Cinderella: A Fractured Fairytale

Fifty-Five

Eric's POV

Chapter 55

***

I can't do it.

I can't watch Ana flirt with the prince I always thought she liked. I can't be with her and know that she has no idea what we've been through together.

I can't go through all this.

Why is everything so hopeless?

Why?

There was nothing to describe the emotional pain I was feeling. It went beyond agony, beyond anguish, beyond anything I'd ever felt.

How can I go on?

The world spun and dimmed before my eyes, everything changing in ways they shouldn't. Where was the light? Where was the hope? I had always believed in goodness and happiness in the darkest of circumstances, but where was it now?

Where was she now?

Gone.

The Ana I knew was lost forever.

I would never kiss her again. Never again get to see her smiling at me with all the beauty of the sun and the sky and the nighttime stars in her eyes.

Memories haunted me, flashing through my mind and killing me from the inside out.

The hunting howl of a wolf split the air. I sat up sharply, eyes wide. Anastasia was in the forest today!

Quickly, I closed my eyes and focused on melting out of existence and into a different scene. When I opened my eyes, trees surrounded me everywhere I looked.

Find Ana. My heart pounded and I glanced around, listening for anything that would tell me where she was.

The howl split the air again, and I hurried in the direction of the chilling sound.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I came to a clearing and skidded to a halt, breathing hard. My heart skipped a beat as I saw Ana, cornered against a tree with the wolf closing in on her.

My eyes widened as I noted the abnormal largeness of the creature, the almost human-like gleam in its eye. A werewolf! I had never seen one before.

I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating, and when I opened them I was right beside her, between her and the werewolf. My mind focused on one task: keeping her safe. Almost before I knew what was happening, a strange power filled me and a fire burned inside my heart, filling my eyes with piercing flames. My voice resounded through the clearing powerfully. "Leave her alone."

The wolf panted, frozen in shock for a moment. Then it turned tail and ran.

Ana stared at me. Her eyes were wide and filled with leftover terror.

"Eric...?" she finally whispered.

I nodded wordlessly.

She threw her arms around me and began to sob.

I held her close, trying to comfort her. "It's okay. Nothing's going to hurt you now." Because I'm going to protect you.

She looked up and met my eyes, her own dark eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, Eric."

"Of course." I said, keeping my voice quiet and soothing, the way I knew my mother would have if she were still alive. "You're safe now."

She smiled through her tears, and I felt a little shiver inside.

I had a feeling she was going to change everything.

***

Lying awake in the middle of a clearing, staring up at the stars.

"Eric?" A fifteen-year-old Ana had come to get water from the well and found me there. "What's wrong?"

I sighed and didn't reply.

"One moment." Ana hurried away with the sloshing bucket, and was back a minute later, sitting next to me. I sat up.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

I looked over at her. "Father's angry again," I said softly.

"Oh, Eric..." She hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry."

I closed my eyes for a moment. "I just want... I just wish it was all over."

"Me, too," she whispered back.

For a while we were both silent, watching the stars together. Then Ana touched my shoulder. "Can I tell you something?"

I nodded wordlessly.

"I think you're the bravest person I've ever met," she said quietly. "I know you can do this. You're strong enough to face anything."

I smiled softly. "So long as I have you."

She smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. "You'll always have me."

You'll always have me.

When I remembered those words, I lost the battle I'd been fighting against myself.

I put my head in my hands and wept.