Remnants of Souls

Chapter 8 -The Restitution

William’s landing was not as graceful as he had hoped, but luckily for him, everybody in the Headquarters seemed too busy to notice. After steadying himself, he glanced around in an attempt to figure out what was causing all the ruckus.

His eyes stopped on the holes and fresh burn marks on the walls and the furniture in the foyer. One of the old couches was still smoldering as his gaze landed on it.

Several people were lying on the floor or sitting down, but they were not part of the group that had accompanied him to the lake. Several Order members were treating their wounds, but there wasn’t a sense of panic on their faces, so whatever had happened, it must have been resolved.

He noticed Peter talking with Camille not far away from him, his back tense as he listened to the woman. William was just about to join them when he noticed Claire appearing from a door leading to the basement, her face white as a sheet. The moment she noticed William, her eyes widened, and she sprinted toward him.

“You’re back! Thank goodness!” She sighed, looking him up and down as if to make sure all of his limbs were still attached. There was a cut on her forehead and a few drops of blood were sliding from it, but she seemed unaware. “You have to come with me! Quickly!”

“Wait, Claire!” William shouted after her, but she had already disappeared through the door she had come from, not even turning to make sure he was following. William caught up with her on the stairs, grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to turn. “What happened up there? Were the Headquarters attacked? Is anyone dead?”

“We were and we were not. Nobody’s dead yet,” she replied vaguely. “It wasn’t the humans or Damien.” She turned her back on him, preparing to continue down the stairs, but William refused to let go of her. “It was Annabel. She woke up, and she was…not happy. I don’t know how to describe it. You can see for yourself.”

Claire pulled herself free and moved down, so William was forced to follow her. She led him through the main corridor, pushing open the door of one of the rooms that lined in rows on both sides. The only thing in it was a big black curtain hanging over one of the walls, which he knew was covering a one-sided window. Marcus had insisted they had it installed in case they caught Damien or one of his people and interrogation was needed.

Jordan was squatting by one of the walls, getting his head bandaged by Mary. Marcus and Rashid were there too, whispering to each other until they noticed William’s arrival.

“What’s going on?” William asked, his impatience growing as he met the young man’s gaze. “What happened to you?”

“Your girlfriend is a psycho!” Jordan snarled. “I always knew she was not right in the head, but she was never this strong. The moment she woke up, she started attacking people, and I swear, she was aiming to kill.”

“We sedated her, but it didn’t last long,” Mary added, glancing toward the curtain while she tied the knot on Jordan’s bandage. The boy flinched, glaring at her as he touched his head. Mary got to her feet, turning to face William with a worried expression. “What happened out there, William? She…she is different. Very different.”

“I’m not sure,” he replied, licking his lips. Flashes of the fight with that creature appeared in front of his eyes and then the look Annabel gave him when she finally looked at him—one of cold, distant disinterest. “When I found her in the Otherworld, she…she didn’t recognize me. I had to knock her out to bring her back.”

“What?” Marcus spat, his eyes widening so much that William thought they might pop out. “How do you even know this is her, then? Sure, it looks like her, but she is feral, William! She tried to kill our own people. At least Ariana didn’t do that when you brought her back.”

“You didn’t see this place, Marcus. Something attacked me almost the minute I entered it and that thing was…it was like nothing I have ever seen before,” William said, shuddering just at the thought of the wraith and its eyes. “And she saved me, even though she didn’t recognize me. I’m sorry, I couldn’t just leave her there after finding her. I’ll fix this. I know she is in there. I just need to reach her.”

“What if she tries to kill you, too? I doubt she’d be too happy about you knocking her out.” Marcus crossed his arms, glancing toward the curtain. Sounds were coming from the other side, but it was all muffled by the thick walls and reinforced mirror. William could sense wards too, all around the room on the other end—both Marcus’ and Rashid’s.

“I can handle her,” William assured him, even though he wasn’t feeling at all confident about facing her. A moment of silence filled the room until Marcus sighed in resignation. He motioned with his arm and the curtain moved to the side.

A second later, a massive fireball flew toward the mirror, hitting one of the wards that activated on impact. As the runes of the warding faded away, William stared at the figure that was standing in the middle of the room. Her hands were raised by her sides, a ball of light dancing on each palm. Her fingers moved impatiently as if she was holding herself back from sending another spell toward the one-way mirror.

It was bizarre seeing her after months of failed attempts to bring her back. He had put on hold everything he had built, everything he had known and fought for in the past few years—for her. He had forgotten what it felt like to love someone, to want to give them the world, to want to make them happy. And it was eating him inside because the first act he did to show those feelings was sacrificing her for his goal. He regretted it the moment it happened, the moment he realized that it was all pointless if she was not part of the world he was fighting for.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Marcus asked.

William nodded, trying to rein in his nervousness. He was not ready to face the consequences of his actions. For the first time in a long while, he was afraid of a person, of how easily she could destroy him with a single word.

“We sacrificed so much to get her out of there,” William said. “We can’t stop now. If that is really her, I have to bring her all the way back.”

William handed Marcus the sword. He walked to the door of the next room, pausing with his hand on the handle. He felt the warding push against his advance, but soon it let him pass.

She was still standing in the same spot, but her eyes locked on him the moment he stepped into the room. The energy twisting around her fingers flickered threateningly.

