The Visitor - Chapter 8 A Schnee's offer

I jolted up, gasping for air, still my throat was dry and raspy like needles inside my mouth. I realized I was out of the church, out of that fire, I must have escaped. My memory was foggy, the last moments before I fell unconscious, were missing. But, what remained was the choice I made, the choice to leave Elizabeth and save myself.

I heard the voice of an older man say, "He's awake." Then, followed by heavy footsteps, the blindfold was torn off and an instant wave of light struck my eyes.

It wasn't bright but my eyes still winced. I couldn't focus on one particular thing for long. But as I fully opened my eyes, Shane disregarded my condition hurling me with a flurry of questions.

"Did you see her? Was she there with you? Do you know where she is?" I couldn't answer any of his questions but the expression on his face told me that, that wasn't an option.

This version of Shane wasn't as grizzly as the last but seemed sickly, tired, and right now at least afraid.

I sat there quietly for a second, turning my attention to who I assumed was the doctor. Long cloak and gloves, checked out. I gave him a look, hoping he'd understand that I couldn't answer. He responded quickly after,

"Maybe we should wait until the Visitor is in better condition for questioning my leader." Shane wasn't having it.

"Forget that, look at him, he doesn't have a scratch on him."

I looked at Shane, giving him a confused stare. I don't have a scratch on me? But I was in a fire, It burned my leg did it not? That is what I wanted to say at least.

I lifted my sheets and to my disbelief, It was true. I was unscathed, not a burn laid on my skin. But, that was impossible, I felt it, I can sti-

I stopped there, I didn't realize it until now but I felt nothing. Like I'd been pumped up with morphine, I felt light almost.

Neither knew what I had to go through to get out of that basement and nothing on me would prove that it was strenuous. How could I even begin to describe it?

"No, no, no, no I was- I was locked inside that room. During the fire, I tried to open the door but someone locked it so I had to..." Neither of them seemed to have been listening to me. There was no point, they didn't want to hear that part, they only wanted to know what happened to Elizabeth.

"The Leader seems to believe Miss Elizabeth was inside the church with you when it burned. Did you happen to see her?"

"Fuck off! I don't "believe" anything, I saw her go inside."

"There is no evidence, no sign of her. How do you know."

"Call it fatherly intuition, she was in that church and that's the end of the discussion, no more questioning." The doctor shook his head and walked to a desk in the corner of the room. I was next in line to face his wrath.

At this point, I was doubting myself. Maybe it was a hallucination or was I just trying to cast blame on something else? I didn't know but hanging on to the idea that she might still be alive soothed my soul just for a second, because not even an hour later she was found.

I'd survived the night, although It didn't feel like I did, with the moon still striking high after so many hours, time felt like it was at a standstill. But either way, early in the morning something was found in the rubble of the church. It was Elizabeth and it was Shane who found her.

What seemed the entire town gathered around the rubble. Sparks of red still lingered around the tips of long pieces of wood, even the white ash unable to fully erase what happened, proof of how destructive that fire truly was.

A deathly silence ensued as Shane could do nothing but look at her. Not a tear, not a sniffle, not even trembling lips, he was erect, a man captured in time reminiscing about all the moments that they no longer had. Taken by something that should've taken me. I should have died in that fire. I should have died in that water. I shouldn't be here. But yet I am, I didn't know how to feel about it.

I saw Rùm away from the crowd like me. Her arms were crossed, and she held a stern expression, I couldn't read what she was feeling. She was the only Schnee in the crowd, I hadn't realized until now there were so few of them. Or maybe the relationship between the Schnee and Shane was more divided than I had last assumed.

Considering in this life I hadn't yet met her, It was difficult for me to think of a way to go up to her. I was hesitant, what if interacting with her set off another death? I didn't want to feel responsible for another person's suffering. Even now I was trying my hardest not to think about it, not take responsibility for what I did. I didn't know Elizabeth, really I only knew her name, but was that right for me to not try and help her? To not at least try? Was this my true nature? If I were to have died again, would this night start over?

The idea that dying could fix things was alluring but only momentarily. Heat in my stomach festered reminding me of that feeling of passing. I was scared of it, I didn't want to experience that a second time, but then again it was the only idea my pitiful mind could come up with. It was better than bashing my head against a wall, over and over again.

To my surprise, I didn't need to think about what to say to Rùm, because while I was lost in thought she had already positioned herself next to me her eyes still fixated on the pile of rubble.

She wore a long white nightshirt, with sandals her hair dropping down to her lower half. Compared to how everyone else was dressed she might as well have been nude.

