A/N: Have you ever felt like you were living a lie? If not, you are lucky. If so, you know what I'm talking about. It sucks. I'm glad for friends to pull me out of my slumps and get me going in the right direction, much like Darcey's are doing. I hope you enjoy and have a great day. ^-^
Chapter Twenty-four:
Living a Lie?
When Darcey woke up, she looked around herself in confusion before remembering what had happened. She had sat down to wait for Erik but must have fallen asleep. He had obviously come and decided to let her sleep. She stood up and put the blanket away before dressing. She saw a note on the floor and picked it up, sitting down on the bed to read it. It was from Lionell and it said he wouldn't be able to take her at seven but that he would be able to later in the evening. She sighed. What should she do? That's when she had planned on having a violin lesson with Erik.
It was then that Darcey noticed another note on top of a jewelry box on her bedside table. She was curious about the contents of the box but was even more so about the note. She glanced down at the signature and felt her heart sink. It was signed O. G. When she read the salutation, she couldn't help the sob that rose in her throat. He had addressed it as Mademoiselle Dubois rather than Darcey. He was separating himself from her. She curled up on her bed with the note and read through it, completely breaking down by the time she finished. What had happened to make him hate her? Had she done something wrong? What was she going to do? She couldn't think of answers to any of her questions. Erik had grown to be her best friend but it seemed she was not his. All this time had been a lie. He didn't care about her at all. He had lied. He had said they were friends. Were Meg and Garren lying to her too? Was she really all alone and living a lie?
She wasn't born to be loved. She was meant to be alone in a world full of people. She closed her eyes tight, trying to block out the pain. She felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and stomped on. Darcey's eyes burned from her tears and she finally drifted off into sleep. Unfortunately, it was not peaceful sleep. She found herself cast into a pit of more torment. Memories in dream form.
She tossed and turned, sweat collecting at her brow, before jerking awake. She could hardly breathe and knew she had to escape. She grabbed her cloak, threw it on, and pulled on the hood before slipping outside. She managed to walk until she was out of sight before she burst out into a full blown run. She ran blindly, not even bothering to apologize to the people she bumped into. She didn't care anymore. She just kept running, tears continuing down her face as her legs started to burn from the exercise. Finally she couldn't go any farther and collapsed to the ground, her body being racked with sobs. Eventually she had no more energy and just lay on the cold, hard ground, whimpering as tears leaked out of her eyes to streak down her dirty face.
She jerked away and scrambled back from a sudden touch from something. "Stay away from me!" she squeaked out.
Garren held up his hands in a gesture that said he wasn't going to hurt her. "Shh. It's just me. I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you.
He crouched down and held out his arms to her. She collapsed into them and cried more tears that she didn't think she had anymore. She was limp in his strong arms and she found herself wishing that they were someone else's. She cried harder at the thought. Garren picked her up and cradled her in his arms like a baby. "I'm going to take care of you."
"Don't tell Meg. I don't want her to know," she whispered before falling captive to her exhaustion. Garren shifted her limp body so that it was cradled closer to his chest and walked towards the opera house, taking back roads and entering through the back. He made his way to her room, glad the hall was deserted. He closed her door with his foot and laid her on top of the bed.
What had upset her so much? How could he help her? Looking at her dirty face, he figured the least he could do was clean her up a bit. He got a wash cloth and some warm water and bathed her face and arms. She hardly moved while he washed the dirt and tears off of her that had it not been for her chest rising with every breath, he would have thought she was dead. She looked much like a glass doll that if you weren't careful, might break if handled too roughly. Garren pulled a chair over to the side of the bed so that he could watch over her. He didn't care to think what might have happened to her had he not happened upon her. Her life had obviously been hard on her and he wondered how he could help her. He noticed two notes on the ground and picked them up, folding the tear-stained paper. He would not intrude on her privacy. If she wanted to tell him that was great, but he would not read the notes.
"Darcey!" Meg called, running towards the room. Garren placed the notes in the jewelry box by the bed before Meg burst into the room. "Oh, Garren! What happened to her?" she exclaimed in a lowered voice when she saw that her friend was sleeping. Garren had a feeling that Meg could have yelled at the top of her lungs and Darcey wouldn't have heard her. Garren gestured her over and sat her on his lap. He pulled her back into his arms and rested his chin on her shoulder. Her hands covered his where they rested on her stomach.
"I don't know. I found her crying in the street. She didn't want you to know."
"My mother told me. I don't know how she knew. What are we going to do? Is she going to be alright? I'm worried about her."
"Don't worry. She'll be fine. She just needs time. I think she needs to sleep the most right now. Then she will need to have friends nearby as she recovers." Meg nodded and leaned back against him.
"Thank you for helping her. She's a good friend of mine. One of my best."
"She's mine too. Don't worry. We'll take care of her." He placed a kiss on her shoulder. "We'll take care of her."