A/N: I'm sorry I didn't update this earlier today (like I normally do) but I haven't had internet at the house for a few days. It's been very frustrating, but I've been able to do what I can. Like I've said before, the memory chapters are very long. Sorry if that puts off some people, but these are a crucial focal point for the story. (I think this chapter is easily over 6,700 words.)
I just want to say thanks to all of the wonderful people who are reading this. I don't care if you're favoriting, following, reviewing, or just reading along. I love you guys so, so, so much. A cookie and heart-warming smile for each of you (trust me, you'll need those for this chapter).
Chapter 30 - Cinder's Memories, Part 3
It was late evening and Verity was tidying up the last scraps of her father's stupor from the previous night. He had come home drunk and crying, so she let him have his rage fit and watched him collapse into sleep. However, her father hadn't so much as touched her since he had broken her arm, and he had become less violent in his speech. He no longer called her much of anything, or called her really at all. He hadn't been home the entire day, however, and Verity took the precious time to think.
She wished now that she had kept Jack's letter she received the other day. Even though she still planned on not seeing him again, reading his letter made Verity feel closer to him than she had ever been to anyone in her life. It would be her last memory of him, and she feared it would disappear. Her conflicting emotions bewildered her, and she wanted some form of closure. Before her father could come back, she put on her mother's old shawl she had found in a chest and walked out of the house. She was going to make the most of this free day to do what she wanted. Those days were rare for her.
Verity hadn't seen the sun, except through the windows, in a few days. She had spent her time trying to learn how to knit and sew like her mother had done, but the smallest piece would take her hours and come out poorly. During the middle of winter, the shawl came in handy. It wasn't windy, but the temperature had dropped the previous night, making her meager dress essentially useless. The communal fire was going strong, though, so she stood by it a little while. Most of the people that were standing around the fire moved to another side or left when she walked up. That was normal for her, but it still summoned sour thoughts into her mind even if she was outwardly indifferent.
When she felt warm enough, she tightened her shawl around her and took to the path toward the pond. The trees above were bare, a few dead leaves still clinging to the hope that they could stay high in the air until spring arrived. The squirrels that hadn't gone into hibernation yet were hanging onto thin branches, nibbling on anything they could find. A few were on the ground; their little paws making no noise, even in the thick snowfall. The pale, cloudy sky gave no hints as to the time of day, but Verity guessed it wasn't too long past midmorning. Hopefully, it wouldn't matter what time it was.
Once she made it to the pond, Verity took the scene in slowly. The ice was thick and nothing stirred beneath or above it. The air was still, as were the trees. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the part of the pond where a tree jutted out over the ice and used it as a way to steady her body. It had been a while since she had been on the ice, and she had no idea if she could still keep her balance like she used to. Out on the ice, she let go of the branch and used her boots as skates, making for the middle of the pond. Boots were considerably different from skates, but Verity wasn't complaining. The open air, without people around to judge her every action, was freeing and the stench of alcohol was nowhere to be found. Readying herself, Verity began to spin in circles and lift her leg during figure eights and rediscover old tricks. She skated around in her boots for some time before someone's voice spoke up across the ice.
"Hey, do you want skates for that? It'd be a little easier."
Verity whipped her head around and nearly lost her balance. Catching herself without anything but her boots touching the ice, she spun her body around to see exactly who she knew she would see: Jack. His sister, Sophie, was also with him, already trying to strap on her skates. Verity noticed that Jack had an extra pair slung over his shoulder.
Jack smiled from the pond's edge. He had meant to stop in the village to see if Verity would answer her door, but here she was, practically at his doorstep. He wondered what changed her mind, and if she had gotten his letter. The days were long after he slipped the paper he tore out of his father's journal under her door, and Jack was worried that he had been too forward. All of the words he put on that paper were true because she was a good friend, and Jack wanted to see her smile. But seeing Verity spinning around in her boots on the ice, looking like she didn't have a care in the world for once, encouraged Jack.
"Jack, Sophie," Verity started sliding over to them, but stopped a few feet away from the edge of the pond. She still wasn't sure if this was what she wanted, but she decided to just go with whatever happened today. Her father was getting better and her spirits were vaulting into the sky. "Hi, guys. What's up?"