I was shocked for a second, it was at a constant freezing temperature in Ashton's Venue, and probably all of Toblitche. Seeing someone with so much exposed skin was surprising.

But then I realized the Schnee must have a different threshold when withstanding the cold, thinking back, that would explain why the rest of them didn't seem affected by the climate.

"It's sad, isn't it?" Rùm said

I didn't know how to answer that. To be clear I wasn't sad over her death, how could I? I didn't know her and she didn't know me, but the fact that someone else died in my place filled me with sorrow. Nevertheless, I didn't answer and waited for her to continue.

She leaned closer to my ear and whispered saying,

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, you can just stay quiet, just listen to what I have to say."

I had a bad feeling about this. Like I was being drawn into more trouble than I was already in, something told me, that getting involved with Rùm would only cause trouble. But of course, going against my better judgment I'd hear her out. 

"Fine." I reluctantly said in return.

"I'll be frank, that fire was meant for you."

You don't beat around the bush do you Rùm? If I hadn't already known that, that probably would have come with a shock but even to me that much was obvious.

"We've known this for some time, my people I mean, the Schnee. Her voice heightened as she said the last part and her body stiffened.

"Shane that miserable man was warned something would happen. And yet he let her guard you. You should have died not her!." She covered her mouth the instant she said it.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that."

It was strange, to hear someone else say it, like a punch to the gut. I didn't blame her for thinking that way, it was just that Rùm didn't scream out to be someone who lost control of her emotions.

"No, it's fine. I'm an outsider, things shouldn't have worked out this way."

"And yet it did."

"It did" Neither of us could deny that fact. I survived, simple as that. Lamenting on that would only continue to weigh us down. But that was easy for me to say, I'd never had anyone close to me pass and if they did I was never made known of it.

"If what I said, sours your opinion of us I understand. That girl was important to me, whether she knew it or not. What I'm here to offer you isn't something you can turn back from, you'll be picking a side. Our side."

"What will that mean for me then?"

"Conflict."

"No thanks then."

She revealed an irritated expression to me once I answered.

"Listen, It's an inevitability."

Noticing I didn't understand her frustration she went a different direction.

She sighed briefly then reluctantly said, "I suppose it would be more efficient if I showed you."

Again my ignorance showed through my dumbfounded expression. She talked to me as if it was common knowledge to know every issue Ashtons Venue had and I was supposed to care about all of them. Frankly, I couldn't, and it would take a lot for me to start.

"Fine, but if we are to prolong this any longer I'd like some assurance if anything happens later on."

"As in?" She responded.

I looked back up towards Shane and noticed he already left, taking Elizabeth with him. The group of people fanned out.

"That man, Shane, he's on the verge of... something. He was looking at me a certain when I woke up. Like I had given him an answer he didn't agree with or like he'd take whatever the fire didn't."

"That was his daughter, not by blood, of course, the girl was half-breed."

"Half breed?" I asked.

"Yes, the most feeble thing on Toblitche, the infamous half-breed. Somehow these people have made a slight discoloration of the hair a problem. A part from that and a just mild resistance to the cold they're the same as you but... they make problems when there shouldn't be."

"And how did Shane end up with raising her then?"

"Raising is an extreme word when it comes to how Elizabeth was brought up. But she was his own, no one could discredit that, not even me."

At the end there her tone softened and she disheartenedly sighed. She never answered my question and when I implored further I was given another roundabout explanation that danced around my original question. It must have been a touchy subject.

"You don't seem to have a high opinion of Shane. Why is that?"

She took a brief moment to respond, pinching her chin. " Personal reasons."

An unnecessarily vague answer to an otherwise straightforward question. I'd have to get used to that.

I still hadn't decided if I could trust Rùm, so far she hadn't been very straightforward with me but that was to be expected. Though out of everyone in this town so far she seemed like the only one to have ever given any answers, so I couldn't discredit that.

I looked around me, realizing that truly I was in an unfamiliar land without help in sight. Besides of course Rùm. Buildings made of wood I'd never heard of until now and a three-month winter that just so happened to plunge this Island the moment I stepped foot on it and some unknown person wanting me dead and that wasn't excluding the Eye of Rendition, Ichemound, whatever that thing called itself. I wasn't sure if I should call it a god, but I was sure it wasn't the God. But It was powerful and it had something in for me in particular. No matter how I swung it Rùm's offer was the best course of action If I wanted any chance of surviving this three-month winter

So I did what I thought would benefit me, I reached for her hand, and without a second of hesitation, she reached out for mine.

The beginning of the three-month winter started here when I accepted a Schnee's offer.