The Death Kiss (Nanowrimo)#wattys2017

Chapter 10: Gabriella

I could still recall the' MASQUERADE CARNIVAL' that I attended last year with Marie. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. David drove 3 hours to drop us there. Mom opposed our carnival so much, but David supported us. May be, mom was right about him. He was a good person, almost like a father to me. But I treated him so unfairly.

May be, I wasn't angry on mom for remarrying. May be, I wasn't even angry but hurt. I missed my father; maybe I missed him so much that I forgot that it was no one's fault that he got cancer and died.

I still remember the little things me and Marie brought back from the carnival along with super pleasant memories. Chase got Gastroenteritis 2 days before the carnival and he missed all the fun. That event marked the beginning of the breakage of our Triad, after that I started spending more girl-girl time with Marie. And Chase somehow became closer to his guy friends.

The best thing about that Carnival was the last tent, where a weird old lady sat and predicted everyone's future. We waited for more than an hour in the queue, to see her. Marie ditched me at the last moment, and went to buy an ice-cream. I knew how much those creepy Tarot cards scared her.

The old woman made me sit in front of me, and asked me to choose a card. I picked a random card and gave it to her. She saw that, and placed it upside down without showing it to me.

She then asked me to show my hand to her. She examined the lines of my hand carefully, and then looked at me.

"I'm afraid, Child..."

"Why?"

"You have picked the Grim Reaper."

She shoved the card towards me with her other hand, without taking off her eyes from my palm.

"What does that mean?" I looked at her confused.

She sighed loudly," Death is following you everywhere, child."

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The light pierced through the window into my eyes. The first thing, I thought about was the calendar.I looked at the calendar, and it was the 2nd Sunday I was supposed to spend outside my house. I hated staying at the hospital.

It was a painful pleasure to wait for more than a week to see Adrian again. I could hardly wait to get out of this bed. He had not visited me after the night I was admitted at the hospital. I couldn't ask my parents about him as he was a teacher at my school after all. Marie had no clue about him either. But there was something about him that made me feel special. The way he talked to me, and the way he looked at me was too familiar. I knew him, but from where? This was the question that haunted me every second of my stay in the white sheets of hospital.

There was a soft knock at my door, and I closed my eyes.

"She's still sleeping." I heard my mother's voice.

"It's okay; I just came to see her. How's she doing?"

As soon as that sweet voice entered my ears, and stroked against my ear drum, I bulged open my eyes as much as I could.

"M-Mom?"

"Hey, you're awake? See, who came to see you."

His blue striped shirt sleeves were rolled up. His hands were in his pockets and his smoky eyes fixed on my face. I looked into his eyes, and he whispered.

"Hi Lily."

I turned my head towards mom meaningfully and she went out of the room.

"Hello Adrian."