Ashes to Embers by Abigail Livinghouse (best book reader txt) 📕

“Well? No sarcastic remark?” I asked.

“Siren.”

I stiffened when I heard the cold voice behind me. The voice identical to Izzy’s, except for the stern bite to it. I slowly turned to face Isaac, his blue eyes hard and narrowed. My insides chilled and I gritted my teeth, knowing that Izzy wasn’t the one who had fucked me over. No, I had just done that all on my own.

Izzy scrambled to his feet, swiping at the tears that had trickled down his cheeks. Isaac’s cutting gaze flitted to his brother for no more than a second before it rested back on me. There was a few seconds of terrible silence like the kind between Izzy and I. The only difference was, the tension now was so thick you could’ve cut it with a knife.

 I looked quickly from Izzy to Isaac. I couldn’t get over the astounding personality differences between the twins. Izzy looked just as shocked as I was, but I on the other hand wasn’t about ready to piss my pants like I could imagine Izzy was just at the sight of his brother.

“Isaiah, get your ass back inside.” Isaac ordered harshly.

Izzy hesitated for half a second before clambering down from the rusty car and nearly bolting inside the complex, clearly glad to be out of any conflict.

I shut my eyes for the briefest second, wishing like hell I was anywhere but here. Sadly when I opened my eyes again I hadn’t teleported like I would’ve appreciated.

When Isaac looked at me again, his whole expression had softened. His forehead wasn’t creased and his lips weren’t pinched in stress or anger. He looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him. Still incredibly stern and business like-but definitely less stressed out.

“Would you mind going for a walk with me?” He asked.

I was caught off guard by the odd request. I was expecting him to shriek at me for disrespecting his brother, so I wasn’t particularly keen on saying yes. When I was about to refuse, Isaac’s face broke out in the biggest smile I had ever seen either twin produce. He chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking quite modest if not a little shy. Another first for him.

“I’m not going to bite your head off.” He joked.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. He was actually making a joke about our fucked up world. At that, I agreed to go for a walk with him.

***

Isaac led me to the complete opposite end of the Haven, where corn fields, vegetable patches, and some cattle could be found grazing. It was the equivalent to the countryside, and probably the closest any of us would ever see again in our lifetimes.

At night I know the livestock is securely locked away in the barn, just in case any other incidents like tonight happen again. Everything nearly confines themselves where they live. Better to be prepared than caught off guard.

 Isaac walked idly beside me, not saying a word the whole time. I couldn’t believe when I asked for the time and he told me it was only four thirty. It felt like an eternity had gone by since the incident with the Dead and with Izzy.

“I wanted to apologize for my brother.” Isaac said.

I nearly jumped at his voice breaking the silence. I regained my composure and looked questioningly at him.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I feel like he’s my responsibility. I found him and brought him here.”

“It’s not your fault.” I promptly stuck my foot in my mouth. I pursed my lips. I don’t think any person has ever fucked themselves over this many times in one night before. I must’ve been setting a new record.

Isaac didn’t even look my way. He just continued to walk, looking straight ahead with the same perfect grace and posture.

“You’re right. It’s not my fault that he’s fucking up. It’s only my fault that he’s here.” Isaac agreed. More or less anyway.

I had already screwed myself over enough tonight. What I should’ve done earlier was keep my big mouth shut. And that was exactly what I was going to do now.

“I had figured my brother would come here and show everyone how amazing his abilities were. I thought he would prove that he belonged here. But so far, all he’s proved is that he belongs with the common folk, under our protection because he can’t protect himself.” Isaac said calmly.

“I never expected-I never expected him to fail, so miserably.” He admitted.

I listened to Isaac, an understanding look on my face. “I’m sure you’re disappointed.”

“Disappointed? I’m very much beyond that, at this point.” Isaac scoffed.

“Look”, I leaned towards him. “I know you’re upset with your brother, but you have got to remember that he is your brother, your one and only brother. Don’t take him for granted because one day, he might not be here anymore.” My voice caught at the end and I had to stop talking. I would cry if I went on any longer.

