The Runaway

Chapter 55

He looks away from me again. "The sky was dark; clouds covered all light. That night there was a storm the next day. I only saw them as figures, wrapped in shadows. He kept stepping forward till there was no space on the edge, she had nowhere else to go. There was no space... I could have done something. I could have walked over, or called her, but no, I watched- she fell. He pushed her-"

I gasp without meaning to. Oh, my goodness. What a horrible person. He as himself falls apart, everything I've learned to know him as is gone. He stands in front of me, silent tears absorb into his dry skin, were they ever there? We stand here, listening to water drown besides us and wildlife everywhere else. Even in water, my hands boil from holding his, but no bubbles rise.

His beating heart blends from his hand to mine. It feels so strange. The frown on his face isn't from boredom or annoyance anymore. His shut eyes from exhaustion, all of the talking he has done.

I put my hands on the sides of his face. "Breathe, sweetheart. You aren't alone anymore, and you never will be."

His shiny eyes meet mine again. "What if- what if you leave me?"

"I won't."

"You promise?"

"I do."

"Even as I grow old and lose my hearing?"

"Yes."

"Stay with me... and all the mistakes I've made, and the ones I'll make? Till we grow old together...?"

"I'd love nothing more and expect nothing less."

The ends of his mouth pull back just a smudge, lifting the age from his face. "Really?"

"Yes." Standing this long in the water is very awkward. I grab his hand to pull him under the water. Wow- water is heavy. Oh no, no, no, no, this isn't fun. I'm pulled out from under the water. "Sorry, I thought that would have been more fun." Now my hair is stuck to me.

"You're an oddity, princess."

"Not that again- where are our clothes?"

He shrugs. I look around and see them slowly floating away to the other end of the pond. I walk over to get them. Walking is quite hard in water, I'd recon.

After retrieving the clothes and getting back, the curiosity still lingered. "But how did you get the scars?"

He flicks my nose. "Nosey, aren't you?"

"Just a little."

He shakes his head. "It was horrible, I tell you."

"Then tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"To make you ask questions."

"That isn't very proper of you."

He throws the soaking wet dress at my face. "Neither are you, asking me all these questions."

I put the dress back in the water. How long do they stay in the water till they're clean? "Oh, pardon me, good sire. I do apologize for my wrought rude behavior. Twas awfully rude of me. How would'th thou want me to apologize?" I think I messed that up. Been a long time since I spoke that way.

"Weirdo. No one talks like that anymore."

"It's fun. And my parents do."

He shakes his head. "He just became meaner to me after mother died. I reminded him of mother, reminded him of what he did."

"Oh." It's sad he had to suffer. They all suffered too much. Oh, to give his father a good smackin'.

He nods. "At first, it wasn't as bad as it became. He would pinch me, "accidentally" step on my feet, bumping into me. I thought he became very clumsy, but I soon figured out he wasn't...

"A year after witnessing... you know... I confronted him, asked him why he did it. He started acting stupid, tried to get me to understand. I wasn't accepting his lies. He was irate, trying anything he could to deny what he did. It went wrong. He got off the bed and walked over to me... He wanted me deformed, deformed as his mind. He wanted me unnoticeable; I couldn't remind him of mother. He didn't want to be reminded..."

He runs his hands through his hair and stares at the sky. "That was the first time I was in their bedroom in years. It was the same. Two beds, dark walls, a giant carpet and the windows. It was also the first time I was trapped in a room with him. Him towering over me in a corner, the farthest corner from the door."

He traces his left horn with his fingers. "This happened. It wasn't fun, I'd say. Didn't know such a thing was possible, but he made it happen. I remember waking up the next day in pain, mind numbing pain. I stopped talking to him after that and stopped talking to everyone. It wasn't out of spite or hatred, I just couldn't. This went on for years. Darian taught me sign language. Everyone was willed to learn except him.

"He then was mad he couldn't deform the parts of me others could see, he didn't want to get caught and lose all the power he had. So, he deformed the rest of me..." He holds the backs of his hands facing the sky. "It was slamming my hands in doors at first, then... other things." He shows the undersides of his arms and drops them back in the water, causing ripples to go everywhere.

"I became friends with the healer from then on. I think he knew, but he never said anything besides calling me a clumsy mess and saying I should have been more careful. I should have. I tried avoiding him more, but he would always find a way to torment me. After a while of this, I stayed in my bedroom. I lived there, barely left as me."

"Is that why you called him an arsehole?"

"Yea. I knew he wouldn't have done anything while you were standing right there. You didn't see the hateful look he gave me. I want him gone from my memories, I want all of this gone, the nightmares, the permanent migraines. The drowning sea of loneliness, these inflictions. I don't want to see any more dark walls, stone, forests. No more storms, broken promises, lonely days, empty hands, silent thoughts, bloody sheets... or talking to walls..."

I wrap my arms around his waist. My fingers are wrinkly. "You won't have any more of those things. I think I already helped with a few."

His voice has gone quiet. "You have." He hugs me back.

A/N: HIIII y'all!!! only 2 more chapters to write wow. 59 and 60. Oh, 60 is going to be AMAZING. We going out with FUNNN. How are you guys????