Once upon a time

Chapter 16: Crashing Down

Mr. Phillips took a deep breath to steady his voice. He began to tell the story to us in a calm and collected voice. Alec gave my hand another comforting squeeze and I gave him a squeeze back. We were ready to face whatever obstacle we needed to, to stay together.

"There was a prophecy about two lovers from two different worlds. The prophecy said that the two will meet through a book and fall in love. But they cannot stay together. If the prince decides to stay in the human world, he would start to disappear and never return to his world. In other words, he would die. On the other hand, if he left the human world, he can never return. He will be stuck in his world and they would live separately, forever.' Mr. Phillips explains.

Alec looks at me with disbelief. "The prophecy is clearly about us, right? Why can't we stay together?" he asks, his brown eyes determined. "It is about you, two. I knew from the moment you were born, Alec. And I knew that you, Madison, were the one for Alec." Mr. Phillips replied. I can only nod my head, stunned at the bad news.

We couldn't be together. We only had two options, to be separated forever or to let Alec die. The second option was clearly out of the picture. In other words, the chance of staying together was impossible and being separated was inevitable. My heart felt like it was torn apart, I had to confirm what I heard first. Maybe this is a misunderstanding.

"Why did you not stop us?" I asked instead of the other questions I had planned, my voice sounding foreign and strange. Mr. Phillips looks at Alec and I with such sadness. "You two were such lonely souls needing comfort. You, two instantly connected, the moment you guys met each other for the first time. It wasn't my position to stop you two from getting the love that you deserved." he confesses.

"If I let Alec go, he will live?" I asked, making sure that I heard him right. Mr. Phillips nods, confirming my thoughts. Alec's arms tightens around me. "No, Madison. You are not letting me leave. I just found you." he says, his voice broken by my question. I turned to look at him, his brown eyes are full of pain and hurt.

"If I stay with Madison, I will perish?" he asks, desperately trying to find another way. I shake my head at him. I don't want him to die because of me. I want him to live and move on from me. He deserved better, he can't die. he has to live even if it is without me. I plead with him, using my eyes.

"Is there any other way to change the prophecy?" I asked, already knowing the answer to my question. I dared to hope for another method to escape. I was too selfish to accept letting him go. For me, there was only one option which was letting Alec go. For Alec, he doesn't want to leave me after everything we've been through, together.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you two. The prophecy cannot be altered or thwarted. Talk about this carefully and don't make any rash decisions. But you should think of your love as a blessing, not a curse. Despite searching for their whole lives, most won't ever find a love as strong as yours." Mr. Phillips says, with the most saddest look in his eyes. I get off Alec's lap and stand up. Alec stands up, silently and takes my hand as we exit the bookstore.

May takes my other free hand for support and offers me a weak smile. May has recently been more fairytale like for some reason. She has some kind of glow on her face and I swear that she now has a weird powerful aura. I return to my thoughts about the prophecy. "Maybe the prophecy isn't about us." I said, breaking the heavy silence.

Alec looked at me with his brown eyes and sighed. "I really wish that were true, sweetheart." he replies, pain in his voice. We all walked in silence, unable to say a cheerful thing. But I had both of them to support me and we were in this together. It seemed like everything was perfect, just moments before and now everything was crashing down.