“Not busy in the slightest.” He reassured her. But then his voice went into a low tempo. “We aren’t on good terms.” Silas spoke. Scarlett couldn’t see his face but there rested a slight crease in his forehead, and he gazed at the black ink on his fingers. He studied them. There’d been a new figure that traveled from his ring finger and slightly over the palm of his right hand. It had been drawn intricately, reminded him of the flames that licked the walls of Sylvano’s, and eventually tore them down. Scarlett’s flames.
“Oh.” She said, and leaned her head against the seat cushion. Somehow, she imagined it to be his chest. She played with the piercing at her cartilage. “Well then...” Scarlett pondered, as she tucked her head in. “Why?”
He shook his head slightly, even though he knew Scarlett couldn’t physically see him. “I don’t know, Scarlett.” Silas then shrugged, “maybe because we almost had sex?” His voice was blunt. “Maybe because I can’t get the thought of you on top of me out of my mind, and whenever I look at her, I see you. I'm tired of ignoring the feelings.”
Scarlett knitted her eyebrows together.“No.” She said, “This isn’t all my fault. And that isn’t fair.” Scarlett shot back at him. What was that supposed to mean? She didn’t have the time to talk about it or think about it or fantasize about it. She had to put her romantic life on hold.
“I helped you with your addiction last year, and we grew close. I had feelings, but I ignored them and got with someone else after you rejected them. But then, you kissed me. You started this. That one night in your room. You kissed me, and looked at me like you wanted everything to do with me. And then you ignored it. For weeks. And then in the bathroom after your mother died you felt vulnerable and sensitive and you came to me and I comforted you like you were precious, because you are. And then you got on top of me in the bathtub and I can’t get over that, Scarlett. I won’t.” Silas admitted. “You always run.” Somehow Silas always managed to dig deep within her and find her wounds. The wounds that often painted her heart black, and the wounds that had never been healed.
The dark-haired girl then sat up straight and held a sour expression, when she crossed her arms. “Well you didn’t stop any of it, either.” Scarlett spoke, “you could have blocked my oracle code and ignored my presence and avoided all contact with me but you didn’t. You cheated on Orika with me. So that’s still not fair. You never chose me, Silas. You only choose me when our emotions are intense but you’d rather Orika be your girlfriend instead of me because you’re afraid of me.” She admitted, and unfolded her arms. Scarlett then rolled her eyes, and leaned back in the seat. “You’re afraid of what you can’t control. And that is exactly what Charlie did, but in reverse. I’m running, because I don’t want to get hurt. And I could never be with someone who fears me, the way that you do.” She seethed. “So let it go, Silas.”
Silas scoffed in offense.“No. I refuse to.” He sneered.“How could I fear the very thing that craves my safety and stability when it is hurt?”
She bit her lip, and shook her head. “That’s not true.” Scarlett said defensively.
“Yes it is.” He said, “you’re running again because you’re afraid to feel. My feelings for her are light. But the ones that I have for you, run deep. You’re a puzzle, and right when I think I have the last piece you always, somehow, find a way to create another one. And I want you to be with me, Scar. I always did. I’m not Charlie. I’ve always chosen you. It isn’t fear, it is more.”
Her eyelashes brushed over her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut. She felt her eyes burn, as the tears began to form. Her feelings for Silas had been buried so deeply within her, but every time she’d been met with his presence, they seemed to forever resurrect. She did need him. She did crave his comfort. His love and reassurance. The way he made her feel okay. But feelings weren’t enough for Scarlett. Reassurance wouldn’t make her mother come back. Reassurance wouldn’t find out who had planted a bomb inside of her house. Reassurance wouldn’t make things okay. Those were things that only actions would have done. Actions terrified her, but brought things into fruition, which was why she envied it and despised reassurance. Reassurance was nothing. Silas’s reassurance was only an illusion.It was only something that took her away from reality. Like how her drugs did, in the past. Silas was her drug. He gave her a high, and she only needed him when her life got stressful, but never all the time. Was it love, she felt for him? Or safety, and familiarity?
She wanted to say so many things, in so many words, but couldn’t express them to him. It would hurt him too much. She was never angry at the fact that Silas was dating Orika and not her, but rather the fact that she knew she could never give her heart to the very thing that was her drug. Her beautiful escape. And like all the pleasures of life, too much of any pleasure would eventually make you sick. And that’s what he was to her. A beautiful escape. But she didn’t need to escape anything anymore. She had to be in the present.
