Snow and the Wishing Well (Fallen Tales series)

Chapter 63

Chapter 63
Sarah
Justin was avoiding me. He wouldn't admit it, probably not even to himself, but he defiantly was. I mean, he didn't make it seem obvious. When he saw me in the hall, he would kiss my cheek and whisper I love you, then kept going. But we basically hadn't spoken or seen each other all day. Even before Blake came to pick him up.
Again, he didn't really tell me much about why they were going into Carlisle. He just quickly kissed my cheek, told me that he would be back late and left with Blake.
Now I was left to my own devises reading an Ornithology book, in the library. Justin had so many of them. I was up to number three, but he was up to another series. I guess five years of Uni gave him the time he needed.
I jumped when the door opened. I was even more surprised to see that it was Aaron. If Justin wasn't avoiding, Aaron defiantly had been.
"Oh," he said surprised that I was in here.
I smiled, completely aware of the silence that had come between us. Realizing that he had come in here for a reason, I said, "You can do whatever you want, I won't mind."
He smiled as if he found it funny. I guess it was. I was telling him what he could do in his own library. When he was still silent, I said, "All not, whatever."
He smiled again.
"Did Justin get off okay?" he asked, stepping forward.
I shrugged, "I think so, do you know why he left?"
He shook his head, "no, it was probably Blake's idea."
I smiled at the thought of Blake.
"He's crazy isn't he?"
Aaron chuckled, moving around the lounge and leaned on the desk.
"Yes, that's one word to describe him."
There was silence. It was like we both knew what each other wanted to say but we just couldn't get it out. The curiosity kept building as I thought about what he wanted to say.
He voice seemed to echo in the silence when he finally spoke, "I don't blame you, you know?"
He didn't have to say what it was for me to know.
"But you don't approve."
"Well, I –."
"I understand," I butted in before he could explain.
He frowned, "What?"
"I mean, I know that I didn't, before..." I trailed off. When I thought my mind was going to be taken over by memories, I shook them away, "And I also knew, that my father wouldn't have approved. Not really anyway."
He smiled a sad smile. The same one Justin wore.
"How are you handling all of this?" he asked me.
I shrugged. I couldn't give him the same one I gave Justin.
"I've been dealing with the death of my father of two years and now I find out that my mother was murdered as well, not to mention all the lying. How else do you expect me to handle it?"
He smiled, humouring me. He moved over to the lounge, beside me.
"Can I give you some advice?" he asked.
I thought about it, the last advice someone gave me.
"Demands, is it going to be like Justin's advice?"
"What was Justin's advice?"
"Not to ignore everything that's happened to me and not to focus on the easy parts, like my name."
Aaron chuckled.
"Okay, that's good advice, in the long run. But, your father did love you."
I frowned, "You knew my father."
"What? Our wives were best friends and somehow we never met."
I shrugged. I didn't even think about that.
"He loved you more than anything. The only reason he married Victoria was so that you would have a mother."
"Wait, what?" I asked stopping him, "How do you know that?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and sighed.
"Gina was a mess when she found out that Keegan had married Victoria. She wouldn't eat, barely got out of bed. I wrote to him, asking him why he did it."
When he didn't look like he would continue, I asked, "And?"
"And he replied that he couldn't let you grow up without a mother. He knew that Victoria wanted the title, the house, the money. He said it would easy. He just didn't realize that she wanted more. And I guess you paid the price of that."
I shallowed thinking about how much I had paid for that. So, so, so much I had paid for. I was so tired and over it.








Justin
Blake and I walked down the streets of Carlisle. The main reason I agreed to come with Blake was because I had hoped that it would keep my mind off the phone call, but it didn't. Every shadow I saw made me jump. Every person coming around the corner made me flinch. But I kept walking and talking as if nothing bothered me.
"We should have dinner at the pub, guys' night," Blake suggested.
I shook my head, "I promised Sarah that I would be back."
I remembered my leaving. I didn't explain why I was going to Carlisle and that guilt weighed on my mind as did the guilt of not telling her about the phone call. She had enough to worry about.
"Man, I never see you now," he complained.
It was true, I couldn't deny that. But having Sarah around changed everything.
"I'm sorry Blake, but Sarah has to come first now," I told him, hoping that he would understand.
"Hey, I get it, you love her. And I might be busy to, for a while."
I stopped and frowned at his statement.
"Really?" I couldn't be more surprised.
He stopped and shrugged, "yeah, I think it's time I woke up and realized what's important. The estate."
I smiled and pattered him on the shoulder. I could imagine what his parents must be feeling to hear him finally say that. They had been waiting longer then my parents. But I could see through the cracks, knowing that someone had to have changed his views.
"So who is she?"
He chuckled, but not surprised that I had guess, "Nicola."
"Pretty name," I stated.
"Pretty everything, gorgeous really."
I smiled happy for my friend.
"But Sarah, she's something."
That was an understatement.
"You guys seem pretty great together."
"That's a common opinion," I said remembering what Pa had said in the back sitting room.
"From you parents?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Well that's great isn't it? I mean, I'm sure there's tones of guys out there that wish their misses got along with their parents."
He was right.
I sighed, stopping, "I just wish it was just easy."
"Justin, nothing is easy," he told me.
Again he was right. But he didn't know just how hard it truly was. I don't think either Sarah or even myself new just how hard it was or how hard it was going to get.
In the fading sun, Blake and I took a shot cut to Blake's car down an ally. There was little light around us and the ally was merely three feet wide. We never saw it coming.
As Blake continued to talk about how he met Nicola, I began to notice the sound of footsteps. Too many to just be ours. Blake began to talk slower and quieter as he began to notice it to. There had to be a group, they had to be behind us. I didn't know what was running through Blake's mind, probably just thinking that they were taking a shot cut, just like us. But my mind couldn't think logically anymore. Not after the phone call, or the person that had followed me around London. Not when Sarah had also been followed and hit to the ground or even going back further, knowing that Siana had also been given death threats leading to the day she died. Normal wasn't normal anymore.
When I knew that they were gaining on us, I made my hands fists and swung at anything behind me. I felt the hard surface of the cement before I felt the impact of the punch.
"What the hell are you doing?" Blake's yells filled my ears, "Leave him alone!"
I felt two grab my arms, lifting me up. A dark soldier stood in front of me, with his fist up, ready to punch. And he did. First to my stomach, then my cheek and another to my chest. Punch after punch, I was weakened and never being able to punch back. The two held me up, forcing me to take more.
"Let him go! What the hell are you doing?" Blake yelled again, trying to get away from the grip he was in by another two guys.
I kept trying to fight back, but the hold they had on me was strong. Too strong for my weak body to break.
Then I was floating, only for a second. Till I felt the hard impact of the cement again. Strong thuds of steal caps boots sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't stop shaking. It wasn't of fear of my own life but fear for Sarah's.
"Twenty-four hours," his words were as cold as ice, "This won't be the last threat if she doesn't give her what she wants."
The footsteps were the last thing I heard, before I felt Blake beside me.
"Oh my God Justin," Blake said breathless.
"S-Sar," I croaked.
"What, Justin, what is it?" he asked.
"S-Sarah."





