Ever since the Fourth, Adam had been coming to Cabeswater almost everyday. He felt so much more alive there, with all that energy channeling through his body. And it made his heart swell with pride to see it thriving again. He felt so protective of this place, and for once in his life he felt necessary. He felt important.
So when the lush trees gave way to blackened ones, something sank in the pit of his stomach. Cabeswater was burning. No, that wasn't exactly true. Cabeswater had been burned. He lay a bare hand on one of the darkened tree trunks, ash crumbling beneath his fingertips, willing it to speak to him.
What happened here?
His head snapped up at the sound of voices.
"Oh Lynch, of course it's real." He knew that voice, but he couldn't pinpoint from where. It was hoarse and dripping with malice, sounding more monster than human, but there was an underpinning to it that he recognized. Adam drew himself closer.
There was a clearing ahead and in it he could see two figures. One he recognized instantly. Ronan Lynch, but he was all wrong. His back was rigid, head bowed. This Ronan looked broken, afraid, and he had never seen him like this. He edged closer to get a better look at the second figure, and his heart stopped when he did.
Adam hadn't been there on the Fourth. He hadn't seen the dream dragon and Ronan's bird fight. He hadn't watched Kavinsky kill himself. But he had heard about it, and now he saw the aftermath. The Kavinsky before him had skin that was black and flaky, charred from his suicide. Smoke rolled in waves from his body. In some places, between the cracks of blackened skin, there was a red glow, as if he was burning from the inside out. The scene shimmered for a moment and then Kavinsky looked normal again, or close to normal, his skin grey and the smoke still billowing softly from his form.
Kavinsky lifted a cigarette to his lips and took a long drag, and Adam felt the fear fill Cabeswater.
"How's reality?" Ronan didn't respond. Adam was nearly in the clearing now, and he had made so much noise he was surprised the boys hadn't noticed him yet, which meant they weren't really here. Or he wasn't really there yet.
Adam watched as the cigarette between Kavinsky's grey fingers burned down to the filter. His eyes followed the cigarette as he cast it aside, landing softly on a bed of charred dirt.
It was Ronan who broke the impossibly long silence.
"I'm so-" But he was cut off. He was sorry? Sorry for what? Kavinsky laughed.
"You're what? You're sorry? Come on, Lynch. I thought we weren't going to lie to each other."
Adam watched Kavinsky push his sunglasses up onto his head, smirk, walk closer to Ronan. Ronan's back was turned to him, so he couldn't see his reaction, but from the way his shoulders tensed up, he knew it couldn't be good.
"Scared, Lynch? Because you should be. This time I am the most dangerous thing in here."
Ronan took to hasty steps back. "It was never going to be-"
Kavinsky lunged as Adam called out, but his voice was swallowed up by the forest. He watched helplessly as Kavinsky's charred fingers wrapped themselves around Ronan's throat, and in the next moment, they were gone.