Love's Conquer

Mourning Cloak - Part One

The longer I stayed here the more I came to see the tower was just like Woodbury, Terminus, the old Sanctuary when my brother ran it; which meant it was more of a danger than the safe haven people were deluding themselves into believing.

It had been two weeks since I was brought here. Why I stayed... to begin with it was about survival and biding my time to figure out how to get myself and Kai out safely, but at some point I started to deny myself the opportunity to leave. There were people here that I had come to know, decent people, and who would only suffer the consequences of Strands actions. I kept trying to tell myself not to care, I mean I only have a margin of care to give, but that care... that attention and attentiveness... needed to be for myself now.

"For you..." I whispered through a single breath as my hand rested on my lower stomach.

I can't afford to feel for these people and truthfully I don't have the strength to either. Just because they can't see what's right before them is no quarrel of mine to bare. We make our own beds, then we have to lie in them.

"Morning Bella," June smiled as she entered into the medical room that had been provided to her.

I simply nodded in response, acknowledging her brighter tone, "I've just come to collect Strands test results."

"Oh yeah," June murmured, turning on the spot and hunting through the, what looked to be very organised, pile on one of her table counters. She pulled out a piece of paper with the name Victor Strand on the top and handed it to me, "He's all clear."

"Again." I added.

"Again." June repeated in a more sarcastic tone.

"Why does he get himself checked so often?" I asked curiously.

"Paranoia." June stated surely. "Strand doesn't trust anyone- he probably doesn't even trust the results I keep giving him. He knows the only person he can rely on is himself."

"Do you know why?" I wondered further.

June sighed, resting her hands on her knees as she perched on the edge of the table. "Just before you got here, he was poisoned- I mean he's always been... difficult. He's never been a team player, you could say. But after the poisoning he just got worse."

"So you've known him for a while?" I deduced, while processing her words of what had happened.

"You could say that." She sighed, clearly showing that there was a lot more beneath the surface but I decided not to press further. I don't know these people and I don't ever want to. I just need to know the necessaries, that's it. "You know, if you ever want to talk—"

"Why would I want to talk?" I deliberately cut her off with a thrown forced onto my face, suddenly feeling defensive.

She acknowledged my stiffened posture and pursed her lips together in thought before continuing, "'Cause we may not know each other- maybe we never will, but I know what this feels like." She held up her left hand, the back of it facing toward me, and showed the ring on her fourth finger. "I saw how you reacted to Howard calling you a widow when you first got here- in fact, I felt it." Her words were like a pickaxe hammering away at my heart, attempting to burst me open by breaking down my tough exterior. "So if you ever need to talk, then I'm here."

"You're right," I said to her surprise, but I hadn't finished. "We don't know each other, and we never will. I'm not here to make friends June. I don't want to know you- I can't—"

"Why?"

"'Cause you're not my problem to fix- none of you are." My bitter tone coming out.

"You see us as a problem?"