Descending Darkness(97)

“I’m truly sorry for what happened to your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Howick, but I am not the reason you lost her. Dravin is the man who killed Rebecca. I’m trying to stop him, but I need help,” she pleads with them. “I know loss. I understand what you are experiencing. You can’t let that grief eat you up. You’ll never get any closure that way. You can help me bring her killer to justice though.”

I glance from my soulmate toward the Howicks. Since Ryanne threw up a shield to stop Mr. Howick from hitting me, they’ve been quiet. Mrs. Howick starts nodding and takes a small step from James.

“She’s right, Kent,” she whispers to her husband. Mr. Howick looks down at Ryanne once more before taking a step back. Ryanne can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be.

“Dravin has kidnapped me and tortured me twice in person and multiple times through dreams. He’s trying to steal my magic and use it against humans. He doesn’t believe that mages should exist amongst humans. He thinks that he should rule over them. We were given special abilities to use for good, not evil. Dravin doesn’t understand that. He thinks he’s better than everyone else and isn’t afraid to prove it. I’ve tried stopping him so many times, but I’m not strong enough. He’s forming an army of Gadramicks, and if we want any chance of stopping him, we need more people. We need your help,” she says while looking between the Howicks.

A look of protectiveness crosses Mr. Howick’s face as he watches her. Ryanne’s strong and fully capable of protecting herself, but she looks so small and fragile. Being close to his daughter’s age, it’s understandable why he’d feel a protective instinct come over him. “Please, I need your help,” she pleads again. He and his wife share a look at her plea.

“It’s what Rebecca would want,” she whispers. Her words catch as she mentions her daughter’s name, but it is enough for Mr. Howick to agree with us.

“What do you need us to do?”



“That’s it?” Mrs. Howick asks.

“We’re not sure when everything is going to play out, but I know that it’ll be soon,” Ryanne explains. “There’s been little stuff going on lately, and Dravin is starting to get very impatient. We need to be ready. I’m just going around and asking people for help. I need to get back out into the world and find out for myself what is happening.”

“We’ll help recruit some people,” Mr. Howick agrees. I reach out and grab Ryanne’s hand again. She looks up at me and smiles. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Howick are watching us, but I don’t care. I’m so proud of her right now. I know that she feels uncomfortable being the center of attention, but she’s pushing her feelings aside and doing what is right. I pull her toward me and kiss her temple. Mrs. Howick smiles at the blush forming on Ryanne’s cheeks.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Mr. Howick asks. Ryanne slowly nods, hesitant because she knows what it’s going to pertain to. “What did they do to you?”

Ryanne bites her lip and looks down at our hands. “Mr. Howick, please don’t reopen those wounds,” I say. “She’s been through enough recently.”

“It’s fine, Colton,” Ryanne whispers. I glance down at her, but she’s not looking at me. She’s looking at Mr. Howick. I tighten my grip on her hand as she asks, “Which time?”

“How many times have there been?”

With a blank expression, she answers, “At least six. Possibly more.”

“Oh my goodness,” Mrs. Howick exclaims.

“Look, I don’t want your pity. You want to know what happened to me?” Ryanne starts. I clench my jaw and look out the far window. I hate hearing about this. “I was kidnapped. I was thrown into this tiny cell, where men would come in and ask me questions. When I didn’t respond, they beat me. I was hit, kicked, dropped, thrown into walls, punched…you name it. I’ve broken many ribs and other bones, had a couple concussions, black eyes, bruised skin, split lip, malnourished, dehydrated, etc. I’ve had Dravin’s mind power used on me multiple times. I’ve relived the day my mother died twice now. I was given enough truth serum to make me throw up for an entire day and then sleep for nearly two. I’ve been stabbed through the stomach once and asphyxiated twice.”

She’s trying not to think about the specifics of what happened. I squeeze her hands again, attempting to comfort her, but she doesn’t acknowledge it. Her mind is on Dravin. “I know of death, and I know of pain, but I’m pushing forward because I don’t want to live in a world where I’m surrounded by that forever, and I know that you probably don’t either.”