Aru Shah and the Chamber of Lies

Not All Fights End Badly... Right?

Aru woke up with a loud gasp, startling Aiden as well. Cold sweat beaded the side of her neck, and she quickly pried herself away from Aiden's arms, putting herself into a sitting position.

"Aru...?" Aiden asked blearly. He gradually sat up as well and rubbed his eyes. Looking at his watch, he added, "Woah, we should get back home. It's already been half an hour."

He stood up, but Aru didn't have any strength in her legs to push herself up. Her mind was still churning from her dream, and thoughts swirled around her head like a storm.

"Shah?" Aiden crouched down in front of her. Realizing that something wasn't right, he put his palm on her cheek. "What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

Aru gulped and looked straight into Aiden's eyes, which were filled with concern for her. She slowly nodded and in a near-whisper, she said, "Yeah, I did. And...we also got another prophecy. From Sheela."

"What?" he exclaimed, alarmed. "What did it say?"

With her voice wobbling here and there, she managed to recite it for him. By the end of it, Aiden had turned pale and started to pace back and forth nervously.

"This is probably about the new threat, right?" he murmured. "What if whatever is the new 'evil' is what's possessing your dad in your dreams?"

Aru shrugged helplessly and after calming down a little, she stood up and brushed the mulch off her knees. "Maybe?" she answered, steadying her voice. "We're gonna meet up and discuss at Brynne's house later today."

Aiden nodded. "Alright." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We should go back home and get some sleep."

Aru snorted. "Bold of you to assume that I'm gonna sleep."

Aiden, who had started to walk down the block, paused abruptly. He turned to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Wh-what?" she asked, startled. Why was he looking at her like that? He leaned in closer and Aru squeezed her eyes shut. Was he gonna kiss her? She tensed and expected to feel Aiden's minty breath close to her any second now...Ouch!

Aru's eyes flew open and touched her stinging forehead in surprise. She saw Aiden's fingers raised in the air. He had flicked her!

"What was that for?" she complained angrily. "Are you still salty that I beat you at monkey bars?"

"What?" he said, narrowing his eyebrows. "Of course not."

"Then why'd you flick me, you snob?"

"Cuz you're not taking care of yourself properly!"

"Of course I am! I'm eating three meals a day!" Then after a moment of contemplation, she amended, "Okay, fine. Two. But I'm just skipping breakfast, that's all!"

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! And I wasn't gonna nag you about it, but thanks for letting me know!"

"Why are you so angry about this? It's not even that important!" Aru was beginning to feel her temper rise, and Vajra sparked angrily on her wrist.

"Not important?" Aiden said, raising his voice a little. "How could it not be important? I'm worried about you, Aru! I understand that these past couple days haven't exactly been the best, and that you've been hurting. But have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately? You look like you haven't slept in days! Which you probably haven't! You need to rest at some point, Shah!" Aiden finished, taking huge breaths to calm himself down. He scowled and looked away, frustrated.

Aru kept quiet, not knowing what to say. After a long moment of silence, she quietly spoke up, "Sorry, Aiden. It's not that I don't want to sleep, and trust me, I want to go to sleep more than anyone else, but I literally can't!"

She felt herself getting angry once more, and tears pricked at her eyes. If he didn't know what she was going through, how could he possibly understand what she felt?!

"Do you have any idea how it feels like to see yourself kill your own father, over and over again?! Then trying to convince yourself that you did the right thing, and that you had no other choice?! Or seeing your dad's corpse every night, and watching him speak and move around, except that it's not your father- it's someone else parading around in his body, haunting your nightmares, and threatening you?! Or seeing yourself betr-" Her breath suddenly hitched and she quickly stopped herself from going even further, not willing to reveal that one secret to him.

Aiden looked like he was slapped in the face, but Aru was too riled up to play nice. She knew that her tone must have been harsher than she had intended, but there was no taking back what she said. She simply stared at him challengingly, all while trying to stop her tears from spilling over.

Aiden finally broke the silence. She thought he was going to argue back, but instead, he said, "Let's go back home."

He started to walk towards their houses, but Aru hung back, stunned. Did he really just walk away from their argument? He wasn't going to even give her a response? She seethed in anger but reluctantly followed him, albeit a couple paces behind.

After their short walk in silence, they parted ways, and without a second glance, Aiden slammed his door shut. Aru huffed angrily. Fine, if he wants to play that way, then so will I! She slammed her door shut even louder, startling birds and earning a warning from her mother.

Eventually, she climbed into her bed, her anger slowly draining away. Tears now spilled freely down her cheeks and she pulled her covers up over her head. An uncomfortable lump lodged in her throat. Had they really just had their first argument as a couple? They would make up eventually, right?

Aru sighed and looked through her phone, trying to distract herself, but it didn't work. She didn't even crack a smile at the Lord of the Rings memes she looked at. She groaned and tossed her phone on her table, and tried to divert her attention from listening to the usual night sounds. But strangely enough, the crickets had stopped chirping and there were almost no cars in the vicinity, leaving Aru to wallow in her sadness in complete silence.