Deptheless: Under the Library

by Tiffany Tay

  I force myself to tear away from her antagonizing glare. Her lips part, and her chest heaves with every breath. “I don’t care about you. I had learned my lesson. I’ll never care about you--- you people!”

  She whips around, and her hair brushes past my face. “Wait… what?” I ask, confused.

  “You--- you Cursed victims!” She screams. “Look what good it did to me--- I forced myself to defy the curse and its fate, but look at me now!” Her voice wavers, and I could tell she is close to tears. “Forced into exile, with the rest of the Cursed!” She let it out in a high pitched, misery-crazed wail.

  Horror stricken, I put up my hands to calm her. “Whoa… I don’t know your story, but---“ I begin.

  “Maybe you should. Maybe, after learning what I’d gone through… it’ll teach you a lesson! What I did, how I suffered… it all came down to this, this! Do you, for a moment, really think I chose a life like this, a life underground?”

  A lone tear slips from her left eye, running down her dirt-strewn cheek. Looking at her, I feel my heartstrings snap. Whatever had happened to this girl before… it sure had taken its toll on her, leaving her with some permanent scars even Mendit could not repair.

  “Loky---“ Tears of my own start to well up. I stagger forward, then stop as she shoves her body back. “Don’t come near me!” She trembles in fury. “I can’t allow myself--- no. I can’t!”

  She’s shaking, tears flowing openly down her face, cutting clear paths on her dirt-strewn face.

  I decide to take the chance. “What, Loky? What chance?” I question, smoothing my voice to a gentle tone.

  She shoots me a nasty look. “Fine.” She snaps. “If you really want to know. Lets see how you feel about yourself---your future then!” She lets out a short bark of laughter, which spooks me more than the tears did. “You are caught in the curse, you only have the slimmest chance of survival! So do believe me when I tell you this: you cannot defy the curse, ever.”

  Pausing, she gives me a long, hard stare.

  “No one ever escaped it. Even the best of them…” She trails off, her voice catching.

  Steadying herself, she continues, “Anyway. The curse has one outcome. It never fails to occur. There will be one situation in which you must make a life and death decision.

  Whatever the decision, the result is always a death. And no one ever break the curse.”

  A/N: Hello! so again, just want to let you know how much I appreciate you taking the time t read this book, it means so much! If you enjoy this, please vote or leave a comment, just to give me a push in the right direction!

  School is demanding. There is so much homework everyday. In fact, I'm using my homework time to write this chapter, so it better be worth it! :D

  Bye, and I hope to be able to update soon!

  ~Tiffany :)

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Stella’s POV

  My eyelids slowly flutter open. The world is in a foggy state. There is a sharp scent in the air, it pains me. I groan, moving my head a little.

  This resulted in a massive burning sensation at the top of my head. A strong tenderness screams out, convulging, hurting…

  My eyes fling open, and I let out a mangled gasp. I feel something tight squeezing my head, and for a moment, I’m panicking. Half-blindedly, I reach out a shaky hand, and touch my head. To my horror, I can’t feel my hair. Something smooth and cold is covering my head. I gulp. What had happened?

  My brain decided that it is now time to feed me the appropriate information…

  I groan. Did I really make such a mess of myself? I chastised myself. I can’t even climb to the rescue without conking myself on the head. In the end, who is the one who needs the rescuing?

  I struggle for a moment with the throbbing stinging in my head. Some part of me must’ve been knocked temporarily dumb, because I can’t seem to register my surroundings.

  It took approximately two minutes for my sight to clear up. Whatever had happened during my blackout, and after, it hadn’t left me with all of my senses intact.

  I squint in the darkness. I’m laying on somekind of bed, with cool white sheets, crisp and clean. I seem to have been placed into the hospital of the underground city. I can’t make out anything else about the room, except that it was really bare. Cutting through the bitter medicine smell is a strong, perfumed sweetness, which seemed to origin from somewhere at the other end of the room.