Jack looked at her incredulously. They hadn't so much as seen each other in weeks and "what's up" is all she could say? He took a deep breath and told himself that there must be a good reason that she's happy and out and about, so he shouldn't be angry. Sophie, on the other hand, jumped onto the ice in her skates and made her way clumsily over to Verity.
"Verity! I missed you!" Sophie shouted as she clashed into Verity's hip. "And you got rid of your arm blanket!"
A laugh escaped her lips. "That I did. It's all better. And did you really miss me?" Verity asked as she squatted down to Sophie's eye level.
Sophie threw her arms around Verity in a strong hug. "Yeah," her voice was muffled by Verity's shawl, "and so did Jack. Did you get his letter?"
Jack looked up when his sister mentioned the letter. Verity nodded, but her face didn't change. Instead, she swooped up the six year old up and spun her in circles. Sophie dissolved into giggles and begged for more spinning.
"I think you should let her put on real skates, first," Jack suggested. "You don't want her slipping and falling, right?"
"No! 'Cause then she'd break the ice and fall through!" Sophie giggled and Verity caught on when she saw Jack chuckling into his hand.
"Did you just call me fat?" Verity stole away the little girl and began to tickle her. Sophie laughed loudly and surrendered, apologizing so that Verity would let go. Verity then made her way to the edge where Jack was holding out the extra pair of skates. When she reached out to grab them, however, Jack pulled them away and held them out again. She tried to grab them faster, but Jack pulled them away again, smirking. This time, he apologized and held them out loosely. Verity sighed and thanked him, reaching both hands out to take them, only to realize he had pulled them away again.
"Jack! Stop playing these old tricks, they don't work," Verity put her hands on her hips, Sophie now close behind.
"If they don't work, why are you smiling?" Jack's lopsided grin couldn't contain itself. She had walked right into that one.
Verity's face deadpanned to show that she didn't think it funny, but only for a few seconds before she looked away and grinned. "Alright, fair enough. Can I have the skates now?" She held out her hand impatiently.
"Hmm," Jack held them in the other hand while his now free hand stroked his imaginary beard, "I don't know, that wasn't a very nice way to ask." He tossed the skates over his shoulder and mimicked Verity, placing his hand on his hips.
Verity heard Sophie giggle behind her. "Can I have the skates now, please?"
Jack pursed his lips. "I still don't think that was the right way. It looks like I'll just have to take the skates back." He had already started turning around to run away with the skates.
"Hey!" Verity hopped off the ice and ran after him. Remembering before she got too far, she turned back. "Sophie, off the ice until one of us comes back!"
"Okay! Tackle him!" Sophie encouraged her as she glided carefully off the pond.
Verity laughed at the advice and took off in Jack's direction. Without warning a branch hit her stomach. The jerk must have tied it back, waiting for her to run into it. Already losing a lot of ground, Verity pushed past the annoying branch and broke it. He already had a moderate amount of time ahead of her, but the snow on the ground made it easy to track him. Even after this month of forcing her own isolation, here she was, chasing him down again. Shaking her head at the silliness, she picked up the sides of her dress and sped up.
But somewhere along the way, the tracks stopped and Verity halted abruptly. She swore she saw his cloak just around a tree, and she ran to grab it and pull him back. But when she got around the tree and pulled on the cloak, she saw that it was hanging by a branch instead of being worn by a certain trickster. Swearing under her breath, Verity took the cloak and put it on. Two could play at this game, too. Running in what she knew to be the wrong direction, she hoisted herself into a nearby tree and clambered onto one of the higher branches. But Jack knew how to track and he would easily find her there. Seeing a thicker tree branch belonging to another tree, she inched along the current limb and jumped. Grabbing onto the branch she aimed for, she brought herself to a sitting position with her back against the main body of the tree. There she waited silently, just barely above many people's eye level. The shadows of the branches above her would have to mask her presence as best they could.
After a few minutes, Verity was worried Jack had actually shaken her off and gone back to the pond. She was about to climb down when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Making herself as small as possible, she hugged the branch with as much stealth as she could muster. Jack popped into the area below her, looking around wildly. He still had her skates held tightly in his hands. Before she made her move, however, she heard him talking.
"Verity! Come on, you weren't supposed to take the cloak! It fell off when I was climbing! We're even now, I swear! Just come out! You were always good at hide-and-seek! Verity, I'm sorry!" The pleas sounded very familiar. Oh, she would enjoy this.
