Halloween was magical. Truly magical. Zero had planned the entire day- every potion she’d make, every spell she’d cast, every step she’d take. It was set up to be a religious experience, metaphorically.
So when her eyes opened and she was blinded by the bright white lights of the hospital, Zero was rightfully confused.
The day had been fine. Exciting, even. Zerophina had kissed Soleil’s lips as soon as she’d stirred in the morning (which had been even earlier than her moon, an unprecedented event saved only for All Hallow’s Eve) and had gone out into the foggy, cold air. All day the ghost girl had felt like a skeleton; she’d felt jittery, on edge, filled with antici... pation. She could have sworn that she had heard her friend Persephone once or twice, calling to her from just beyond the treeline.
And maybe she was. Maybe, since it was Halloween and the Veil was thin, she could hear her friend. But Zero doubted it. She just ignored it, focused wholly on the work she’d planned for herself for the day, except for the few times when she remembered that Soleil was around and she left her spot hurriedly to plant kisses on her moon’s bright cheeks and soft lips the way that Soleil so gently planted gardens of flowers. That had been their day: Zero murmuring to herself the spells and incantations she imbued into her work and zipping through the house or the woods to find Soleil because she just couldn’t keep herself still.
Eventually she realized that it was power that was coursing through her. It had been a long time since she’d last felt that old friend, a long time indeed. Zero had worked very hard to keep that friend away, but lately she had been having a hard time keeping it stifled. It came to her in dreams sometimes. Flashes of memories, of the black fire that had once consumed her. Sometimes she missed it very much.
It had all escalated very quickly. The closer time grew to midnight the harder she felt the power pulsing through her veins. It seeped deep into her bones and blotted out the words etched into her ribs. Soleil and home and love. By the time she realized that it was the Darkness, that she had lost control, it was too late.
The fire didn’t burn Zero’s flesh. It had been the dark water bubbling violently in the large pot on the fire. For a moment she had seen Soleil’s face and had reached out to touch her, and had realized that she’d been tricked too late. Her arm ached down to the Darkness-coated bone suddenly and as her vision faded, she screamed.