evermore || sebastian sallow

chapter 56 - desolation

chapter 56 - desolation

Y/n Gray

With the chains tying her hands behind her back in the damp, musky cellar filled with iron scent, fallen on her knees from grace, Y/n could not muster to look up at her beloved, who had been calling her name for one, single hour that might as well have been days long.

All the confidence she had crumbled into a million pieces the moment his cell door locked with a click. Not her cell door, but his.

"Y/n...please, talk to me," Sebastian pleaded, his voice broken.

She was tied up in the cellar right next to his, in the furthest corner so that he cannot reach her.

Sebastian, on the other hand, could walk freely around his cell, able to reach out to Y/n by putting his hand through the metal bars separating them worlds away.

Y/n thought it was a cruel game. Giving them just enough—the almost so taunting it was excruciating. Sebastian could reach out to her, but his fingers would only ever graze air. Not her smooth skin. Not her silky hair. Not her. And she could not even attempt to reach out to him, for she was held in chains, locked in place.

She hasn't moved an inch. Her hair which came undone from its braid covered her face in shadows while she watched the cold floor underneath her.

She failed him.

Unshed tears stung her eyes, but even then, she felt so numb she could not even bring herself to cry. To feel the coldness of the cell. To feel anything else except for her broken soul.

Y/n felt like she damned Sebastian into a lifetime of ruin. The irony was, she did it because she was trying so hard to avoid it.

"My love, listen to me," Sebastian called, his comforting voice bouncing off the cellar walls. "Look at me. I'm right here."

Y/n stirred a little at last, the dam finally starting to break.

"I..." she trailed off. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, still not looking at him.

She wasn't looking at him, but she could tell how his face had softened with his next words despite the dire situation they were in.

"What are you sorry for? None of this was your fault," he reassured.

Y/n finally looked up and found Sebastian clutching the metal bars, letting herself drown in her failures. For disappointing him. She deserved every hurt in the world for failing him.

She wished he looked at her with hatred instead of love. His dark eyes were so full of emotion for her.

"It is my fault, Sebastian," she said, her voice breaking as tears slid down her cheeks. "I wasn't careful enough. I got you into this mess and I was supposed to get you out of it. You're hurt because of me." Her eyes quickly fell on the injuries inflicted upon him, so for him to stand there so tall, looking steady for her sake broke her again. "I should've had you away from this place. Not lock you in. I'm so sorry. I really am sorry. Maybe," she swallowed, blinking once to let more tears fall, "maybe I should've done more to make you stay away from me. I did all this to you."

Sebastian remained silent for a few moments, his eyes sparkling with so much emotion, Y/n wasn't sure which one he was feeling.

"Hey," was all he said after a while, his voice soft and careful, the ghost of a smile brushing his lips.