  In the cool night’s atmosphere, I shiver, realizing that I’m now out of my jeans and blouse. Someone had switched my comfort clothes with a flowy garment, stretching from above my elbows to just below my knees. The material does nothing to ward out the cold.

  I hold back a sneeze. Feeling miserably, I curl up on my side, and stare up at the walls on my left. Nothing, no pictures, no wall décor, no flaming torches. I stare until my eyes glazed over.

  I heave a long sigh. What had I done with my life so far? I mused dismally to myself. How did I end up in a hospital--- again, when I thought I had left this sort of dangerous life behind me when I first stepped foot into this place?

  I slowly rotate my body, taking precautious measures for my head. In my distorted mind, I found myself wondering where the air ventilation came from, and if the hospital area has special room air coolers. I wonder if there is a button on my bed that I could hit to gain immediate access to a nurse. I fumble around the underside of the bed, and came out disappointed. Anyway, I don’t hear movement from outside. All is still… all is quiet, except for the loud throbbing in my head that demands to be felt…

  From out of the darkness, I hear a soft groan.

  I give a sharp intake of breath. Who’s there? I frantically wonder. My eyes widen is horror, and they dart furtively around the walls. Long shadows leer down at me from the bare walls, scaring the wits out of me.

  “Who’s there?” I call out, which was probably either the bravest or the brainless tactict at the moment.

  My sharp ears pick up a shifting noise from the far side of the room. Squinting off into the darkness, I could make out a faint outline of an armchair… and someone’s in it.

  My heart skipped a beat. “David?” I call out, half hopeful, half mortified. Had he spent the whole night here? Watching me? In this state?

  “Stella?” A male voice responds. In that moment, my heart sinks. “Oh, it’s you, Kale.” I mutter, thwarted.

  I hear a soft thudding of footsteps as Kale padded towards me. “How are you?” He bends down by my side, worry in his voice. I could just make out his worry lines. “Good, but my head feels like it’s been replaced with a metal ball.”

  “Some serious technology they have around.” He says. “Wait, you aren’t serious?” I say, incredulous. “Could be.” I feel him shrug.

  I let my mind feast upon that thought for awhile, then I throw it out. “Whatever, as long as they made sure to replace my brain with one targeting the IQ level of Einstein himself.” I joke.

  Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or did Kale Caelum just smile?

  “So what are you doing here?” I ask, settling back down into my pillow. In a way, I don’t feel uncomfortable, which is weird. I’m just a little… guarded. On how much he noted on my embarrassing sleeping habits.

  “I wanted to see how you were doing.” Was his simple answer.

  “I want to know what you are doing here in the middle of the night.” I say, uminpressed.

  “If I told you, would you believe me?” He says, his voice dead serious.

  “Depends. I know a whole lot about our origin as well, you know.” I say. I feel my heart increase speed in my chest. Is this it? Will he finally tell me what I want to know?

  He stays silent for a moment. No, that’s not it. I need to play my cards the right way. “I know what you want to tell me--- or what you don’t want to tell me.” I whisper, fixing him with one of my famous stares. In the dark, with a hideous band around my head… it probably won’t get the desired effect, but I try anyway.

&nb
sp; “And I will get the answer. You can’t deny me my existance--- our existance.” I lower my voice to barely an audible whisper.

  Suddenly, he leans down towards me, until he is looking straight down into my face. “Then you probably know the risks.”

  In truth, I had no idea what he was talking about, but to get the answers, I have to play my part. “And what is that, brother?”

  It sort of worked, as I see him stiffen. Pulling back, his smile was replaced with his usual scowl. “You did not just say that.” He says, incredulous.

  “So what if I did?”

  “You are wrong. You don’t remember--- you can’t know.” Was his infurating answer.

  “You are abominable.” I grit my teeth.

  I hear him chuckle. “And you, my dear, are inflexible.”

  If I was stronger, I would’ve picked up my pillow and punched him with it. “Shut up.” I forced a weak angry voice, which only made him laugh more.

  “You know you don’t want me to.”

  “I do, if you keep up this nonsense.”

