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Chapter Thirty Five

Evelyn's POV

You killed him.

Millions of voices are constantly whispering in my head, and I hate it.

It's your fault. It wasn't an accident. You wanted to do it.

"It was an accident," I want to scream, but before I can do anything a flashing object appears in front of me. It's an orb-like object, and it floats towards me slowly with its glowing, white outline. Finally, it speeds up and pushes into my stomach, and I let out a loud gasp as my head goes light for a moment.

I then see me, or a clone, holding a sword and battling myself. She appears to be afraid and enraged, yet I feel calm and collected as she does her best to parry my attacks. Courtney is in the corner, watching us intently with fear spread all over her face.

"Evelyn, stop!" The princess cries out suddenly, and it's only now that I realize that it's happening all over again, but in Nolan's eyes.

When clone-me turns, I feel myself approaching her with my sword. Before I can even touch her, she turns once more and jabs me in the stomach.

Surges of pain rush through my body, and I let out a scream, clutching my abdomen. When I remove my hands, all I can see are bright crimson stains. Falling to the floor, I can barely move as the blood seeps out of me and onto the floor around me. 

I just about manage to look up, and I expect to see a mixture of shock and guilt on my copy's face.

But all I can see is a smirk, full of ambition and pride, as though it was all intentional. Was it?

"Ev, what have you done?" Courtney breathes in fright, clutching onto the other Evelyn's arm.

"I got rid of the problem. Now it can go back to how it used to be," she states, but Court shakes her head, letting go.

"No, no it can't. You're just like him. You're a monster," she seethes with tears in her eyes, running out of the room.

My vision then flashes, and I start to twist, twitch, writhe on the ground. It feels as though I'm having a million cramps at once.

"Evelyn? Evelyn!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Evelyn!" 

I jolt up from my bed with a loud scream, accidentally whacking something, or someone. Breathing heavily, I switch on the lamp on my bedside table to reveal none other than the prince, I mean king, himself. 

"Ouch," he murmurs, rubbing the side of his face, but his gaze is still cast on mine with pure concern. 

"Oh my Gosh, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize. It's nothing I can't handle." Archer's small smile fades just as quickly as it had appeared. "I came in just as you started mumbling in your sleep. Are you alright?"

My mouth hangs open for a while, my chest rising and falling with each deep breath. "I-I..." I can't take it. I burst into tears, not caring that the boy I'm in love with is right next to me. 

He hushes me gently, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to, but I don't want you going through this alone."

It takes me a while before I can calm down enough to speak. "Sit down," I mumble, and he does as I request. I scoot over to give him some space.

"What's going on? I promise I won't judge, and that I'll do everything in my power to help you redeem yourself." He places a hand on mine, and I let out a tiny sigh, feeling my tears start to dry.

"Did you hear what happened to.. him?" I ask quietly.

Archer nods at the news of his childhood friend. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened. But what have you got to do with it?"

I pause for a bit before looking into his eyes, tears forming in my own once more. "I did it. I killed him."

His eyes widen ever so slightly, and I can practically feel the heat from his anger rising up. "You did it?"

I blink back the tears as I nod. "Yes, it was me. But before you judge me, you should know something."

Archer stays where he is, but it's evident that he's interested in what's next. "What could you possibly say that would make this whole thing better?"

I breathe out, knowing that I'm breaking a promise to Courtney, but I have to. He's her brother. "When Courtney came back from Newglade.. Well, you knew that she was unwell. But she told me not to tell you the real reason, which is-" I cut myself off for a moment. "Nolan hurt her. Really really badly. Literally only a few hours after she arrived. She even showed me the after effects, including most that she can't treat and some that will probably scar her for life. He was also going to end me and Courtney's lives when I rushed in to defend her. I didn't mean to hurt him either, I just wanted to stop him."

Archer's hardened gaze softens and his grip on my shoulder tightens, but he doesn't say anything.

"And now I can't sleep, because all I can think about is what I did. I dreamed that all sorts of people were disappointed, Courtney, Rianna, Lillie, my dead mother, you..." I sniff. "I guess that last one came true, didn't it?" 

He opens his mouth, as if he's going to say something, then closes it. "No, no I'm not disappointed. A little upset, yes, but not disappointed." He cups my cheek in his warm palms. "I promise I won't let you get into trouble. Who else knows about this?"

"Just Courtney, I think..." I let out a small sigh. "No offense, but she isn't the best at keeping secrets."

Archer chuckles lightly, and seeing him happy immediately brightens my mood. "Let's help you rest, shall we?" He lies me back down on the bed, his eyes full of adoration. "Goodnight, my love."

With a playful roll of my eyes, I send him a grin. "Goodnight, my king."

He smirks and leans down to place a gentle kiss on my temple, but at the same time I tilt my head up to say something. Our lips brush against each other's, and I let out a quiet gasp. Archer, however, doesn't make any attempt to pull away.

I move my lips away slowly, analyzing the situation for a while before pushing them against his again. This is so stupid, I think to myself as Archer places his hands on my waist. But then why does it feel so right?

It only continues for a few minutes, though, before he breaks the kiss. "You need rest," he murmurs, sending me a tiny smile.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask without thinking, before widening my eyes. "I mean-"

"I know, not like that." He chuckles lightly. "Of course I will. I won't leave until you fall asleep."

I smile gratefully at him before pecking his cheek, pulling the covers over me. Archer sits down next to me, whispering "Go to sleep," as he runs his fingers through my hair.

And gradually, peacefully, I do just that.

A/N

Sorry for taking so long; we had writer's block temporarily but we're backkkk

So yeah, the ending to this story's going to be happy-ish but we apologize in advance for a cliché that's coming up oops

~ Zalie :3