And here our next chapter begins with an anticipated editor/author and a hearty bag of sweet potato chips. Oh, and we can't forget about the good music.
Song for this Chapter: Stop and Stare -- OneRepublic
Anywho. Just a warning—I think you will be very confused...and I'm trying to make that not be the case, but this story has ended up being a lot more complicated than I ever anticipated it to be. It seemed a lot simpler in my head. Haha.
Disclaimer: ummm...I don't own the original characters or the setting. Everything else is pretty much mine. Mwa ha ha.
Chapter 45: Fall to Pieces
Finding out what her scars actually meant set her a step forward from where she stood previously. If it were any other circumstance, she would have welcomed that fact with open arms. Unfortunately, the state of her life never exactly gave her the grace of an easy way out. She may have been a step forward, but she felt like she had simultaneously taken another step right back. Stuck.
A day had passed by since she had found out exactly what was going on. That day had gone by torturously. She refused to leave the haven of her bedroom, fearing that her parents would see her blotchy cheeks, or her dead face. So she stayed inside and watched each hour pass by one by one. Her thoughts lingered on one thing alone as she traced her scars. She thought of their meaning, the possibilities, and just what she was supposed to do about it.
She honestly had no idea.
What was worse was that she had spent that whole day thinking everything over, and still her theories on the whole situation had not altered. As she woke the next day, she felt oddly light and confused. The sensation lasted for only seconds before her eyes fell upon the trunk and reality came crashing down.
Though there was nothing she would rather do than lay there and let the waves of nausea torture her, she rose from her bed and stood up. Her head swam as it got used to the new posture. When her eyesight cleared, she turned to her closet and proceeded to look for something to wear.
When she realized that she had gone through each article of clothing twice, it came to her that she hadn't remembered looking at any of them. Her mind had drifted. She immediately walked to the other side of her line of clothes and started over, paying attention this time. Internally, she hadn't the heart to care. She kept herself busy for the sake of blaring out her thoughts, and of course, to prolong the moment when she knew she would have to leave her bedroom.
A too-soon fifteen minutes later, she picked out a pair of black, short slacks, and a long green shirt. Romeli then turned to the mirror and physically cringed.
Her skin had turned shallow and white, like it had been flushed of all color. Her hair was a complete mess, which thankfully would take her a long time to straighten out. Her eyes were the most alarming. They were weary, dead even. Almost like the act of looking at anything was overrated and boring to her. The rate in which her eyes switched colors was choppy and slow—numb.
Romeli sighed heavily as she picked up her brush and began to work on her hair. When she finally tamed it enough to be acceptable, she picked up her bag of makeup and rummaged through it for her concealer. Looking normal to the eyes of her friends was an absolute necessity, and an impossibility.
When she was done with the touch-ups, she put on the first pair of shoes she saw and stepped out of the doorway into the main room of the Salmalin Suite.
And there the bombardment of questions began. She had anticipated an easy getaway, but the sound of her father's voice froze her.
"Where were you yesterday?"
Romeli turned around and sighed inaudibly, averting his gaze. "In my room. Sleeping."
"The whole day?" He already knew the answer. It was merely a transition to why she was there the whole day.
Romeli looked at him and away again. "Yeah, Dad." She could feel herself coming to pieces. Perhaps coming out of her room so soon was a bad idea. "I was really tired. You know sleepovers." She made an attempt at a laugh.
Thankfully Numair didn't catch anything out of the ordinary. Apparently he did know the whole sleepover scene.
"I'll see ya later, Dad."
"See ya, Romy."
Romeli shut the door on the way out and began to walk down the hallway. She stared ahead of her, never altering her gaze to the face of a passing neighbor. She suddenly found herself transfixed in the way the hallway stretched as she walked on, the wallpaper creating crawling designs in the corners of her eyes.
That was when she realized she had no idea where she was going.
Looking at her surroundings, she was on the second floor, not too far from the main staircase leading to where most of the quarters were. The library was just around the corner, and the kitchens and mess hall a floor below.
