Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 43: A Substitution of Tears

"It's late," Pollyanna said to Eory. "We should go to bed. Before I do, however, I have to tell you... I'm glad that you're not hiding behind Taylor anymore. I was worried that she would overcome you--that I would never see you again. I was worried... that you hated me. God, I should never worry about such a trivial thing." Pollyanna's eyes were closed in pain as she said it. Her breathing was gentle and easy; Eory could feel her breath on his face as they lay in bed, face-to-face, next to one another.

Her eyelids—swathed in the sickly red light of the Crater--were incredibly wrinkled. It was as if she picked up a wrinkle for every horror she had suffered.

Anyone who has gone through what she has gone through would want to make the world pay... Eory thought to himself.

He lowered his eyes. "I don't hate you. I thought I did, but... hearing what you just told me... I can't. I'm so sorry for what all of those awful people did to you—especially Fjorn."

Tears glistened in his eyes for what felt like the tenth time that night, and Pollyanna couldn't help but be charmed by it as usual. "I'm glad you don't hate me, even if you can't understand my actions. You're one of the only people I have ever met whose respect I would die to have."

He hadn't realized just how near his lips were to hers; subconsciously, he had been bringing his face closer to hers.

He was close enough to see every line on her face.

Pollyanna's eyes opened slowly to reveal their piercing blue color. When she saw how close he was, she moved her own lips closer to his.

They came closer and closer, and his heart thudded louder and louder with electric anticipation.

Her lips were less than an inch away.

He moved away with a gasp at the last second.

He sat up and pressed his forehead into his palms—wrapped in cruel frustration at the fact that the woman he wanted was so close by, but he couldn't have her.

Pollyanna stayed still where she lay. She sent a shiver up his spine by running her wrinkled and wounded fingers down his back. "Eory, I need your help; I need you to help me come up with a plan to get us out of here. We might be able to threaten Maruka and make him show us the contract. We might be able to find a way out of it if we see it again. Tell me you'll leave this foolish plan of staying in this fortress all of your life behind."

Eory rubbed his temples. She just doesn't get it. Maybe she never will.

"I want to find a good and honest way out of here, and you're going to help me. I want to find a way to kill the doppelgangers once and for all. That way, we can go free, and we will have helped this world in some way." Eory replied.

Pollyanna groaned in exasperation. "Eory, why should we do something kind for the world when they have wronged you in such a profound way? We have no reason to waste time trying to eradicate the doppelgangers at their root. If it's praise and acceptance you want for accomplishing such a task, you'll never have it."

Eory stood up abruptly and leaned his palms against the wall. "I'm actively trying to fight this evil inside of me, Pollyanna. I have to force myself to change—it's the only way to get rid of these thoughts. I refuse to succumb to them. I think Maruka may be able to help me search for a way to get rid of the doppelgangers. He may already know one."

Pollyanna narrowed her eyes skeptically. "So that's why you're making friends with him? Eory, he won't help you. He is content living in this place--he is a sheep like all the rest of the recruits."

Eory spun around and faced the hardened old woman with begging eyes.

Pollyanna wondered why he was giving her such a pleading look, and she returned it with confusion.