“Annabel,” he said carefully, meeting her eyes. Her face was twisted in a malicious expression, eyes so dark and angry that it made his heart race. But despite the hate in her gaze and the danger emanating from her, he could feel nothing but overwhelming relief.

She was alive. She was here. She was back with him.

Every part of his body wanted him to rush to her side, to embrace her and tell her he was sorry, tell her he loved her, but he stayed rooted in his spot, fighting to get the words out.

They stared at each other for a long time, nobody speaking, nobody moving. When her lips finally parted, her voice filled the room, barely a whisper but so threatening and cold that William felt the urge to step back.

“You stupid man.” She spat, her eyes narrowing. “Do you have any idea what you have done?”

“I’m sorry for knocking you out,” William said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “But I didn’t have the time to explain, and you don’t seem to remember me.”

“Oh, I know who you are, William Larson,” Annabel said with a threatening smile. William felt his throat turn dry as he heard her saying his name. He had thought that he had made a mistake, that he had brought back someone else, but she knew him. Unless…

“Can you prove it? That you know me,” he asked, returning her gaze. She raised her eyebrow as if annoyed by the challenge, then her eyes turned unfocused for a second. When she blinked, the dangerous spark was back in them.

“You ask me if I can prove that I know the man who bound an innocent girl to himself despite all the dangers surrounding him when she was still a recruit in Damien’s Order? The man who used her to help him in his search for power without even telling her what she was searching for? The man who lied, conspired, and killed people she cared about and called it ‘for the greater good’? The man who told her he loved her and then sacrificed her to bring back his old lover? Tell me, William, does that prove I know you?”

Her words made his throat tighten and everything he was planning to say, it all got stuck deep down within. She let out a chuckle, taking a step toward him.

“You still don’t seem convinced. How about this?” she said, tilting her head. “I can’t offer you a safe future, I can’t guarantee you a happy life and I can’t promise you I’ll always be by your side. All I have are these hands, this body, and this heart.” William’s eyes widened as he heard her say those words, the memory of that night at the cabin flashing in his mind. There were only the two of them there so there was no way anyone but her knew what he had said then. “I should have probably listened, hmm? Maybe I wouldn’t have ended up dead then.”

“It’s really—”

“Do you know that the Dreamwalkers don’t die like normal people? Those poor souls get stuck in that place. Trapped, unable to move on from that cursed ground. Unfair, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry.” He managed to say and those words only seemed to make her angrier. She laughed, her eyes taking a wild glint while the dull, ghostly blue light around her grew brighter. William just stood there, watching her with the utmost regret.

He often found himself regretting meeting her in the first place – if only that had never happened he would have never hurt her, he would have never loved her, he would have never destroyed her so completely.

“You’re sorry?” she laughed and a moment later, she waved with her hand. The energy shot toward him like an arrow and his instincts kicked in, helping him avert the spell just past him. The barrier cracked and the energy shot into the wall, blue flames licking the concrete.

William looked back at her, shocked at how quickly she was able to execute it without giving him even a hint of what she was planning. The power behind it made his entire body tingle.

“You have no idea what it was like. Being alone in the darkness, death, and all kinds of evils creeping around you! Praying to die a quick and painless death! And all because of you, William Larson!”

“I know!” he shouted back at her, panting heavily as if he had been the one shouting so far. “I know! I had to live with myself the whole time! I tried to save you that night, trade my life for yours but it didn’t let me!” All the hatred toward the world, the relic, and mostly toward himself rushed into his mind, threatening to drive him insane. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He lowered his defenses and let go of his protective wards so she could do whatever she wanted.

“Do you expect gratitude?” she hissed, taking another step toward him. He did not move, his body relaxing contrary to his better judgment. He knew the extent of her powers more than most, but the amount of energy she had gathered around herself right now was enough to destroy the entire building if she released it all at once. He had no idea what had happened—both to her and to Ariana—but their potential had grown more than ten times from before.

Fear crept into his mind along with the realization that he was barely her match now. But looking at her face, her beautiful eyes that watched him with disdain; her gentle features hard with determination, and her frail, familiar body—he could still see her, the girl he fell in love with.

“But that’s not even the worst part. Your arrogance and guilt pushed you to do something even worse—break the rules of nature and pluck me out of there! Do you not realize what you have done? You’re dooming this whole world to a fate worse than death! You opened a door that should have stayed closed!”

“I don’t—” He started, looking for the right words when an invisible force smashed into his chest and he was thrown backward, hitting the wall with such force that all the air left his lungs. The second ward that still stood, pushed him back until her energy spread, sinking its teeth in the barrier and shattering it to pieces like it was nothing.

There was nothing stopping her from leaving the room, but she didn’t even glance at the door. She probably could have taken down the wards before, but she had been waiting for him. Waiting to get her revenge.

I deserve much, much worse, he told himself as the pressure intensified with each step she took toward him. He felt his bones cracking, pain spreading through every fiber of his being, but he didn’t try to stop her. She deserved the right to return the favor.

His thoughts began to slip away as everything in front of his eyes blurred, but he kept his gaze on her, trying to evoke the image of Annabel from before—the shy, stubborn girl that had stirred emotions in him he had never felt before. The one he had killed.

He heard shouts and a moment later, his body slid to the ground. He tried to tell them not to interfere, but he could barely keep his eyes open, let alone talk. Somebody called his name, but the voice was male, so he ignored it. Instead, he let the darkness claim him and put an end to his misery.