Nightfall

Chapter 22🌙

Scarlett's pov:

Ares steps forward trying to hold me but I step back. I don't want to be comforted. I'm a murderer, and I need to accept what happened. I can't change it.

"How did we go from talking about his future to..." I'm sobbing. I can't finish my sentence and crumble to the floor. Ares sits next to me and I don't back away anymore. I don't have the strength. He holds me while I cry.

"It wasn't your fault."

Has he not listened to a single thing I said?

It's completely my fault...I killed my brother.

"It was an accident Scarlett." He says into my hair.

I can't focus on anything, the pain in my body becoming too much to handle. I push to my feet and walk to the door. I open it and I can sense the group looking at me, they heard everything that was said outside.

I wasn't exactly quiet about it...to lost in the moment to care about how loud I was. I make my way upstairs and run into my room. I shut the door and curl up on my bed.

I just want the pain to be gone.

I lay there for a while, eventually falling asleep. Hopefully my confession has banished the ghosts. I hope they're gone, done mocking, done haunting my mind.

I just want peace...

***

I sleep for the a couple hours, but I'm woken up to someone knocking on my door softly. I really don't want to face anyone after my meltdown. Everyone knows what happend and they know I'm a monster, are they going to cast me out?

Are they going to throw me to Demetrius because I deserve to suffer, my parents were completely okay with that. I'm truly alone in this world now, but I'm happy I got it off of my chest. I feel like I can breath again, that the weight of Elijah's death has disappeared.

"Scarlett..." Ares is at the door, I'm a little worried that he will figure out that I haven't locked the door, and he could walk right in if he just turned the knob.

It seems he figured that out and gently swings the door open when he realized I wasn't going to open it willingly, I mean why didn't I lock it. I'm annoyed with myself because of my foolishness because now I have to face Ares.

What will he think?

"Scarlett, can you come with me please. I want to show you something." He says gently, and walks to my bed where I lay and watch him curiously. He is going to kick me out and alert Demetrius of my whereabouts. He sees the panic on my face and shakes his head.

"Just follow me outside, you're safe." I get up skeptically and take his outstretched hand. He walks me out of my room, out of the house and we are in the forest now. We walk silently, and I realize it's still the early hours of the morning, the sun hasn't risen yet. Ares doesn't say anything, he just holds my hand and leads me past the rocks and twigs.

I'm nervous, what does one say after having a mental breakdown infront of someone?

I feel judged and embarrassed, I wish I handled the situation better.

We walk for a long time, passing many trees and it's getting late, it's almost sunrise. We end up stopping by the river, The River Styx. The same river I almost jumped across when escaping the wolves chasing me. Many flowers surround us and its beautiful. That was such a long time ago, a lot has changed withing the months I've been with these people.

Ares sits on a rock facing the river, and looks at me expectantly. He gestures for me to sit next to him, so I tentatively move my feet and sit down. He still doesn't say anything, but there's a comfortable silence surrounding us, which is odd considering what happend a couple hours ago.