Monsters & Fairytales (38 page)

“Uh.”

I was started to panic. I looked around the oasis for somewhere to have privacy. I really needed a restroom. This was so embarrassing. Where did they go to relieve themselves?!

“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.

He pushed himself up onto his knees and crawled closer.

“I…well…I need to use the restroom.” I whispered.

“Restroom?”
He questioned.

“Yes. There is one in the room back at the Minakai’s castle.”

I tried to my best to hint towards the obvious, but I wasn’t sure what was obvious for him. I had never seen him use the restroom.

“Ah…OH!
Um, touch my hand.”

He reached out to me. I was hesitant. Would the transit affect anything? What if I lost control? Sitting here wasn’t going to get me any closer to a bathroom, though. I closed my eyes and waited for the burn as I touched his soft skin. It came of course, but a few seconds later it was gone. I was standing in the room we had spent the night in.

“Thank you.”

I bolted into the bathroom. There was no time or need to say anything else.

As I washed my hands, I looked into the mirror. I wanted to shriek. My hair was a disaster. I almost felt ashamed for walking around looking that way. I needed a
straightener
or a blow-dryer, something to smooth out the kinks

I used my wet hands to pat it down, but it wasn’t really working. Then I saw my face. Not having any make-up sat okay with me. I kind of liked it. My hair had to go. Doing the only thing that would flatten the crazy curls, I pulled all my hair over into a low side pony tail. My mom had loved that look on me. She'd said it showed off my colors and curls the best. Tugging on the strand of teal I had under all my black hair, I wiped a tear away.
             

Looking at the bobby pins on the counter, I tucked them on the strap to my shirt. Then I washed my hands again. I wiped the rest of the water on my hair to keep it down for a while. It was better than before. Anything was better than what I looked like before, though. I turned off the light and walked back out.

“Okay.” I said. “Sebastian?” I couldn’t see him.

“Sorry.”

He called from the ceiling. I looked up to him. He was hanging on one of the hooks, just dangling there.

“Get down!” I laughed.

“Ready to go?”

He flipped and landed smoothly in front of me.

“Not quite.”

I bit my lip. He was very close to me and I couldn’t help but notice that he and I were completely alone. I had to take full advantage of the moment. It would be my only chance. I wrapped my arms around his neck and threw myself on him. He grabbed me and pulled me up.

“Oh, hello.”
He smiled.

“Hi.” I smiled back.

We fell back onto the bed. He held himself up over my face, just an inch off. My legs were still wrapped around his waist, keeping the rest of his body close. I wanted to waste the entire day like this. I pulled his head down to fill the gap and kissed him again. When I opened my eyes he was just staring at me.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“You.
Are you blind?”

He moved my bangs behind my ears and smiled.

“I just wanted to know what made you smile that way.” I whispered.

“The answer is still you.”

He shifted his weight on his elbows. I ran my fingers through his hair, admiring his every feature. He kept getting this smile that seemed to light up the entire room. It made me feel awkward. I missed him and I wasn’t even gone yet. I felt a tear creep up behind my left eye. I was still emotional.

“I don’t want to leave.” I sighed.

“Don’t say that.” He brushed my cheek.

“It’s true! I just found you, how am I supposed to give you up?”

I sat up and pushed him off of me. It wasn’t fair things had to end this way.

“You didn’t just find me. You’ve had me this whole time. Stop with these words.” He said.

He kissed me again. With his hand behind my neck, he pulled me back down on my side. We were facing each other again.

“I just now realized how much you mean to me. Don’t take it away again.” I begged.

I wondered how many times he had done this in the past. Had I remembered them all? I didn’t want to forget
him
. I was going to have to. It’d be the only way for me to go on.

“I wish you weren’t so in love with me.”

His words hit like shards of glass tearing through me. Why wasn’t he embracing it anymore? Why deny it now, after all this?

“So in love with you?
Sebastian, do you think I can just shut this off? Do you think that I can just not be in love with you anymore? Why push for something then tell me the exact opposite the second you get it? I don’t think you understand.”

“Once you are without me-” He tried to soothe me, but I quickly interrupted him.

“Without you?
What else is there?”

I wiped my tears off my cheeks. I was devastated. How could it be so easy for him to just dismiss his feelings like that? Something else was going on. He was hiding something. I could taste it.

“Life.
I told you and you knew that. You can’t let this stand in the way.”

“What if I don’t want to? What if I don’t leave and I stay here forever?”

“You have to go home.”

“But why?”

“We come from two different worlds.
This’ll never last
.”

That was the final blow. My heart shattered.
I felt the warmth of my love for him leak from the pieces of my broken heart
. He scooted up closer to me and wrapped his arms around me. He nuzzled my neck and kissed it. It made me sick.

“Do you want to be with me?” I asked, looking into his eyes.

“Of course I do. I just, I know what’s real.”

He lowered his head and looked at the ground. He was lying. He was a liar. I was tired of this game. He was just making me mad at him so it would be easier when I left. That was the only option. Boys are just as dumb in his world as they were on Earth, it seemed.

“What’s real?! Sebastian, look around! You live in never-never land. I live in America. America is real.”

“To you.
But Mirabelle, a day ago you didn’t even know this existed. I always knew you existed. I have been doing fine without you as you will do fine without me.”

He was acting like he was trying to convince the both of us with what he was saying rather than actually meaning it.

