A House Filled With Night
In the Grip of a Serpent

Everything was black. Runa stood in utter darkness, but it was thick—thick enough to feel tangible, suffocating. Then, barely visible, like a feeble star in an empty universe, a pinpoint of light appeared. She followed it, ran toward it, hungry for even a drop of brightness.

She skidded to a halt. It was the Heart of the House. Large, looming, overwhelming. Instead of backing away, she peered closer, looking for something in its depths. She felt, rather than saw, the sensations of a million different hearts: their fear, their exhilaration, their sorrow, their wonder. She pressed closer, trying to see beyond the colors of the churning waters.

A soft sound from behind made her pull away and turn. Was there something hiding in the fold of the darkness? It swished, slipped, and slid around, encircling the radius of light around the Heart. Runa slowly backed away, until her spine pushed up against the glassy cage of the Heart. Emerald glinted in the hazy white glow, dancing and sparkling all around.

Great coils drew in closer, winding, tightening, sliding inward like a noose. They slipped just past her nose, brushed against her toes, faster and faster, round and round. Runa pressed herself against the Heart, clambering in a futile attempt to climb upward. Her hands and feet slipped against glass and scales. There was nowhere to go.

Her chest was tightening, choked by the grip of the snake. It was cold, it was smooth, it was stifling. She panted, gasping for air. She was drowning in the chill of its hold.

Behind her, something was crackling, sharp and crystalline in her ears. The Heart was splintering, breaking at the seams. She felt the jagged edges rip against her skin. She cried out. The serpent gave one more squeeze, and the Heart shattered into a million pieces.

Runa’s eyes flared open, a gasp flying from her mouth. Her lungs heaved, gulping in air as if she had truly had none a moment before. Her sheets were wet with sweat. She whipped them off and flew out of her bed, running from her room without thought. The art gallery found her before she found it. She crept into the room where the Heart laid.

The Sons of Midnight looked up at her as she walked in. They were mirrors of one another: nightclothes were crumpled, hair disheveled, eyes hollow. They stood just beside the Heart—overrun with tiny, threadlike cracks, but not shattered.

“Even you?” asked Sylvain gravely.

“What?”

“The dream. It came to you, as well?”

Runa’s mouth fell open. It was answer enough.

Casimir sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his face. “Great. As if that attack didn’t make it obvious enough that Celemine is pissed at us, now she’s invading our sleep too.”

“The attack?”

“Don’t doubt it for a second. She was behind that. There was no way a lord all the way in the city just stumbled upon the House.”

“And as for all the mischief going around in the House,” added Sylvain. “A group of foolish city people couldn’t possibly conjure it.”

“This isn’t good,” said Niko.

“Well, it could be worse,” tried Fiske.

“How?”

Fiske shrugged.

“We need a plan,” Torin declared. “And not a plan that involves us sitting here and waiting. We need an actual plan.”

“Of course we need a plan,” said Sylvain. “But what? We have nothing, no inkling of where Celemine comes from or where she goes, nor who she really is, much less what she is. And in case it’s escaped your notice, something is terribly, terribly wrong with the House right now. We may have to begin considering the very real possibility that we won’t be able to stay here forever.”

“But that’s impossible,” said Niko. “We can’t leave the House.”

Sylvain dug his fingers into his forehead. Runa had never seen him look so defeated.

“I know that. That’s why I’m telling you I’m not sure what we can do. Our options are severely limited at the moment. Celemine could come any time, the House is no longer stable, and we may not have much time left ourselves—”

“What?” Runa clenched her fists. “What do you mean, you ‘may not have much time left?’ Usually when people say that, they mean they’re about to die. Are you…about to die?”

All the brothers’ mouths opened, but not one was able to produce a proper answer. Her face fell.

“Is it true?”

She turned to Torin. He wouldn’t look at her, even though she knew he could feel her gaze. Please look at me. Please tell me it’s not true.

“We need to find Celemine,” he said, addressing his brothers. “Before she comes back.”

