Once Upon a Story [ INCONSISTENT UPDATES ]

Poupée de Verre

To those who may not know, I'm a part of a Wattpad writing community (non-affiliated with the official one). They would host writing events, contests and such. The prompt (and added thing) is part of one of those events. So, the credit is not mine.

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
description of a severely malnourished body
starvation
murder
mentions of a traumatic past event
death

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭
( 01 ) I told you not to get too close to me.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
( 02 ) wings of glass

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭
863

❝ 𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦́𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘪  ❞

I was once his treasure. I was the woman he cherished with all his heart; the wife he cared for more than his life. We were a joyful couple, he and I; a happy family. He gave me three beautiful children, two brave sons and an adorable daughter. They were my pride and joy, just as I was to him. Our family, our little life, couldn't have been more perfect.

And one day...

ｆ ｉ ｒ ｅ

When the rebels stormed our home, there was not even a rat left behind. They had purged the mansion indiscriminately. Servants, doorkeepers, cooks alike, no one received any mercy.

Not even my children...

They ripped them from my arms, forced me to watch my life being torn away from me. I screamed my throat raw, thrashed against my captors, ripped their garments with my nails. Even when I bled, bruised and beaten, I couldn't look away from that door.

Enrique...Aiden... Angelica....

My children were gone.

"And my soul with them." My reflection stared back, lifeless. I'd been seated at this vanity all morning, looking at the remnant of myself. My beauty was a mere shadow of my past, lacklustre, now bland. My glowing skin, lustrous chestnut hair and crimson eyes were now dull, cracked and brittle, muted.

From beneath my scarred skin, bones poked at every corner of my thinning frame. My ribs stuck out like spider legs; my hips like a box in my pelvis, my shoulders were canes hooked onto my clavicles, so hollow my tears pooled in their space.

I was wasting away.

"Aimer?"

I flinched. "Claudius."

The warm, humid air in my room turned cold. My body tried to shiver, but my muscles, too weak to tremor, stiffened. Everything ached. He stood by me, close enough to see his reflection in the mirror.

It was like the horrors of that day returned to gut me like an animal. Those eyes, the ones that used to bring me such delight, were now empty. In them, I saw the blaze that consumed my home and the hand that tossed my children to their demise.

"What is it?" My throat throbbed, dry and strained. I hadn't talked in a few days.

"Inza told me you refused to eat again today," he answered.

I held my tongue, bit it till I bled. Anger slowly bubbled from the depths of me, threatening to surface.

"You know why," I croaked. The pain that clasped my throat forced me into silence once more. The rage, the despair, the resentment I'd clutched with all my remaining strength, it all made me sick. My head throbbed, my pulse fluttered, blood rushing yet going nowhere. Each breath I took threatened to bring me to paradise.

"You would've seized yourself dead if I didn't."

That would've been heaven's mercy, I thought. He tried soothing me, rubbing circles on my skin, but it only irritated me further. I was sick of it; sick of him; everyone, everything. I was done caring about him, trying to convince my delusional mind that he'd change. Maybe seeing my walking carcass would shake him up. Maybe my Claudius was somewhere behind those dead eyes...

But he was gone. This man would never set me free.

"Bring me to my bed."

He carefully held me, hand under my knees, and protruding shoulder blades. Black and white speckled my vision, my nerves slowly came apart, tingling, then numb. A sense of dread rose from my entrails; anxiety rushed, filled my veins. Forcing down the acid running up my throat, I gathered myself. Soon it would all be over.

Lying on the mattress, I floated at the surface, barely heavy enough to make a dent. He remained behind me; I could feel his pitying stare.

"Will that be all?"

"Hold me... I wish to see you."

One last time.

My voice was a faint hum in the wind, but impossible to hear in my room's all-consuming silence. Footsteps clicked on the floor, and his shadow imposed itself over me. I was taken into his arms, strong and wide. He smelled like ink and paper, stuck to his office like I was to my cage. With the last of my strength, I wrapped my arms around him. My bony hands hooked onto his back, and a muddled choke forced itself out of his throat. Colds drops trailed down my back, gurgles and gasps poured into my ears. Then a sharp cough, a fading fight... He ceased his fight, head fallen onto mine, motionless.

I smiled, ignoring the pain that fired in my chest. I breathed a laboured breath, coughing as crimson poured from my lips. With the crumbs of energy I had left, I looked up. Shimmering and majestic, they stood tainted in blood; my crystalline wings, the beauty that stood in my fall.

"I t—ol—d y—ou..."

I told you not to get too close to me.

"Why would you tell me that? " He raised a brow, skeptical of my statement. "Are you dangerous?"

I subconsciously rub my hands against my chest. Two faint numbs poke out. Two more are itching to burst from my back.

"No." I smiled.

Not yet.