“If you only just saw me when you were there for whomever else, how could you know I always existed?” I asked, sitting up.

“What?”

He sat up instantly. His face had this look of bewilderment on it.

“You heard me. You told me that you were there for someone else and you saw me.”

“Mirabelle, I have never said this. Where are you getting this from? I told you I was there to protect you. I was out there for your protection from the burglars. And then I came back because you couldn’t let me go.”

“No. No, you said it.” I whispered.

I remembered it. I couldn’t remember why or how. But it was true. Sebastian had told me that he wasn’t there for me. He was there for Carlyle! Why had I never brought that up before?! Carlyle was my real guardian angel?

“Mirabelle.
You are upset and making things up in your head. Let’s get back to the arvey.”

“Sebastian! What are you hiding from me? I remember. We were walking. It was when I first got here. Carlyle, he called you that Morean, and you said you were there for him. Not for me. What happened? Why would I have never seen Carlyle? Why would he act like he didn’t know me?”

I was hyperventilating. I couldn’t breathe. What was going on?

“The Moreans are my uncle’s tribe. They are the true guardian angels. I didn’t believe in the push the Myrians were supposed to do. Their purpose, they are like the good versus evil. They whisper in your ear, they set things in your
view,
they give you a reason to be good. I don’t believe in that. It’s not right. You humans don’t deserve all the chances you have been given. I’d rather be with the ones who have proven themselves and take them to their place in Heaven.”

I couldn’t blink. Thought and function were lost on me. There were a million things coming out of my head all at once. I was so lost.

“How could you? What did you just say to me?”

“Your kind is selfish and horrid. Carlyle, my brother, he believes in my father and the Myrians. He believes there is hope. You were his last subject. He was taking too long. I was worried about him. I am not on speaking terms with our father since I chose to be with Zerach instead of him. But I knew if he was coming to me that it was something important. So I took the mission and went to save Carlyle.
             

"I saw you. You were perfect. I couldn’t understand how you had managed to put such a hold on me, but you did. It was pointless after that to fight it.
Carlyle left, so that worked
. But then I was the one stuck with you. And what was worse, you were stuck to me. We belong together. I can’t control anything else. I’m sorry Mirabelle. I never meant to do this to you. Please, you must understand that it was never my intention.”

“Do what? What’s going on?”

The pieces forced themselves back together to form my pathetic broken heart. It hurt. I gasped for air to make the pain go away. I opened my arms and threw myself around him.

“I love you.” He whispered.

“Sebastian!”

I jumped when I saw my hands. He jumped up, terrified. I held my furry claw-like hands in front of my face. This is a dream. This isn’t real. I was turning into one of them. How was that possible? Wouldn’t I have felt it? I had felt nothing but the pain in my chest. Was that it? Did my love create a monster out of me? Had I already changed completely?

“It worked!”

He stepped back, wide eyed.

“Sebastian?
What’s happening?!”
I was shaking.

“The Zahn.
He’s come for you. Don’t resist it!” He yelled.

“Resist what?” I shrieked.

I was terrified. There was a shadow forming behind him. I wanted to throw up.

“Mirabelle, you’re losing it. You have to accept it.” He pleaded.

The shadow turned into a rain cloud coming from the corner of the ceiling. Wind was swirling around us. Lightning and thunder were forming in the cloud. What did I have to accept? I didn’t want to go with that thing. I wanted to go home. It wasn't safe here.

“No!” I whispered.

“Mirabelle.”

Sebastian looked at me with the most pain in his eyes I had ever seen. It was as if I had just
let his hand go from the edge of a cliff to watch him fall to the jagged rocks at the bottom.

“What’s going on?” I yelled over the storm.

“You loved me. You embraced it. Why are you denying it now?”

He seemed to be crying.

“I don’t understand.
You just, Sebastian.
This was all a lie? This was a test? You saved the truth to trick me? How could you?”

I was panicking. My hands were normal again.

“Forgive me! I should have never forced you to believe something that you weren’t ready for. I meant it. I was there for him, and you were the one that caged me. I’ll protect you now.” With a kiss he stepped back from me. He faced the storm. “Didn’t you hear her?! I won’t let you take her now. It won’t matter.”

“Sebastian?” I whispered stepping next to him.

“Run, Mirabelle, I can’t hold it forever.”

A chill went down my spine. I tried walking closer to him, but he threw his hand back to stop me.

“Sebastian?!”

The ceiling cracked open and a mist started to pour in through the middle of the storm. It was a deep blue color. There was a gust of wind that I could have sworn whispered my name. It smelt like flowers. It was very enticing. I wanted to approach it and let it take me away.

“Mirabelle, NO! You must run away!” He whispered.

I couldn’t focus on him. I was getting sucked into the cloud. Suddenly I was on the ground. Sebastian was heaving over me. His violet eyes were glowing and his wings were spread out. I was frozen solid.

“Run!” He hissed.

I screamed and then turned around. I took off out of the door, forcing myself up the hall without looking back. There was a loud snarl behind me. It rattled the walls. Sebastian was defending me. There was a devastating thud and I whipped around the corner. The Minakai was the only one who could help. I had to find him.
             

I didn’t remember the way back to his office. There were so many turns and it was so dark in the castle. Leaning against the wall, I looked both ways. I had to remember. It was to the right; it had to be because I went left out of here. People always went the wrong way first.