Royal love

Chapter 72

"I didn't think you'd have the guts to do that," The man says when we get out of the simulator after Hayden killed me.

"You don't seem to think much of me, father," Hayden spits.

Father. This man is the one who carved my name into Haydens back, burned him, hurt him.

I feel myself fill with rage for Hayden but hold back. Our bodies are still connected to the monitors and the second I had felt the rage, the machine beeped uncontrollably for a few seconds before I could control myself.

"Angry, are we?" Haydens father takes a step closer to me. He towers over me just like Hayden does. I have to look up to see his face, and when I do, his gaze is chilling. His cold blue eyes look dead and alive at the same time. It's as if they glow. His eyebrows are like straight lines on his forehead, his lips are slightly parted as he begins to say something else. "That's right," he says so quietly only I can hear it. "I'm his father."

I want to punch him in the stomach. Watch him double over in pain. And then once his face is close enough to mine that gravity won't stop me, I'll spit in his face.

And the monitor beeps again, rapidly.

I glance over at Hayden and he's completely blank, but I know what he's thinking. "Stop showing emotion."

I take a breath. Collect myself.

Haydens father smiles. "Send her to the box," he says lifting and dropping his eyebrows.

Haydens face falters. His machine beeps.

Haydens machine beeps.

When I look at the monitor I see what emotion he's feeling, a mix of fear, sadness, and anger.

Haydens father averts his attention to his son. He walks over to Hayden.

"Tsk, Tsk. I thought I taught you better than this." In one sharp movement, his hand raises and he slaps Hayden. I watch in slow motion as Haydens head doesn't turn in the direction it was slapped in. He holds it still. I watch as a red hand mark forms on his cheek.

I know he feels humiliated, but his machine doesn't beep.

I'm disconnected from the machine and pulled away.

Haydens father begins unhooking him from the machine and the second Haydens free, he breaks free from his father and yells my name as I'm being dragged out.

"Adeline!" He yells reaching for me.

"Hayden!" I scream back, reaching for him as tears stream down my face. I probably don't look very attractive right now, snot dripping from my pink nose, tears streaking my pink cheeks. But I don't care. It's the last thing I'm thinking about.

Hayden gets close enough to me to whisper, "Breath as little as you can." He sounds desperate, hopeful. He stares at me for a second and I want to be stuck in this position for the rest of my life, with him looking at me like this. And then he's ripped away from me as I'm pulled out of the tech room and he's pulled deeper into it.

Before the door fully closes, I see Hayden's father hit him. Hayden falls.

He screams. He screams bloody murder. He screams my name, I can hear the sadness in his voice, I can feel his tears. He's tearing at the seams. I want to hug him, tell him I'll be fine.

But I don't know if I will.

The last thing I see before the metal door slams shut is Hayden's father standing over him.

Then, through the thick metal door, I hear the faint sound of his monitor beeping rapidly, faster than mine, and then a mini explosion.

I'm dragged through the hallway and thrown into a room. The second I'm in, I know why Hayden told me to hold my breath. The air is thick and smells like chemicals, it's clear it's not safe to breath in.

I hold my breath until I can't anymore. When I try to inhale a tiny bit of air, my body takes control and takes a deep breath, forcing me to take in the toxic air.

I caugh uncontrollably. I've taken in too much of it, my eyes feel heavy.

This is how they're going to kill me off? Haydens dad doesn't want to watch me die? Kill me himself? Force Hayden to kill me with his bare hands, for real this time?

My eyelids are so heavy I have to hold them open. I do jumping jacks to keep my body from collapsing completely, but it doesn't last long. Soon my body gives in and I feel like jello as I fall to the ground, unable to move.

My eyelids are too heavy to hold now. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This is it, I'm going to die. I feel myself come to terms with it.

It's something I've wanted ever since my brother died, but I've been running away from it ever since I went to the academy. Ever since I met Sonya, Jody, Levi, Sam, Daniella, Rowan, Mateo, Noah.

Once I feel my body go completely numb and I can't breath anymore, once I think I'm finally dead,

Hayden.

I've been running away from death ever since I met Hayden.

Because I'm in love with him.

I didn't know what I felt when I was around him so I assumed it was hate. So I hated him on the surface while I kept falling for him on the inside. Everytime I wanted to scream at him, kill him, hurt him, it was all because I was confused what he was making me feel.

I'm in love with Hayden Perle.

The realization makes me gasp for air.

Makes me feel again.

I can't stand but I crawl. In my head I hear Hayden screaming, how he was screaming when I was taken away from him. When he knew I would die. I crawl to the door and scratch on it, desperate to get out.

Desperate to live.

Once that failed, I banged on it. My body was laying on the ground, stomach down. My fist was the only thing that was even slightly lifted. The banging probably isn't even reaching the other side of the door but I need to feel like I'm doing something and I can't scream for help. Every time I try to open my mouth, it won't move.

It takes too much energy.

I'm laughing at myself internally.

Opening my mouth takes too much energy.

My fist falls to the ground level with the rest of my body now. No mater how hard I try, I can't keep my eyes open.

No matter how hard I try not to, I slip away.

Word count: 1126
10-31-23
8:00 pm
(Not revised)
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