AFTERLAND and The Cryptic Prophecy

31: The Golden Cylinder

I felt seriously unprepared for my grandfather's revelation. Someone related to me caused my monocular vision. That's what Tharen said. I suspected many, but never my mom. I knew she won't do such a thing despite our imperfect relationship.

"You're lying!" I blustered.

"Why would I lie to you, Charlie? No one had the motive to make you blind, only your mom."

I stared at my unconscious mother with my head overfilled with confusion. Sometimes we didn't get along, but never had I ever imagined she would be the reason I lost sight of my right eye.

"She tried to control your destiny. That's why the sky showed its wrath that night. Do you remember the storm that made your house collapse, and the night the earth swallowed you? That's the result of interfering with the power inside you. The reason you lost your first life and the vision in your right eye!"

The memory of me and Harris talking about wielder's privilege harked back to me. The death immunity was true, which I already used when I was buried alive ten years ago.

"Why would she do that?" I asked.

"Because she doesn't want you to see the things you supposed to see," he answered, but again, it didn't clear out my confusion.

"Can you just tell me what I need to know?!" I demanded.

"Why don't we do the healing for you to know what I mean?" he said and smiled like the counterpart of Satan. "Bring me the scroll!"

I heard footsteps came from the door where the fairies went out. She was wearing heeled shoes. When the light from the crystal chandelier touched her face, my mind messed with another rolling set of questions.

"Here is the scroll, my lord," she said and handed a golden cylinder case to Lorcan.

I meant to ask her what she's doing here, but my words got lost inside my lungs, and what I said instead was, "How dare you! You're one of them, too?"

"You should say hello first, Charlie," she said, playing her finger to her rose pink hair. I didn't respond and only gave her my best expression of anger. "Alright, I'll do it first then," she giggled. "Hello Charlie? How are you? Did you enjoy riding with the alicorn?"

Her devilish smile made my heart drummed madly. I wanted to punch her in the face or strangle her to death, but I was too weak to act violently.

"How could you do this Arabelle," I breathed. "We trusted you!"

"Charlie, trusting is for kind people," she said, talking like a snake because of her venomous stare.

I knew from the beginning that I would encounter things beyond my belief when I entered the world of Afterland, but meeting someone who would initially be my friend before stabbing me in the back was not part of my expectations. Truly, some evil disguised as kind and caring.

"What's with the face, my friend? Are you not happy to see me again?" Arabelle held her hands together while giving me a look.

"Why are you doing this? You were so nice and sweet." My hands could feel the cold floor and my body continued to weaken.

"Everything that looks nice and sweet is not always kind and good." She took off her fuchsia chiffon. "Remember the story of Snow White? She got poisoned because she thought every apple was safe to eat." She tittered and went beside Dawn.

"No, it can't be," someone said, a man's voice. It was Franco with an absolute disappointment reflected on his delicate face.

"Oh, hi there?" said Arabelle. Because of her, pink became the object of my aversion. "Apologies, I'm aware I have the beauty that enticed you, but we are far different from each other. So –you need to start moving on now." She didn't even consider how Franco would feel. If only I had the strength, I might have skinned her alive with my evening sand nail polish.