A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 10 - The Confrontation

The following day, Melinda woke up on a bright, sunny morning. Life looked very promising the moment she opened her eyes. The sunshine that lovingly contrasted with the beautiful winter landscape brought joy to her heart. In no time, she took care of her hygiene and put on her winter clothes, after which she rushed to the courtyard to admire the view. She positioned herself between two tall oak trees and began to observe her surroundings.

Many snowflakes fell gracefully onto the already very white ground. Birds shyly flew onto window edges from their vast web of branches and sang their melodious song. Dawn had scarcely come, therefore no silhouette was to be seen and no other action could be noticed. The slow yet pleasing movements of the snowflakes and the birds in the air created quite the landscape before Melinda's eyes, causing her to think many pleasant thoughts. Unfortunately, all of that was shortly interrupted when she heard rustling in the bushes.

She immediately walked over there to investigate, startling the person who was hiding in there. She could never fail to recognise the short woman with brown hair and eyes who wore a yellow dress with black polka dots beneath her overcoat. It was Maria Thorne, who shuddered the moment she saw her glaring in her direction, trying her hardest to hold back her tears, but some still managed to get through. This awoke much anger in Melinda's heart.

"Why are you acting like such a coward?" she spat. "You had the gall to betray this country and trespass onto the territory of the royal palace not long after that, and now look at you, crying like a little baby. You must be very miserable living like that. You have no reason not to be."

"I fear the thing that you've become," Maria said tearfully as she took Melinda's right hand. "My spies have informed me of the atrocities that you've done, as well as those you've yet to do. You used this hand to murder your husband by stabbing him in the chest, this hand which bears the wedding ring he carefully selected for you, this hand which wipes the tears that may or may not be real. But why would they be? You returned slavery in order to reinforce a corrupt system that benefits no one but the wealthy, and you're also thinking of men who are not him. It seems that your book of dark magic has left you with much happiness."

"I'm not happy," Melinda snarled. "Not that you could understand it, though. You can't understand anyone who isn't you. Having the book is okay when it's you who does it because you know what's best for everyone because you're so much better than all of us, aren't you? The fact that you can even think like this in the first place broke the infinitesimal amount of trust I had left in this world. 

If no one can be trusted with this power that was clearly meant to be used, then this should be a lighter outcome in this terrible world. You don't know what you are, but I do. We're the same thing in essence, only with a different coat of paint. I'll make something of this world that you'll never recognise as you gradually begin to realise just how much damage you've done."

Maria bit her nails. "Who are you and what are you saying? You're not my friend, no, you're not... My friend always smiles and encourages others and never gives up, not even when it's the roughest. You're nothing like her. Melinda, you need to let go of this book because there's still hope in this community that will always be ready to help you. You don't have to damn yourself. I thought I had, but I saw the light, which motivated me to become a better person. Please, give it a chance..."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "This is exactly the response that I was expecting from you. You don't understand, and you never could. Everything is different now, and so am I. Terrible times require terrible measures. War and corruption and plague, among other hideous things, cannot be left alone. I need to be in control of all of them because I stand out amongst the filth of the universe, making me a leader the likes of which the world has never seen. I'll live for centuries, if not more. I'm immortal, and who could refuse such a gift? You wouldn't be able to refuse it either, I know it. Your soul is too dark. I'll show you."

"You're immortal!" Maria gasped. "I've heard something of it, but now I know for sure. You're the first person in the history of the world to be immortal. You won't perish until the book does. Oh, the horror! The horror of having known you as a kind and loving person for decades, only for you to deteriorate into an evil overlord. You'll outlive all your loved ones, including me. You're ruining all your relationships, especially our friendship, and you don't seem to care one bit about it."

During the entirety of their conversation, Melinda felt nothing but anger and annoyance, but this forced her to be sorrowful as she remembered the beauty of the past. There was a photograph that she still kept in her enormous album in which she, Maria and Patrick all wore their school uniforms and smiled widely as the camera took their picture, capturing the bloom of the spring in the background, the age of innocence in which she had thought all of them were good friends and good people.

She also remembered her other friends and Jeffrey and her parents, especially her parents. She remembered how she told them everything. When they saw who she truly was, her mother fainted, and her father chased her away in possibly the greatest display of rage she'd ever seen. It was the best for everyone. She had so many other people, too, and who could tell how much longer she would live than them? Was it not a blessing to have known them and to be able to know them still in the first place, even with all the pain that came with the inevitability of their deaths? She bit her lip to suppress the oncoming tears.

"We're not friends," she said coldly. "Now leave."

"Alright then. Farewell, and may we see each other soon," Maria said solemnly as she walked away at a glacial pace, left alone to bear the burden of knowledge she couldn't prove to anyone, and soon Melinda left the scene as well with her own burden, a burden that none could comprehend, least of all her.