A twinge of nostalgia hit her when she realized she was more familiar with the Scanran palace than here. It was more familiar—more real even. The idea made her sick, but it was true. The Scanran palace gave her a sense of adventure and adrenaline that could never be recreated here. She had been there just two days ago.
Romeli shook her thoughts away and took the next staircase down. The mess hall seemed like a good enough destination. That's where most people went in the morning anyways.
When she walked through the doorway of the hall, she nearly doubled back. It was too late, she had been spotted.
"Romeli over here!" called Whave as he wove his hand. He was sitting with Ethan, James, and Sereem on the other side of the hall. Romeli gave them a half-hearted wave.
Her hand froze as she spotted a pair of emerald eyes staring at her. James had turned around when Whave had waved, and he now stared. The expression on his face was relieved, but almost hesitant.
She nearly fell to pieces then and there, but she picked herself back up and began to walk towards the trays and the food. A tear slid down her cheek and she hid her face from them as she wiped it away and grabbed a tray. She couldn't tell them. She couldn't tell him.
She didn't bother grabbing a lot of food, knowing that her friends would expect her to finish it all. Her lack of appetite almost made her sick as she inhaled the stronger breakfast foods. She ignored them completely.
As she turned to face her friends, she began to deliberate on where to sit. On one side, there was Whave and Sereem, and on the opposite side of the table was James and Ethan. Sitting next to James was out of the question, and even being across from him would be a challenge. She set her tray down next to Ethan and settled in, staring at her food.
"So how did it go?" asked Sereem curiously as he popped a grape in his mouth.
She looked up at him confused. "What?"
"You know...Scanra..." elaborated Ethan with a wide grin on his face.
Dread briefly ripped through her. She had forgotten that this was the first time she had seen any of them since she left three days ago. She looked around the table for some form of consolidation only to find that Ryoku wasn't there. Page training. She had completely forgotten that Ryoku spent the majority of her day training to be a knight.
Graphic images sunk in as memories became the forefront in her mind. The trunk, Fredrin, running...D'mitri's grave.
It took her a while to answer, and she hid her hesitance in the bite of an apple. "It was fine."
Everyone turned towards her. She looked up at them confused. "What?"
Whave's expression was nothing short of concerned, and Ethan was looking down. She didn't bother glancing at James, for she already knew that the tenor of despair in her voice had alerted them to her depression.
I have to cover this up, she thought numbly. She sighed loud enough for them to hear. "Fine. You caught me." Ethan looked up again. "Scanra was...intense."
Whave nodded with understanding. "That's expected. We're glad you're safe though."
Romeli looked down at her plate. They had no idea.
"Did you find out what your scars mean at least?"
Romeli hid a dry sob in a cough. She had no choice but to put her head in her hands as a wave of hysteria overwhelmed her. She hid it skillfully in a coughing fit, like she swallowed her water wrong. When she looked up, they mistook the tears rolling down her cheeks as merely runny eyes. Of all the questions asked, it had to be that. Of all the people who had to ask it, it had to be him.
"Sorry," she said, trying to hide the wave of misery. "I haven't yet."
"Oh," James replied. She could feel his eyes on her and so she pretended to be occupied with her food. "Well if you need any help, let us know." The rest of them nodded.
"I will," she promised them as she ate an orange slice.
"Do you have any theories on what they could mean?" asked Sereem.
She gripped her glass of water tightly in her hand. Can we drop this? She was beginning to get annoyed.
"Not really," she replied dully. "I've been focusing too much on getting the actual evidence to give it much thought."
"Ah."
The conversation had officially died.
"Romeli..." Ethan paused as he looked at her. She addressed his gaze briefly. "Are you okay? You seem kind of...withdrawn."
No.
"Yes," she replied giving him a smile. It didn't reach her eyes. "I've been through a lot lately." Her voice began to choke, so she paused for a second to clear it. "And I have a lot on my mind."
"Well if you need anything let us know," voiced Sereem with a nod.
"We're totally here for you."
"Yeah."
