Page 9 of Muted Voices (Broken Ashes #1)

T he problem with that is that, I can’t be seen by anyone, my intuition is very fucking clear about that, and it’s keeping me alive currently, so we’re not going to argue with it. The next problem, and I’ll admit there seem to be a few, is that because of that it means I can’t go near any towns or busy roads. Thankfully, my intuition has provided me with an image in my mind of a route for the first time ever, and it’s all through the woods and what I’m assuming are back roads and quieter ones where I won’t be seen.

The biggest issue is that it’s going to be at least a day's walk without stops, and I have never gone that long without eating my weight in food after I’ve come back, and I think there’s a very strong chance that even with the few snacks that I have, I’m going to be half dead by the time that I get to Evander.

“Evander,” I swear the voices say, and since it’s only the second time that I have got something that vaguely sounds like a word from them, it solidifies the fact that despite how difficult it's going to be, I need to get to Evander to tell him what’s going on with the HID and hope that he’s not going to turn me in or call me a liar.

That’s settled, then.

As I trudge through the forest following the mind map that my intuition has left me with, I realise that it’s not just my lack of food that’s going to cause me issues but this damn wound on my hip, it’s going to attract animals, and as I get weaker I’m going to be less capable of fighting them off. That’s not to mention the possibility of running into hungry supes; I would be far too big of a temptation to some of them.

Fortunately, I have Betty, and I have extra cartridges for her, so we should be okay against most things, at least. I only have a select amount of cartridges designed for supes.

I just need to make sure that I keep moving; if I stop to rest, especially when I’m so tired, I’m not going to get back up again, and I’m definitely going to die again. I have never died from exhaustion from not eating after dying the first time, so I have no idea how that’s going to affect the whole coming-back process.

The minutes turn into hours. I’ve walked through forests and along dirt tracks that I’m sure have been long forgotten, and not once has that mind map led me near civilization. It’s almost like it knows that I can’t be seen right now. I know that I’m getting so close to Evander now. I can feel it, which is weird, but also, in my delirious and half-dead state, I swear, I can see this soft glow that seems to be leading me in the right direction. I don’t have the energy to question it right now; it’s taking all of my energy just to lift one foot in front of the other. I swear my feet must have put weight on. They can do that, I’m sure of it.

The light very well could be some sort of supe leading me to my death, and this theory becomes even more probable when the closer I get to Evander, the thicker the line seems to get, and it seems to hum. What is slightly concerning to me, even in my current delirium, is that the voices are almost humming along with it, and I have no idea why. It’s not like they’re going to tell me.

“Hi friend,” I say quietly, unsure if the friend that I’m speaking to is there or not, “come and join the others; the only promise I ask you to make is that you don’t eat me when I’m so close to getting to my destination.”

This is another one of those; I’m not sure if I’m hallucinating from pain and lack of food after coming back from the dead scenarios. Either way, the wolf I’m talking to appears to look at me worriedly and falls in line next to the enormous moose as they share what I can only describe as a look filled with concern. I have definitely lost it. I mean, it's not just the wolf and the moose; there’s a fox and a raccoon, too, and further back where he thinks I can’t see him is a bear. That should concern me, considering I’m bleeding because of a bear, but I sense no malice from it. Like the other animals, it's just watching me. I’d be tempted to say that they’re protecting me, ensuring that I get to my destination, but that would be super fucking crazy.

A soft rain starts to fall from the sky. I’m only about twenty minutes away from him now, and I honestly don’t think I’m going to make it; I stumble over a root, falling to my knees as I tip forward onto my hands, mud splashing up around me and coating me. By this point, I am absolutely covered, and if I do survive this, these clothes are going to be heading for the trash. My eyes land on Betty. Poor Betty is going to need a proper clean, too she’s all gummed up with mud now.

I stare at the floor, the light having faded hours ago, and yet I can still see, not well but well enough. I need to get up, I know I need to get up, but I can’t force my body to comply. Something nudges my side, the one that isn’t injured, and I manage to turn my head slightly to see that it’s the wolf. I’m suddenly surrounded by them all as they nudge and encourage me to stand again. When I finally do, I lean heavily on the moose, my hand on my opposite side clenched in the wolf’s fur. They slowly move forward, guiding me along, and I know I’m going to look back on this with disbelief. I’m not actually sure that this is real; I don’t care though, because they’re helping me.

