A/N: Hey! Go check out @SKYROONY'sbook of writing prompts! It's where I got the idea for this story. ^_^

Dani grew pale.

"Oh, it's not that bad." Abarrane laced her words with honey. "You'll survive."

Bartel smirked and went to retrieve the requested items.

Abarrane watched Dani tremble before her. She repressed any signs of sympathy or regret down within the labyrinth that was her heart, locking them in the center as the destructive Minotaur. She couldn't screw this up.

Dani whipped the tears teetering on the edges of his eyes. "Wh-What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing special." Abarrane turned away from the child and walked over to a cabinet. She opened the cabinet's door and reached inside, pulling out a heavy book layered in dust. The book fell open on its binding to page two thousand-twelve.

There was a squawk and the unmistakable sound of metal meeting bone. Bartel strutted back into the room, a chicken limp in his arms. Dani screamed.

"This one put up a fight," Bartel said as he went to another cabinet and pulled out the salt, candles, and vodka. "But I got her in the end."

Dani bolted for the door but tripped on Bartel's outstretched pipe.

Abarrane felt her arm reach out before snapping it back to her side and grabbing the chicken.

"Not so fast." Bartel grabbed Dani by the elbow and pushed him back down in his chair. Dani whimpered and fell off the stool the moment Bartel released him.

Abarrane didn't look at the scene unfolding behind her. She continued her task of chopping up the chicken and catching its blood in a big enough bowl for five-year-old Dani to curl up in.

"Here's the other stuff."

She picked up four of the candles and dropped them in with the chicken blood. She brought the salt to her nose. Sea salt. Good. The pinch of salt went in, too.

Bartel held a flaming match to the wick of the fifth candle. He then used that candle to set the contents of the bowl ablaze.

The candles melted into a goopy wax, barely allowing the blood to be seen beneath it. The salt fizzled and popped and let out the sound of a hungry stomach.

Abarrane stared at the horrifying mixture and took a swing of the Vodka.

She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to do this. But she had to.

Her fingers twitched as she brought her hand up to her mouth, sucking on her thumb. As if it would dull the pain.

Before she could change her mind, she plunged her thumb into the flaming mixture.

Biting back a scream, she placed her finger on Dani's forehead.

He screamed and wept and begged her to stop. He struggled against Bartel's grip, holding him in place.

But Abarrane didn't stop. She drew two perpendicular lines then an "X" through their middles, ignoring the flaring pain shooting down her hand as the candle wax dripped off her thumb and down her arm.

Abarrane lept away the moment she finished, breathing heavily and rushing across the room to encapsulate her hand and the rest of her arm in a bucket of water.

Dani let out a sob and fell forward when Bartel let go.

Something crackled in the room, causing the few still-dry hairs on Abarrane's arm to stick up.

A hole ripped opened up right where Dani's stool used to be. Bartel stood on the other side and backed away. He couldn't do what needed to be done next. Only Abarrane could.

Dani scrambled away from the hole and flung himself at Abarrane, clutching at her clothing like she did nothing.

The back of her throat was dry, yet sweat licked at her palms and neck. She took a step forward. She took another.

It didn't take long for them to meet the hole.

Abarrane pulled Dani off her and faced him at the hole. He didn't move. His eyes were red and bulging, running across the room to look for any form of escape.

Abarrane place her hands on his back and faltered.

She swallowed. Hard.

Then she pushed her brother into the void.