Chapter 31: Epilogue

Cailyn was vaguely aware of her senses returning after what felt like an eternity. She could feel the leather of the couch beneath her, and the cool air around her. The subtle scent of sandalwood brought her back to full consciousness as everything clicked back into place. Her eyes opened to reveal Nathaniel’s office, and the concerned expression of the new, youthful Nathaniel looking down at her. 

“Did it work?” she asked, sitting up.

“Careful, careful,” Nate said, helping her. 

She immediately realized something was wrong. She wasn’t nearly as tall as she should be compared to Nathaniel. Even sitting down, she should have been taller than him.

“What happened to me?” she asked, actually hearing herself this time. Her voice was youthful and bright, despite the slight rasp of just waking up. 

She glanced down at her body, stunned by the childlike form she saw. A young girl in a plain white cotton nightgown. She wouldn’t have placed herself at more than eight or nine years old based on how small and slender her arms and hands were. 

“Take a moment, Cailyn. It will be alright. Your new body unraveled in a somewhat unusual manner because we had to keep you in stasis to recover from your spiritual transfusion. 

“Why am I a kid, Nate?” She asked, her pulse accelerating as panic crept up her spine.

“There were specific regulations put in place, Cailyn. I’m sorry. It was truly out of my hands in this instance. Your body has been restricted both physically and magically until you’ve been fully rehabilitated and no longer pose a threat to yourself or others.”

She felt anger rising from within. She wanted to hurt him - to hurt him badly. She could imagine plunging a knife into his neck and – she shook herself out of the fantasy, now fully realizing exactly why this had been done to her. 

“I… I see…” she mumbled. “So what happens now?”

“Now,” he began carefully, folding his hands behind his back. “I regretfully must turn you over to the proper authorities, as we had agreed per the terms of restoring you instead of leaving you trapped in a soulcatcher. You’ll be facing a life sentence, but you will have the potential for parole, with good behavior, after twenty years. This was the best I could do for you, Cailyn. It is a very generous offer, given the seriousness of your crimes.”

Cailyn stared into the middle distance, stunned. “Twenty years in prison… as a child?”

“You will have a special cell away from general population, seeing as you will be physically and magically unable to protect yourself. You will still receive all the same humane rights as other prisoners, including three meals a day and limited recreational and occupational benefits as you get older.”

“What… What am I supposed to do after spending twenty years in jail? With a criminal record, nobody is going to hire someone that’s been in jail since they were, what, eight, physically?” 

“There’s always a job waiting for you here at the Underground, Cailyn. In spite of everything, I may never allow you to work in the back rooms again… but I could always use people to run the store out front.”

She frowned and hung her head. Her ties to the magical world were growing more and more tenuous by the moment. 

“Can I… at least see Aiden and Ashe before I go? What about the rest of my family?”

“You can speak to them, if they are willing. I regret to inform you that your family at large has expressed little interest in speaking with you… given your crimes.”

“Of course,” she sighed. “At least let me see if Aiden will talk to me then?” 

Nathaniel nodded. “Of course, Cailyn. I will see if he is willing.” 

---

The small brass bell over the door chimed softly as a young woman stepped in, clad in form fitting jeans and a worn out old Nintendo shirt. She stomped the damp off her knee-high boots and infused a bit of magic to the rug to dry herself head to toe.

“I swear it’s raining 90% of the time I come to work,” Ashe griped.

“Why bother walking here when you could just teleport?” Caylie asked, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it loudly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ashe waved dismissively. “I could teleport anywhere these days, but walking helps keep me grounded.” 

In the last year, her powers had grown immensely without the presence of the seal that had held her in check for so long. A power matured over generations and passed from mother to daughter on and on. 

“Speaking of grounded,” Aiden added as he stepped into the shop behind her, “how’re you doing today, Caylie?”

“Still grounded and still bored,” she complained loudly. “Uncle Nate won’t let me go out with any of my friends.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you stay out past curfew,” Ashe teased.

“Only an hour past! It’s not even that bad! Besides, I’m technically an adult!”

“Technically you’re only a year old. Still wanna argue technicalities, or are you happy with fourteen?” Aiden said, giving her his stern ‘dad voice’. 

“Tch, whatever,” she rolled her eyes. “Just go bug him instead and let me go back to my stream.”

“Better not be watching anything naughty or we’ll have Nate put the child locks back on the WiFi again,” Ashe teased as she slipped behind the counter and back towards the ‘Staff Only’ door.

