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Trinity
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I could still smell the blood, thick and pungent. Someone had been hurt really badly, that was the only explanation for that amount of blood. My question though, were they still alive? With how much blood was in the house and how much was here, was it even possible for them to still be alive?
The light around me finally faded. I could see the place that the door had taken me. I was in the middle of a bright clearing. It rounded and had tall grass and trees, closing it off completely. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to go beyond those trees even if I wanted to.
The inside of the clearing was beautiful, I could tell that much at a glance. The grass was cut perfectly with not a blade out of place. There were bushes with beautiful flowers.. A weeping willow stood tall in the middle of the large space to provide a little bit of shade. That was something else that I noticed, none of the trees near the edge cast a shadow into the clearing. It was like the light didn't exist anywhere but straight above.
I swept my eyes over the clearing until I spotted the trail of blood. There it was, heading to the very center. And crouched under the tree was a man on his knees next to what looked like a dead body. Well, I guess I just found Alloy and Sterling.
The man on his knees had to be Alloy. His skin was pale, practically paper white. His hair and eyes were indeed a pure silver that would catch the light and reflect it back to you. He was a good looking man, but relatively small in comparison to all the other men that I had ever met.
The man on the ground must have been Sterling. In contrast to Alloy, this man's skin was literally silver, though it looked slightly pale and sickly right now. His hair and eyes were both pure black, he didn't even have whites to his eyes, it was all black.
"W..w..w..who are you? And h..h..h..how did y..y..you get in here?" Alloy asked me as he took a defensive stance in front of Sterling. "You shouldn't have been able to come through that door, it's warded."
"What are the rules for coming through that door, then? Who is allowed to come in here? And I am guessing this is a magical room and not a real clearing." That was the only thing that explained how this room made me feel, it was beautiful, but I still felt like I was inside somewhere.
"That door is warded against anyone who means to do us harm or are our enemies. Only a Fae that is a friend should be able to make it through that door." Alloy spoke angrily as he looked at me.
"M..may..maybe she is a fri..fri..friend." Sterling, who was laying on the ground slowly bleeding, struggled to speak.
"She's not, she can't be. You heard what she told us."
"I haven't told you anything yet." I pointed it out to him.
"Not you." He snapped back at me.
"Then what are you talking about?" I pressed him for more details.
"She told us that the whole castle thinks we are the ones who have been killing the other Fae. She told us that they want us dead. She tried to kill us. She wouldn't even listen to us." I could see the desperation in Alloy's eyes as he looked at me.
"Who is she?" I was curious now, but I was still confused.
"Hibiscus. She said that they know that I am guilty, and that Sterling helped me."
"When did you speak to Hibiscus?" That was a shock to me. How was she able to get out here if she was still under surveillance at her house?
"Yesterday. She came here first thing in the morning and surprised us. She had our sword that was used to kill someone. It was a silver sword that only Sterling and I are capable of wielding, or we should be the only ones capable of holding it given that silver is toxic to most Fae."
Now this was starting to answer a few questions as well as create new ones. The reason that Alloy and Sterling were being implicated was because they should be the only ones capable of holding the sword without being injured. I am guessing gloves would help but not eliminate the issue altogether. So then, why was Hibiscus able to hold it? None of this was adding up to fit the scenario that had been presented to us.
At that moment, I heard Sterling cough. It wasn't just one cough it was a long, wet, hacking fit of coughing that left him crying out in pain and had Alloy hovering over him frantically.
"Hang in there, Sterling. Please, don't die on me." There was a pleading note of love and longing in his voice as he begged the man laying on the ground to be OK.
"I don't think I can, Alloy. I think that I am coming to an end."
"Can I help?" I spoke up, breaking into their intimate moment. "I can heal you?"
"NO!" Alloy yelled at me. "You're just going to finish killing him."
"If I wanted to finish killing him, I would just sit back and let him die painfully. I don't want him to die. I don't want anyone to die." I gave him my most sincere look and hoped he would believe me.
"Alloy, maybe we should trust her. What could it hurt?"
"She could kill you, Sterling. She could take you away from me." There were tears flowing from Alloy's eyes and down his pale cheeks. I saw that the tears were silver in color, like pure liquid silver or titanium or something.
"I will die without her help." Sterling took Alloy's hand and held it close.
"I will find a way. I will protect you. Just please don't leave me."
