THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER THIRTY: DESPERATE

"When we were little, even smaller than we are now, you used to cry a lot, and Mom and Dad didn't know how to calm you down."

"I don't believe you," I said, running among Grandma's jasmine, trying to distance myself from his deceit. "You're a liar; you just like to lie."

"No, I'm not. And being older, you should know that everything I say is true."

"I still don't believe you."

"I don't care if you believe me or not. I still remember your crying echoing through the castle and your snot covering your face."

I turned in his direction and stuck out my tongue with all the force I could muster.

"What does echoing mean?" I asked.

"A sound that bounces off the walls."

I stuck my tongue out again while smoothing my floral dress.

"You were a spoiled child, and you still are, Seren," he used that name to annoy me, as older siblings do. "I was the only one who knew how to make you shut up."

"You're lying again."

"I would never lie to you, Amy."

Christian approached me; his clean, scar-free white skin was bathed in the rosy light of the sunset. His eyes looked so clear they seemed transparent.

"I would take your hand and ask you to please let us sleep."

"I don't believe you."

"I know you do. I can see in your eyes how you remember it, even now."

"Prove it, Christian."

I extended my hand, wearing Mom's ring; she had let me wear it just for the day. Just as my brother made contact with my skin, the world darkened once again, leaving me adrift, and my heart right in my throat.

My screams were desperate but futile.

My screams found no way out; they only echoed within me. I wanted to scream for Christian, for my mother's abandonment, I wanted to scream at my father for keeping information from me. I wanted to scream out my frustrations; I wanted to tell them to stop treating me like a helpless child who knows nothing but losing control. Because they didn't know all the effort I put into keeping my onpix side beneath my skin. That skin that was starting to wither due to the lack of oxygen and sunlight in the room. I could feel my cells dying like the tulips on the other side of the glass.

I ran quickly down the corridor, hoping that Albus would guide me because my mind wasn't clear enough to find the way out on my own. I focused all my energy on my legs, and just when I thought there was no way to escape that place, a beam of light hit my face. A small crack in the wall through which I had entered. I hit the stone with my shoulder, pushing with all the strength in my body, and the divan that had helped me enter gave me a little push on the back, leaving me on the other side of the corridor, the one with white stones and gold chandeliers.

Lloyd was just a few steps from where I appeared, arranging a bouquet of fresh roses. I put my hand on my chest, trying to calm my breathing, and although I now had mixed feelings about my friends, at that moment, I needed Gemma to silence the loud and steady pounding of my heart. Lloyd's slanted eyes darkened at my desperate attempt for help. The boy who had barely shown any emotion on his face since he arrived at Alba now tensed his jaw, not understanding what was happening to me.

"Lloyd, please," I sat for a few seconds on the couch and tried to smell one of the roses he had left on the table, but my respiratory system was starting to fail; I gasped for air. " "Ge.. t me o...ut of he...re."