A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 8 - The Confrontation

A week came to pass, and Melinda found herself walking through the forest on a morning that seemed normal to her at the time. The sun was shining like the gold on her crown, just as the flowers near the trees resembled the luminous jewels on it. Butterflies were dancing all over the bright blue sky with no disturbance, one flying down for a moment to touch her hand. Its presence was gentle as that of a glove of hers, yet it did not bring back memories of slaughter. As she reminisced about it more deeply, it flew away. She sighed as the breeze near her became the aggressive and cold push of nature, pitying the creature, for its life span was abnormally short, but also pitying herself, for at least it got to live a peaceful life.

She facepalmed, mad at herself for not stifling her sorrows like she said she would. At the very second she leaned against a tree with a smile on her face, a recently bought book in hand, she heard the sound of a person's footsteps approaching her. She stroked her chin with her fingers, trying to remember their identity due to the sound of their footsteps being eerily familiar. It didn't take her long to conclude that it must have been Maria. Her face reddening and her eyebrows furrowed, she turned around to see if it was really her. She knew she had to encounter her after all the time she had spent away from her someday, but her mind was so ill-prepared, it insisted that the possibility was merely an illusion.

It was indeed Maria, with her yellow dress and black heels, smiling innocently. She scoffed at that pretension of goodness, the blood within her veins burning, that feeling a truth only she knew thanks to her act. Her steps were so light that the grass was scarcely disturbed, as though she had no care in the world. However, once she approached the tree Melinda was hiding behind, it took her a brief glance at the behind to notice her. She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes wide open. A million questions formed inside of Melinda's head, and although she wasn't attempting to make it seem that way, she was aware of the fact that she had to get an answer for a significant part of them.

"My friend, how have you been doing?" Maria asked, placing her right hand on her heart.

"I am doing fine, thank you," Melinda responded in a monotone voice.

"You are not doing fine. You have stabbed your husband, framed another woman for it, and then luck came to your door, allowing his parents to both die of an illness in a week. Surely you intend to become a tyrant since you let your hedonism and sadism overrule your better judgment, taking the easy path in that you mean for this already ruined country to be ruined even more as an unkillable immortal," Maria remarked, approaching her face to face.

Melinda blinked twice. "How did you ever come to know of my secret?"

"I am Maria Thorne. Even when people lack faith in me, I will always have at least one spy."

"Your spies as meaningless as long as no one important trusts you, especially with everyone loving me. And why wouldn't they? They had known me as the best person that could be found in The Supernatural World in years. I may have failed to follow the standards of morality, but even in evil, I am worthy of worship," Melinda spoke after having laughed merrily.

"I thought a rotten and shrivelled heart nullified all potential for worship," Maria grumbled.

Melinda snorted. "And I thought you would have had enough shame not to say a sentence like this one, but I suppose both of us were wrong."

"Several wrongfully conceived aspirations are nothing compared to your grandiose vile schemes, which have just begun."

"I have many things I could say to you, but a normal conversation would not suffice. We ought to both draw swords, as I see that we both are tortured by many feelings. Blood creates twisted art, but art nonetheless."

Without a word, Maria conjured a sword with flames that did not affect it at all. She widened her eyes once she saw that Melinda was not conjuring hers, but simply frowning instead.

"You have no respect for this country," Melinda said, conjuring a sword whose hilt was covered in shadow.

"Learn to accept that which you see as unacceptable," Maria told her, stabbing her in the shoulder.

It pained Melinda as much as a paper cut would pain a normal person, yet she scolded herself for allowing herself to get hurt so easily, especially due to the blood that appeared on her dress. She swung the sword at Maria's head, cutting a few strands of her hair off, letting the hilt of her sword make noises as it was being swung against the surface of the other sword's hilt. Her right hand hurt as she grasped onto the sword with all the strength she could muster, reddening, while Maria was smiling and defending herself from her attacks with light movements.

"Your parents know the truth as well. That is why you will never see them again. They have fled, too horrified to even look upon you, let alone see what you had become," Maria informed her, and nothing about Melinda's facial expression had changed. She perceived the comment as a mere taunt, a feeble attempt of Maria's to provoke anger in her. However, she would not fall for such a simple trick. Those who do would never have deserved to have a position as important as hers in her place.

"I now feel the need to ask you about your husband and children," she said in a monotone voice.

"My husband is staying married to me for the children, even though he still hasn't returned from his weekend house in Eade, while the children are doing quite well, blissfully unaware of what their mother had done," she responded, pushing Melinda by the stomach.

"You have no shame in admitting what you have done," Melinda hissed, stabbing her right hand.

"Admitting and acceptance are the first steps towards redemption," Maria spoke, stepping on Melinda's foot.

"You will never be redeemed!" Melinda screamed loudly enough to strain her throat severely, stabbing Maria in the stomach. Blood flowed rapidly from that part of her body like a river, ruining the shining beauty of the flowers, her surroundings shifting to void. The consequence of Melinda's hatred was strong enough to make her incapable of standing up, even as she grasped her stomach with her right hand in an effort to help herself do so. 

It caused her mind many aches to remember that they were friends not long beforehand, when Melinda used to be good, and when a lot more hope lay in her heart, before everything seemed unknown. Coldness overtook her veins, accompanying the dark curtains in front of her eyes, the nearest she would get to the gates of death that day. Melinda could not quite kill her yet, thus she simply spat in her face, commencing walking away from her.

"You liar, you foe, you villain..." Maria managed to utter before being temporarily claimed by the abyss.