She almost laughed bitterly. "Thanks. I should get going. I have a lot of things to do." She stood up with her tray and gave them a wave before dumping the rest of her food in the trash and exiting the hall.
Whave, James, Ethan, and Sereem exchanged worried glances as the mess hall door swung in her wake.
"She's not telling us something," Whave said flatly.
OOO
The day went by annoyingly slow. As she tucked herself in for the night though, she realized that everything she had done that day, if she had even done anything, wasn't worth remembering. The only event that she could recall was the torturous meal with her friends.
Romeli knew she had to tell them eventually. Keeping what she knew private was not only harmful to herself, but also to them. But how could she tell them? How could she tell him? The idea of that conversation horrified her.
The sensation of dread that came with it stuck with her until at last sleep became overwhelming.
Of course, her Guardians chose this night to appear. She knew the second she comprehended the setting of the forest around her, that there would be little sleep tonight.
Her Guardians sat before her patiently, wisely, as she grasped her bearings. Old White stared at her intently with Sclythe at his feet.
They sat there for a while, all three of them staring into each other's eyes. The silence was awkward, but time went on unregistered. Romeli almost broke out into a smile.
"So," started Old White, his eyes twinkling. "You know what your scars mean."
Romeli nodded. "Very much so. Mostly everything makes sense now. But I don't exactly understand what I'm supposed to do. Or what's going to happen. I don't know."
Sclythe nodded in understanding. "Romeli, at the moment you don't have to do anything."
She looked at them incredulously.
"Let me rephrase that," he said with a sly chuckle. "You don't have to do anything big. Not yet."
Old White nodded. "Time passes even when it seems impossible. And time will unravel with fate. Your fate will come to you."
Shivers of trepidation crawled up her spine. "So all I do is wait?"
Sclythe shook his head smoothly. "Not really. We've mentioned this before. If fate, let's just say, decided to take a turn, and your challenge happened to you now, you would undisputedly fail."
Romeli blinked. "Great."
Old White looked at her grimly. "We do not know when exactly your next challenge will confront you, but we do know that you still have some time."
"And in the time that you have left, you will be training. Hard."
Romeli bit her lip. "Training what exactly. My Gift? My combat? Wild magic? Plant magic?"
They both stared at her.
"Everything?"
Old White nodded.
She shook her head. "How? I mean, I don't wan to sound conceded, but I've outgrown the abilities of my mother and father. I don't know of anyone else who has plant magic either."
"You may have outgrown their abilities," pointed out Sclythe smoothly. "But you can never outgrow their help or the help of your friends."
Romeli considered his words. This was true.
"Numair has an endless amount of theories and books that have not yet shaken the foundation of this realm. You may be above him in power, but not in experience. He can bounce ideas off of your abilities in ways you've never dreamed of."
Romeli nodded. That made sense.
"As for your wild magic and plant magic, we can help you there," said Old White with a grin.
Romeli smiled. A surge of excitement rippled through her at Old White's words. She had never trained with her Guardians before (excluding them helping her with her inner demon), and she had a feeling they had a lot to teach her.
"You will be training with us every night," said Old White firmly. "We will work with expanding your powers and abilities in ways you never thought possible."
"And for combat," said Sclythe. "You have many friends that can easily help you. You are very strong with your staff, but in situations like these, you have to be strong with more than one weapon. Maryann can help you with daggers, and your mother with archery. Alanna and Keladry are very experienced with street fighting, and your friends Whave and James are mean with a sword."
Romeli's expression darkened significantly.
Old White looked down.
Romeli spoke slowly as she tried to figure her words out. "but if I'm going to be training with them. All of them. I have to tell them first."
Sclythe nodded, but Old White was still looking down. "We know that you don't like talking to people about this type of stuff, but you really don't have a choice. Until now you've been able to, for the most part, carry yourself through your difficulties. But this challenge ahead of you, and acquiring your next Guardian, requires you to let go of your composure and lean on someone else for a change. It's a balance. They need you as much as you need them."
Romeli nodded. "I understand. I just don't like it. But...what about James."
