From Death to Life- Book One

Ch. 24- Truths

"They say that war is hell, but, darling, true hell begins when the battle ends and you're the only one whose hands still drip red." -the real war rages in your heart, it always has.

**

"You cannot do that ever again, do you hear me?" I started to say. "You can't just give yourself up to Agnes because you think you deserve it. Nobody deserves to be fucking tortured by her." I said as I raised my voice. I was walking beside Sebastian through the woods as I did my best to not look at him in the eye. I gazed my contact to the ground so I wouldn't trip on anything.

There were piles of leaves on the ground and every time I took a step, I heard a crunch on the bottom of my feet. It was hard to walk because I left my shoes back in the cell, which made me regret that I ever took them off in the first place. 

I glanced at him for a second and saw that he had his jaw clenched. "I do deserve it, sweetheart. You don't know half of the things I have done." he told me as he was looking straight ahead. I looked in front of me and saw that Jasper was in front of us as he was walking alone. It made me wonder why he betrayed Agnes for us. I glanced at him suddenly and crossed my arms over my chest as the cold breeze of the woods made me shiver. 

"I've done some bad things too, okay?" I said as my voice was hoarse. I thought of the night that I was first turned into this and how I fed on that girl in the street. If Christian didn't stop me, I would have killed her. I couldn't get the image of that girl I killed at the party out of my mind, the look in her eyes as I sucked out all the blood from her body.

I closed my eyes for a second as I tried to think about something else other than my mistakes. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again as I looked around with tall trees on every side of me. The woods smelt like rain and fresh cut lumber which made my nostrils flare up at the intoxicating smell. "I don't care about the things you've done, Sebastian. That's not what makes you who you are." I told him without looking at him. 

He didn't say anything but I could tell that he didn't agree with what I was saying. I turned my head to him and stared at him until he looked at me in the eye. "You should, Elora." he said finally. I noticed that his hazelnut hair was sticking up in all kinds of directions and that I could see a few hairs on his face that I haven't noticed before. Both of us were silent as I didn't know what to say. All I wanted was to go back home to New Orleans and sleep in my own bed again, but I know that I will never have that again. 

"I'm going to talk to Jasper." I told him as I started walking quickly so I could catch up to them. From behind me, I heard him say something under his breath and it made me turn around to look at him. 

"Don't forget to ask him why you two look alike." Sebastian joked. I glared at him with daggers in my eyes as I saw him chuckle a little bit. I turned my head back around as I almost catching up to Jasper. It was hard because of all the different trees limbs on the ground that I had to walk over them and the fact that he walks faster than I could keep up. It took me a long time, but I eventually caught up with him. 

Hey, Jasper." I said as I was now walking beside him as I had my arms wrapped around my chest. He turned his head to look at me and gave me a slight smile. "Can I ask you something?" I asked him suddenly because I couldn't keep wondering if what Sebastian was saying was true. "It's going to a bit weird." I told him. 

He looked at me intensely for a second before looking straight ahead again. "Sure." he said in a low voice. 

I hesitated for a moment because I didn't what he was going to react when I asked him what has been on my mind since he saved me. "Are we related or something? We just look so much alike, it's eerie." I questioned Jasper. He turned to me suddenly and stopped in his place as he put his hands in his crimson locks. He didn't say anything which made my stomach drop because I didn't know what he was going to say.