Smirking, Verity dropped down to her feet behind him and leaped at the unsuspecting boy. "Gotcha!"
Jack let out a shocked gasp and they fell to the ground. He threw the skates to the side so that they wouldn't accidentally cut Verity. They wrestled for a few moments before breaking apart in breathless laughter and Verity leaned over Jack in triumph. The scene in their eyes was one of innocence, but anyone else could see deeper. Verity's face was close to Jack's and his breath hitched at the sight of her amazingly rare smile. They stared at each other momentarily before Jack cleared his throat.
"Alright, you got me," Jack surrendered, "but I still want my cloak back."
Verity smiled and undid the knot around her neck, hanging the thick cloak above them only to yank it away when he tried to grab it. He grinned at her and shook his head. Their faces were so close. They could just...
"Only if I get my skates back," Verity bartered, breaking off Jack's thoughts.
"They're my old ones, technically," Jack pointed out. Verity threw the cloak over his head and darted for the skates. When Jack lifted the cloak, he saw that she had already run off again. Since when did she get so much energy? Maybe he didn't have to worry about her father after all.
When he got back to the pond, Jack saw that Verity was teaching Sophie how to spin on her skates. Sophie kept falling, but because she was still small and the ice was thick, the ice didn't crack as easily. It had snowed the previous night, although it would probably be the last snow of the season. Sophie looked like she was getting frustrated, but Verity's patient voice carried to Jack's ears and he knew Sophie was going to get back up. She did just that and Verity held her hands out, instructing again the finer points of pulling off a tight spin on skates. Jack went to put on his skates that he dropped by the pond before running off with Verity's pair when he saw that they had been tied up to a high branch above him. Shaking his head, he climbed up the tree and got his skates. By the time he got onto the ice, Sophie had completed her first successful spin and Verity has clapping excitedly.
"You got it, Sophie! Good job," she praised the little learner. "And nice of you to join us, Jack," she added innocently.
Jack sneered jokingly at her. "It seems I misplaced my skates. I could have sworn I left them on the ground... not in a tree."
Sophie giggled. "That was my idea."
"Oh, it was?" Jack glided toward Sophie and spun her around before tripping her. She didn't actually fall because Jack was still holding onto her hands, but Sophie shrieked anyway.
Verity laughed and skated away before she got pulled into their little game. With real skates on, she tried to remember her old tricks correctly. The spins were sloppy and her skates would catch on the slightest of irregularities, but there was some muscle memory. Verity had her arms out, desperately trying to keep her balance as she lifted one leg behind her. So far, so good. She sucked in a large breath and tipped the edge of her skate forward, hopping into the air. Bringing her other leg back down, she spun around one, two, three times before landing on the other skate and bringing her body into a crouch with the other leg stretched out straight. Finally letting go of her breath, she heard Jack and Sophie applauding her. They wanted to see more. Verity knew that they would probably be disappointed, but she tried anyway. She tried a simple jump and a pirouette (the name being unknown to her at the time). As her spotting point, Verity locked onto Jack and smiled as she spun four times and never left his gaze until she had to snap her neck around to complete each turn. She landed the move a little wobbly, which was a first, but it went unnoticed by her audience. Jack couldn't help but give her another lopsided grin, hardly thinking about how he looked. Smiling so wide her mouth hurt, she tugged Jack and Sophie into the spin and proceeded to make them very, very dizzy.
When Sophie fell into another giggle fit, they helped her up and skated around for the better half of the day. They finally noticed it getting dark and went to the edge and took off their skates.
"I better get going," Verity's familiar excuse began again, and Jack couldn't help looking at her worriedly. She had been so happy today, it seemed. Was she only putting on a brave face after all?
"Okay," Jack let it go. He figured the fun would only work on her in the short term, but he had still hoped something would have changed. If she had read the letter, perhaps this was her way of telling him that she was okay without saying or admitting to anything. Jack clenched his fist, knowing he didn't change anything, and relaxed it. He was about to say "I'll see you later," but he was no longer sure if that would be the case. Verity could hide away in her house for another month again and Jack would have made no progress. Instead, he kept his lips shut tightly.
"Bye, Verity!" Sophie ran up and hugged Verity again, and a look of sadness washed over her delicate features. She had missed them, but she knew days like this wouldn't happen often. It was fun while it lasted, and her face hurt from all of the endured laughter.
