I've Got A Story To Tell

Chapter 9; Unicorn Power

2300 hours.

Emey’s clear eyes scanned the white, unmarked walls around her as she lay on the bed, her thick, dark locks of hair soaking the pillows. She lifted her hands up, comparing the colour of her skin to that of the ceiling. She looked so dark in comparison.

‘Dark...’ she whispered softly to no-one in particular. She sat up and climbed off of the large king bed, moving to the full length mirror on the wall. She liked having a pure white room. She couldn’t believe that her parents actually allowed it, but she was happy with the fact that they did. The colour calmed her down somehow.

But now, she had never felt so suffocated in her life.

As she took in her appearance in the mirror, she noticed how much she didn’t fit in in her own room. Her chocolate-brown locks wrapping around her frame like branches; her pale caramel skin, light in comparison to that of her friends but dark enough to look sinister; her oversized black shirt that she used as night-gown; and her seemingly endless hazel eyes. None of it fit in.

In comparison to the pure innocence around her, she was dark, sinister, evil.

She walked over to her desk. Her eyes scanned all of her sketches, pieces of art that were rotting in her eyes. She pushed the scattered papers away and found her precious notebook, a dark grey book, engraved with a pair of silver wings. She opened it to reveal a pocket and took out a small black contraption.

She flicked her wrist. The contraption produced a thin, silver, blood-covered blade.

A blade she had found in the pocket of one of her accomplices.

She smiled, looking from the blade to her wrist.

‘Might as well use you for something,’ she mused. She lifted her hand and pointed the blade at her wrist.

‘What the hell are you doing?!’

Emey jumped, dropping the blade. She spun around, ready to attack, but saw no-one. She laughed.

‘Great. Now I’m hearing things. That’s,’ she laughed and sighed, ’that’s just great.’ She knelt down to pick up the knife.

‘No. No.  Drop it.’

She stood back up and looked around once again. No-one. She groaned and knelt back down.

Just as her fingers reached the knife, some-one grabbed her arms and pulled her back up. Before she could even react, that someone spun her around. Emey’s jaw dropped, before she pulled away and aimlessly tried to cover herself up, as if he was about to hurt her.

‘B-Ben?! What the hell are you doing here!? How did you even get here?!’

He hushed her and pulled her towards the bed. Sitting her down, he walked over to the knife and began inspecting it. He sighed, walking back to fidgeting girl and sat down next to her. She looked up at him nervously and found that his eyes were glazed over, not in lust, but in sadness. She swallowed. licking her lips.

‘What do you want?’ she hissed, her fringe shadowing her features. She could hear him let out another breathy sigh before his hand made its way up her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

‘The blood on the blade, is it yours?’ he whispered gently.

‘No.’

‘Who’s is it then?’

‘I don’t know. I just found it lying around.’

He could tell that was a lie. She snapped.

‘Why, why, why, why do you pretend to care? You don’t know me! You’re sitting there, thinking that I’m some sort of suicidal freak, aren’t you? You can’t say that! You don’t know me!’

She relaxed again and lifted her knees up to her head, burrowing her face into her knees.

‘No-one knows me,’ she whispered into the skin. He looked at her for a bit, watching her break down internally. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and left it there when she didn’t respond. He pulled her closer.

‘I know you,’ he spoke.

‘No. You don’t.’

‘Yeah I do. Your name is Emilia Kyles, you’re thirteen years old. You like to draw , and you’re pretty good at it, too. You like listening to fast paced music because it makes you feel powerful, and soft, calming you music because you think it’s the closest thing to being in love.’

Emey looked up. ‘How do you know that?’

Ben shrugged. ‘I observe. I listen. I think about it. And I try to understand.’

‘Why would you observe me?’

‘...I don’t know. When I look at you, I think that I can relate to you.’

They paused, and sat in silence for a minute or two. Emey thought about his last few words, observing his face as he stared at the ceiling. He had a few light freckles along his cheekbones, and for a guy, his eye lashes were actually pretty long. His eyes were still that same bright apple green that she saw the day before. She smiled sadly.

‘Are you broken too?’

He looked at her, startled by the comment. He chewed on his lip.

‘Maybe.’

‘What happened to you?’

‘My mom died.’

‘Ah. Mind if I ask how?’

‘...My dad killed her. He shot her.’

Silence. Then;

‘Is that why you don’t smile?’

‘Partly.’

‘Why else?’

‘I knew this girl when I was ten. I think I was in love with her. My dad thought that she looked like a woman he was in love with in his teens.’

‘And?’

‘He shot her too.’

‘. . .Is he in jail now?’

‘Sadly, no.’

‘What the hell. How did he get away with it –’

‘I don’t know-’

‘People like this should seriously not be born, God –‘

‘You’re beautiful, you know that?’

Emey stopped. She could feel heat rising to her cheeks as she bit her bottom lip. She glanced at him shyly.

‘W-What? Me?’

‘No, the carpet,’ he mused. ‘Of course you. So I’m begging you, don’t go around trying to hurt yourself. There may not be someone who knows you, but there are people who want to. And one day, there will be someone who will be in love with what they know about you. I know it may be hard, but please just wait.’

She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled away, stood up and waved as he walked to the balcony.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow?’ he said, his eyes filled with worry. She managed a smile.

‘Yeah,’ she replied as he climbed down the nearest tree. She walked over onto the balcony and watched him run back to his house in the moonlight.

 ‘I’ll wait for you,’ she whispered, before closing the balcony doors and turning off the lights.

A.N.; I called it unicorn power beacause my friend Kaylee asked me to :)