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chapter four | into the fold
episode three

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When Marian Villena had died, Neave had never felt so alone.

It had rained the day Neave had buried her mother, digging the grave until her fingers had blistered and the nails had cracked. Then, after, Neave had found the courage to steal some roses from the nearby town as she sprinkled the petals on top of her mother's body that was wrapped in an old blanket. Once buried, Neave had sat and cried, trying to understand what she was supposed to do next in a world without Marian to watch over her.

And now, Neave sat with the same empty feeling with the truth that Neave Villena belonged nowhere. She had fallen into an empty shock, unknowing how to feel about her mother dying when she had never met her before nor even what she was even supposed to do now. Neave had given up everything — had risked everything — to find a place she belonged, for death to slam the door in her face again.

Annette had died to the Fold, a monstrous force that Neave felt she was partly to blame.

"Neave," Inej said, coming over to the steps where Neave had sunk to sit. "Can I join you?"

Unable to speak, Neave had nodded with Inej dropping to sit down next to the grieving girl. Close by, Kaz waited with the goat as Neave knew he was growing impatient.

"If you want to go back to Ketterdam, then that's fine," Inej told her, despite receiving a glower from Kaz, where the three knew it wasn't possible. "You do what's best for you, Neave. But both your mothers have a history at the Little Palace waiting for you to find out. Your father might still be there too."

"And if there's nothing?" Neave questioned.

"Then you have a place with us," Inej promised.

After everything, Neave fit in with them more than anything now: an outcast with a tragic backstory trespassing into crime simply to survive and belong. Both Annette and Marian were dead, but their stories were still waiting to be told — a father could still exist, along with the possibility of other family members.

"Even if I didn't agree to stay," said Neave, not even able to find a small smile within herself. "Kaz would not let me leave knowing what I know."

"Is that you agreeing?" Inej smiled.

"Yeah," Neave said, knowing there was nowhere else for her to go. She had agreed to join them and wanted to see it through, even if she came away empty-handed. "What do I have to lose? Thank you, Inej, for helping me and for praying. It's a little hard to believe someone's out there watching over when nothing seems to go right."

"But when we're at our lowest, belief can give us hope," said Inej. "When there's hope, there's always a way forward. You're strong, Neave — believe in yourself if not the saints." She squeezed Neave's arm, offering her a sad smile. "You have our condolences and our support."

Neave was touched but she couldn't help but look at Kaz, who was eyeing the sky with the sun starting to set. They needed to leave to make their way towards the meeting point that the Conductor had set for them.

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Ahead of the three, the Conductor led them with a flaming torch. Neave kept her eyes on the Fold, hearing the crackle of thunder and shrieks of the Volcra that lurked inside as if waiting for them. If they failed, then at least Neave would finally get to meet her birth mother.

"Landmines," Inej noticed as Neave's head turned, eyebrows shooting upwards in surprise at the bright yellow sign.

The three came to a stop, not venturing any further when none of them trusted the Conductor. Already he was likely conspiring behind their backs, so what would prevent him from having them killed before they could even cross?

"We'll wait," Kaz decided, causing the Conductor to look back at them. "Follow the path that you carve."

"That sign, that was my idea to keep people away," the Conductor said. "Can't be too careful. We're fine. Come."

The three exchanged a look with Inej being the first to step forward. Neave frowned, glancing behind her as they were still down one. "But Jesper..."

"He'll catch up," Kaz told her.

Sighing, Neave followed after Kaz as they headed closer to the Fold. Looking up, Neave had to swallow her fear at the sight — the monsters terrified her, but it was the darkness that crept under her skin. If Marian was here, then she would likely be losing her mind right now or Neave would be dead.

"It's one thing hearing about it," said Inej. "But this is..."

The Conductor looked back at her. "Nothing compared to what lies within."

He passed Inej the torch and then disappeared towards the Fold. Neave couldn't take her eyes of the Fold, truly mesmerised by the dark wall. But then, the Conductor returned as Neave's eyes fell back on him, now seeing a carriage that must be their ride through the Fold. It was a relief to know it was enclosed, unlike a skiff. Marian and Neave had travelled inside the carriage years ago and had survived, so why did Neave still see it as a death trap?

"There," he said. "So, goat, jurda... thank you. Now we're just waiting on..."

As if on cue, gunshots fired with their heads snapping in the direction of the sound. At the front of the chase was Jesper, shouting at the four to wait for him. Neave was relieved to see him, but the number of men firing at him left her horrified. What had he done now?

"They can't see the train!" The Conductor panicked, snatching the torch from Inej's hands to extinguish the flames.

"Jesper, get here now!" Kaz called out.

"Leave the lantern!" Inej shouted.

"Ladmines!" Jesper cried back. A gunshot hit the sign, making Jesper jump as he dropped the lantern, deciding to take his chances with the landmines rather than those who wanted to kill him. "Oh, wait for me! Don't you go without me!"

During it, Neave was ushered into the train carriage with Inej following behind, and then Kaz with the Conductor. Her heart felt like it was going to explode in worry that Jesper wasn't going to make it, but then his figure appeared, jumping into the carriage behind them. Quickly, Inej moved to pull the door shut with the metal enough to hopefully protect them from the bullets.

