Dream On. Chapter 87: A ruin of charred stone

Previously...

A ruin of charred stone

Octavia and Robert, with Tom following at their heels, sprinted up to the cathedral, sidestepping away from all the people who were running away from the fire. They saw several people lying on the floor, with shreds of glass lodged on several parts of their body. Some were bleeding profusely, some of them might even be dead. They tried to avoid looking at the horror the explosion had produced, but it was hard to turn your face to a young mother crying by her child, or to the couple holding tight together, both of them wounded. Some people started approaching the wounded with medical supplies, and some other were preparing makeshift stretchers to transport them to the nearest hospital. It was a massacre, and because of the traffic jam, it would take hours for the ambulances to arrive. Octavia didn’t want to think about how many victims there were, and it only looked worse the closer they got to the building. Just at the doorstep, several bodies were buried under the heavy iron gates, some of them were wearing priest robes, another, deeply disfigured, had long brown hair. They looked up to see how the black smoke started escaping through the holes of the windows.

Oddly, the fire had gone completely off after the explosion. The inside of the temple was a complete mess of blackened stones. The structure still held together, but most of the decorations had fallen off and were scattered around the place. To get inside they had to circumvent some fallen tubes, similar to some they had found outside.

-I think that is part of the organ.- Tom pointed out.- It was one of the oldest in the country, and it made beautiful music.- he finished sadly.

They left it behind and made way to the center of the temple. Everything looked desolate, and all the forms melted into one black mass. It was eerily silent after all the screams and crying they had heard outside. They wouldn’t talk, communicating only by signs, too afraid to say out loud what they all thought. That no one would have been able to survive that.

The altar, which had been covered in gold, had melted completely, brown fingers of molten gold streaming down of it. Because of the impression of seeing it in such state they hadn’t realized that there was a gigantic hole on the ground.

-What the hell is that?- said Robert.

The hole was full of glowing coals, red against the black. It was not until they got closer that they saw several forms next to it. The one that was closer to them moved slightly, showing its burned red skin through cracked black patches.

-Water, water.- they heard her beg.

Tom ran to her.

-Marla? Marla, is it you?- he said with tears in his eyes, not being able to believe that that mess of charred meat was his daughter.

She opened her blue eyes, unable to hold her head. Her father kneeled in front of her, too afraid to touch her, knowing that it would hurt her too much.

-Dad, I’ve missed you. I didn’t want to do all this, they made me do. And I became a prisoner in my own body. The power poisoned me, controlled me. There was nothing I could do. And now I’m dying, and all these people died because of me.- her voice started fading away.

-It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay. I’m here with you now, I forgive you, I know you didn’t want to do it. I really know. Now just go to sleep, baby. And wait for me on the other side.

Marla smiled weakly and closed her eyes, breathing for the last time. Tom fell on her side, holding her tight, crying desperately. Octavia and Robert left him mourning his daughter and started looking for their friends. Just opposite from the ember pit, they found Dalia, sitting next to a completely calcined body. She looked up at them when she heard them and quickly stood up to throw herself into Robert’s arms.

-It was terrible!- she said sobbing.

-Is that…- asked Olivia, fearing the answer.

-Albert, yes.

-And Myriam?- inquired Robert, still holding her tight.

-Dead too. She died trying to save Albert, and then Albert went crazy and made everything explode.

-Albert did this?- Octavia and Robert asked at the same time.

-Yes.

The silence covered all like a blanket, not even the mourners inside or outside the cathedral could break it. Everything was over, although not the way they had expected.

THE END

Dream On. Chapter 86: Burning

Previously...

Burning

Albert could feel how his clothes started to get soaked from sweat, he was tempted to do like Marla and take them off. However, he knew that if the fire did ever grow out of control he was safer with them on. And that was a possibility that he needed to contemplate. He stepped out of the fire a bit, to get less heat because he was starting to feel light-headed. Marla saw it.

-The little rabbit is afraid to get roasted. Too bad, I always liked grilled rabbit.- she got closer to the flames as if she couldn’t feel the heat, Albert saw that it was mockery, as she soon started sweating, all her skin glistening under the fire.

A heavy column of smoke started rising to the ceiling. For once, Albert was glad that the temple was so high and all made in stone. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened in a tighter space with wooden ceiling. He quenched the fire a bit just enough so he could see Marla clearly without his eyes watering. He saw that her hair was matted to her skin because of the heat she had endured by getting closer to the fire.

-You know why I am here, don’t you, Marla?

-So I can slaughter you?- she said, still her old self.

-No, to finish you.

Albert then tried to do one of the things she was known to do better, render the other person’s body useless. He focused on impeding any kind of movement in her body and succeeded. Marla stayed where she was immobile, stiff as a stick. Nevertheless, Albert allowed her to be able to talk.

-You and all of them outside think that you are better than me. That you don’t let the power possess you, but you are living a lie. Having power and not taking profit of it is throwing your life away. Though, I have to admit that you have learned a lesson or two. Have you been practicing? Of course, not. You would never hurt a fly, would you? If you kill me you won’t be better than me, you will be exactly like me, killing other people to get what you want.

He wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying, he knew that she was trying to make him lose focus because it was much harder for him than it had been for her. He could hear her talking and talking, until he decided that it was time to put it to end. He tightened his grip on her throat, making her unable to speak, and having her panting to breathe. He felt how he was growing more tired, and how she was opposing to his control. Albert could feel the fury on Marla, boiling in her veins. Then he felt that he was losing it.