Old White looked back up again. He looked weary, and yet excited. "Time passes, even when it seems impossible, Romeli."
She looked at him confused, but he didn't bother elaborating.
"It's almost morning," Sclythe observed, though how he could know that was beyond her. "Training will begin tomorrow."
Before she had a chance to say anything else, she felt herself drift away back to the human realm, and Corus.
OOO
Romeli woke with a start, her heart racing abnormally as she looked around her calm bedroom. The sun was shining brightly through her window, casting blaring shadows across the furniture. She could hear a nest of birds chirping happily outside her window.
She swung her legs over the bed and stood up lightly. Ripples of emotion were beating through her that she couldn't comprehend. Her heart was tight, and her breathing relatively normal but a bit shallow. She felt new...excited even.
The conversation with her Guardians still echoed through her head, and she knew that that alone was the culprit for the strange sensation. Romeli walked to the single chair in the room and sat down, cupping her chin in her hand, her other hand strumming the arm of the furniture.
That conversation, she decided, was the opening of a new chapter for her. Though technically it was a continuance of the same journey and the same goal, with the same factors and same enemies, it was different. This...was a step up. Her Guardians constantly hinted at the challenge that she would soon be faced with. If it happened to hypothetically face her now, she would fail.
Undisputedly fail.
She knew that if she were relatively normal, the thought of such a failure should have scared her—but surprisingly it didn't. For whatever reason, she felt oddly motivated to work that much harder. The idea of how much effort she would have to put into her future studies was beyond her, but she set that fact aside. That said effort would keep her mind off of what was actually coming, and prepare her.
It was the technique of blaring out thoughts through actions.
At the moment though, she felt like she was on an absolute high. She had only an idea of what was coming after her, not what it exactly entailed or just what she would need to be ready. She didn't even have the faintest clue of when the moment would be upon her. And it wasn't only the foggy future that should have been paralyzing her, but the fact that she was not ready for it.
Theoretically, what was soon coming for her would be more challenging than anything she had ever faced. It would be harder than Scanra. The idea of what could be more difficult than that was incomprehensible. She hardly even survived Scanra. In fact, if she wanted to get technical, she didn't. And how was she supposed to adapt and overcome a bigger challenge than that? The idea hit her, but her strength refused to let it sink in and dominate.
Romeli stood up, taking advantage of her new found confidence to make some progress with it.
As she got ready, she fought off her fears, and the sun rose higher.
OOO
"Dad?"
Numair looked up surprised from his work desk and swiveled around in his chair. Romeli stood in the doorway of his office, hesitant.
He chuckled. "Oh don't tell me your nervous of coming in here," he said lightly. "Come on in, sit down."
Romeli gave him a small smile and sat down in one of Numair's extravagantly comfortable chairs.
"Is there any reason why you're in here, or was your mother rambling again." He flashed a smile.
Romeli blinked. He was in a good mood today. "I actually well...needed to talk to you."
His brows rose. "Oh?" His expression reflected suspicion, maybe even concern. "You know, if you have a boyfriend this is really a better talk for your mothe—."
"Dad," she interrupted, shaking her head. "I don't have a boyfriend." And I don't plan on having one either, she added to herself. A twinge of despair broke through her stomach and evaporated in seconds. "I want to talk to you about my Guardians."
Numair hid his surprise well, but it was obvious he hadn't expected the conversation to turn in that direction. "What about them?"
Romeli proceeded to tell him everything she knew, and everything she hadn't told him since her escape from Scanra. Well...mostly everything. She slyly kept out her second visit to Scanra, knowing the wrath of Numair afterwards would be worse than him actually knowing. She also kept out the part of what her scars actually meant, knowing that was one aspect of her life that she could only tell certain people—Numair was too protective, and she couldn't allow that. She ended with telling him that her Guardians said her next challenge was coming soon, and that she would need his help to prepare for it.
Numair sat back in his chair, obviously deep in thought. "Do you know exactly what this challenge is?"
She shook her head.
