time passed at a different speed on the other side. or perhaps that is what it felt like to her because she’d been fed so many lies by the elders who had sacrificed her life to restore their powers. elodie didn’t even know for how long she’d been gone at this point. all she remembered was that she had just turned sixteen when she’d been approached by her family, asking her to partake in the ritual. they’d made it out to be an honorable deed, like she was acting for the greater good. not a single soul had been brave enough to speak up against the elders and tell the young girls the truth; mostly because some had not believed in the harvest, and others had simply been too selfish to stand up for what is right. instead they’d all watched as the life flooded out of their bodies. all except for one, sophie deveraux, the aunt of one of the other girls, who had brought a vampire, the one who’d end up being the reason for why their deaths had been pointless.
elodie had been the second in line. she remembered smiling at her mother, the woman who had given birth to her and raised her and who had had no trouble seeing her get killed by their own kind. she remembered as one of their eldest held a knife to her friend’s throat and slit it open without the blink of an eye. she remembered the anxiety coursing through her veins as realization hit her, that they’d been lied to, that they needed to be killed in order to complete the sacrifice. she remembered screaming for help, for her mother to save her before it was too late, and the tears streaming down her face as she watched her mother remain silent. and lastly, she remembered waking up alone in a cold and dark place with strange figures.
the last thing she wanted to do when she was resurrected almost a year after the ritual took place was to see the very people who had betrayed and manipulated her; who had proven to her that their powers were worth more than her life. as if she’d still be able to feel safe around them, or loved, or protected, or any of the things she was supposed to feel around her family. the only person elodie wanted to see was the one person she felt like she could trust; clay, her best friend. with no recollection of how long she’d been gone or what had all happened during that time, she honestly just assumed that it might have been not more than just a couple of weeks, maybe months, and that not that much had changed. when davina joined them on the other side, she’d learned a little bit, but not far enough to be fully up to date. all she really cared about was for things to go back to the way they were, but she knew she’d never have that. it was far too late for that and now all she could hope for was to find shelter and comfort at clay’s and to be able to heal and move on from this; perhaps even deal with this mess before her coven tried to force her to come home. clay always made her feel okay, and all she wanted was to be okay after experiencing death. elodie could only hope he wouldn’t ask questions. as she arrived at the place, she looked up at the door and hesitated for a moment before she took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock.
------------ @hallowqueenwrites
