Chapter 89

Hillary's POV

 I was so excited to visit my mum and I would have gone straight to the tower's clinic if not for Madam Turi's persistent advice and warnings. 

     "You can't think of going there now," She said. "It's too dangerous." 

       "I have to see her, MT." I said, with a huge smile which I couldn't seem to take off. "I really have to see her." I said, making my way out of the senior chambers main lounge. 

    She grabbed my hands and pulled me back. "I know you want to see her and I can assure that you will, not just today." 

      "But, what if she wakes up in the middle of the night with nobody around her." I said as a sudden fright came into my mind. "She'll be disoriented if she wakes up alone."

      "Hillary," Madam Turi said, guiding me to a small armchair and sitting me down. "we all are happy to hear about your mother's movement, but… I don't want you to get your hopes too high, as that might lead to you getting disappointed."

     "So, you believe my mother wouldn't wake up?" I said anxiously. "You believe she's going to die like that." 

     She frowned. "Of course not. Why would you say something like that?"

        "Because nobody seems to be happy or at least a little bit concerned about it. It's just like you all are wishing for her not to wake up." 

         Now, she took a little offense from what I had said. But the anger in her eyes faded quickly and a more caring look appeared. "I know you're anxious and frightened but you have no reason to be." She took my hands in hers and held on tight. "For the fact she moved doesn't mean she'll wake up tonight. She might but it's highly improbable."

    I sighed as I began considering it.

    "Listen to her, Hill." Scarlett said walking from behind me with a bottle of beer in her hands. "It's dark and frigging cold outside. Believe me, you don't want to get caught in a storm in this city." 

     "Yep, it can be brutal." Madam Turi agreed with Scarlett. 

      It seemed like Scarlett sort of noticed my gloomy face as she walked over and handed me a bottle of beer. "You look pale, are you alright?" 

      I nodded my head in response as I took the beer from her.

      "What the hell is this?" I asked after taking a sip of the beer which I felt like spitting away instantly.

      She laughed. "It's beer."

       "I know what a beer is and this is definitely not one." I argued. 

     "C'mon, it's a fine beer." Scarlett said, collecting her awful beer and gulping it down.

      "It tastes like horse pee." I said in disgust. 

      Madam Turi chuckled. "Maybe that's why that is the name."

       "Seriously??" I questioned as my gaze traveled from MT's face to Scarlett who seemed to be delighted with her beer. 

       We spent the rest of the evening talking mostly about irrelevant topics and I tried my best to keep up with the discussion to help fight off the growing fear in my mind.

     After a while, I found myself alone. Both Madam Turi and Scarlett were deep asleep on the couches while I was still wide awake. 

    In my mind, I regretted not taking the awful beer as it might have helped me fall asleep like them. 

        The pendulum-bob clock read 12:15am and I knew that almost everyone in the castle will be either sleeping or preparing to. So, I set out to the super large bar at the other wing of the castle, whistling loud enough to eradicate the suffocating, eerie silence. 

        I got to the bar and drank more than I had expected. I only stopped drinking when my hands began to fail as a bottle of brandy fell from my twitching hands and soon my eyelids closed and I slept off. 

   If I had known, I would have kept awake as I had the most frightening dream ever. 

   It was a sunday morning i and many other people will never forget. Though, for different reasons.

   To most people, it was an amazing, beautiful day which was perfect for a wedding ceremony of two love birds.

   To me, it was the worst day of my life.  

    I was in a well decorated room, with love shaped balloons everywhere. The room was rowdy and filled with ladies carrying happy and excited faces. They were all dressing and adorning me with expensive jeweleries made of several precious stones.

      At last, when they were done with embellishing me, they all cheered and urged me to stand and display my beautiful wedding gown, expensive heel, and exorbitant jeweleries. Making comments like; "Give us a twirl, pretty."

  "You look amazing". "You're such a beauty."

  And so many other nice comments which didn't seem to lift my mood, but rather made me feel more miserable.  

   At my front was a seven foot mirror, which reflected me surrounded by at least twelve smiley ladies, most of them married and some divorced. As i stared at the mirror, i tried so much to see the radiating beauty that everyone saw in me, but i couldn't see anything else but a poor depressed frightened girl who will forever be haunted by her past and what the future held for her. The smile i wore on my face made me feel more pathetic, but i knew i had to put it on now more than ever, by the way, my life depended on it. It was a smile i had worn all my life and now had to wear for the rest of my life.

    I stood there, staring at the tortured image at my front, and i lost awareness of time.

     When i finally regained consciousness, i found myself alone, still standing helplessly at the front of the mirror.

        I felt gummed to the spot and was forced to look at my devastated image. Although, it was sunny outside and the temperature was a steady twenty eight degrees, I felt as cold as ice. My teeth were clattering and my entire body was trembling badly. I struggled so much to keep my eyes open, but they were just too heavy for me to open.

