Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes
Epilogue
The roses are dying. Can you feel them?
She feels them. Down to the very core of her being, she feels. She wants to howl her loss to the heavens, but her cries would fall on deaf ears. And all her tears were used a long time ago, anyway, so now all she feels is numb. She is in a meeting in a conference room somewhere, off some Hollywood set, where she should be paying to some famous director explain the plot of the movie she'll be working on, but all she can focus on is the past... She backtracks in her mind.
It is the day of Toby's graduation, and the sky is an unmercifully clear, cloudless blue. How ironic, that the two most pivotal days of her life should contrast each other so, and yet be so much the same. There are no birds in the sky, and definitely no Goblin Kings. The choir is singing the alma mater, and the valedictorian is giving his speech. The baby next to her is crying. The principal starts to call names. The wait seems interminable. Her chair is uncomfortable. He's only on "H"? What's taking him so long?
She searches her memory. What happens next isn't important. Fast forward.
She stares at the shoes of the graduating class. Heels, sandals, dress shoes, sneakers, and black steel-toed boots. Wait a minute- black steel-toed boots? She looks up and catches Toby's eye. He waves in her direction. She groans about the shoes. She shifts in her chair and pretends to read the program, all the while searching the crowd for a familiar face. Not an ethereally pale face in sight, only sweating parents and siblings. He stands up and gets in line to receive his empty diploma case. The actual certificates were already mailed to the house weeks ago, making the ceremony unnecessary, but she had insisted he end the year properly. He smiles for the camera, a senior graduating with honors. She watches as he accepts his diploma, finally able to relax. He's gotten through the ceremony with no glitches. She smiles. Something glinting in the light of the sun rolls off the stage and shatters on the ground. What was that? Probably some senior's illegal vodka glass. The last name is called, and the class throws their caps up into the air. She snaps another picture, and the stage erupts into good-natured mayhem as the newly dubbed adults rush back to their families and friends, hugging and crying and smiling and laughing. She searches for Toby in the wave of teenage adrenaline advancing on her. A loud car engine catches her ear, sounding as if it had just pulled up. She spots her half-brother by the parking lot, ripping off his stifling graduation robe with gusto. He throws a hand up to shield his eyes as he squints, looking around, and spots her. She comes over to him, throwing an arm around him. He seems tense and quiet. She asks him what he plans to do about college, and if he'll choose something local. He merely responds with a distracted apology along the lines of "I'm sorry, but you know I can't stay here." An expensive red convertible pulls up to them, blaring a pulsing dance beat. The driver's long ponytail whips in the wind, and dark sunglasses veil his face. She doesn't recognize him.
"A friend of yours, Toby?"
"Something like that."
The driver's voice carries over the music, though he isn't yelling. "You called me?" His lips curl into something of a smirk, and suddenly, his identity unveils itself to her and all she can hear is the music's bass line pounding in synch with her blood and the words to the music are becoming clearer and now she hears, all too clearly, "Welcome to the courts/ Of the Goblin King..." and her brother is saying "I wondered when you were going to show up," and he's climbing into the car now and he turns back to face her one last time and his eyes are chillingly, mind-numbingly ice blue and he winks at her and blows her a kiss and he's not her brother anymore and the driver with the glittering mismatched eyes is shaking his head and murmuring, "You never understood... Such a pity it couldn't have ended another way..." as he's tossing his sunglasses off with one fluid movement and the car speeds off and the sunglasses crunch under the tires and all she can do is stand there, speechless, as her world falls down for what she is certain will be the last time. The sun is shining.
Author's note: This seemed like a good place to end the piece, so if the reader is satisfied with this ending, stop here and review. However, for those of you who dislike the neatly tied up ending, here's a bit more of an open-ended finish:
She tries to convince herself now that that day was all one schizophrenic episode, but she knows in her heart that she can't. She repeats her mantra to herself, the next best thing, that she is numb and she doesn't feel anything. Nothing matters anymore- the only person to whom she could plead for her brother and her life back doesn't even care enough to torment her now. He's had his ultimate revenge, and lyrics echo in her head- Cut my life into pieces/ This is my last resort... She certainly wonders if she's still breathing. She tries to focus on her manager. She is being introduced to her costar for the picture. "His name is Gareth- Gareth Cyning. It's an Old World name...means "king", if memory serves..." Oh, God...
~End~