𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 | lady lesso

nineteen

I sit staring at my mother's resting body, the walls too bright compared to the dullness of the school for evil. The feeling of a spider creating its web over my eyes hits me a multitude of times - each one met with a refusal to close. Every time I do I can feel the pulsating in my hands, and see the crimson of blood.

I can't remember the last time I saw a bright spark in mothers eyes, or her lips painted the signature red of my childhood. Her face looks plain without it - startlingly corpse-like. Dovey says she should wake any day now, or at least that's what Lesso told me; the blonde can't even meet my eye.

I pull my knees up onto the visitors chair (also known as my temporary home), picking at the ends of my jeans and playing with the silver rings on my fingers. My body is still regaining its energy and although I have done nothing at all since the incident, I feel no different. I haven't spoken to anyone in a while either.

Lesso's visits have been kept to a minimum to prevent any 'further encouragement' and so I haven't seen her in about a week. My friends have been forbidden completely and Zylia: well I don't know what has come of my newfound sister. I curl further into myself, wishing all of this would go away, but I brought it upon myself didn't I?

The door opens with a quiet click and Professor Anemone walks in cautiously. "They're ready for you now." She says, referring to the decision the school board would be making on my academics.

I rise from my seat miserably, muscles like led as I'm guided through the empty school to a classroom bustling with teachers. And the headmaster. I trip over my shoes at the door - barely catching myself on the table. I notice my shoelace untied and kneel down to fix it. Lesso comes over to me as the ever teachers stare guiltily; I don't blame them for wanting to keep their distance.

She kneels down to tie my lace for me and it takes all the energy in me to not cry when I see her face. There are dark circles under her eyes, and her lips are pulled down into a sad frown. The excited glint in her beautiful ocean eyes is gone and it looks almost as if someone stole her soul. I notice she's also avoiding my eyes: or rather trying to.

Her hands take mine as she pulls me up and guides me to a seat. I sit down with no grace causing Clarissa to grimace. "When do I leave?" Lesso rises from her chair and leaves the room. A haggard sob leaves Dovey's lips and I regret ever insulting her. This woman's too nice to ever give anyone tinnitus.

"Tomorrow and you shall never set foot on these lands for as long as I remain schoolmaster." The headmaster speaks in his bright blue, floral outfit. I grimace and flick my eyes up to meet his,"You understand our reasoning for this don't you Miss DeVil?"

"Yes."

"Lovely, you are dismissed." He says with a grin, something I wouldn't expect in this sort of situation. I'm slightly unnerved.

Clarissa comes over to me for the first time in a while and though we aren't close, pulls me into a hug, "What you did was wrong, but you changed Lesso a lot." She starts, leaving the hug to place her hands gently on my shoulders, "Make sure it's a good farewell, this is going to destroy her." She says, planting a kiss on my cheek and leaving me in the room alone.

I collapse back into my chair with a sob, tired eyes crying for the first time in a while. The door opens and locks before arms pick me up and engulf me in a familiar net of safety. Their head buries into the crook of my neck and it instantly turns wet and warm with her tears. I cry in her arms as she offers the most comfort she can through her own pain. I fucked up everything like I knew I would.

I flood my senses with her cinnamon-pumpkin scent, desperate to remember the curve of her lips against mine as she latches onto me desperately. She sits down on the chair I previously resided to pull me on her lap. I exist in the sweet seduction of it all - in the longing for the life I could have had, here with her.

Her hands move to cup my face as the tears continue to fall furiously. I run my hands through her bright hair - so dull and flat now. She pulls away and I chase her lips, trying to bring the familiarity back to me but she rests our foreheads together.

"I'm going to write to you as often as I can and I will find ways to see you my love. I swear." She whispers against my mouth and another crushed sound leaves my body because she doesn't know. I haven't told her.

"She's sending me to an all girls villain school. I'm too old for it but I got in - it was always the backup." I struggle, her eyes meet mine, "They don't allow letters through and no contact with others outside."

The look she gives me shatters my heart into a million pieces, beyond repair. The threads holding it together start to sever and tear - ripped apart by the world of fairytales. I see it in her eyes too. I'm killing my only love with this, she was it for me and I never told her.

"I love you Leonora Lesso of Gavaldon. We may not see each other again so I thought you should know." I say, hating the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Why would I tell her I love her and follow it up with a harsh but true statement? She pushes me from her body and I stumble for balance.

"Nevers don't get love." She spits with tears in her eyes before she slams the door shut. I sense this as the end. The chord that linked us together limp and disconnected in my hand. There are plenty of ways to remove and destroy a beating heart but love, love is the only way to do it and keep you alive.

I wander back to the medical room, numb and cold to retrieve my valuables. I found nothing to retrieve - I'd lost the one thing with meaning in my life already.

I sit in the carriage, the familiar but missed face of Arty staring at me. He wraps me in a blanket as we start our journey home - mother will follow when she wakes. I'll be shipped off to another prestigious institution for Villainesses and the emotions in my body will be drawn out.

Not everyone gets a happy ending.