“I’m being drafted. My parents are gone. My house is gone. I have to fight. I don’t have time for you, and I don’t have time for love.” She said harshly, and then she suppressed her emotions. Like how she always did, when they got too intense. When her emotions had crawled out of her skin like bugs and danced around her body and controlled her like strings, as if she were a puppet. She bit her lip. There was silence on the other line. “And what I need from you right now is the security of knowing that Liveria will be safe. Safe from violence. Safe from this world. I would…” Scarlett trailed off, and wiped away tears. “I would die for her.” She paused. “Just like you’d die for me.”
“Okay.” Was what Silas had said, after what seemed like the silence of a thousand years. Somehow, Silas could understand the love that Scarlett had for her sister. They had a bond. Just like how he had with his two brothers. Part of Silas wanted to scream. She could imagine him in that moment. What he would do. What he would say. How his words would have most likely wavered over the harsh reality that was her life, and took her away to someplace else. And how she would’ve looked at him and would somehow get lost within him. How he held her, and brushed over her body. How his tattooed fingers would touch her in only a way that Silas knew. As if, his love was a dance and Scarlett was the only one who knew the steps. But a dance is only a dance. A dance is learned, and taught. The only one truly loving a dance would be its creator. And Scarlett had never been the creator of their dance. Only Silas. “Nothing will ever happen to Liveria. I promise.” He said. His voice sounded as if it were in pain. As if someone had broken his nails and tortured him by making him stare at his bloodied finger, as it was left unattended.
“Thank you.”
“I love you, Scarlett.”
“I care for you too.” Scarlett spoke, and bit her lip. “Goodbye, Silas.” She said, and clicked off the line.
Her step-parents were dead. Even if Scarlett wanted to, she couldn’t have contacted any relatives. She had none.Well, there was her grandmother who of course, lived in Impala. She knew of nobody else but family friends, and Silas’s family. Friends of her parents had contacted her about Scarlett and Liveria’s living situation and possible options, but she felt safe with the Drovinagus family. She trusted them. Maybe when the situation blew over she would visit her grandma. But they weren’t close. Silas’s family and family friends were all that Scarlett had.
She thought about Silas, her beautiful escape. His ever growing loyalty to her. She wanted to scream. She never thought her life would look like this. But slowly, she was learning that some things are out of your control.
***
After what seemed as if it’d been ages, finally the ride had been coming to an end. The dragon carriage that the Vampric soldiers were on, was suddenly descending. She adored how the beautifully pale orange clouds had flashed by like fast-forwarding a film.
The reflectance of the angry lighting from the sky gleamed in her eyes, as she gazed in wonder. Her orbs woke themselves up in astonishment, as the reflection of the s
cenery flickered back and forth, absorbing the new atmosphere.
She’d never been to the land of the Fey before. It was West of the Vampriclands, which was more North. Western Impala was a lot different. The new sense of uncertainty both frightened her and amazed her. More than ever, she was happy that finally she’d be on real ground again. She hated traveling by sky. She liked travelling by vehicles, she was more in control and she felt safer. Flying was only fun to her when she’d shapeshift into a bat.
When the dragon began to descend, and slowed to a stop fully, almost instantly there was a rush of increased chatter amongst Scarlett’s peers. She looked to her left, out the window again. She lifted her eyebrows at the breathtaking sight. The palace of Endlaysha was covered in jewels and crystals that gleamed vigorously against the sun. It was nothing like the metallic and dark structure of the Gothic Vampric palace that was in Crimsroseyn.
Everything seemed to be lighter there. Endlyasha was enchanted, magical. Most of the Vampriclands were dark.The clear crystals and jewels were green and gold colored, with a tall silver gate that stretched around the entire perimeter of the palace. She could see hills and hills in the back of the castle where it’d extended with towers and greenery. There were trees that dominated the entrance of the palace. Sluverdraft trees, to be exact. They smelt of sweet nectar. Scarlett could sense them from inside of the dragonplane.
This was her life now. She’d never thought she’d ever be in a position like that. All her life, she was under the impression that she was working to become a Vampric royal knight, tied to the Vampric kingdom in Crimsroseyn. She didn’t think that she was actually going to fight in any wars. She only thought that she’d be loyal to the Kingdom, and protect it. She looked at her hands.