"Please tell me you have twenty pounds of alabaster coal," said the Conductor, eyeing Jesper warily.

It was chaos as Neave stood out of the way, watching with wide-eyes as the Conductor prepared the carriage for their departure. Just standing made her feel useless, but she'd rather be useless then mess something up.

"Slight snag in the plan," Jesper told him. "Turns out that the kid who was helping me buy the coal didn't exactly know how to, uh, buy coal."

Neave frowned at the lie.

"We know you gambled it away," Kaz called him out.

"I lost a little bit of the money," Jesper admitted, and then saw Kaz's face. "I lost all of the money."

"Jesper!" Neave hissed in disappointment. This was a life or death situation and one mistake could cost them greatly.

"Hold on," Jesper said, eyes flickering between Neave and Kaz as he started to remove his coat, exhausted from his great escape. "I managed to steal twenty pounds of alabaster coal."

"No, no," the Conductor said, panicking. "There's sixteen pounds."

"Sixteen pounds of alabaster coal," Jesper corrected.

"Can we do it on sixteen?" Kaz asked.

"Never been done before."

They were dead.

There was no way they were going to survive the night and the gunshot ricocheting against the cart proved that their time was limited. Neave saw two options: she saved them by exposing herself that could potentially lead to their deaths too or they risked the Fold on limited fuel. It was the Conductor that made the decision.

"Sit here," he directed Jesper down to a metal seat that was hung in place with chains. "Never shift your weight."

Inej sunk down opposite Jesper with Neave following, trying her hardest to stop her legs from trembling with nerves. The Conductor rolled up his sleeves as Neave saw the lines along his arms.

"You've crossed that many times?" Inej questioned.

"It's a numbers game," the Conductor replied. "Cross this often and you get nightmares."

He opened the door, feeding the flames with coal. Next to Neave, Inej sent a silent prayer for them to get through this while she gripped onto her knife tightly. Needing something, Neave pulled up her skirt to reveal her ankles, pulling out her knife from the sheath.

"Is that your only one?" Inej asked.

"No," said Neave. "I have one more."

There was a glimpse of a small smile — Neave had impressed Inej again. Then, outside, an explosion sounded that alerted the five.

"Landmines," Jesper realised.

"I thought you said they weren't real," said Kaz, sitting close by to the Conductor and Neave knew what he was doing: he was studying everything the Conductor did to memorise it as if expecting the Conductor wouldn't be returning with them.

"I said nothing of the sort," the Conductor replied. "I just said I put up the sign myself."

They really couldn't trust him.

The reality made her chest tighten, not understanding how Marian and Annette had trusted him all those years ago, and now here they were doing the same. Neave felt like she might be sick; maybe she should have stayed in Ketterdam as chasing the past didn't seem worth it so far.

Then, they were off with it being too late for them to call quits. Neave's hand rested on the empty spot of her chest, thinking of how brave Marian must have been to travel with a baby. At what point did she fall in love with Neave to not give her up or had raising Neave been the plan all along?

There was a loud metal clang that made Neave jump. Jesper exchanged a look with Neave, the two seeming to reflect each other's fear. "What was that?"

"I've erected a system of timers along the line," the Conductor explained, appearing too relaxed for what they were doing. So many had died crossing — her birth mother included — and now he was sat as if it was a simple train ride. But his gaze was focused on the pocket watch, calculating the journey as if their survival counted on it. "Bits of metal hung on poles to keep me apprised of our place."

"How did you know where to put the poles?" Kaz asked.

"Physics and engineering account for... most of my success."

"And the rest?" Inej queried.

"What we might call divine intervention," said the Conductor. "What others might call luck. And after all, the Fold is thick with Volcra, and the tracks are not complete. Coal, please."

"I'm sorry," Jesper's brows furrowed. "Did you say the tracks weren't complete?"

Neave was certain her heart had stopped twice. The first: the Conductor telling them that their survival was based on luck and Neave had never known what having luck was like. And then, the second: the tracks weren't complete. The odds were not looking in their favour.

"We're going to die," Neave whispered.

"I said they aren't complete," the Conductor answered Jesper.

Jesper leant forward. "What?"

"Ah, ah, ah," the Conductor shook a finger at him. "No moving. If you move, then we're dead," he eyed his pocket watch again. "We're a tad late. More coal."

Kaz reached forward, throwing more coals onto the flames as Neave watched them dance, finding herself praying for a miracle.

"Back to the real issue," said Jesper, panicking. "We're on tracks that don't connect to other tracks?"

"There's a gap, but—"

"You said you could get us through," Kaz reminded him.

"How much of a gap?" Jesper demanded.

"I built slats on the car," the Conductor explained. "They roll into place under the wheels. The turbine generates enough wind to push us all the way to the eastern track. As long as we don't shift our weight." Another clang of metal sounded. "Now, the noise may attract Volcra, but it's the only way across."

He pulled the lever with the wheels scraping against the track, causing a racket that left Neave clutching onto her knife tightly.

"Now, there's a nest nearby," the Conductor said.

