“I am not asking, Sapphire Valdawell. Go now, goddammit!” Uncle Niles barks.
And I’m being hauled to my feet, yanked by my elbow, and dragged away from my uncle as I scream for him. Tears bleeding down my face.
“Find my family!” he yells as the soldiers reach him. “They’ll come for me! Do you hear me? They will come for me!”
Letter #1,458
Skylenna
Dear Dessin,
Today is my birthday.
Niles helped the kids bake me a cake. Though it wasn’t a cake at all. It was blueberry pie, just like I used to make with Scarlett. He told them all about the time you figured out Niles was pouting in prison because he thought no one would know it was his birthday. But you did (with my insistence, of course-ha!).
The kids laughed when he told them about your secret best friend handshake.
When I blew out my candles, I wished you could come home to me. I’d like to see you do your secret best friend handshake with your best friend, Niles, one more time.
I’d like to see you make special handshakes with your children.
I love you.
Sincerely,
Your Soulmate,
Skylenna
7. Does Not Belong
“If we’re in Vexamen…`thenwhy the fuck isthathere?”
Niklaus and I hide behind the side of a great red archway. An entry to a carnival of fire dancers, smoking pits, cages, and animals on display. There are stained stages and racks of weapons. People walk in crowds through the layout, pointing, eating, and laughing.
My stomach drops to my feet.
This can’t be…
“No…” I gasp, turning to Niklaus. “Aunt Ruth and Uncle Warrose outlawed this decades ago. There’s no way this is…”
“The Meat Carnivals,” Niklaus finishes.
“I don’t understand,” I whisper.
Niklaus looks just as horrified as I feel. We learned about The Meat Carnivals growing up. When we were seven, Niklaus got so mad, he threw his textbook across the room. Uncle Niles had to pick him up and explain how our aunt and uncle banned it from that country for good. No more animals would suffer.
Yet here we are.
I let my eyes wander a moment longer. Furry corpses. Severed animal parts. Fire. Fire. Fire. And the noises,oh god, the noises!
“Niklaus,” I gasp, throwing my hand over my mouth. “What the fuck!”
“When we woke up here, I thought they drugged us, put us on a ship, and brought us to Vexamen. That we must have been out for days,” Niklaus says, zoning out in thought.
“That’s what happened, yeah.”
“No. It’s not.” He looks at me with large blue eyes. Alarmed and sickened. “The blood on us hasn’t dried yet. It’s still fresh. And the Vexamen Breed soldiers were knocked out with us. They were just as shocked to be here as we were.”
