Epilogue

Zalia picks at her stubby nails as she waits, and waits, and waits. It's a nervous habit for her, and in this tense silence where the only people in the room and her and the guard standing near the door, she can't help but be exactly that.

But when another person, the one she had been waiting for, enters the room, her anxiety skyrockets.

Violet stiffly takes a seat on the other side of the glass. The loose orange prison uniform hangs loosely on her body, the only hint of color on her corpse-like frame.

Zalia simply stares.

"The last time you visited me was two days, five hours, twenty three minutes, and thirteen seconds ago," Violet lists off dryly. "The time before that, six days, one hour, two minutes, and fifty six seconds ago. But the one before that, the last time I saw you was in court." Violet leans back in her chair, a delirious smile creeping up onto her lips. "Do you miss me?"

"I miss Violet. Not you," Zalia states calmly.

"I am Violet."

"No." Zalia shakes her head firmly. "You're the Lady Killer. And you killed Violet."

The only way Zalia could cope with finding out that Violet was the Lady Killer was to disassociate both of them, even if that was exactly what the Lady Killer did. Violet was her childhood friend; the one who snuck off with her to the bathroom to hide from the cameras and watching eyes, the one who stuck by her side during the glamorous events hosted by the rich when no one else would, the one who was inspired to go to medical school because of her.

Violet wasn't whoever the monster sitting in front of her is.

Violet drops the subject, a hint of her hysterical grin still lingering upon her face. "Then why the visits if I'm whoever killed your precious friend?"

Zalia stares at her for a long while, trying to force out the words that had been haunting her mind day and night for four years.

Because I still hope she isn't dead.

But that isn't why Zalia came today.

So instead, she recites what she had been rehearsing countless times, starting from the night of the high school reunion when she had decided to move on from the memories of the past.

"Because today is the day I finally let her go."

☄︎. *. ⋆
⋆·˚ ༘ * 🔭

Sorin waits nervously by the prison entrance, tapping his foot impatiently. He hadn't wanted to let Zalia do this, but he had been noticing her absentminded state and sleepless nights for the past week or so. He knew she needed the closure she had never gotten.

Finally, the door opens, and the guard leads a dazed Zalia out. Sorin stands immediately, smiling warmly down at her as she stops in front of him.

Slowly, she looks up, allowing Sorin to see her eyes, glossy with tears.

But she's smiling.

"Sorin," she whispers, laughing quietly, "I did it."

He gently pulls her frame into his arms, grinning softly as he places a butterfly kiss on her temple. Throughout the past four years they had been together, he knew that the Lady Killer case still affected Zalia deeply, especially whenever it neared the anniversary of the cases. But finally, four years after the Lady Killer had been caught, Zalia has finally moved on.

"I'm so proud of you."

"Me too," Zalia chuckles.

They embrace each other for a few moments, savoring the love and comfort that only the other could bring. Sorin is the first one to suddenly pull away, but he does so to look at Zalia with dilated pupils (when Zalia had brought that up to tease him one time, he merely responded with how they dilated every time he fell in love with her again). Without thinking, he blurts out, "Do you want to get married right now?"