Chapter 5
AN: My computer's not working. so… I couldn't upload. But I've found a solution. SO, i'll be uploading extra chapters this week.
Will's room was filled with books. There were stacks of them piled all over the floor as well as a very full bookshelf. I sat awkwardly on the bed as I gazed around. Will appeared through the door with a plate filled with food. "Here." he said, thrusting the plate in my direction.
He had sneaked into the kitchen in search of food after my stomach had growled loud enough to wake the dead. As Will had said. The plate contained cold mashed potatoes and a beef stew of sorts.
Will sat down across from me and gave me a pointed look. "Start talking."
"Well," I said, "It's going to sound crazy but… I saw it. Or rather, her. When I touched you." My voice wavered and my throat felt dry. I swallowed the feeling. "Lots of images and feelings, strong feelings coursed through me. And then, a symbol, I don't know what it is but i know it's meaning is her name. Do you have a paper I can borrow?A-and a pen?" Will shuffled around a bit and eventually found a sheet of stationery and an old looking fountain pen. I then proceeded to draw the symbol I had seen. It was fairly simple with two straight lines and one that intersected the others at two points.
"I've never seen that before." Will's presence held the haughty sort of arrogance found solely in those who are inebriated.
"I'm only telling you what I saw. Who was Ella? Was she your sister? How and why did she die?" I realized then that I had probably asked too much. Other people's' personal boundaries were always difficult for me to grasp. Will's face showed that I was correct in thinking so. He was offended.
"Ella was my sister." he surprised me by answering, "And she died because of me."
"That's not possible, she had been fighting a monster before, hadn't she?"
"Only to protect me. And only to die because of it." He looked away as if to hide shame, or tears, I couldn't tell which. "I deserve my curse."His eyes flashed with the realization of what he had just shared with me, a stranger. "Go." his tone was menacing.
"But I-"
"I said leave!" he snarled, lashing out at me with his hand. He stopped himself mere centimeters from my face. "Get out. Now." he growled. I scurried past him and down the steps.
As I ran down the steps and through the hallway, my vision blurred with tears. The tears fell because of stress, and sympathy for Will and Ella. But most of all, they fell because of the memories the conversation had invoked in me. The car, the blanket, and the overwhelming scent of coffee beans. I ran past my room towards the end of the hall and veered left. I continued blindly fleeing until I found a dusty room filled with musical instruments.
I sat down at the piano and played, and sang, one of the five songs I know on it, Demons, by Imagine Dragons. I, somewhat obsessively, repeated the song until the tears went away. I left the room and wandered the halls. Eventually, I was just wandering, asleep on my feet. At some point, I just fell asleep on the floor.
Waves of fear and sadness washed over me, but they weren't mine. They came from other people, out in the world. The feelings were strong and painful, swirling around me like a tsunami. But more powerful than that, was the ringing stench of regret. It filled my mind and screeched in my ears. Behind it all, there was the faint sound of metal scratching against itself and the creaking moan of gears grinding together.
I sat up, the sun had risen more and I guessed that it had been a few hours. around breakfast time. I looked around and realized that I was back in the room they'd given me. The events of the night and early morning felt hazy and dreamlike. Maybe it was.