My other side

2

I'm laying on the ground, hugging Leo's body. Why? Why did he leave me? What will I do without him?

There is no point. Crying won't bring him back. But god, I want my tears to bring him back so badly. I want him to open his eyes and tell me it was just a stupid joke. Or for me to wake up and realise it's all just a stupid nightmare.

But no. He's not coming back.

I get up on my knees and keep crying. I still refuse to believe it.

The sun's already up. I lazily walk out of our building, just to find Vincent standing by the door, full of anger.

,,Where are the horses?" he yells.

,,Leo is dead." I say, with tears in my eyes.

,,So?! I need the horses harnessed."

,,But, my lord-"

,,I would not have hesitated to kick Leo out of here if he was being lazy! I won't mind doing the same thing to you! So get to work you dirty rat!"

I can't move. No matter how hard I want to get up in his face to ask him where he got the nerve, or how hard I just want to run.

,,Do you understand?!" he yells even louder.

I get scared, so I run to the stable and sit on the floor. My face is covered with my palms and I sob.

Finally, I get up, harness the first two horses I see and take them out.

While I am tying them to the carriage, Vincent is looking at me, displeased. Why is he judging me? This is my first time doing it!

I can't tie them to the carriage properly under his gaze. Leo never taught me how to do it. I only know the basics from watching him sometimes.

I struggle with the horses a little more, when Vincent has enough.

,,What the hell are you doing?! Aren't you supposed to know? Didn't Leo raise you?! I will be late because of a disgrace of a servant like you."

,,I'm sorry, my lord." I say quietly.

,,You better be! You have five minutes to do it properly, or you can get out of here right now."

My hands start to shake and I cannot concentrate on tying the horses properly. If he sends me away, I'm dead. There is no chance for me at the street. It is an absolute hell here, but at least I have food and a place to sleep. The people on the street have nothing. If you get there, you're dead.

That sentence is repeating in my brain. I'm going to die if I don't do something. Leo would know. I wish he was here.

Now I'm crying because of him. Amazing.

I notice myself standing and doing nothing. This isn't good. I try to calm my breathing down and walk towards the carriage. With shaking hands, I try to tie them to the carriage properly. I fail.

Vincent's head is red with rage, but all I can do is stand still.

,,Father!" I hear a voice and look towards it. It's Wiliam.

,,Father, I think I can help her. She's not that strong." He says.

If my whole body wasn't shaking with sadness and fear, I would be very flattered. But right now, all I can do is to get to work.

Me and Wiliam tie the horses to the carriage. I can't say anything. He saved me! He literally saved me from his father. And maybe even from death itself.

,,Useless girl." Vincent says quietly ,,Get out of here."

My heart dropps. That's it. I'm following Leo. There's no way I'm going to make it on the street.

,,Father! She had a hard morning. Give her another chance."

Vincent lookes up at the sky for a little and speaks.

,,One more chance. If mess ups like this keep happening, you'll be gone."

I nod, not having the ability to say anything. All the emotions inside of me just keep my mouth shut.

Vincent gets into the carriage and he's gone in a few seconds.

Wiliam just stands there and looks at me. I don't have the right to look into his eyes, so I stare at the ground.

,,Thank you." I say, my voice shaking.

I run away to the stable and sit on the ground.

I was almost gone today. How did this happen? How did everything go from amazing to horrible? Leo had to deal with this every day.

I take a deep breath. This isn't the time and place to cry. The horses have nothing to drink, they're hungry and dirty.

I work all day cleaning the horses, giving them food, letting them out, cleaning the stables and everything else.

While the horses are running on the field, I remember that Leo's body is still in our house. With the heaviest heart, I walk inside and force myself to look at his soulless face again.

This man meant everything to me just a day ago. Now he's gone.

A tear falls from my eye, but I wipe it away. It's not the time and place to cry.

I take a shovel and walk far enough in the garden. He deserves to be buried as far from this house as possible.

I dig a hole, big enough so his body would fit into it. I drag him there. It's hard when he's far heavier than me, but I don't care. I let his body fall into the hole and began throwing soil on him.

As he disappeares underneath it, I have to accept that he isn't here anymore. He can't talk to me before sleep or teach me all of the things he could do.

When I am done, I pick flowers from the field. At least some flowers that still are there in the middle of summer. I put the flowers on his grave and stand there.

,,Leo. Loving father. Hard worker."

Tears start to flow out of my eyes, then I notice that I'm standing there, sobbing.

,,This shouldn't have happened to you..." I say in between sobs, as if he can hear me.

I cry, trying to let al of my pain out. The pain of losing Leo, the fear of my future, the fear from lord Vincent. All of this was circling through my head, creating a bomb that exploded in tears.

,,You didn't deserve this" I touch his grave ,,You should've had a nice house. A wife and children you could love. The way you loved me. You deserved to have money. To go to the doctor if you were feeling sick. You weren't that old! This shouldn't have happened..."

I cry more, until I'm interrupted by lord Vincent arriving.

I take the two horses to the stable and unharness them. Then I return to Leo's grave.

,,I still have a promise to make to you, Leo. I promise you that I'll work as hard as I can and I'll be kind to people even if they don't deserve it. I promise that you'll look down here and smile."

At night, I come out of my house and slowly sneak into the stable. I'm not used to sleeping when Leo's not there. I miss him too much. And the thoughts are becoming worse and worse.

I walk straight to Bella and pet her nose.

,,Hi sweet girl! Sorry for interrupting you here. I'm not having a good time."

I give the horse a small smile. She looks at me as if she understands. But I know that she's only interested in being pet.

I hug her and let a tear roll down my cheek.

,,What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

I smile and keep petting Bella's neck. She reacts a little to my touch, but doesn't pull away.

,,What are you doing here?" a voice calls out to me. I look to the stable entrance, the direction the voice is coming from. It's Wiliam.

A/N I would be more than happy if you gave me some feedback on the story and told me where I need to improve. You don't have to, but please tell me if you have something on your mind