Through a break in the trees, I see lights, and I know that’s his house; I’d be surprised by the size of it, but I am fading so fucking quickly I’ll think about it later.

There’s a dirt track that leads up to some pretty elaborate and high tech looking gates, and it’s really isolated out here, which makes sense because he’s a supe after all, and they tend just to prefer isolation, whether that’s because they need to protect themselves or if it’s because there’s just something in their nature that means that’s just what they like. I start to slow down as I approach them, ready to beg my case to the gates in the hopes that Evander will check the cameras and see me there and then let me in.

There’s every chance he won’t, and there’s also a chance that he won’t recognise me. I’m covered in mud, soaking wet because the soft drizzle from earlier is now a torrential downpour, and he hasn’t seen me since we were eighteen and as much as I hate to admit it, that was over ten years ago now.

Just as I’m about to come to a stop, a nudge on my back has me stumbling through the gate, my system jolts, and I become slightly more aware than I was a minute ago. I’m reasonably sure that the jolt I just felt was magic because of course his place would have magical wards.

Wait a fucking minute. I just walked straight through solid gates. How the fuck did I manage that? I turn around to touch them and make sure that they are real, only to see my animal companions walk through them like they’re not there, just like I did.

Yeah, nope, I’m not going to touch that one, actually. I need to get to the front door of this colossal mansion before the zap of energy that the ward gave me wears off, and I collapse. They aren’t very good wards considering I walked through them with no problem whatsoever, and even if it was a silent alarm, no one has smited, smote? Either way, nobody has done it to me yet.

Now is not the time to get distracted. My moose friend once again comes to my side as I trudge up the long but thankfully straight driveway. I can already feel my energy fading again, and I have to get to the door. The walk is kind of a blur, if I’m honest, but I soon find myself directly outside of the giant door.

Does he really need everything to be so fucking big around here? Like jeeze, a bit overkill surely.

My animal companions back up, far away from the door but still within sight.

“Thank you,” I tell them sincerely, although I sense that they aren’t going to go anywhere until I’m inside.

I lift my fist and pound on the door, hoping that Evander’s at home and that this is his home. My instincts have never led me wrong before, but there’s always a first.

The simple act of banging on the door drains more of my energy, and I once again move Betty from my shoulder and lean on her like a crutch, shooty side down. As the door begins to open, I plaster a huge smile on my face.

“What the fuck?” Evander questions at the sight of me, and I really can't blame him. It's also clear I am not dead yet because, damn does he look fine as hell.

I need to introduce myself though, instead of checking him out.

“Hey, it’s been a while like ten years,” I greet him cheerfully, “long time no see.”

He stares, and he blinks, and I really think that he doesn’t recognise me, which of course he wouldn’t. I mean why would he? He was a massive part of my life, but that doesn’t mean I was a big part of his, I roll my eyes and ironically enough that’s the thing that makes his eyes widen and flash with recognition.

“Nene?” he says, his voice almost reverent.

I smirk and salute, which is so much fucking effort, as I say, “At your service, Van.”

“Why are you moving weirdly?” he asks and then flicks the porch light on.

It’s so bright that I blink stupidly at him. “Erm, I’m sorry I’m not more presentable.”

His eyes fill with absolute horror, and I’m guessing I look a lot worse than I feel, which is saying something because I feel like actual death, which makes sense, because you know I died.

“What the fuck happened?” he asks and then glances over my shoulder, his eyes growing impossibly wider with alarm. “There are animals watching us.”

I perk up at that as I ask, “How many?”

He frowns but clearly remembers my propensity for odd questions at odd times as he immediately replies, “Four.”

My smile widens, “Oh good, you can see them too. I was getting worried for a second.”

His lips twitch slightly before he stops himself from smiling. “I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about, Ne – Neith.”

“Me neither,” I shrug as I glance over my shoulder, “you can leave now. Thank you for your guidance.”

I swear I see them all nod before they turn and start to head off into the shadows. I feel a bit sad to see them go, but I somehow know that it’s not the last time that I will see them.

Evander’s eyebrows rise, and he crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me, “Seriously, what the fuck are you doing here? How did you even find me? What the fuck happened to you? Do you know how long I’ve been fucking looking for you?”

“Aw, you looked for me,” I say, my words slurring slightly. He frowns, his features filling with concern, as he drops his arms and takes a step toward me, “Van?”