Casimir snorted. “Hey, and why don’t we go catch the wind in a bottle while we’re at it?”

Torin didn’t falter. “This is our only choice. She’s the one who started all of this. She’s the only way we’ll ever put an end to it.”

“But Torin, nobody knows where she comes from, or where she goes,” said Niko.

“She must be somewhere.”

“We could look at Celemine’s books, in Father’s library,” offered Fiske.

This statement made everyone to stiffen. Sylvain’s tone was surprisingly harsh. “What kind of fool are you? No one is going near that place. Ever.”

Fiske hung his head, looking a little wilted, especially with his limp arm.

Sylvain sighed. “I realize all of us are at a loss, and that there aren’t any good solutions. But I wouldn’t even trust myself to enter that place, much less linger there and study his research.”

“What’s wrong with your father’s library?” asked Runa.

“It’s full of wicked things,” explained Sylvain. “Celemine’s old magic books, his research, his pet projects, and…”

“There’s something down there,” Niko said.

“Something…?”

“Something evil,” added Casimir.

“The same spirit of hateful greed that gripped our father for most of his life,” finished Torin. “The only part of him that just wouldn’t quite die.”

“It could harm you?”

“We’re his blood. We’re vulnerable to it. In some sense, you could say maybe there’s a little part of him in all of us.”

“But I’m not.”

“You’re not what?”

“I’m not his blood. And I have no knowledge or interest in these sorts of things. Whatever it is, it has no hold on me. I could go.”

“Absolutely not,” Casimir said, just beating Torin to it.

“But what if there’s something there that will help you? If they’re Celemine’s books, won’t there be something about her in them? What if we find a way to stop her?”

“It’s out of the question,” Sylvain said firmly. “We’ll find another way. We’ve survived this long.”

—

Everyone had returned to bed, but that didn’t mean everyone was sleeping. Runa knew full-well that she had no business exploring the House in the middle of the night again, and she was fairly certain that finding this mysterious library would be beyond her capabilities. But she was determined to start taking matters into her own hands, and this seemed like the best place to start. All she needed was to convince just one of the brothers to help—if she were guided to the entrance, she could make it on her own from there.

And she was pretty sure she knew exactly which brother to talk to.

Runa knocked on the forest-green door as loudly as she dared.

“Fiske,” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and Fiske’s head popped out. His wild black hair hung over his eyes and his shirt was on backwards.

“Oh, hey, Runa. Is it morning already?”

“Um…no.”

“Well, what are you doing here, then?”

“I need you to take me to your father’s library.”

A pause. He threw his head back to get the hair out of his face. He looked wide awake now.

“What did you say?”

“Well, I know I can’t convince your brothers, but I think you understand what I’m thinking. It was your idea in the first place—”

“Sure, it was my idea to look in the library, but not to send you there, by yourself, in the middle of the night, without anyone’s help.”

“Come on, Fiske! You’d be helping me. They’re never going to let me go otherwise. You’re the only one here who’s brave enough to do crazy things every now and then. Shouldn’t we do this one crazy thing, just this time, for the sake of everyone else? What if there really is something down there we can use? What if I find it tonight?”

He was hesitating now.

Runa grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shake. “I won’t let you down, Fiske. I’ll go in, and I’ll come right back. I might not be as strong as you and your brothers in body, but my heart is tough as iron. There’s nothing down there that can get to me. You know that, don’t you?”

He looked up at her, shook his head, and chuckled.

“You bet I do, Runa.”

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~ A/N ~

Oh no I’m getting a bad feeling ooooohhh.

Okay, saddish *ANNOUNCEMENT* - I will be taking a 2 week break from posting (in other words, I’ll post again on the 8th of July).

Worry not, this is not one of those “I’m taking a break” but then never post again. I’ve actually just finished drafting the whole story, but that kind of put me WAY behind in the editing department. So I’m hoping to catch up again in the next couple of weeks and get back to weekly posting!

Also, I have officially established “Comment of the Week” as a thing :)

Thanks for all the love & support!

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~ COMMENT OF THE WEEK ~

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