heard her cry this hard
was when we had found out that her sister had died. Her tone became
increasingly hysterical as she continued. “I feel so alone. You
don’t care about me. Lucus thinks I’m a joke, and even low-life
Ivan’s been avoiding me like the plague. For once I want somebody
to love me. Why doesn’t anybody? What’s wrong with me? I thought
that Lucus did, but obviously I’m beyond deluded. Now, I don’t know
what I’m doing here other than the fact I have absolutely nowhere
else to go!”
“ You know you’ll always have
me. Please open the door,” I said, as I placed my hand on doorknob.
To my horror, slowly but surely, the intricately carved antique
handle started to change from a rusty brown color into a vivid
shade of red. I pulled my hand away in repulsion only to see that
it had already been stained. Beads of blood started to stream down
from the top of the door and onto my muddy feet. Soon, the clean
ivory walls started to glisten with fresh blood and I wanted
nothing more than to make it all go away.
Rooms built on the blood of others. How
much blood was shed? How many lives were lost, and why should he
get away with it?
“ No. Go away. I can’t even
look at you right now. I feel so pathetic.”
“ You’re not pathetic. No one
thinks that about you.”
“ You do. If you had one
ounce of respect for me you wouldn’t have let me make an utter fool
of myself,” she fired back.
“ Please let me help you,” I
said quietly.
“ No.”
I took a deep breath. “Do you remember
when we were four and we were playing in the park next to your
home?”
She didn’t answer. I continued to speak
anyways. “And Dennis Cliffman said something super rude to me? Do
you remember that?”
“ So what! What does that
have to do with anything?”
“ I remember how you took the
chocolate ice cream cone out of his hand and smashed it against his
forehead and then pulled his hair. To this day I still remember the
shocked look on his face. You did exactly what I wanted to do but
was too chicken to. When I saw you trying to get with Lucus, maybe
a small part of me was jealous- okay, a huge part of me- but I knew
that I would never have the guts to actually, well, go for him, so
I let you. But then things kind of happened…”
“ That’s such a lame excuse
Arelia! Lame! Lame! Lame! You always think that no one will
understand. The truth is you were only protecting
yourself.”
“ I don’t know what more I
can say besides sorry. I’m not perfect, but neither are you. You
have to trust me about the curse and the graveyard and believe that
what I’m telling you is for your own good. Please.”
“ Why should I believe you
now? Why? After you basically lied to my face and made me look like
a massive idiot! Go away. I don’t want to talk right now. Maybe
later, but not now.”
“ Sabrina, listen to me,
later could be too late. You need to take this bath
now.”
“ Go away!”
As I stood alone in that dim, seemingly
endless, blood-filled hallway and listened to Sabrina cry through
the door, I felt absurdly tired and defeated. Maybe some things
were better left alone and it was immature of me to think that
anything I did would actually make a difference. If Lucus had been
trapped at Darkwood for all these years, maybe he was meant to be
here. If anything happened to Sabrina, I would never forgive
myself. She was right, I was only protecting myself. If should have
told her about Lucus earlier.
That’s right, baby. Get on with your
life. Things will never change. There’s no point in trying. What
the hell is the point of being here? There is no hope for the
damned. He deserves it and maybe so do I. Take the princess and
leave.
Maybe Ivan was right. As much as I was
fighting it, I couldn’t ignore the feeling of emptiness and
confusion that was starting to take a hold of me. Just when I had
resolved to suck it up and fight for what I wanted, things seemed
to get even more complicated.