"Hmmm," he murmured. "Just as I thought. The Gods like to hold us mortals in suspense," he informed her. She knew that he, of all people, would know that.
"I do know that whatever is going to happen," she said cautiously, "is beyond my abilities currently. And I'm probably going to need my Gift the most. It's the most versatile and powerful aspect of my abilities. At least I think it is."
He nodded unsurprised. "Well we should get to work soon then."
Romeli looked down and back at him again, trying to chose her words carefully. "Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I want you to do a favor for me."
"Anything."
She grew courage from that. "I need you to think of me as a student, not a daughter. At least when we're training," she added in quickly to soften the blow. Numair's eyes looked skeptical, but she continued anyways.
"I know that in the past you taught me what you thought I needed to know. You taught me the basics, but safeguarded me from the big stuff—the dangerous aspects of my Gift. I know that you know things about my magic that I don't, and it's time that you taught me everything. My Gift is powerful, and I'm ready for it. I need to be prepared if I want to succeed, and if I'm going to be prepared, I need you."
Numair swallowed her words carefully, analyzing every aspect of it in a scholarly manner. At last he nodded. "I suppose you're right."
Her face lit up. "Really?"
He gave her a look of warning. "I'm not saying I like the idea, but I get that it's also essential that I help you with this."
She nodded.
"You've been warned through," he said with a single finger in the air. "I'm very hard on my students."
Romeli smiled excitedly. "Thanks, Dad."
"That's Professor Salmalin to you," he said sternly as he wrote a note on his desk. "Lessons start tomorrow at noon by the lake."
Romeli flashed him a smile and walked out of the room, already looking forward to tomorrow.
But first, she pointed out, bringing herself back to reality. She had more work to do.
OOO
At dinner, she found herself with her friends once again. This time, she was sitting next to Ryoku, which was something she was highly grateful for. Ethan was of course sitting next to Ryoku, and Whave sat next to Romeli. And even though she was sitting next to two trustworthy friends, she kept her gaze at her barely touched food. Somehow James had maneuvered himself so that he was sitting directly across from her. Despite the good mood that she was still in, she couldn't look at him. It was the single reminder that what was coming ahead would not be easy—and it would not pass without hurting her closest friends.
But even though dread diffused through her body, she gave it her all in fighting it back. She could not linger on the future.
Her friends spoke of their days lightly, and Romeli found that she listened in and out of the conversation. Her mind drifted easily from one thought to another. The soup was really good...the weather was nice...she hadn't talked to Sharpfang and Shadowdancer in a while...Sereem had a very attractive nose...
"Romeli how was your day?" asked Whave with a nudge, dragging her out of her reverie.
Romeli looked up from her food. Seven pairs of eyes were on her. "Ummm...," she blinked. "It was pretty good." She answered the question truthfully. "My Dad is going to start training me again."
Ryoku yawned, making her friends laugh. Obviously no one matched her excitement in learning powerful magic. This was supported further by Tim easily changing the topic.
Her mind began to drift again.
Her day had actually gone pretty well, all things considering. She had managed to catch Alanna and had a chance to inform her of the same things she had told her father. The day also gave her the opportunity to talk with Maryann. The conversation had taken the majority of the day, but it was still time well spent. Romeli told her all about her mission in Scanra, as well as what her scars meant, and what her Guardians told her afterwards.
What was unforgettable was the look on Maryann's face. When she told her exactly what her scars meant, she was confused, even impartial to the dilemma. But when she told her what her Guardians had informed her soon after, and what—as her theory went—would happen, her eyes had grown wide and her face pale. It had clicked. Romeli could not read minds, but she was positive of what Maryann was thinking at that precise moment.
It's not over yet.
That conversation was the bulk of her day, but in between she had managed to speak to her mother, and out of luck alone...Neal and Faleron. She hadn't yet started considering the political aspects of what would happen, though undoubtedly there would be some. Telling Neal and Faleron made it official. Any day now, she knew the king would call in a council meeting to discuss what her Guardians had told her.