Sarah
As I made my way to the dining room, I looked down at the void and froze. Two figures stumbled through the corridor, one barely standing and the other barley being able to hold himself and the other. It wasn't till the body fell on the ground that I realized who it was.
"Justin!" I screamed, turning around and sprinting down the stairs, "Oh my God, Justin!"
I was skipping two steps at a time. I didn't care if I fell or not, as long as I was down there. Words couldn't describe how I felt. Seeing him, like that, blood running down his noise and his chin, cheek bruised. Like someone had ripped out my heart and crumbled it in front of my face.
"What happened?" I asked Blake, my eyes on Justin.
"Five guys just came out of nowhere, attacked us."
Even though he said us, Blake wore no scars. They had only hurt Justin.
"Go get Gina and Aaron, they're in the dining room."
He nodded running towards the stairs. I fell to the ground, cupping my hands to his face. His eyes slightly opened to look at me as his hands tried to reach out to my.
"Snow," he croaked.
"Oh Justin," my voice became a whisper as his parents began to yell from the gallery.
"What happened to you?"
Aaron and Heaper had helped him back to his room as Gina had gone to ring Doctor Holme from the village.
I stood in the corner of our room watching, as Doctor Holme mended his wounds. Aaron sat beside him on the bed, talking things over with the Doctor as Heaper stood in the opposite corner as me. Gina couldn't bare to see him like this and was instead making sure that Blake got something to eat before he left. Honestly I thought that she had the better job.
The doctor muttered as he worked, naming things that he found wrong with him.
"Did he say what happened?" he asked Aaron.
"Blake said that it was a fight. Two guys holding him back as the other one punched."
I felt a lump form in my throat as I tried to fight the image from my mind. He must have felt so hopeless.
"He probably has concussion, bruising on his ribs, nothing that a few pain killers can't fix," he said rolling Justin's shirt back down and standing.
"Thank you," Justin croaked, barely opening his eyes. My breath caught in my throat when they landed on mine.
Heaper and the doctor left the room, leaving just the three of us. We fell into silence before Aaron said, "I'll go see how your mother is doing."
Leaving us alone. 
There was silence again. It felt like forever before either of us could speak again. I knew that this was all my fault. And that was the hardest thing to handle.
"What did they say?" I asked, my voice rough and unnoticeable.
"What?" he croaked, tilting his head.
I took a breath, bitting back the tears.
"We both know that this wasn't an accident. What, did they say?" I asked again.
He dropped his head back and slightly opened his mouth as if he was doing the same thing I was. Focusing on our breathing so that tears wouldn't fall.
"Twenty-four hours to give her what she wants."
My sorrow turned to anger as I thought about the Evil Queen in my home. She had found me once again and was taking the very last thing I had. Once she had that, she had everything. Even me.
"It won't be the last threat," I told him, something I already knew, "I'm giving her that money."
"No, Sarah don't, ahh," he dropped back in the bed in pain.
Bitting back anger and pain, I climbed onto my side of the bed, next to him.
"She'll kill you," he groaned.
I already knew that.
"If I don't do it, she'll keep finding me and take away anything that I love. Next time she won't send five guys to bash you up. She will send them to kill you, or your parents, or Blake. Do you honestly think that I can let that happen?"
He groaned again, "No, but I can't let you. We'll go somewhere."
"Where?" I said already knowing the conversation. Already knowing how it ended, "Heather said that she would never find me in London, and she did. You said that she would never find me at Locksley Manner, and she did. I'm tired of hiding and I'm over running."
"Then we will go somewhere where she truly won't think to look. America, Australia." 
He wasn't thinking of the bigger picture.
"You would leave your parents and home, unprotected. Just because she can't find us doesn't mean she can't hurt us," he through his hands up in defeat, "I can't let you leave your home."
"Well then I can't let you leave, your my home and I can't let you do this."
His eyes became so overwhelming that I had to turn away. I couldn't let him read through me. My mind was already made up.
"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid?" he asked
I bit my lip, as tears formed in my eyes. I couldn't lie to him.
"Promise me."
I looked into his eyes and saw all the proof that I was doing the right thing. His bruised cheek, bloody noise. I had to be.
"I promise."