"Goodbye, Hun," she smoothed Sophie's hair down with a tentative hand.
"Will we see you tomorrow?" Her hand stopped in its tracks.
Verity bit her lip. "I'm not sure, Sophie. We'll see, okay?"
Jack knew what that meant, but ignored it. "Come on, Sophie. Let's get you home."
Verity, instead of going straight home, watched them leave for their house, built close to the pond. Sitting on a nearby stump, she wondered if her father was already home. If he was waiting for her to get home so that he could yell at her about various things, and maybe land a hit or two on her arms. Verity stripped her aching feet of the skates and set them aside. Sighing, she stood up to leave when Jack reappeared.
Before she could say anything, Jack spoke first. "Hey, I had Sophie go home ahead of me. I figured we could skate on our own, without pulling up a six year old every few seconds."
Verity shook her head in amusement. Jack may be a good prankster and trickster, but he wasn't a very good liar. "I didn't mind that, it was nice being able to teach someone." Besides, she had just taken her skates off.
Jack nodded agreement. He knew he couldn't lie that well, and Verity knew him better than most people. Handing her the skates again, he slipped his own on and made for the middle of the pond. This was the first step. When he turned to look at her, she was still holding the skates in her outstretched hand at the edge of the pond. And the first step was incomplete already. Jack had to find a way to get her onto the ice.
"I told you I had to go home, didn't I?" She spoke up to cover the distance between them. "My father's going to be upset that I'm not back yet."
Jack slid his way back to her, pouting pleadingly. "Please, Verity? Just a few minutes, I promise. Then you can be on your way. I bet he got home and went immediately to bed."
"You don't know that."
"Please?" His pout didn't budge. He knew she had a thing for his childish behavior.
Verity succumbed. "Okay. Alright," she mumbled as she put the skates back on. She pushed her sore feet─ covered in bruises from the worn down skates─ back into the leather and winced as she tried to hide the pain.
They skated around for a few minutes in silence. Jack watched each flick Verity made on her skates with interest and amazement. She was still graceful, and he was glad a month of staying at home hadn't made her into a boring adult just yet. The moonlight, still weak in the early night, shone around the edges of her red hair and gave off a slight halo whenever she spun. Her thin arms spread out in the brisk night air and curved delicately with every turn she took or trick she performed. Whether or not she was aware of it, Verity's smile widened every time she accomplished a trick and Jack encouraged and applauded her. Sighing, he realized what he had to do to preserve her grace and her smiles that he treasured. Step two.
When she had to catch her breath, she skated over to the rock in the middle of the pond and sat down lightly, as if she was about to spring back up at any second. Jack went over and sat down beside her. They sat in silence for a little while. It was Jack who broke the tension.
"The stars are pretty bright tonight," Jack commented, "like a bunch of tiny frozen lights."
Verity laughed. "I think they look more like a billion sparks of fire, but I guess ice works, too."
Jack hummed in acknowledgement and a silence settled between them again. Normally the silence between them had been companionable. Verity could sense that something was off, but she didn't want to make it worse. She peered at him through the spaces in her red hair and saw that he was looking toward the moon thoughtfully. His gaze was intense and far off, and she wondered not for the first time that day what he was thinking. It used to be so easy.
"I should get going," Verity repeated and began to stand up when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist tightly.
"Wait," Jack urged her to sit back down, "I have something I want to ask you."
Verity bit her lip but nodded anyway. One last thing couldn't hurt, could it? She sat back down and looked at him expectantly.
Taking that as his cue, Jack took a deep breath. "The accident with your broken arm, and the burn marks, and the bruises that cover your shoulders and back, and the occasional black eyes... they're not really accidents, are they?"
And as usual, Verity's rhetorical questions were proven wrong. "I don't know what you're talking about," was Verity's automatic response. Jack had asked her before about this, and she constantly told him that her father had nothing to do with them. "Of course, they were accide─"
"There's no way they were accidents," Jack cut her off, his words coming out all at once with more emotion than Verity was prepared for, "because you are not that clumsy. I saw you on the ice tonight. Even after all this time, you can still twist and jump as gracefully as the first day that I brought you out here. I barely taught you the basics and you were already ahead of me. The way that you carry yourself, on and off the ice, is as graceful and beautiful as the birds that fly higher in the sky than we could ever hope to climb. So there's no way that you fall or trip or burn yourself accidentally as often as you say you do."