The next thing he knew he was lying on the floor with something heavy on his chest. He recovered all his senses and realized it was Myriam, who was severely burned. And dead. The flames were higher now, and had actually spread to every piece of wood there was in the building. He saw Dalia running towards a stone staircase in her intent to escape the fire.

-Your little woman has saved you, you know?- he could hear Marla’s scorning voice.- I had regained control and I threw you a fireball, I thought it would be nice for you to die both burned and because of an impact, you know? Because of your grandmother and your sister. But that stupid little girl got in the middle. I still don’t know what did you see in her… Well, I should thank her, now I will have even more time to make you suffer, which is one of my favorite hobbies.

Albert was on his knees next to Myriam’s body, unable to believe that yet another innocent person in his life was dead. He cried over her corpse, he cried until he ran out of tears, and the fury settled in. He took her body in his arms and hid it in a hole in the wall that he guessed was intended to hold a tomb, it seemed right for her to rest there, at least for the moment. He faced Marla once again from across the fire.

-You’ve taken everything I loved from me. Is it what you wanted? Do you think I will become a broken person like you? A person who only thinks about his own benefits? Do you think you’ve made me a selfish person? You’ve killed my grandmother, you’ve killed Mayra, and now, you’ve killed Myriam. But you have not made me worse, you haven’t won, I am not you and I will never be. And now you have nothing else to take away from me, there is nothing for you to blackmail me with. You’ve made me free, and this means that I can now end with you because I have nothing to lose.

He increased the fire intensity, avoiding Marla’s resistance as if she had had the strength of a toddler. He increased it even more, the flames already halfway the ceiling. And then he set the air on fire, making all the windows explode.

Dream On. Chapter 85: Fire.

Previously....

Fire

After making sure that Myriam was okay, although a bit freaked out for having to stay with a corpse, Albert headed back outside. Marla had cornered Dalia behind a pillar, and he could see that his friend was grabbing it as if it were a floating device. Whatever Dalia had done in the past, she didn’t deserve this, so he decided to intervene. He climbed back to the bench pile and shouted.

-You never get tired of being a bully, do you?

Marla turned around so fast that she almost lost balance.

-Why don’t you fight someone as powerful as you?- he hassled her.

-The little rabbit thinks he is a worthy opponent, doesn’t he?- she said throwing her head back in laughter.

-Well, this little rabbit took something from under your nose without you noticing, didn’t he? By the way, it is really ugly to kill elderly women.

Marla’s laughter stopped abruptly. She glanced at the top of the pile a second time to make sure what Albert said was true. In the meantime, Dalia had taken profit of not being the focus of her attention to sneak to one side of the building in order to go keep Myriam company.

-The little rabbit has grown bold, I see. But this doesn’t make you powerful, you just profited that your sneaky friend was distracting me. Everyone can do that, this doesn’t mean that you can compare to me, which you don’t. No one can compare to me, and you know why? Because that old woman that I killed, was the original Creator. She tried to fight me, but she had transferred me part of her powers, and she was helpless against me. Talking about powers, that little trick you pulled off in my room, I didn’t like it. It’s time to fix it.

Marla reached the back of her dress for the zipper and pulled it down. She then took her dress off, standing in there just with her red lingerie, her high-heel shoes and a bandage wrapping her stomach. She unwrapped it carefully, and Albert could see how some parts of the wounds still bleed a bit. It looked dramatic under the candlelight, and under other circumstances, she would have looked even sexy. She, then, looked down at it and touched the scars with her fingers, they started to vanish. Albert was surprised, although not much because he had already expected her to have more powers than she really knew. She kicked her shoes off, not having any intention of putting her dress back on.

-Well, little rabbit, now I will be able to forget, don’t you think? Let’s play.

She waved her hand making the flames on all the candles inside the temple burn higher and brighter. The ones surrounding the pyre became a solid wall of fire.

-You're not the only one who likes to play with fire, little rabbit. I must confess that I drew inspiration from the charred ruin you made of my precious garden. Although I wasn’t expecting you to be the one in the center of it, I must confess. I always pictured you pleading mercy while you saw how the flames were getting closer to that little woman of yours. Anyway, all is good, if you won’t work for me, you won’t be able to escape alive either. I am curious, what are you going to do now? You said that you were going to fight me, but as far as I remember you needed to be asleep to do so.

Marla was talking a lot, it was clear that she was confident, and that was good for Albert, the more confident she were the easier it would be for him to fool her.

-Maybe I will take a nap, in here, it looks pretty comfortable, and it is warm. I always liked to sleep warmly, and silently.- he saw a flicker of annoyance cross her straight face.- Anyway, I think I’m not the only problem you have, how come all those priestly friends of yours are locked outside?

-That’s none of your business.- she cut him.

-No, of course, it is clearly yours. However, I would start to get worried, because they seem to be finding a way to get in.

He focused on making the gates pound louder as if someone were trying to ram the door down. That made Marla turn around to make sure the gates stayed closed and still, which Albert profited to escape from the fire circle and get on the opposite site from Marla. He then lighted the pyre. The heat and the flame made Marla realize that something wasn’t as she expected.

-The little rabbit has learnt some tricks of his own too.- he said from the other side of the roaring fire.

-You shouldn’t be able to do this.- Marla shouted angrily.

-And you shouldn’t exist at all, and people doesn’t say that on your face.- Albert came back boldly.

-You are going to regret this.