    Despite my struggle, my eyelids shut themselves and left me in a familiar darkness. After a few seconds, warm tears escaped through my shut lids and fell all the way down to the floor.

       I whimpered and cried silently for a few minutes, until my body sensed the presence of someone else. Someone who made my heart beat again, a person who was capable of bringing light to my darkness. I felt him around me. His presence intoxicated me. I could feel his hands on my shoulder and his fingers slowly trailing my body, leaving electric sparks. It moved from my shoulder down to my hands and then his firm hands gripped mine. My tears stopped and a soft smile appeared on my face.

      I fell back and rested on his muscular chest, a place which i had felt at home so many times.

     The heaviness in my eyelids disappeared and i slowly opened my eyes, only to see the opposite of what i had felt. IT WAS THE DEVIL HIMSELF. He smiled at me and said softly to me, "Who were you thinking of, bitch?"

     I immediately lifted myself from his chest, and felt the worst kind of irritation. He was the exact opposite of who i had lost.

   "Answer me!!!" He yelled.

    I looked directly into his eyes and said "I was thinking of a person you can never dream of being, Bastard."

    He slapped me hard on my face and i staggered until i was resting on the mirror. He walked to me and forcefully tried to kiss me but i bit his lower lip until it began to bleed, he retreated and winced in pain, as blood flowed from his lip. He cleaned the blood with his fingers and glared at me, his face red with fury, "Bitch!!!" He stormed towards me ready to pounce but before he could touch me, his mother had walked into the room and yelled, "Stop!!!"

    He stood there for some seconds, with his fist up and directed at me, until his mom pleaded on my behalf.

  At last, he dropped his fist and dashed out of the room, kicking several balloons away.

      Both i and Mrs. Lockwood watched him walk out of the room, before we took in deep relieving breaths.

    After, Mrs. Lockwood gave me a long look with disgust written all over her face.

      I was about to explain what had happened but was shut up by a dirty slap which left me deaf for a few seconds, before i was able to hear the words Mrs. Lockwood mouth were making.

     "…you slut. You truly have no shame, do you? After all we have done for you, you have no gratitude towards us. Whether you like it or not, you'll pay what you owe us by several means and this marriage is just the first of it."

   She looked at me again for a while before she continued, "You see all the pretty jeweleries we adorned you with, all the diamond and gold on your dress, were bought by my son, and still you are not grateful. My husband was right about you. The truth is, even if you dress a pig with all the gold and diamond in this world and clothe it with the best dressings, a pig will always remain a pig." She held my face roughly with her sharp nails piercing my chin, "If you're still confused, let me elaborate what's going to happen henceforth. You belong to him, you're not just going to be his mate, you're going to be his property, you'll do whatever he wants you to do without any form of complaint, just like a furniture or machinery.  Do cars complain of being driven too far or fast? Or do chairs complain on how many people sit on them? Be wise, Hillary, I don't need to tell you the consequences of your failure."

        Those were the last words i heard from Mrs. Lockwood before she left the room.

      I straightened my wedding dress, and to my own surprise, laughed out loud. From everything that had happened, i had found an escape from my nightmare. An escape to a place where i wouldn't be anyone's object or furniture, a place where i would wait for him, the light to my darkness, no matter how long.

    I walked into an adjoining room, and shut the door. The room had an amazing view of the green fields and beautiful gardens. The room door which led to the sunny gardens was opened and the mild summer breeze blew the white curtains beautifully. I didn't bother to close the glass doors as i enjoyed the breeze. 

     I walked to a long table, which on it were drinks and a large beautifully decorated cake which had both my name and the Devil's name on it. I smashed the cake with my fist and pushed it off the table onto the hairy white rug. I picked up the little knife which was placed on a napkin near the area where the cake was once on.

   I took in three deep breaths and whispered silently to myself. "I'll see you again, Dylan. Not here, but somewhere else." Those were the last words i said before i slammed the knife into my delicate and fragile skin. Then i fell to the ground, my blood staining the expensive rug.

      I smiled until my eyelids began to close…and then i saw my heartbeat. He was just above me, his hands stained with my blood and his eyes wet with tears. I couldn't hear anything anymore but i read his lips. He was screaming my name and was shedding tears, that was the first time I saw him cry or display any form of weakness.

        I watched him rip his cloth apart and apply pressure on my open flesh, which spiraled pain throughout my body. No one needed to tell me that i was bleeding badly, as my hair was soaked in my own blood.

  As he lifted me up like a baby, i felt at home again. .

     

     Author's Comment: I made this chapter free as I understand that most of this Chapter's content has already been previously uploaded in the introduction