CHAPTER 12

As soon as she stopped shaking, Daniella sped home and locked the door behind her room, not even stopping to say hi to Dora. She lay on her bed, tired and extremely sad—more sad than frightened that she had just slept with a ghost.

She dreamt that she was back in London, in the quiet castle her paternal grandmother owned, Ellwood Castle. She dreamt that she had left, as she always did, and headed for the acres of green land that stretched out beyond the castle. It went on for miles, bordering until just beyond the hills not far from Edinburgh. She knew she wasn't supposed to run, but against everything, she did.

She kept running. And running. And running. And then she stopped and turned around.

The castle was gone.

Daniella woke up screaming, sitting out of bed. The sky was already dark, and her bedside clock showed that it was almost nine in the evening. Groaning, Daniella got out of bed.

"Are you alright?" Daniella's eyes widened as Edward entered from her balcony. "You were screaming in your sleep."

She wanted to scream, but he was so not worth it anymore. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"You did, and I apologize." Edward said in an equally formal voice. "But I need to find out something, since you know that I have to leave soon and…"

"What is it?"

Edward sat next to her dropping his walking stick on the floor just to hold her hand. "Did you really love me?" He asked. "At all?"

Daniella sighed, she was so done crying, it was only going to stress her out. "I did—I still do."

Edward looked down, defeated. "Thank you." He smiled sadly. "So do I. Forever, actually."

He got up, starting back out to the balcony. "Wait," Daniella stopped him, and he obeyed, turning back to her with sad eyes. "I hope you don't go back thinking I ended this because of your…predicament."

"Isn't it?" He asked.

Daniella shook her head. "I'm not that shallow Edward. I love you, and I'd be with you…but you kept me in the dark."

Daniella looked almost like Beatrice, the night Edward told her the same thing, but Daniella was saying she couldn't love him anymore while Beatrice promised to despite his secret. "Oh, my love," Edward said absentmindedly, brushing a stray hair on Daniella's face. "In a different life, I told you the truth and you said you'd love me forever."

"What? I never…" Daniella thought for a moment, and it became clear. "You think I'm the rebirth of you old girlfriend—Bianna, wasn't it?"

"Beatrice." Edward nodded.

"Wow, it's so nice to hear that you loved me because I look like her." Daniella said in a deadpan voice

"You looked like her, but you're definitely not her." He sighed. "Your personality is much more…you, Daniella. I meant that in a good way."

"So why did you love me, if I was anything but her?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "Against all logic, why did you fall for me in a matter of days?"

"I don't know." She answered. "Last question."

"Of course." He hated how they sounded so formal, when just this morning they were planning their future together.

"Why were you there?" She asked. "At the night of my mother's Halloween ball. If you couldn't see I was a freak, and I am definitely not Beatrice, why were you there."

That's a good question, why was I there? Edward didn't know, but when he heard a soft laugh, he had an idea where to get the answer.

You still don't know, Edward? It sneered. Look closer. At her heart. It's right there!

Edward did, but all he could hear was how it beat very fast and he looked away. Then he caught it—at least, a glimpse of it. There was a chain under neck, partially hidden under dress. Edward stepped in front of Daniella, pulling out the chain slowly with a finger. He gently pulled the pendant out from under her dress, pulling out the blue diamond he knew too well.

The Mordrake necklace. Beatrice. His head rang. How did she get the necklace I gave Beatrice?

"Where did you get this?" Edward tightly grasped the diamond, his last memory of his home.

"It's my great-grandmother's necklace." Beatrice explained. "It came from her grandmother…oh god."

"What?" Edward asked.

Daniella turned slightly pale. "Beatrice Kingsley."

Second surprise! It yelled gleefully.

Edward began to question his entire stay here. Did I really love Daniella, or was it just this pulling me to her?

I don't know, It said innocently. Why are you asking me?

He looked at Daniella. She looked just like Beatrice, but he did not fall only for looks. But now that he knew what it was pulling him, he wondered whether or not it really was love. He wasn't so sure anymore. He also wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to know the answer to that.

The clock struck nine times, and Daniella removed the necklace. "Here…you'll want this back, I assume."

Edward took the necklace, examining the unchanged diamond. Beatrice was dead, he was a ghost, everyone he knew was a ghost, and it had not even scratched yet. "Thank you. I must get going." He said formally.

"Very well," Daniella said, equally formal.

Edward passed the threshold of her room and into the balcony, turning around one last time. He was now going to find someone to kill and leave. "I—" He wanted to say goodbye, that he really did love her, but he knew neither of them were really sure now that they knew who Beatrice was to either of them. He looked away, staring at the Ferris wheel of the carnival, disappearing in a cloud of green smoke.