“Yeah?” he replies.

“I’m going to pass out now. Don’t let me hit the floor.”

And the world goes black, not the darkness that’s my friend but the other kind of knocked out from pain and blood loss kind of black. Oh, fun.

Evander

W hat the fuck.

Those words are just on repeat in my mind as I stare down at my best friend, my Nene, and I still have no idea what the fuck just happened. Any of it, I mean, there are several prominent questions, like how the fuck did she get on the property undetected for one, this place is like Fort fucking knox, and we have wards upon wards going far out into the surrounding forest, and not one of them was tripped, and then there’s the animals, I’m not even going to attempt to understand that fucking one, or wonder where the fuck they are now.

I turn around to take her back inside because honestly what the fuck else am I supposed to do that’s when it really hits me that she passed out because she’s fucking injured, and all of the shit that I was just thinking about can fucking wait. Humans are fragile, and there’s absolutely no way that I’m going to lose her like this.

“Van, what the fuck are you doing?” Ransom asks as he comes down the hallway. His eyes land on the woman in my arms, the very dirty and clearly very injured woman, and his eyes widen, “Fucking hell. Guys!”

I stride past him, heading into our front room, where the lighting is even better and where I can see exactly how badly she is injured.

The guys appear in seconds; just as I’m laying her down on the couch, I take a step back, but not too far, not wanting to leave, and the others all move in closer to get a better look.

River practically chokes on his own saliva, and we all look at him in confusion; his eyes are wide, and he stutters out, “That’s fucking Neith.”

I watch as Ransom and Griff jolt and rush forward, peering over the back of the couch at the absolutely filthy and bruised and battered Neith.

“How the fuck do you know Neith?” I ask them.

“You remember that woman we told you about?” Ransom mutters, still staring at her in disbelief.

“You mean the one that Griff had the vision about?” Reed’s gruff voice asks, the power in it fucking strong even though we all know he’s dampened it down as much as he fucking can, and it’s not his fault. It’s in his nature.

He’s such an incredibly strong supernatural that every single other supernatural is wary of him, or damn right fucking terrified, depending on their own strength. They instinctively don’t trust him, and it made for an incredibly lonely life before he met us, and we were able to tolerate it a thousand times better than everyone else. That’s not to say that we don’t struggle sometimes because we do. It just means that we can handle it better than most supernaturals and certainly most humans.

“Yeah, her,” Griff replies and then looks at me, “how do you know her?”

Raiden interrupts then as he lazily makes his way into the room, always the last to arrive and never bothered by anything. When his eyes widen, and he actually rushes to the couch, his hands glowing slightly as they move to hover over her head, we all realise that something is very wrong.

Our fears are confirmed when he says urgently, “We need to get her to the fucking hospital now. I don’t know how the fuck she’s alive. She’s got so much death clinging to her, I can fuck see it. She’s dying.”

“What?” I exclaim, panic in my tone, and I realise that everyone else is panicking too, almost as much as me, which is definitely something to look into later because they don’t know her.

I move forward to pick her up so we can get her to the hospital when Reed’s voice echoes throughout the room, “We can’t take her to the hospital. There’s a reason why she ended up here and not at the hospital herself, she must have known how badly she was injured.”

“Fuck,” I curse, my mind going blank and having no idea how to fix this. It’s fucking crazy that after all these years, she still has the fucking ability to bring me to my knees, and she’s not even fucking conscious.

I am weirdly comforted by the fact that I don’t appear to be the only one who is being brought to their knees by her presence, and I’ll analyse that at another point.

“Shit,” Ransom suddenly curses, his eyes glowing with magic. “incoming.”

Within seconds we have surrounded the couch where she’s lying, magic buzzing through the air, and those of us with claws or teeth have them out, ready to attack.

“Hey guys, I know this is really weird, but I suddenly felt like I needed to get here as quickly as fucking possible and didn’t really have much say when my magic brought me,” Doc starts to explain, looking down at his phone and tapping away before he looks up at us and his smile instantly drops. “Whoa, what the fuck is going on?”

“Stand down,” I order harshly.

Surprisingly, despite our eagerness to defend her, once we all register that it's Doc it’s remarkably easy to pull our magic in, for most of us.

Doc takes a breath of relief when we all stand down and relax our positions until his eyes move next to me where Reed is standing.

“Are you okay, dude?” Doc asks, his expression wary.