[Dream] Make It Burn

Maddy couldn't remember a winter when they had such a terrible storm on the horizon. Not any time outside of the depths of summer. The clouds are dark, purple and black swirls behind the skyline of Eidolon, clouds illuminating with the flashes of lightening.

She stands on the seemingly weak railing of the bridge while the thunder crashes and she can feel the electricity in the air. The electricity is thick in the air, dancing across her skin like an itch she can't scratch. A mosquito she can't find.

She looks down at the water of the river below her, the ghosts, the victims of Eidolon City reaching up for her. The wind whips around her with greedy hands and she's so cold. It's a precarious balancing act that she performs on the icy railing and if the wind chose, it could push her down into the arms of the dead.

She looks down at the ground beside her. Roy sits there, bare shoulders crackling blue with each fork of lightening threatening to rip the sky apart. He looks up at her in mild disapproval, sad face contorted in vague annoyance.

"You should hold onto the lamp post, Madeline. You're going to fall if you're not careful."

"No, I won't," she argued, the the cold wind reaching down her throat to steal the words, tossing them away to flutter wildly in the air.

"Why?" Dodge asks. Before she can turn her head to look at him, his hand reaches out and wraps around her ankle. She slips, pitching forward and the skeletons rise up from the dark of the water, reaching up to catch her in their waiting arms. Instead, she's pulled backward and Dodge is holding onto her, grinning. "See? You're lucky I was here to catch you."

His fedora is low over his eyes and she pushes it up so she can see his face. He looks the same, that grin and the laughter in his eyes, but with each lightening flash, she sees something else. A younger Dodge. A crying one.

Thunder cracks and the skeletons in the river yell louder so they can be heard over the sound. They're crying her name and she shivers, the wind adding its own howls to the chorus.

She asks Dodge, "Why did you try to make me fall? Why would you do that?"

Dodge looks down at her like she's crazy, but leans down and kisses the space between her eyebrows. "I wasn't trying to make you fall. You're just not as good as you like to think you are." But it doesn't sound quite right. His voice sounds strange.

Roy's mad. She can feel it crackling over her skin like static. She can see the blue arcing in webs over her arms, the hands that grip Dodge's shoulders. She's cold and the arcs are so blue. Maybe she's cracking, like ice.

And suddenly she's sprawled on the ground, watching Roy wrap his hands around Dodge's neck. She tries to get up and stop him but she can't move. She tries to scream but the wind is faster this time, grabbing her words as soon as she opens her mouth, crushing them into dust.

Dodge's eyes are dark, like old pennies while he stares at her. His neck is black with bruises, blue electricity still clinging to his throat. He's just laying there, sprawled on the ground, staring at her and she can't cry. She wants to but she can't.

"You can't do everything by yourself," Roy says, bright blue hands holding her gaze. "I'll help you."

She can't speak. Her voice is gone. The storm clouds are building behind Roy's figure.

"Marian doesn't want to live with us," the blue arcs tell her, crackling loudly in her ears. "So I'm going to stay with her. You can visit sometimes, though."

She's so cold.

Roy gets up and takes Marian's hand. The older girl is glaring down at her, all pointed teeth and cat eyes. Marian smacks her and the taste of copper pennies fill her mouth, pooling over her lips and dripping down her chin, splattering onto the ground.

She looks back at Dodge, but all that's left is his hat. She's alone on the bridge, the skeletons yelling her name.

Jack kneels next to Dodge's hat and it crumbles in his hands. He looks just like he did when he left. His hair too long and hanging in his eyes, still skinny with youth, with the lack of good meals, but he's there and he's wonderful and he's glowing with light.

"I miss you," she cries, rivers of red running down her cheeks and Jack reaches out and grabs her hands with a smile.

"Let's make the rest of the city burn, Star. Let's make our kingdom burn."

The clouds are dark, purple and black swirls behind the skyline of Eidolon City, clouds illuminating with the flashes of lightening.

The city begins to scream in terror.