This is, once again, a much shorter part of the story. It's not like that because I wanted it to be, I promise. It's because that was how long it needed to be to keep the tone. This chapter is a bit lighter than the last, but not by much, I don't think. Either way, don't forget to review!
Trembling, crawling across my skin
Feeling your cold, dead eyes
Stealing the life of mine
I believe in you
I can show you that I can see right through
All your empty lies, I won't last long
In this world so wrong
-Dance with the Devil, Breaking Benjamin
IV.
Fear
Why did you do this, Rosto?
The question haunted Beka daily. She had no idea what had happened to the man who had once been her friend. She had no idea what had happened to the man who had loved her.
Once, it had taken a lot to scare her. Now all she had to do was think about the cold, dead eyes that she saw whenever she looked at his face. Even the thought of it nearly reduced her to tears. Every time she saw him, a chill ran down her spine. Adrenaline flashed through her system when he turned his frozen gaze on her.
Fear. Always fear. It was always at her side, ready to drag her down. There were times when she barely saved face in front of people. She would never let them see what his betrayal had done to her. No one could see how scared she was because of him. She was scared that he would come for her and destroy her.
He was not the man she had once known. Her Rosto – the one she realized far too late that she had been in love with – would never have done this. He was her friend. He had wanted to be more. Now there was nothing left of that man. Or of that time.
Fear had not spread through Corus. Few people even knew what was going on. He still took care of the people who came to him for help. He seemed to care about them. But they did not know what he had become. They did not see what a monster he was. They did not know that their Terrier was scared out of her mind by who he had become.
He was just the Rogue, after all. He was her nemesis, yes, but they had always bantered and played with each other before. That had stopped months ago. But they didn't seem to really notice. The only people who did could do nothing to help. Tunstall. Goodwin. Ersken. Kora. Aniki. Phelan. They knew. They knew how much he had changed. His court knew, too, but they felt it was an improvement. Except for his friends. He was more ruthless than Kayfer Deerborn had ever been.
If there was a name in history that would go down as the true embodiment of the Rogue, it would be Rosto the Piper.
But people would forget. They would always forget. They would tell stories about her, about the things that Beka Cooper had done. But they would not tell stories about the man who had helped her become great. They would never know the slow, creeping fear that he caused in her now. It was so different from the warmth his kisses had once caused.
All she could think of was what he was. And who he had become. In the end, she knew what she would have to do.
Posted 6/5/11
