Heart and Soul

He had a wild look in his eye, one that hinted at the insanity he normally kept well hidden. For a brief second, as though seeing him through another’s eye, I saw a flash of a different Nick, one not haunted by the darkness, one with a steady, beating heart.

His heart. I was sure he’d mentioned it before, that Leith had taken it, kept it locked away and forcing Nick to do his bidding – now was our chance to get it back. But I didn’t understand, one second Nick seemed so eager to get it back and the next he’s charging out of the Hell hounds home, adamant that they’re going to kill us.

Instinctively I reached out and caught his hand. He flinched at my touch, but I ignored the sharp stab of rejection that echoed through me. I could hear the hounds surrounding us, but I knew that we were safe – I was sure of it.

“Nick, we need their help. We can’t fight on our own, we’re not enough.” He stared at me, the insanity drifting from his irises.

“Think about it.” I urged, clutching his hand with both of mine in desperation, “If we get your heart back, then Leith has no play over you. You’ll be free again, you’ll be you again. The old Nick. Sora’s, Nick.” And that was all it took, I witnessed the moment his eyes cleared, his shoulders tensing up. He visibly retreated from me, shaking off my hands as he put distance between us.

In this crowded room it may have only been a few millimetres, but it felt like miles. “We will stay.” He announced to the room as he turned from me without a word and strode up towards Orrin. A few growls echoed through the room, but the surrounding hounds backed off with one look from their leader. “You tell us where Leith keeps the hearts and we will retrieve them, then we can plot our attack and join forces against him.”

I walked up behind Nick, my eyes locked onto his back. I could see his muscles tensing and clenching as his hands curled into fists, was he really that uncomfortable among these creatures? Sensing something I looked up, catching Orrin staring at me. It wasn’t with any malice or intent, just staring, endlessly staring at me.

I walked behind Nick, breaking Orrin’s line of sight and then came up the other side of Nick until I stood before Orrin. “Will you tell us?” I asked, “where the heart is?” I prompted as Braylon began to whisper something to one of the other hounds. I felt Nick tense beside me.

“We can show you.” Orrin offered with a sly smile at Nick. They didn’t trust us.
For the second time today I felt a stab of betrayal. A shift occurred around the room and I could feel the hounds growing in energy – something was going on.

I don’t know what it was that made me snap.

Maybe it was Nick and his attitude.

Maybe it was the way that Braylon kept staring at me, or the way he kept whispering to his cohort.

Or maybe it was just a reaction to the growing tension of the room – but I snapped, I lost control and I let lose my anger.

**

Walls had wobbled, bricks had fallen. People had toppled like dominos into one another. Doors lay off hinges and glasses had shattered.

A stinging high pitched echo still hung around the room in the aftermath of the blast of energy. The Hounds probably would have attacked, had their numbers not been diminished. Most lay prone on the floor, either incapacitated with pain or out cold.

Only the most powerful remained now. Nick was knelt beside me on one knee, one fist placed against the ground. The other hand was pressed to his left ear, though even from here I could see the blood trickling down the side of his neck.

In front of me, Braylon was pulling himself to his feet, his eyes facing downwards now. He was a hound, hounds lived in packs, hounds knew their superiors when they saw them. Only Orrin had been unaffected, aside from me.

My hands still burned from the blast of pure, white energy I’d released and my heart raced, my eyes were clearer than they’d ever been and my soul felt happy for a time. I really had missed my magic.

Ignoring everyone around me, aside from Orrin, I stepped towards him. “Mind telling me what’s really going on here? – You say you want to help us, yet your hounds seemed pretty angry.”

Orrin didn’t pause to chide me for hurting his men, nor did he appear to notice as Braylon wavered and sat down on the cool, damp floor. “It seems your stealer knows our secret. One that he wasn’t too happy about.”

I looked to Nick in puzzlement – what secret?

“What secret?” I asked, my voice loud in the silent room.

For a second Orrin shifted uncomfortably, “whilst we hunted for you, in our efforts to save you from Leith, there was – shall we say – an incident.”

“An incident?” I asked, sounding sceptical as Nick scoffed behind me, I turned momentarily to glare, before focusing on the man in front of me.

“Yes, an incident. We were tracking you and your scent, hoping to find you before Leith did.”

“How did you even know about me? About me being down here? About me trying to find Leith?” I asked, confused completely now.

“Everyone knew. Everyone knows.” He emphasised, as though referring to an obvious event. “You’re the one. The one foretold, the Warlock’s Witch. ‘And as she scorns, so he will rise, unto the light again.’ Leith was not subtle in his search. We all knew of his plans to raise the Underlands, it has been foretold for more centuries than he has existed. None of us want it. We could be up there if we liked, among the humans, living our lives, hiding from society and pretending to be what we’re not, but we don’t. Instead we live down here, in the darkness where we belong. We are happy. Our race survives, our jobs are complete, that’s all we ask. I knew your mother, you know? I think that’s why you didn’t fear my son when you saw him. Your ancestors recognised him and so did you.”

“My-My Mum visited the darklands?” I stammered, taking a step back, the room closing smaller for a second.

“Visited? No! Oh my no, she lived here. With her Aunt, I believe it was. Quite an up and comer –your Mum was. That’s how Leith first noticed her. Word spreads like wild fire down here, it wasn’t long before rumour reached him of a powerful witch. He’d already tried your ancestors – made sense that she might be his witch – of course she wasn’t.” He paused for a second, his words hanging in the air between us. “Your Mother was an inspiring woman and I’m sure she loved you very much. It is because of your connection to her that I offer our help. The second we found out that Leith had found you, we began trying to track you, but kept failing. It seems that the man your mother ended up with – your father – he is a hard man to find.

However eventually you ended up down here and finally Braylon was able to get your scent, though it took longer than intended to find you. On our journey to track you down we visited a local pub.”

My stomach tensed, despite the vast information I’d just been given, I was suddenly acutely aware of every word falling from his lips. Though I didn’t need to hear them. Nick’s flinch beside me confirmed my fears, even as the man said the words, “her death was an accident. One of our new hounds couldn’t handle the violence. Darcy Madon was a w-“ I stopped listening. I didn’t need to hear anymore words.

These hounds had killed Darcy Madon – they’d murdered her and left her there for all to see. Bile rose in my throat and I couldn’t turn away quick enough before I threw up against a stone wall, cringing as I did so.

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I turned, catching Nick’s disgusted look. “I should kill you.” I shouted at Orrin. “I should kill all of you.” I screamed, turning in circles around the room, locking eyes with as many as the Hounds as possible. “I could you know.” I screamed again, tears rapidly sliding down my dirty cheeks.

I felt a hollow void grow inside me and a darkness I’d never known begin to grow in the vacuum. A hand landed on my shoulder, my eyes darting to meet its owner. The pity in his eyes was enough to make me throw up again, but I forced it down and met his stare in a matching glare. “You want to go?” I asked Nick, breaking the eye contact as I looked down to the floor.

A finger, taunt and cold tucked under my chin and dragged my head back up to meet his eyes. “If you want to kill them. I will fight beside you.”

An internal war had me considering his offer, but I’d seen enough fighting for now. Besides we did need their help, my rational brain kept telling me. Taking a deep breath I tried to force down all of my anger and ignore the crippling pain that was still tearing through me.
“Kill them all” a soft, enchanting voice whispered through my mind. I shook my head steadily.

“Tell me where they are.” I barked at the man and Braylon. “Tell me where the hearts are.”