The Ring

0029

Before Chrissa could even get a word out, her ex-friends sped away in half a second. She was alone. Again. There was a long beat of silence before Kandor spoke.

"How did he die, in the old reality?" Her face was wet with tears, but she crossed her arms and looked up at him. She didn't see the point in lying. Chrissa felt fragile, guilty, and like a terrible person. She didn't realize the impact of her actions, of how she made people feel, how her actions affected others. She felt small, like nothing. She didn't want to exist.

Her head shot up, "I don't want to answer that."

"Come," he ordered her. There was no resistance left inside of her. It felt pointless to fight. Chrissa did as she was told and followed Kandor into a random room through a door he saw in the cavern halls. The space was small and empty, and only consisted of shelves. He locked the door behind the two of them and faced her. The light from above had shone down through the vent of the ceiling, and created a dim glow in the small space.

She felt useless. Lifeless. She lost her friend. The one person who liked her for how she was. A genuine friend. And now she hurt her. She didn't think long term when she reversed time to save Michael. She just did it. And now she wasn't even sure that they were meant to be after all. She missed her family. She missed her home. She missed being of the Fae. She wished that she and Michael never stumbled across the Vampiriclands, and that she actually got to the North like she'd intended. At least she would have been safe. Unharmed. Provided for. The upper class never mixed with the lower class and now she understood why. It complicated things. She found herself desperately clinging onto the persona of the girl she once was. She'd changed so much that she hardly recognized herself.

"What do you want, Chrissa?"

It was a simple question, but it was so profound.

Before she could even respond, Kandor walked closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Instantly, she gave into the comfort as tears fell down her eyes. "I'm a bad person," Chrissa said in a low tone, and shook her head.

He pulled back so that he was looking at her again. "So what? Words were exchanged. Now Mars is going to have to deal with the fact that she said that to you for the rest of her life."

"But I was in the wrong!" Chrissa exclaimed angrily, "everything is my fault!" She admitted. He shook his head, "you aren't like that. You aren't a bad person, and I won't let you be." His expression was stern, "it's their loss."

She shot him an incredulous look, "stop doing that. Stop thinking that I'm this...this innocent lamb that can do no wrong. Face it, Kandor. It was my fault! Everything is my fault and people are going to suffer because of me."

"But you are a lamb," there was annoyance in his tone of voice, "you're my lamb. And you aren't like them," he admitted, most honestly. "And nobody's suffering because of you."

"You're delusional," she said defiantly, as she shook her head with teary eyes. "I'm a bad person. Simply disastrous."

"Never." He shook his head, "you're just upset and confused."

She despised how calm he was being. She hated how easygoing Kandor was acting towards her. She hated how he wasn't mad at her. She hated how he couldn't see the harshness of her actions. She hated how he held little to no emotions towards others. How arrogant he was. Their faces were inches apart in the closed space, but the anger that radiated within her was too much.

"I hate you," she said thickly.

"Is that so?" He looked at her in slight amusement. "How much?"

She weakly punched his chest, "that much. You make me want to explode." He held her fist gently with his free hand and felt the heat of tension radiate from her body. "And, exactly why do you hate me?" Kandor taunted, in a low voice.