Behind These Wings

Smoke

Her toes twitched within her cream ballerinas. Her calf muscles tensed ready for action. Her stomach clenched with anxiety, blood pulsating through her veins at double the pace that it normally did. Her heart beat a tattoo against her ribs creating, almost painful, vibrations that travelled into every extremity. Her throat closed up, fear consuming the muscles there, whilst her instinct to flee the scene consumed her mind completely.

Why had she ever said yes to this?

Izzy clenched her eyes shut and took a shuddering breath. Flashing her eyes open, her retina reacted to the dull cream wall before her but she didn't turn around to absorb the view from the rest of the room instead.

Not yet.

She had to stick to the plan. If she wanted to get through this day she had to stick to the plan.

This was simple enough in theory, slightly more difficult in reality when every neuron in your brain was screaming at you to sprint in the other direction.

She crossed her arms, resting them on the wall and then placed her forehead on the cool paint also, like a little girl counting down from one hundred in hide-and-seek. Only this wasn't child's play when you could take a break or change over to another game. No this game was her life and she had to win to survive.

Deep, trembling breaths forced their way into Izzy's lungs as she mentally counted down the seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Turning around Izzy didn't allow her vision to focus on anything other than her target. She couldn't afford to get distracted.

She couldn't fail today.

Izzy stared at the door, praying that it wouldn't unlock but her request wasn't granted as the wood sharply opened, slamming back against the unsuspecting wall.

Darren never was one to miss a dramatic entrance.

"Isabelle." His malicious tone crept up on her like a toxin bleeding into her veins; it left her completely immobile, lifeless against the wall.

"I can't say that I am surprised. I always knew the time would come when you were forced to admit that you weren't good enough and I always knew that eventually you would come crawling back to me." His arrogant smirk made Izzy recoil further still into the bricks behind her, hoping to find camouflage there but despite the pale complexion of her skin matching the off-white tone completely, the rest of her body was not so cooperative.

"It's a shame though; you always had such passion, such willpower. It's a pity to see you reduced to this trembling little girl once more." He was millimetres away from her face in less than a blink of an eye and his hand shot out to grasp her chin, forcing her to keep eye contact. "Just like the very first time we met. Fitting really, that it should end like this. You walked into this very Palace a shaking, weak girl, not ready for what you were about to face. Never ready. You were never worthy to walk through those golden gates let alone stand before me as my son's wife." Darren spat the word out in disgust but Izzy refused to show him that she was intimidated. If this was to be the last time, she wouldn't allow him that satisfaction of believing that he had won.

Biting back a fierce retort Izzy tried to keep in mind that she had a role to play tonight.

This was more than just a few heated words.

This was life.

"You bewitched him just the way that you would go on to enchant Aaron." Darren's voice cracked as he mentioned his lost son but anger blazed within at what this insolent little angel had taken from him. "It's your fault; it's always your fault. Do you ever get tired of not being able to do anything right? I bet it eats you up at night. I bet it swallows your very soul." Darren leaned in even closer to Izzy, leaving nothing but a whisper of a breath between them.