  “I told you--- in fact, warned you, that knowledge isn’t always the answer. Somethings can’t be prevented, nor could they be told before-hand. We are special, Stella. Destiny meant the world to us kind. We have to accept our fate, never let go of the hemstrings tying up to them.”

  “What are you trying to say? I’d really appreciate it if you could clarify your words. This girl’s brain just got banged up pretty bad.” I groan, covering my eyes with my hands.

  He sighs. “It’s what I always want to say. You can’t avoid the unavoidable. And you certainly can’t change its course.”

  “Meaning?” I demand. Gee, is he always so existential?

  “Meaning I can’t tell you exactly what to know. That’s for you to discover in due time. Right now, all I can do is utter a hurried warning to you, before the world comes crashing down upon you.”

  “So warn away.”

  “Be careful.”

  I push my way into a sitting position. “Be careful?” I hiss. “Is that all you could come up with? When those very two words are bitting at my brain at the moment?” The effort drained me, and I sink back onto the bed, clenching my fists at the pain.

  “Be careful, could cover a wide range of events. Be careful what you choose, be careful what you do. Be careful of your actions, your words… they mean more than you ever could dream.”

  “Wow, I’m impressed. You came all the way down here, stayed the night, just to tell me those lavishly beautiful two words. How priceless.” The sarcasm simply rolled up his head and down the other side.

  “You will find out. Of course, it would be too late by then. Until now, you have to rest up. You’ve--- we’ve only got so much time.”

  “You, dear pal, are not making sense whatsoever.” I grumble, but I was yawning at the moment. I told my brain to shut up, anything to contradict him, but it’s like my brain had a total shutdown.

  “So do you, when you talk in your sleep.” He responds, a slight smile in his voice.

  Groaning, I roll over, smackin him away. “Get off.” I say half-heartedly. “I wanna sleep.”

  He chuckles. “Fine. My job is done anyway.” He gets up, as if to leave, but stops at the door.

  “Oh, and one last thing---“ He began.

  “It better not be anymore scatterbrained roundabout speeches.” I grunted.

  “Nah. I’m done. But just so you know: those flowers at the end of the room? They’re from your boyfriend. Remember to say thank you to that poor fella. He’s been here the whole day, beside himself with worry. You only just woke…”

  “David’s not my boyfriend.” God, I’m glad he can’t see the pink in my cheeks from all over there. But he could hear the tone of my voice…

  “Sure.” He sniggers. “I had better go, before he comes down and sees me alone here with you. I’ll probably be forced to take out the entire shelf and dust each book specially.”

  “Whatever. Just make sure I’m well enough to head up and laugh at you.”

  A/N: Heeyy! Finally, here’s the next chapter! As usual, please vote and comment! You guys really deserve this chapter, my deepest gratitude reaches out to all of you amazing people, who had helped transform my book from this (0,0,0,) to this! (184 votes, 115 comments!!!) I love you people, you know that! ;) keep begin awesome, have a wonderful week!

  I don’t know how often I can update this story… what with school and all my extracurricular activities… but I’ll try to fit in a chapter at least once/twice a week.

  Okay, so please be an awesome person by encouraging me with a vote and comment your favourite part of the book! You will get the next chapter dedication! (unless you had already been dedicated) Please? I want to know how to improve, and what you people are liking. It’s always nice to hear from you, don’t be a silent reader!

  ~Tiffany :)

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Stella’s POV

  “No, you have to stay right here and be a good patient.” David so stubbornly keeps me prisoner in the hospital room.

  “But, it gets so boring!” I whine, wishing for a change of clothes. Two days here, and I’m still in the same flowy garment, bare-legged and clamped onto the bed for the whole entire period of time.

  David sits at my bedside, in a fresh red collared shirt and black pants. “You have to rest up, Stella, so you can recover. I need all the Group Nine members I can get! I’m now less three.”

  “Sorry.” I lay back onto the bed and groan. My head protests that I can’t lay down! I need to get back up there! What’s my life down here, in a hospital ward, even though it had only been day two?