Memories, as sharp and painful as ever were making my throat ache with every word I said. I wasn’t an only child, I had had a little sister that I loved and protected with my life. But that wasn’t good enough. She had died because I wasn’t able to protect her. I didn’t want Isaac to be filled with the same guilt and sadness that I was to this day, years after her death.

Isaac didn’t speak for a few moments, but then he stopped walking and looked right at me. He seemed to be searching my face for something. When he apparently had found what he was looking for, he sighed.

“I know you’re right. It’s just hard to appreciate him when he behaves the way he does.”

“He’s not a kid.” I blurted out.

Isaac snickered. “Same difference when it comes to Izzy.”

“What I really wanted to ask you on this little walk is for a truce.” He added.

I looked at him strangely. “What do you mean?”

“I was hoping you could speak to the other girls, Lilith an Rach so that they wouldn’t be so hard on Izzy. I came to you because you seemed like the one in charge.” He said.

Me in charge? Hmph, that was a funny joke. I shrugged.

“Sure I guess.”

Isaac nodded sternly. “Good. I’m glad we could have this talk. Finally I got a chance to speak to the infamous Sirenia Katrine.”

I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me or not but I didn’t say anything. Enough people here held misconstrued ideas about me thanks to Felix’s big mouth.

“It was nice talking to you too.” I said simply.

I didn’t go back to the apartment complex. Isaac and I walked there, but halfway I changed course and went for the gate. He didn’t question me, just nodded goodbye and that was it. Instead of going to the complex, I went to the gates.

A new watchman whose name I didn’t know came down to greet me. He was a burly man with a thick brown beard and bushy eyebrows that seemed forever pressed into a scowl. He asked in a deep voice to state my name and business as to why I wanted to leave, and what time I was expected to be back.

“Siren, I’d like to go hunting.” I said.

He looked me up and down, obviously not believing me. I pursed my lips and stuck my hand into the leather sheath at my calf, pulling out my twelve inch knife. For a moment the man’s eyes widened and he let out a gasp of surprise-maybe even fear.

“Wh-what about a gun?” He stammered, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.

I shrugged, putting my knife back in its resting place. “I have my ways.”

With no further questions, he scuttled over to the gate, placed a key in the lock and turned. He pulled back the right side and gestured for me to move forward.

“Good luck out there. Be back before sunset.” He warned as he shut the gate on my back.

I grimaced, facing the barren landscape and asking myself why I was out here in the first place. It was hard to conjure up an answer at first but then I remembered. I wanted some time alone and away from everyone in the Haven. Which was strange, because a few months ago I would’ve kissed the ground everyone in the Haven walked on for allowing me to live in their home.

I took a few steps, spotting old buildings in the far distance. I would just walk to that city-whatever city that was-and spend a little time there and get back before noon then hopefully no one would notice I had been gone. I knew it was a long shot, a really, really long shot. But it was all I got.

I wasn’t sure what particularly was getting to me in the past few weeks. Whether it be the problems with Izzy, Felix deserting us, Lilith’s depression, or the incident that had happened today with the Undead I couldn’t tell. It could be a combination of all of those things. In which case, I wasn’t getting anywhere and probably wouldn’t any time soon.

As I approached the seemingly empty city, I noticed two people walking on the cracked sidewalk. They seemed civilized enough, talking to one another in voices too soft for me to hear. I advanced a little closer before jumping behind a building for seclusion. I was now close enough so that I could hear what they were talking about.

“Don’t be irrational. Haven’t we been through enough? These two months have been some of the worst of my life. Our people need time to live, not just survive.” Wise words spoken from the woman of the couple, and the man sighed.

“I know, I know. But does it really seem safe here?”

“As safe as any other place.” The girl answered.

By the sound of it, they had come from some sort of group. This put me on edge, because if I disturbed a large group of people I could potentially be attacked. Not everyone is as friendly as those back at the Haven, that I knew from pure experience.

“Well, then what do you suggest we do-”

The guy’s sentence was cut short by a loud scream not too far from here. I looked around the corner to see that the man and woman had gone off sprinting in the direction of the sound.

This was my opportunity to book it out of there and back home. And for some reason I can’t