will. He was Lily’s older brother, he was supposed to protect her and he didn’t. Leaving Lily with no other choice but to leave Slatefall, taking her chances where the rend roamed. Elrick’s loyalty to the Elders had made him blind and Lily was now gone because of it.

Elrick’s eyebrows scrunched together and his nostrils flared, breathing deeply, seconds passing by as he tried to calm himself. It reminded me of Lily. She used to do the same thing when tired of my antics and was trying not to throttle me. Gods above, I missed her. I let him take his time, knowing my words most likely felt like a dagger that had stabbed him in the heart, right where his own guilt was living.

Elrick finally turned to Brant, a silent conversation passed between them. Brant unfolded his long legs. “I am going for a walk. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He left his things behind before turning to look at us. “Before the third bell.” He looked out the window. “The second bell is about to ring,” he said absentmindedly before quietly shutting the door behind him.

The silence between me and Elrick was deafening. The remaining candles were half burned through. Outside, through the window you could hear a few stragglers rushing to their homes. Towards safety. A dog barked somewhere far away. 

 “I found a map while going through her things.” Elrick’s hands shook as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumbled parchment showing a hand drawn map with part of the woods circled “Trade.” I recognized the writing immediately. Lily. 

“If we hurry up, we can leave now, before the third bell. Every night out there she is in danger”

 “Do you hear yourself? Who in their right mind would go out there? No one can-”

“That's not true,” he said quietly. “Lily told me about you. How you managed to survive when the rends attacked your village.” His gaze unconsciously turned to the deep scar on my cheek. I quickly hid it with my hand. 

“Lily is alive; this map proves it. I need to find her.” 

“What if she does not want to be found?”

“She will.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

 His shoulders slumped forward as he rested his forehead against the iron bars. “I will figure it out from there.” He sighed “She is my little sister. She’s all I have.”

 Elrick looked towards the window, his lips pressed into a thin line. His fingers started tapping the iron bars, impatient. The time to leave would have to be soon if we wanted to make it out of Slatefall before the last bell.

“What do I get in return for helping you?” I asked defiantly. 

“You will not be hanged. That should be a pretty good deal.” He stood back, arms crossed, a faint smug smile appearing that I instantly wanted to punch off. As if that was enough. It was not enough.

“That is not enough for me, Elrick Sterling.”

 He dragged a hand down his face, frustrated. 

“What do you want-”

Before he could complete his sentence, the second bell started chiming. Its sound reverberated across the now-nearly empty town. Elrick started pacing again, his breaths turning shallow. He hit the table in frustration before turning to me. Fear flickered in his eyes. Not for him though–for Lily.

“We don’t have time for this!” His voice came out wrecked and desperate. “Pippa, please!”

Hearing him actually say my name for the first time twisted something in my gut. I hated it.

“Fine. I want a full pouch of silver coins.” I hesitated before adding, “And the strawberry scones that Mr. Addler makes. A dozen.”

“Done.” He snatched the keys that Brant had left on the table, fumbling as he opened the cell door. He already had two satchels filled with clothes and food. He knew I would help. He saw my face and shrugged. “If you said yes, I wanted to be ready.”

I reached for the worn, smelly cloak he passed me and snatched the map in his hand. I scrunched my eyes pretending to look puzzled at the map, just enough to make it look real, just enough for him to believe I have not set foot past the wards in years. The second bell continued and I found myself humming the rhyme again.

“Your heartbeat calls to them like a light..."

I took the blade Brant had left behind on the table. We pulled our cloaks covering our faces and ran through the quiet village toward the wards beyond the tree line. As we turned our backs away from the safety of Slatefall, one thought kept running through my head.

Who would Elrick try to kill first? 

Would he kill Lily on sight for what she had become, or kill me for changing her?