Beneath the Surface [ON HOLD]

Chapter Sixteen - Coward

Chapter Sixteen – Coward

‘A half-truth is the most cowardly of lies.’

- Unknown

Nicholas’ POV

[not-edited]

With one last fleeting smile over her shoulder Scarlett descends the darkened staircase towards her room, a spring in her step and eyes alight with a new found happiness she had lost in her time here. My chest is tight as I watch her disappear into the shadows, the voice in my head whispering cruel lies in my ears.

She’ll never know – she’ll never know what I did.

‘Who cares what she knows? Who cares what she doesn’t?’ the voice in my head sings softly, it’s guttural voice making me shudder in revulsion.

My cheek still throbs and the Voice growls at the pain, ‘How dare she hit you? How dare she hit us?!’

I will the Voice to shut up with every fibre of my being, balling my hands into fists at my side. The Voice, at first, was a quiet hum in the background, its voice garbled and indistinct, but gradually it became louder and louder until its voice keeps me awake at night. But, worse of all, the Voice seems to be in control when I’m in the Dark – when I wake up outside or in the depths of the Castle with blood under my fingernails or in my hair I can hear the Voice’s whispered words of its actions – of our actions – and these recollections turn my stomach and make my blood boil in anger.

“Why did you do it?”

‘You mean why did we do it?’

“I had no part in this – I don’t want a part in this! I never wanted to- I didn’t mean to-”

‘Didn’t mean to do what?’ the Voice laughs and I flinch, ‘Didn’t mean to lie? Didn’t mean to hurt her? What? What didn’t you mean to do?’

“Shut up,” I say softly, ripping down the hanging cage violently and throwing it to the stone floor where it shatters into deadened petals, “SHUT UP!”

The Voice laughs cruelly, the sound bouncing around my skull, ‘You think that that we’re different – you think that my actions are separate from yours. Why do you think that? Why do you think I’m not you and you are not me?’

I ignore the Voice and instead stride about the room, ripping down cages from their perches and tearing them apart. My hands are bloodied, but the cuts quickly heal, enraging me even more.

Stumbling back to the middle of the room I stand in the pile of deadened rose petals that once held a lie and tilt my head up, glaring at the moon through the domed glass. As if sensing my anger, the glass begins to crack, shattering and spiralling downwards. I close my eyes and spread my arms, the broken glass falling like rain around me, piercing my skin in its descent.

‘ANSWER ME!’ the Voice bellows, ‘ANSWER ME!’

Instantly everything freezes, the shards of falling glass halt and hang in the air, suspended by invisible string.

“Because I’m not like you – I’m not a monster or a coward or a liar. I’m none of those things – but you are. You’re evil and although I’m no saint I would never harm Scarlett – you’ve hurt her more than you’ll ever know – or even understand.”

‘You’re pathetic,’ the Voice sneers ‘why should you care so much about that pitiful human? She’s nothing to us – nothing to you. And what’s even worse is that you’ve sent her to get rid of me – sent her to get rid of your curse.’ The Voice jeers at me, its words echoing around me, ‘I’m offended that you think me to be a burden… But, no matter – she won’t get to Lothain alive. I’ve made sure of it – we’ve made sure of it. Within a week of her journey she’d be dead – something that she should have been a long time ago.’