Under Your Scars || Sebastian Sallow x MC

Chapter 35 - To The Bone

Sebastian POV

I gasped for air as I was ejected from the memory, stumbling into a stack of books as I fell to my knees. Everything was still a bit grey, cloudy, and unclear. I stared at the basin before me, still trying to make sense of it all.

No amount of Memory Charms could erase the images from my mind. 

They touched her. 

Abducting her wasn't enough for them. They bound her, tortured her, put their filthy hands on her, put her under the Imperius Curse to do God-knows-what to her. My brave girl ended their miserable lives before they could go any further, but they had already gone too far the moment they knocked on her door. 

My Juliette was targeted by Vipers, or rather someone who had the resources to contract them. The bastards had grown bold over the years, attacking Juliette in her own home, knowing how powerful she was. Someone wanted her, and I was going to make it my mission to find out who.

A strange tingling in my gut let me know that I wasn't alone. My eyes scanned the Room as I reached toward my back pocket for my wand, as if it would be there this time. I jumped when I spotted a curvy silhouette leaning against the Pensieve cabinet, partially obscured by shadow.

"Get lost on your way to the bathroom or something?" an ice cold voice sent a shiver down my spine, it was almost unrecognizable. 

Juliette's glowing blue eyes pierced the darkness. Her arms were folded over her chest, which I only knew because her rings were swirling with Ancient Magic on her fingers.

My head swiveled between her and the Pensieve. My chest burned with guilt, or perhaps vomit, as I realized what an immense line I had just crossed. I had violated her privacy, her trust, her mind, and I couldn't undo it. No more than I could undo what happened to her.

Oh God, what happened to her....

A million questions and a million apologies got caught in my throat as she glared down at me, her chest heaving with each breath, her lip twitching with disdain. Or was it disappointment? I hadn't seen that look since...

The catacomb.

"Jules, I -" 

"What did you see?" 

"Juliette, I -"

"How much" her voice cracked, stifling her words. She closed her eyes and drew in sharp breath, trying and failing to maintain a calm facade. "did you see?"

Tears blurred my vision as I stared down at her feet, too much of a fucking coward to say it to her face. 

"I saw everything..."

I allowed my eyes to drift back up to hers. I had never been at the mercy of her wrath, but I had witnessed her unleashing it upon others. Her entire body was trembling with rage like I had never seen before, her chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. Her eyes were glowing just as brightly as they had in her memory. 

And it was all for me. 

"Comment as-tu pu?!" 

How could you.

Her voice dripped with disgust as she berated me in her native language. She used one hand to scold me and the other to clutch her heart, fighting to hold it together as it shattered inside her chest.

"TU M'AS DIT QUE TU N'AVAIS PAS BESOIN DE SAVOIR CE QUI S'ÉTAIT PASSÉ!!!"

You told me you didn't need to know what happened.

She stormed to the bedroom, a litany of French curses and obscenities streaming from her lips. Like an idiot, I stood and followed her.

"TU M'AS MENTI, PUTAIN!!"

You fucking lied to me.

"I FUCKING NEEDED YOU! ET C'EST CE QUE TU FAISAIS!?"

I fucking needed you, and this is what you were doing.

She snatched my wand from the nightstand and threw it at me, her flawless aim causing it to slap me in the face and fumble into my hands. Her rings were glowing white-hot on her fingers. I would have assumed they were burning the skin.

"POURQUOI TU LE REGARDERAIS?!! WHY SEBASTIAN?!"

Why would you look at it. Why Sebastian....

Why would I look at it? I had no answer. I wasn't trying to find out what happened to her. I had no idea what the memory would be. Yet there was no world in which a single one of my pitiful excuses mattered. 

Juliette continued to pace about the Room, her righteous anger pouring out of her in a confusing torrent of French and English. Eventually, her pain caught up with her rage and the screaming evolved into sobs. Her tears reflected the moonlight, creating tragic shimmering waterfalls down her cheeks.

"TU FAIS TOUJOURS ÇA, SÉBASTIEN! TU VAS TOUJOURS TROP LOIN!"

You always do this, Sebastian. You always go too far. 

Her words lashed and cut me to the bone, in every way I deserved. I had gone too far. I had once again allowed my curiosity to lead me to my doom. My mind was screaming for me to say something. Anything. But every word, every plea was caught in my throat, suppressed by my self-loathing. 

She gathered my clothes and satchel from the floor, collected my glasses from the nightstand and roughly shoved it all into my arms. All I could do was stare down at the bundle of clothes like a bloody fool.

"Je ne peux pas te faire confiance..." her voice finally broke to a whisper, fried from her crying.

I can't trust you....

Juliette backed away from me and pulled the collar of her robe over her scar.

No, we can't be back to this.

I winced at the agonizing realization that we weren't 'back' to anything.

It was over. She couldn't trust me.

We were done.

Her shaking fist gripped her robe with white knuckles, her rings that were glowing so brightly I could not look at them without getting spots in my vision. I could only imagine the power that would be released from those rings when the time came...

"Please get out." she looked to her feet, her lower lip trembling.

"Jules - " I choked on my plea. I was crying, too. I honestly hadn't stopped crying since the ropes first imprisoned her in the Pensieve.

"Please." her pained whisper and inability to even look at me crushed the last of my resolve. 

I had broken her. It was the second time I had ever seen her so defeated, and it was entirely my doing. I was nothing more than a third Viper, brought back to torment her. 

Without another word or even putting my clothes on, I traipsed up the stairs toward the floo. My torso grew increasingly empty with each heavy step, a thousand knives gutting me from the inside out. I welcomed the pain, because it was nothing compared to the pain I had just caused her.

So, I allowed the Cruciatus itself to make a home in my chest as I left my love behind me in the dark.

______________

This chapter marks the end of Act I. 

Is it really over for Jules and Seb?