She still found herself absent of the time to tell her friends, which was probably why she subconsciously withdrew herself from the conversation they were having how—whatever it was. Under no circumstance would she tell them what her scars meant—absolutely not. But she still needed their help, and more importantly, they needed to be informed. From the looks of it, that was a conversation she would have to reserve for tomorrow.
Someone tapped her shoulder.
"Hmmm?"
"I said," Ethan repeated with a laugh. "You're quiet tonight."
Romeli smiled at him, leaving him slightly confused. They must have thought she was depressed, which was the reason she was so withdrawn. That was hardly the case.
"Yeah, sorry," she said as she swallowed a spoonful of soup. "I have so much on my mind right now. You don't even know."
Whave couldn't help but grin. "Yeah. We know that we don't know."
Romeli could feel James' sharp eyes on her. She turned her gaze slightly to the right as she looked at everyone else guiltily. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's been such a long day. But I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise."
"Well good."
"What did you do today that kept you so busy?"
Romeli dodged James' question like a Yamani minister at a fiesta. "Everything you can imagine," she replied quickly, maneuvering her gaze to her food as she took another bite. "So Ryoku, I missed you this morning. How's page training?"
Ryoku cringed next to her as she rubbed her arm. "Don't remind me."
"Wuss."
"Shut up Whave," she snapped. Ethan laughed and gave Ryoku a peck on the cheek, which in turn resulted in Whave flinging a piece of spaghetti right into his eye, making Sereem choke on his glass of milk. James snorted.
Romeli blinked. That was...hilarious. Evidently, she was the only one laughing. She felt James staring at her again and immediately pretended to be preoccupied with her food, still smiling.
"Hey does anyone know what time it is?" asked Sereem looking around, as if the answer would somehow be right behind him.
"Yeah, it's eight," answered Whave as he pushed around the food on his plate.
"Oh shit."
"What?"
Sereem laughed. "Just kidding. Sike! Eight doesn't matter."
"Damn," replied Ethan with a laugh.
Romeli took this as a great opportunity to get away. "Double sike, loser. It does matter. I gotta go." She stood up, tray in hand.
James stood up too. "I'll walk you—."
"No!" She paused as everyone stared at her alarmed. "I mean...no. I have a few more things to do. I have to see Maryann, and Alanna's expecting me..." Total lie.
James sat back down at the word 'Alanna'. "Say no more," he said as he waved her away with a smile. "Alanna is the last person I want to see right now."
"Thanks for understanding," she said through gritted teeth. She could feel herself falling apart again. When her friends waved goodbye, she took it as permission to flee.
She was out of there faster than a Shang warrior after eating clam chowder.
OOO
After wandering idly around the castle for a little, she found herself in front of her bedroom door once again. The sanctuary was anticipated after being around the castle all day, and she entered it without hesitance.
Her room greeted her with the usual. Weapons in one corner, bookshelf in the other. Her bed was on the other side of the room, the trunk right at the foot of it.
Her eyes fell on the ancient piece of work and she involuntarily shuddered. How she had been able to sleep with it just sitting there was beyond her. The eerie atmosphere that radiated off of it was stifling.
And now that she actually knew what her scars meant, she had no real use for it—not now at least. It would surely come to use again later, but having it out in her room now made her feel uneasy and nauseated.
She pushed it under her bed, but immediately regretted doing so. It would be hard to sleep with the trunk exposed in her room, much less under her bed. She pulled it out again and pushed it into her closet, closing the door tightly.
She shivered. That thing was so creepy. She still felt nervous with it in the closet, almost like the chest itself carried an unnatural magic that shouldn't even exist.
Out of impulse, she cast a shielding charm around it, as if it would somehow block the uneasy sensation.
The tremors of ancient magic lulled to a stop.
Romeli blinked. Well that was weird.
One thing was for sure. That chest was out of her bedroom first thing in the morning.
She jumped as she heard a knock on her door. "Romeli? It's James, can I come in?"
Oh shit.
Romeli bit her lip. "Yeah sure," she replied lightly. What else could she say? No? That hardly seemed appropriate.
