My OC story

Chapter 39: Andrina's dark past

CC's pov

I realised something was wrong with Andrina. She was shivering, and her fists were clenching. When I peeked over, I saw a teardrop flow from her usually bright blue eyes.

"...what's wrong, Andrina?" I questioned.

"N-nothing." the peach hedgehog answered, turning her head away and wiping her tear away.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Speed walked forward. "But Andrina, you're cr-"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!!" she answered back sharply. Speed was stunned, and so was I.

We let Andrina quieten down for a while. She stayed silent, then started talking again. "...sorry for the outburst."

She turned slowly, and both Speed and I saw her with an expression that we have never seen on her face ever before. Her eyes were red, eyeballs purple with pinpointed pupils, and biting her lip silently. She was huddling her arms around herself, and breathing heavily.

I told her to sit down, and I sat beside her. Speed sat opposite us on the other bed. "What's wrong?" I asked softly.

Andrina sighed, then told us a story we have never heard of before.

"It was my uncle. Uncle Will. He was a great king in our region of Hezulli..." she started. She smiled sadly, then continued. "Tiaka was his favorite. He grew millions of them in his palace gardens. There were orange Tiaka, red Tiaka, but mostly Tiaka with a gorgeous shade of deep violet. Uncle never failed to smell them, water them and care for them every single day. He loved them so much. The butler always told him how beautiful the flowers were, how they smelled like roses..."

She paused for a moment, sniffing a little, tears running down her cheek.

"...but he never said the sap was poisonous. He knew, but he would not tell. One day, I remembered, when I was three years old, he got really sick. The butler took it as the perfect chance. He put the poisonous sap in the soup, and made Uncle drink it down, telling him, lying to him that Tiaka was added as an antidote. Uncle believed him, and drank it down. The poison counteracted with his already fragile organs, and he fainted moments later..."

She was sobbing now. We continued to listen.

"I heard my dad scream, I heard him yell, 'Will's unconscious!!' We rushed Uncle to the hospital, but he didn't make it. He didn't. The butler escaped, but was caught and exiled to outer space...... But no matter what we do, we can't bring him back anymore... the kingdom fell, and my dad was unwilling to take his older brother's position. So he left; and put another family in charge... My cousins, Will's twin children, Nectar and Nigelo, had to leave with us, together with Aunt. After a month, Nigelo escaped, and now he came back... with a criminal record... Andrew was also born. He never met his uncle, and will never... know how he... left this planet..."

She was really crying now. I patted her back.

"Tiaka. It gave him life... yet sent him to his grave... I-I really don't... know... w-what to say... anymore..."

I wrapped my arms tightly around her, as Speed leaned forward and patted her back gently.

"It... still disturbs me now and then, whenever I see Tiaka... Ya know... it really pays to have a... dead uncle... and still be so... optimistic......"

Only then did it occur to me that Andrina was actually a person with such a dark past. The way he took Will's life... the emotions and disturbances the family had received... it was worse than me. Much worse than Speed, even. I finally understood why she was acting so overly hysterical, happy and optimistic around others, why she goes crazy-dominant when she's in the bedroom. It was because, all because she had to keep this dark secret away from everyone, by covering it in laughter.

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This chapter actually kinda reminds me of... myself. I cry every year on the night of the 22nd of February, on my grandma's birthday. She passed away when I was 6, still in kindergarten (both grandfathers are already gone) and I didn't even get a chance to listen to her last words.... haiz. 😞

Well, but at least my other grandma is healthy and strong :)