"Jack, I told you, they were accidents. Accidents ha─" Verity stopped herself midsentence. "Did you just call me beautiful?"
"Of course you are," Jack realized it himself just then what he had said. He had to let her know that he meant it. "You're really beautiful, amazingly so."
Verity considered his statement with the ghost of a smile on her lips. Then something changed her mind and she frowned. "No," she looked away from him bitterly, "that's impossible. I'm just a good-for-nothing redheaded witch. My father knew that from the beginning." She had turned away from him, hoping she could stifle her own tears before he noticed.
"That's not true," Jack moved onto the ice, still sitting, trying to see Verity's face more clearly, "Verity, that isn't how I see you."
Verity's eyes started to tear up against her will. Jack was making it increasingly difficult for her to keep him out of the situation. She felt like she made a mistake in staying on the ice with him.
Then she heard Jack whisper, "I know a way to get you away from him."
Verity turned around, surprised to see him in front of her instead of beside her. She had felt so distraught that she hadn't noticed that he had moved. "What are you talking about? Away from my father?"
"Hold out your hand and close your eyes," Jack said suddenly, a light appearing in his eyes. It was so out of the blue that Verity did a double take.
"What sort of game have you come up with now? And what does this have to do with my father?"
"Just believe in me, okay?" Jack looked at her in earnest. Verity couldn't simply ignore that look. It was the look that made her decide to hang out with him time after time over these seven years. "I'm going to drop an object in your hand, and without closing it, you're going to tell me what you think the object is."
Verity sighed in agreement and closed her eyes, only to peek through one slit eye in Jack's direction. He was about to take something out of his pocket when he turned to look at her. His face softened when he looked at her, and Verity's heart thudded, not knowing what to think. Then he leaned closer and put his hand over her eyes. He had seen what she was doing.
"Hey! You were peeking!" Jack scolded her through a badly suppressed laugh.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Verity apologized as she gently set Jack's hand down and away from her face. "I promise I'll do it right this time," she said as she closed her eyes and held out her left hand again.
Jack's heart was racing so quickly that he was scared she could hear it. His hands shook slightly and he worried that he would mess it up somehow. Reaching into his pocket, he held the object in between his fingers momentarily. Sighing with finality, he took it out of the pocket and dropped it into Verity's open hand. He saw her face frown in concentration. After a few seconds, he saw her trying to curl her fingers around the object. Jack took his hand and laid it over hers to stop her from making a fist. Her hand nearly shot away, but Jack grabbed a hold gently. It was so cold that Jack felt bad he hadn't brought mittens for her.
"I said without closing your hand, silly," Jack smiled.
"But it's impossible to tell!" Verity whined, finally opening her eyes. "And you're still holding my hand."
Jack mumbled an apology and moved his hand away carefully, revealing the object in her hand. It was a silver ring with a blue opal in the shape of a heart twisted within the metal. Green specks danced in and out, under and over crystalline blues and purples. The stone looked like it was alive, shifting its luminance underneath the moonlit sky. Verity looked down with shock. That only meant one thing.
"J-Jack! W-what is...? No. No. You don't know what you're thinking or, or doing. Jack, this, this is," Verity's chest nearly heaved. "This isn't right! It's─ It's─"
"It's the way to get you out of your father's house," was all Jack could say. He knew it was true. If he married Verity Walker, she would become Verity Overland have to live with him and his family. She would no longer be under the abusive tyrant's dilapidated roof. She would be with people who cared about her. And Jack would be with someone he cared about as much as his family. It wasn't the best of plans, and Jack felt entirely unprepared, but at least it had a happy ending.
Verity bit her lip and a weight sunk in her stomach as she stood. "Jack, I told you, my father doesn't─"
"Yes, he does," Jack stopped her, standing up as well. "He beat you. He hurt you. And I can't stand for that anymore." He knew it to be true. She knew it to be true. It was out.
A single tear streamlined down Verity's cheek and clung to her chin for a moment before falling into her hand. "Jack, my father will never allow this."
"I can make him change his mind."
