Breaking Point

Part 3

On Wes's face was an expression I had never seen him make before - it was cold and empty. The warmth he used to look at me with was gone, and in it's place was a stony, expressionless glare.

"W-W-Wes?" I stammered, confused, stumbling a step backwards.

"Atlas." He said my name flatly. "What a coincidence to see you here."

I swallowed. I was imagining things - right? The person in front of me was still Wes - the friendly guy who would make me laugh when I felt like crying, the person who always lended me a shoulder to cry on after a day of hell, the boy who would embrace me whenever I needed it.

"T-They poisoned my brother," I stammered, half expecting Wes to immediately comfort me and look at me with a warm, sympathetic gaze. 

I looked up at him and flinched. His expression seemed to say, 'is that it?' 

"Did they?" I flinched again at how nonchalant he sounded about Iziekel's death. "Well. It was bound to happen sometime - I thought they'd do it sooner." My blood ran cold. He turned to me with a cold face and added, "was that it? I can't believe I wasted my time talking to you. You're going to be executed soon anyways." I felt my heart drop. Executed? I hadn't heard about that. Yet again, I hadn't heard much about me except the terrible rumours.

"Wes?" I whipped around and saw a pretty, fair girl who looked like a noble lady in a luxurious dress, a maid holding a frilly, laced umbrella up for the lady to shade her from the evening sun. "What are you doing here? And who is that?"

She said 'that' with disgust. I probably looked a mess - after the struggle with the maids, the grief and tears of seeing my dead brother, and the bags under my eyes. I glanced at Wes and my heart throbbed. His eyes were warm - he had switched his gaze up in a split second.

"No one. She's no one, she approached me out of nowhere." Wes said with a warm smile.

"Do you know her?" the lady pouted.

I turned to look at Wes. He knew me - we had seen each other often, and he always struck up a conversation with me, a warm smile and gaze.

"No." I felt a chill. Did he just say that he didn't know me? No, I must have heard wrong.

"Are you sure?" the lady wasn't convinced and pouted again.

"What, do you not believe me?" Wes laughed lightly and suddenly had his hand around her waist. My heart stung with the giggle.

"No, I believe you. But..." the lady's smile faltered as she glanced sideways at me. "Can we please get away from her? She's scaring me... she's giving me a weird look."

"Of course, anything for you." Wes kissed her hand and put an arm around her shoulder as he led her away from me without looking back even once. "You should put on a cardigan - I wouldn't want you to catch a cold." I heard him say just as they disappeared out of sight. I clenched my jaw, but it slackened when my lip began to tremble. Holding back tears, I bit my lip and let out a shaky breath.

In one day, I had lost the two people I loved the most - one by death, one by betrayal, and I was going to be executed soon. How had my life become such a mess? No, my life had always been a mess. From the day I was born, up until now, my life had been a mess. All because of my powers - if I hadn't ever been born with magical talent, would my parents still be alive and happy? Would my brother be standing by me now? Would the lovely town I called him still be standing tall and proud? I would never know...

But I also knew that I wasn't completely to blame. I always used to think that it was my fault, and when Duke Blackstone somehow found out, he used it to guilt-trip me and trigger my memories. But I now knew it wasn't my fault. Not completely, anyways.

They called me a monster, a beast; but it was them who pushed me to become one. Is that really the same?

I stood in the garden, strangely calm, but my heart beating wildly. I walked to Iziekel's room where his dead body still laid, a painful reminder of his death. I put my hands over his body, and closed my eyes.

"Goodbye." His body burst into flames beneath my hands, and I opened my eyes, power surging behind them. I stood up again, and as I walked past the lonesome mirror in his room, I saw my eyes glowing.

I was going to be executed soon. So what? I didn't care whether I lived or died anymore. I had no one left - my brother, dead. My family, dead. My town, dead. Wes, a traitor. So I'd die and leave everything behind.

But I'd take them all down with me.