As if on cue, the Volcra growled, alerting the group.

"Well, now we've got a problem."

Through the slits of the metal container, Neave could see shadows in the darkness as she held the knife closer to herself, knowing it would do her no good against them. They struck with the flames barely enough defence against the creatures.

"How do you fight them off?" Kaz questioned, almost shouting.

"I outrun them," said the Conductor. "Open the throttle and toss in all the coal, which works when there's twenty pounds of it."

There was a nasty snarl as they all looked up, Neave squealing as something dripped down the side close by to her. She moved herself closer to Inej, receiving a stern look from the Conductor — don't move.

"Damn it!" The Conductor said, peering through a telescope so that he could see what was going on outside. "The stupid thing is impaled itself on a spike."

"Get if off," Kaz shouted. "The others will stand on it."

"More coal!"

"We're down to fumes!"

"We won't make it with the extra weight," Kaz snapped.

"Give me a second."

"This is how we die?" Jesper realised.

"Jesper, grab the goat," the Conductor told him.

"No!" Neave glared at him. "You can't sacrifice the goat!"

Jesper agreed with her. "I'm not throwing out the goat!"

"Grab the damn goat!" The Conductor shouted back. "It's not bait. It's for you! I need you to calm down. Hug the goat. Shut the hell up." Then he rounded on Neave, seeing that Inej was praying and she was sat in a numb shock. "Neave, just sit still!"

Another metal clang sounded.

Neave didn't move an inch.

"We should have hit that twenty seconds ago."

"Twenty seconds is?" Shouted Kaz.

"My timings are precise to get us outside," said the Conductor. "Even twenty seconds behind means the train stops inside the Fold and..."

"We die," Neave finished quietly.

The Volcra growled once more as if agreeing to that promise. Neave knew that when death came for her, it would be met with her mother Marian shouting at her for being so foolish. For years, Marian had drilled into her to stay away from the Fold, and now Nevae was going to die inside it.

"There's more coming," the Conductor panicked. "Something else must be attracting them."

Neave straightened, eyes growing wide at the words. Her heart thudded, coming to a stop as if it had crashed into a wall. Her hands shook for a second and then they held onto her dagger to stop her tremor.

Could it be possible?

Through the chaos, Kaz's eyes had fallen on her, having caught her reaction. Neave knew he suspected her now more than ever, and she hoped her frightened expression made him believe it was nothing more than fear of the Volcra. But they were all going to die because of Neave, who had been selfish and foolish to not think about the consequences of someone like her entering the Fold.

And then, another roar of fire erupted above them as a Volcra attempted to attack them. It wouldn't matter if Kaz knew as they were about to die, but maybe she could save them — how she could do it, she wasn't sure. For so long, Neave had only known to supress the power and only let it show in a last resort. Those who saw or suspected must die. But how could Neave use it in the Fold to save them?

"You may want to make your peace," the Conductor spoke, almost crying.

Neave dropped the knife, knowing that she had no choice. It cluttered to the floor, along with the sound of something shattering with the metal being torn from the carriage. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see their faces.

But Neave wasn't the only one with a plan. Jesper had stood up, eyes shut as if he was finding a focus point within the chaos. The goat still rested in his arms, and then Neave heard the first shot. Eyes opening, she stopped herself from calling on the power as her eyes fell on Jesper, watching as he miraculously made each shot through the metal. Each bullet met a Volcra, resulting in a pained cry.

Then, once done, he put the goat back on the floor.

"Are they all dead?" Inej questioned.

A thud was the only answer that triggered a scream form the Volcra. The metal tore back, revealing the dark creature with its pointed teeth exposed in hunger towards them. Neave found herself screaming, too, and then she was falling back into Inej, who twisted her body to stop Neave from falling.

Jesper, however, made the final shot with precise accuracy as the Volcra's head exploded and his body fell away from the carriage. Spinning his gun, Jesper put it away once more.

Another metal clang sounded (Neave hoped it was the final one); it startled the four with Inej raising a knife as if anticipating another monster. Kaz looked to the Conductor, who checked his watch. Neave let out a long breath as if to ease the shook of the experience.

Then — finally — daylight broke through with the sight blinding Neave. In the light came peace as Neave let out a small laugh, truly having believed that she would never see the glorious sun again. They had survived — a miracle, really — but they had survived the Fold.

The delirious feeling broke as Neave's head fell from staring at the light to the reality that surrounded her. In one second, Neave had gone from pure joy to panic: Kaz Brekker stared at her with new eyes that were more dangerous than the ordeal they had just been through.

Neave's smile collapsed, unknowing what she was supposed to do.

"If anyone finds out, my rose," Marian's voice appeared in her mind. "Then you must extinguish the threat. You must kill them before they kill you. And they will, my rose, even if they capture you. Death will always be an end result for a girl like you."

But Kaz wouldn't kill her, would he? No — he would use Neave to his advantage, whether it be exploiting her for riches or for power.

Either way: Neave couldn't let Kaz figure out the truth.

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Neave's power is probably so obvious now! I'm happy I didn't shy away from it as I have a lot of exciting things to come!