  David smiles, looking a little guilty. “It’s not your fault. You’re the heroine! All everyone can talk about up there is about your brave acrobatic feats, saving the bad boy, and ending up as the damsel in distress.”

  “I guess I’m lucky I’m down here, and not up there. I’d hate the attention.” I stuff a pillow over my face, which I can feel heating up already. Gosh… I’m no heroine, I’m such a klutz as to end up this way.

  “Yeah, well… at least they monitor your visitors.” David reaches out and tugs at the pillow. “Don’t hide your face, I want to see the stars shinning.”

  I clutch harder at the pillow, squealing. Chuckling, David starts lightly poking my sides, and I roll over, doubling over with the giggles. The pillow is surrendered over to David, who chucks it under my head.

  I groan. “Why did you do that? Now my head hurts more.” I say, rubbing my scalp.

  “Don’t hide your face then.” David smirks, then immediately looks concerned again as I squeezed my eyes shut, wrapping my arms around my head.

  It turns out I’m not even allowed to laugh. Well, not the hysterical kind, which sucks plenty.

  “Sorry.” David sinks in his seat, pouting a little in a way which did strange things to my stomach.

  I smile and shake my head, indicating I’m fine, although on the inside, I’m screaming silently at the pain to just leave my life once and for all.

  David sighs, “When are you getting better, Starre?” He says softly, staring at me with clear concern etched in his intense eyes. A worry line ceases in his forehead as he asks, “do you need a doctor?”

  I shudder. “God, no! I’m not in desperate need of saving, at the moment, and I really do not appreciate being saved.” I frown.

  David smiles. “Well, for a heroine, you sure outdid yourself.”

  “Didn’t manage to save her, though, didin’t I?” I mutter, staring up the wall, feeling the never ending hollow feeling that came to haunt me for the past couple of days. “I was so clumsy, I couldn’t even save my friend!” My throat begins to clog up, and I have to swallow hard a couple of times to prevent my voice from cracking. “I---“

  “Please… Stella, what you did was beyond what anyone would ever think of you!” David exclaims. “You risked your own life to save another… the bravery you shown? It was beyond imaginati
on. But… I forbid you to ever climb down that, that… thing again!” David shudders.

  Choking back a rising sob, I grip the sides of the bed tightly. “It’s all my fault, wasn’t it? I could’ve saved her before she fell… yet, she fell because I wasn’t able to stop her from going under, and…” I said in a garbled speech, the tears flowing freely down my face.

  David meets my eyes, the grief in them unmistakable. “It’s not your fault. “He whispers fiercely. “You were trying to save a life, and you did! There was nothing else you could do about Skye, Stella. She was way out of your reach. You would’ve fallen down there if you hadn’t climbed back up!” He reaches out a hand and begins to caress my hairless forehead, his gentle hands brushing away the tears which slide so unflatteringly down my cheeks.

  This only caused me to sob harder, and soon, somehow, David has his arm around me, patting my back and squeezing my shoulders while I cry into his clean red shirt.

  “If only this hadn’t happened.” I wail between sobs. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here! I don’t even remember one darn thing about my existence, let alone why I belong here!”

  David rocks me gently. “Stella, no one said you did not belong. Everyone we accept into this community are worth it. We saved you, took you in, because you are worth the trouble!” he says indignantly.

  “I hate my past, David. I hate it.” I sob, not really hearing a word he had said. All I felt at the moment was a burning hatred, of my past, of myself, for being a part of it. I never asked to be this… I never wanted a life so different from any other.

  I pull away slowly from David, gazing sorrowfully into his deep eyes. “I hate myself.” I throw myself onto the bed and begin to weep vigorously into the pillow.

  I feel David’s body clench. “Stella… you’ve got to listen.” I feel his hand grab mine, and holds on. “There is nothing wrong with you. You are born differently, and I accept that. I feel that you are special, Stella, special, unlike any other person I’ve known, and I like that.” He says simply, and I turn over to look at him.