tongue of the serpent ➵ a.b.

Chapter 24: A Demon's Playground

"Juliet..." I whispered into the thick air. My throat clenched as the air pressure around me increased dramatically. The straw that was my throat closed in. I was afraid the demon with the blond hair was going to reach down my throat with her pointed fingernails and steal my soul for her keeping; never to feel again. "Andy," I begged, allowing air to flow freely for one second, "What's going on?" I stood my ground, hoping this was all an illusion.

"Lethia," she smirked, causing my insides to flip in disturbance.

"Why did you come here!" I begged for answers, watching Andy's face break down into a demon's playground. His eyes swirled in empathy. The souls of little children that were usually found in his heart were pushed out by the devil himself.

Juliet's swarming emotions pushed me against the wall of my breaking point. "For you..." I could feel my eyes getting a stronghold. Waiting for the dams of water to break free. "If I can't have Andy, then no one can."

My breath quickened. "No," is all I have the guts to push out of my lungs.

"Yes," she sounds.

"Juliet," Andy pressures against her skin. "You know what happened. You know why we can't be."

Juliet turns away from me and eyes Andy furiously. "Why can't we?"

Andy's expression turns into a war scene. "You know why..."

I stand, motionless. My heart is a battlefield. Both sides fighting for one cause. I wonder what had happened in their past. I wonder what the extent of the breakup actually was. They originally just told the fanbase that it just "wasn't working out". I wonder inside what they were hiding from me.

"Excuse me," I chime in, more like butting in, "but what really did happen?"

Andy eyes me. Juliet lowers her expression. Both are calm.

"Well," Andy states, causing the silence to diminish. "It's sorta - um - "

"...hard to explain," Juliet speaks. "I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder." Her face clears to show hurt. "It got extremely out of hand one night and we decided it was best to stop..."

"...our relationship," Andy continues.

"And then," the shaken demon speaks, "I got diagnosed with erotomania when Andy left."

Andy eyes her, as if to say, 'What?'

Erotomania. A disease for the criminally insane. It's a simple, hard way of explaining being in love with a person you have no chance with. Like a fangirl gone out of control. This explains Juliet's stalking. She must have a severe case.

But another thing ticks me. Juliet was bipolar. I was bipolar. I didn't take meds for it, I couldn't afford it. Even therapy visits. How would Andy take this?

"You're eroto?" Andy asks Juliet, calmer than before.

Juliet has a mad emotion shift. Her brain sends waves to her nervous system, telling her to express she is sad. Her pupils dialect and her tears begin shedding. Bipolar indeed. Intending to kill someone one moment, the next, shedding tears over your ex you are still insanely in love with. I don't blame her. "I didn't know how to tell you..." Her train of thought crashes. "I didn't want to ruin your prepping for Battle of the Acts..."

Calming: Andy's face. His face straightens out. "Juliet," he sounds, "Do you mind us getting back to the show?"

"Sure," her muffled cries echo softly against the wallpaper.

Andy walks towards where I am standing and slips his palm on the doorknob.

A stinging cry rings in my ears. It's muffled, softly caressing the air. The voice is whispering. It's barely audible. "Don't go..." the cries alert the millions of dust absorbing the sound waves. "Don't leave me...Andy."