"No, Jack, you can't. You don't know him. I don't even think you know what you're doing, Jack. This isn't what you want. I'm not what you want─"
Jack put a finger to her lips. It was the first time he'd touched any part of her face. He'd kept a respectable distance from such a fair lady because that's how he was taught. But in this moment, formalities were forgotten. "Yes, you are. And this is what I want, Verity. I want this for you. You won't have to be scared of him anymore."
When Jack said those words, Verity's entire defenses shut down and she began to cry uncontrollably. She mumbled incoherently about there being no hope of her escaping her father. She admitted to everything her father ever told her and did to her and fell into harder fits of tears and hyperventilation. Hugging Jack suddenly, she sobbed into his chest. Then she felt his arms wrap around her protectively and she began to cry harder. She'd never had a sweeter embrace, let alone any embrace, in her life.
"There's always hope," Jack whispered to her when she calmed down in his arms. "You just need to hold onto it. Come on, let's get you home. I'll come by first thing tomorrow to talk to him," Jack said as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Verity was about to protest when she looked up into his eyes. They were a deep, soothing brown that told her everything was going to be alright. She let herself fall into their gaze and hugged him tightly once more. Another look in his eyes and Verity swore she felt the urge to lean into his lips. But that could wait. Just one more night in that house, and she could kiss him. Little did she know, Jack was thinking along similar lines.
Jack walked her back home. To their collective relief, Verity's father wasn't even home yet. But before he could come back, Verity hugged Jack one last time and said goodnight. Once he left, she closed her door and grabbed her blanket, settling down for what she believed to be the last night in this house. Hope fluttered by her, and she captured it, eagerly awaiting the morning.
Jack told his mother about his plans for the morning; news which she handled with care. She wasn't necessarily approving of the attempted break from tradition, but she wasn't ignorant of the situation. She knew, everybody knew, but Jack and his family seemed to be the only ones with hearts. Jack then told Sophie that he would take her skating when they got back. After all at home was taken care of, he set out for Verity's house.
Reaching the cabin at the far side of the village, he took time to collect himself. Fear rattled in his chest ferociously and he wasn't sure if he would be able to do it. Jack wasn't even sure he was ready to marry. He told himself that this was to save Verity and see her smile again, which was true, but he knew already that it was something he wanted, too. He loved her, plain and simple, although he never attached the name. With the hopes that she felt the same way, he knocked firmly on the door.
The tall, older, drunk man answered the door. "Who're ye?"
"I'm Jackson Overland, Mr. Walker, sir," he stumbled several times. Then he saw Verity sitting down on the hearth just behind her father, her green eyes burning with a glint of yellow from the fire beside her. She looked ready to leave and oh, so beautiful. "And I've come to─"
"Ah, yer Abernathy's boy, aren't ye? De boy forever a child. Old Abernathy'd be disgraced if he saw ye now," he sneered.
Jack grit his teeth, but brushed away the comment for Verity's sake. "I'm here to ask for your blessing for me to wed your daughter," he was able to spit out, his face completely straight.
And the answer he received was a loud roar of laughter. "Yer not serious, are ye?"
"I am, sir."
"No one'd want a wretched murderer for a wife, 'cause that's what yer askin' for," the man laughed again.
"She's not─"
"He's not lying, sir," Verity spoke up, walking over to the door, putting her hand on the doorframe.
That's when her father saw the ring. In a fury, he tore her hand away and hoisted her up by her arm. "What be dis here thing on yer finger?!" He grabbed the ring and tore it off her finger, causing her knuckles to crack and bleed from the force. Verity yelped and Jack's heart lurched. Things were going downhill and they were going fast.
"It was my mother's, and her mother's before her," Jack stepped in, trying to explain.
"Ye think ye can ask me fer my daughter after givin' her de ring?" The burly man pegged the ring at Jack's chest. Shocked, Jack gasped and caught the ring before it fell to the ground. It was enough of a distraction for Jack that Verity's father was able to push him out of the house and slam the door, locking it tight. Putting the ring back in his pocket, Jack hammered on the door, yelling in vain to be let back in. He ran over to the window and looked in to see what was happening.
That's when he saw it. Verity's father back-handed her straight across the face and a line of blood trickled down Verity's lips and chin. Then he knocked her head with his forehead and dropped her, kicking her as she fell. She never fought back. Jack screamed and pounded at the window. He was right. He knew it. And he was too late.
"Verity! Verity!" He slammed the window in protest, wishing he could be in there protecting her. That was when he saw her look up to the window and she mouthed the word "leave." He grimaced and tried to find help in the village, but to no avail; no one cared.
