Teen Romance Fantasy

Act 24 (Ty)

"What are you doing here? The show isn't over yet."

I had followed her all the way back to the art gallery. Somehow I already had a feeling that she would come here. Where else would she have been able to hide herself? She turned around as though she had expected me to follow her. Slow. Steady. Calm. Our eyes met. Her golden earrings glittered in the darkness. Was this really the freak?

"I could ask you the same. Why did you follow me?"

"I was curious why you'd suddenly leave. Now to you. Why are you here?"

"I just forgot something and wanted to get it as soon as possible."

"You mean the notebook? It's right there." Her eyes darted towards the notebook. In a matter of seconds she grabbed it with her left hand and looked through the pages for some reason.

"The sun is really cute. Do you draw it everywhere?"

"Kind of. It's become a habit of mine. I drew it on the back of the canvas as well right next to my name." She was smiling. Her expression had not changed at all but she was still smiling.

For a moment we were caught in the silence. Neither one of us said a word. We only stared at each other as if there was no other place where we needed to be. Why was she not saying anything?

The silence was bothersome. The scent of her perfume was bothersome. The truth was bothersome. I could not take it anymore.

"Your painting is interesting. I wonder, what is it that you are scared of?"

"Oh that? I'm really scared of mimes, you know? They can be rather creepy sometimes."

"I can tell. All this black and white. Why didn't you finish it?"

Her eyes suddenly widened. Gotcha!

"What are you talking about? It's obviously finished."

"Really? I thought that something was missing."

"Why would you think that? A second ago you didn't even now what this painting was all about."

"You're right. My mistake."

Silence again. I was poisoned by the scent of her perfume. I felt dizzy and nauseous at the same time. What was I even trying to accomplish? No matter how you looked at this situation, it made no sense but still I needed to confirm that I was wrong.

"You were quite good at Prophecy. Was this really your first round?" I questioned her.

"That was just luck. I'm actually really bad at card games."

"Still, to think that you would come that far. You played some good combos. Sure, Christian helped you but then again it was rather surprising you understood everything."

"I'm not actually sure what you're trying to say." Her voice was shaking. I had pinned her into her corner where she could not flee. Her confidence was slowly but surely leaving her, as I was gaining the upper hand."

"I'm just saying that Prophecy isn't an average card game. It's unusual for someone to be that good in their first round."

Her facade was breaking. She must have noticed already. I knew what was really going on, even though it was hard to admit and honestly it even felt wrong. I wanted her to say that I was talking nonsense. I wanted her to tell me that I was going crazy. I wanted her to prove to me that I was wrong but nothing happened. Instead she reminded me that everything I thought I knew was more complicated than it should have been.

"You know. That's why you followed me. You know the truth." Her breathing had changed. Her eyes had changed. Heck, even her voice had changed. It had gotten colder and darker. It was the sound of death. I was talking to an entirely different person. This was not the freak I knew.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. You know exactly what I'm talking about. How did you find out? What gave it away?" Step by step she walked towards me. I stayed strong but it was not as easy as I had expected. The freak was going absolutely crazy. Suddenly she was standing right in front of me. There was barely any space between us. I looked directly at her dead brown eyes. I felt her cold breath on my skin.

"Stop playing dumb! Just say it already! You know everything so why are you trying to hide it?!"

I had to hold my breath now that we were that close. What was this sensation? It was just like when she was shouting at Louis and Tristan and yet it was even more frightening. My mouth felt dry the more time passed. Why was it so damn silent?! All I could hear was my heartbeat. It was beating faster and louder than ever before. It was going to explode.

"Please tell me I'm wrong! There's no way, right?! I mean, you're the freak! There's no way you could..."

"Could what? Say it already. There's no way I could what?"

It could have been my imagination but I had a feeling that the art gallery disappeared into thin air. It was just me and the freak in an empty void. No lights, no sounds. We were all alone, fated to meet in this very moment. For a second I thought back to Alexy. She was probably waiting for me, as I was falling deeper into despair. What would Alexy have done in that moment? Would she have accepted it? Perhaps not. I knew her too well for that. She would have pretended that all of this had simply been a bad dream but in the end I was not Alexy. I could not convince myself that this had not been real. Even my heart had already accepted that whatever was going on in that moment had been reality.

"There's no way you could be her."

"Really? I'm curious. How so? Is it because I'm a freak? Or perhaps is it because you wanted someone else to be me? Fuck you." She was holding me by the collar. It was hard to breathe. The oxygen in my system barely managed to reach my brain. A cold shiver ran down my spine. So it really was true. No turning back now I guess. I had gotten myself into this mess and now was the time for me to face it.

Just for a second I tasted the bitter taste of despair on my tongue. It felt just like torture. I could not free myself from the freak. Her grip was just too strong. Eventually I felt as though I was losing my consciousness but that was the moment where she let go of me. Instantly I felt the relief inside my heart now that I could finally breathe again. The freak on the other hand was busy hurrying out of the classroom.

I sighed. Blood was rushing through my veins with the speed of light, as I took one last good look at the freak. It really was her. When I looked at her dead eyes, I was sure. There was no other explanation.

"Is it really true? Are you really Siren?"