James opened the door and closed it shut behind him. Romeli stared at the closed door behind him. All external communication was lost. She swallowed hardly.
"Hey...can we talk?"
She glanced at him and quickly looked away, hiding it in a glance towards the chair. "Sure thing," she replied, covering the quiver in his voice. "Sit down."
James looked over at the chair as she sat at the foot of her bed. He stood there for a second, hesitant, and then sat next to her, leaving the chair empty.
Romeli's heart began to tighten. "So. Um. What did you need to talk about?"
James bit his lip, and she couldn't help but fall into his spell. She looked at him concerned. "I don't really know where to start," he said, mostly to himself.
She nodded encouragingly, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"I dunno. It's just that...well." He turned to her, meeting her gaze with steady eyes. "I know that our relationship hasn't exactly been the best lately. I know and I'm sorry. I'm sure that you know mostly why. There was the Scanra thing, and the death thing...but Romeli..."
She shivered when he said her name.
"Every moment that I was mad at you—every moment we didn't speak with each other, I felt like I was undergoing a lifetime of torture. When you were taken to Scanra, you took a part of me with you, and when you...died...a part of me died as well. I don't know how to explain this, but you have become a part of me—a part that I can never stop thinking about, stop worrying about, stop loving. No matter what."
She started to tremble as he cupped her face in his hand, keeping her eyes steady on his. She was falling apart at the seams. His touch. His face was inches from hers.
"Romeli," he said, his warm breath intoxicating her until she felt dizzy. "You are the worst thing that has ever happened to me. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me."
He closed the inches of space between them and kissed her sweetly.
"I love you," he confessed, his soft lips brushing against hers.
Those three words ripped her open. All attempts of holding herself together were useless as one tear fell, and then another, until she began to sob uncontrollably.
Her scars seemed to burn her guiltily as she stared at him and then away, absolutely horrified with herself. This can't be happening. Not again. Not him. Of all people, Gods, why him?
She felt his hand on her back, his eyes nothing but concerned. She glanced at him once and had to look away.
"Romeli...what's wrong...?"
"No," she whispered, shaking her head, crying uncontrollably. "James...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."
"Why?" his voice held the tenor of worry. "Why are you sorry? It's okay, Romeli."
"I can't...I'm sorry." All rational thought was beyond her now. She stood up, her whole body shaking. "I can't get hurt again."
She ran out of the room and into the hallway at a sprint. It was the grace of the Gods alone that kept her from falling.
She had to find Maryann. Now.
So. Um. The roller coaster ride begins. Lol
Replies:
Gen: lmfao. Calm down calm down. I updated. Haha. Please don't burn my house down—it had to go through the San Diego fires.
May silverstream: lol. Yeah...Romeli's life sucks. No lie. I don't even know what's in the box yet lol.
Erin-walker: hahaha. 'omg that could work!' hilarious. That's talent tho. Yay vacations, they're always so fun. It's a time to relax and have fun.
BlackWidow12: haha. Yup. It's the shortest chapter of the whole story—at least so far. My update was actually pretty slow, but hey...I did it before a month.
Silver-star-0: hahaha. I am evil, aren't I? it's okay it's okay, we'll find out what Romeli is hiding in like...two chapters I think. Mmm. You're gonna love me. I just know it. No that made sense. Silly. I am Moose. Hear me rawr.
Princessofcrown101: I believe I explained everything to you yes? Want a cookie?
X17SkmBdrchiczxx: lol. Evil evil me. Just you wait. I have many evil plans up my sleeve...that is, if I had a sleeve. Ya. I love Steph Meyer. The last book is pretty good I thought...I can't wait until the movie comes out. It will be too rad to handle. Yea well. Short chapterawesome chapter. Savvy? Haha.
Itachihater13: . er...I guess I didn't really write fast at all. If it makes you any better, I pretty much wrote this chapter in two days. Then again, it's not as long as SOME of the chapters in this story (glowers at beastly chapters). Lol. Rockin'. I must use that word more often.