That night, Jack ran back to Verity's house again. He had seen her father out in the village earlier, looking as if nothing had happened. The sight infuriated Jack and he set off to steal Verity away for the last time. Knocking on the door, he called her name over and over.
When the door opened, Jack saw the true aftermath of one of Verity's accidents. She was bruised all over her arms and several places had cuts with dried blood caked in them. She didn't even bother to hide it anymore. Her eyes were dull and virtually lifeless.
"Go away," her voice sounded hoarse as she coughed into her palm. Jack noticed the new blood in her hand and his heart fell out of his chest.
"Verity, we have to go, now," Jack instructed her. "Your father probably won't be back anytime soon, so pack what you really want and let's get out of here."
"And where do we go, Jack?" Verity raised her voice at him. "Hmm? Because my father will come looking for me, and he'll hurt you and your family to get to me."
"That won't matter. We'll run," Jack was desperate for a solution. He needed her to come with him. He couldn't stand to see her like this and it crushed him to see her look so washed out.
"You can't do that to your family, Jack," defeat already echoed in her voice. "They'd miss you." There was little emotion left in her, beaten out of her.
"I'll bring them, too," Jack pleaded, "just, please. Let's go home. Together."
Verity made an effort to scoff but it failed miserably. "I can't have a home, Jack," she cleared her throat painfully, "I never have, never will."
Jack pulled the ring out of his pocket again and pleaded with Verity some more, but she wouldn't take it back. It would only end in disaster, she said. She would get someone in his family killed, she said.
"Verity, please, you don't have to stay under your father's thumb. Where's the brave, adventurous girl I met at the water pump? Where's the girl that smiled every time I spoke to her? I want that Verity." Please, I want that Verity back. Please, please, just come with me.
The tears cascaded down Verity's face in ugly trails. She couldn't make him understand. What happened to her would happen to them if she went with them. Jack was getting involved and it was getting him hurt. She didn't know what to do to make him turn away. "Jack," Verity spoke in a low voice, "I had all my hope ripped out of me, smacked out of me, and kicked out of me! I had no right to ever hope, and the one time that I dared to, it slipped away from me! I have no hope left. I am not the brave little girl, okay?"
"We can still─"
"No, Jack! We can't, so just leave! I hate you!" Verity yelled and slammed the door in Jack's face. Immediately, she fell to the floor and bawled her eyes out. She heard Jack's footsteps become farther and farther away and her chest heaved. It was the only thing she could say to make him leave, and she regretted it. Jack, angrily stomping his way back to his house, had small beads of tears escaping his eyes. Verity didn't have the strength to pick herself up that night. After messily thinking through her options, she decided to apologize to Jack in the morning. If they could go back to the way things were, maybe things would be close to okay again.
The next day, Verity slipped out of the house before her father woke up. Sleep had given her time to think, and she had realized her mistake. Verity ran as fast as she could without keeling over in pain. She was sure she had a broken rib, but she didn't care. She had to apologize to Jack. She had to see him. When Verity veered around the corner and the pond came into sight, her heart soared. She was so close.
Then she heard Sophie's screams.
Running up to the edge of the pond, Sophie rammed into her and started sobbing and wheezing and saying several incoherent sentences. Verity kneeled down and looked Sophie in the eye.
"Sophie, calm down. What happened? Where's Jack?"
"He fell through the ice," Sophie managed to say clearly before she fell to tears again.
Time slowed down as Verity took in the information. It was impossible. She had just seen him last night. He couldn't have fallen through, not now. She pulled Sophie away from her and ran onto the ice, barely registering Sophie's tearful pleas behind her. Seeing the break in the ice, she collapsed a few feet away from it and peered through the hole. The water was completely dark and she couldn't see even a glimpse of his pale skin.
"JACK!" Verity let out a loud wail. "Jack! No! Swim back up! I know you can! Jack! You were always the better swimmer... I promise..." Her pleas and appeals got her nowhere, and the reality slowly dawned on her. "JAAaack..." Her cry started out strong and ended in a fitful sob.
Jack was dead.
A/N: A horrible end to an excruciatingly long chapter. What is Verity/Cinder left with? And how does she die? Keep an eye out for the next chapter and you'll have answers to my aggravating rhetorical questions!