“No! It’s fine! It’s just a game streamer!” She protectively clutched the tablet to her chest to prevent Ashe from seeing the screen.

Ashe cackled as she opened the door to the back hallway into the Underground proper. “Keep an eye on her, Aiden. Don’t let her do anything too bad.”

“Of course,” he nodded, leaning against the counter near Caylie. 

Caylie eyed him with suspicion until he waved her off towards her tablet, and started scrolling on his phone. 

You are reading story Ashes From the Underground at novel35.com

A few minutes passed with only the electronic din of their respective activities, until it was broken by Caylie.

“So… how was she,” she asked, “Cailyn, I mean. You two were visiting her, right?”

“Yeah,” Aiden nodded, pausing his video. “She’s… doing about as well as can be expected. Ashe found a good soul match for her, but she couldn’t exactly go scott-free after killing several people, not to mention the crimes she committed after we foolishly let her go right after we met you…”

“Totally stupid choice, bee-tee-dubs.”

“Yeah, so you’ve said before. You sound really lame when you say bee-tee-dubs, by the way. Pretty sure nobody your age says that. Or any age,” Aiden smirked.

“Bet nobody your age lets a known sociopathic murderer walk off unsupervised, either, but here we are. So, how’s magic jail treating her?”

The bite of her words stung, but he shook it off as best he could. He knew that the guilt for what happened to everyone she’d harmed before and after being freed from Boucher lay squarely on his and Ashe’s shoulders for not noticing… and then for letting her go again.

“She’s… surviving. It’s hard for her because of her body being what it is. They have to keep her in a special cell since she looks like a kid and all. Wanted us to wish you a happy birthday though.”

“I’ll bet,” Caylie snorted. “Happy celebration of the day I was born to suffer for all her crimes, more like it.”

“Look, what she did was wrong, but she does feel bad about it now that she has actual emotions again, Caylie… and at least you get to be free, usually. She’s going to be in prison for decades while she’s being rehabilitated.” Frown lines creased Aiden’s face at the thought of his sister’s predicament. 

“Yeah,” Caylie relented. She saw the look on Aiden’s face and reached over, patting his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Aiden… um… bro…” 

He looked over at her and forced a smile. It was rare that she called him anything other than his name - and very infrequently did she refer to him as a sibling.

“Thanks, Caylie.” He tousled her hair and smiled.

Ashe returned from the back hallways a few moments later, humming. “Got a job.”

“Oh yeah? Where to this time?” Aiden asked.

“San Jose. The Winchester Mystery House. Apparently they wanna find out if it’s really haunted or if it’s just a tourism gimmick.”

“Sounds fun. When do we leave?”

“How about now?” Ashe grinned. 

Aiden rolled his eyes. “The ghost whisperer never rests on the job… See you later, Caylie.”

“See ya,” Caylie waved, returning to her stream.

“Oh, before we go,” Ashe said. “Nate told me to remind you that you have a book report due tomorrow that you still haven’t started. Your teacher called about it.” 

“Ugh!” Caylie groaned loudly. “Fiiiine, I’ll do my homework. Just get outta here already!”

“Good girl, Caylie. Stay in school!” Ashe grabbed Aiden’s arm, and in a blink the two of them were gone.

Caylie rolled her eyes… and returned to watching her stream.

---

She could hardly imagine her luck - two visitors in one day. Aiden and Ashe had been expected - they were her regulars. This one, though… this one wasn’t regular.

The man sat across from her looking perfectly normal to the whole world - mostly. His features were just a little too angular, a little too sharp, a little unnatural.

“I gave one of the guards a gift for you… I don’t foresee any problems with you getting it. I’ve greased the right palms,” the unnatural man said in a cold tone. 

“What kind of gift?” Cailyn asked, her curiosity piqued. Things had been so very boring in here, locked away in solitary all the time to keep her ‘safe’ from the other prisoners.

“Oh, it’s nothing too special… just a little something to help you pass the time. You’ll see.”

The buzzer sounded to inform her that visiting time was over, and guards approached her to escort her to her cell. By the time she made it back, a small lump had been deposited by her pillow.

She carefully picked it up and unwrapped the cloth covering. Inside was a shard of metal that was blackened, jagged and sinister. It sent a thrill racing through her, and she pressed her fingers to the cold metal.

Instantaneously she felt a familiar calmness spread through her, and a voice whispered in her mind.

‘Rip… and… tear…’

 

~Fin