“I heard about your family. Are you alright?” A voice spoke. It was high-pitched and calming, similar to the melody of a beautiful song that Scarlett would hear in those old vintage films that she loved. She shifted her body awkwardly from gazing out the window, and peered at the Vampric girl that’d spoken to her. She stretched out her hand.“I am Leona.” They sat across from one another. Scarlett didn’t feel like speaking.
Scarlett tucked a strand of dark hair beneath her ear. “Weird.” Scarlett pointed out, and crossed her arms. She raised an eyebrow, “Strange, I guess.” She spoke, as she looked back up at the raven-haired girl.
As she smiled, Leona somehow frowned too. “I know how it feels.” She said softly, as she gazed out of the window. Here eyes peered into Scarlett's clear ones. She smiled slightly. “I appreciate it, but nobody does,” Scarlett said to the dark-skinned girl. Clearly, she was privileged. Scarlett could tell by the way that Leona spoke; all of the upper-classed sounded the same. They sounded like poetic garbage, she thought. They were taught to speak differently. It was something Scarlett had observed since she was only a little girl. She could tell from Leona’s clothing that she’d probably come from a family with money. “No offense,” Scarlett said. Not that Scarlett didn’t come from money, but there was a sense of in-authenticity that was often plagued upon the wealthy Vamprics.
Leona narrowed her eyes, and folded her arms. “Just because you are suffering, does not mean that you are the only one in pain.”
Scarlett looked at her and rolled her eyes. “You, in pain?”
Leona bit her bottom lip, her eyes distant. “My Father perished, twelve years ago. He was a Vampric Knight himself, living at the royal palace of Crimsroseyn. As a Knight’s wife, my mother and brother and I lived in great happiness. My mother, she was just like any ordinary wealthy commoner in the city of Crimsroseyn, but her family soon grew to be poor. I think my father saved her, in a way.” Leona’s eyes had a glimmer of adoration in them, when she spoke of her mother. She shook her head slightly, and rested her hands neatly over one another as she looked up at Scarlett. “I had everything I could ever want, all because my father was loyal to the throne. We were very abundant.” She smiled, but it then faded. “However, when he died...we lost everything.” She shook her head, as her eyes began to burn. Leona licked her lips, as she absently began to play with her fingers. She looked down at her feet.“We lost our relevance at the Vampric palace, and we were banished. Although, the one thing I took with me was my ability to fight.” She crossed her ankles. “However, I did not expect to be drafted. I do not want to die like my father.” She gazed into the dark-haired girl's light eyes. “So yes. I very much understand you, Scarlett.”
Scarlett remembered how her mother died, how terrified Liveria was, how the horrifying thought of her father being absent still lingered inside her head in fear. She scratched her left elbow and tucked her head inwards. “Hell, you do.” She admitted, and then looked up at her. “I’m sorry.”
She suddenly felt guilty for judging her. Hearing Leona’s story shocked her slightly, she had no idea that she’d gone through anything like that in the slightest. She seemed so put together and generally neutral when she’d approached Scarlett. She shook her head. “When I lost my parents, everything felt fake.” She laughed slightly. “My world. Nothing seemed real. It's a lingering feeling, really. But I have to be strong.” She nodded, as her oracle lit up with notifications. “I’ve come too far to just, doubt myself.” She mumbled. Leona smiled brightly, and nodded. “I suppose.”
Almost abruptly, the heavy noise of a door being slid open and an annoying alarm, had pierced the ears and stole the silence of many of the Vampric students that were in the dragonplane. There stood a very short man with bright pink hair, tiny wings, and pointed ears.
He wore a tight violet blazer with matching velvet dress-pants. He was an elf. Scarlett had never visited an area where the Vampric weren’t the dominant race. It was odd to see an elf. She remembered reading how they had the ability to shrink to the size of a grain.
He scratched over his fat nose and sneezed. He held his head high, blowing the yellow horn that stood in his left arm. The sound was beautiful, and reminded Scarlett of the dreams she’d have about living a perfect life. Where her stepmother would sing to her when she was smaller. Everything seemed to be better in the past.
“Evening, Vampric soldiers. I am one of the royal chancellors.” The elf said. “Welcome to Endlaysha.” She could feel the chaos that was about to meet her.
TO BE CONTINUED.
1|Elizabeth Hawkins
The Mystic Chronicles: Locket Page 9