Amidst Crimson Kisses

Chapter Sixteen: Tinkering With A Corrupted Heart

Margo's POV

It came to pass when I plunge through frigid waves and a merciless stream that held my tainted thoughts captive. I analyze Asher underneath a dome of remorse while he stands above the pool, contemplating the movements of each convulsion. It's almost like he refuses to trust the ripple he last embraced Gwendolyn and chased after Juliet eons ago. His face hovers over mine, gazing with unsympathetic eyes. Moments ago, Asher decided to assist me with callousness rather than the compassion he gives to his friends, and now I perceive the chasm dividing us wavelengths apart.

I let out a breath hidden in the dancing sunlight of the natatorium as I ponder the last hour in my heart. Somehow I feel corrupted, teetering in the waves as my mind resets within the walls of Goulding Manor. It's profound how everything starts to unravel at this moment and intermingle as pieces of my memories begin to pulse in the beat of my heart. How do I mask my tears when the unexplainable haunts my dreams, and the boy I've always dreamed of possesses a flame for another, one I would die to capture? Why would any girl choose to remember the invisible scars littered across their thighs?

I swim further into the water as I break into the ocean, encapsulated in fragments scattered all over the natatorium. I can still imagine the barrel of Elijah's gun pressed against my back as I dragged my bare feet across the cold, arctic floor. It wasn't the man who seized me on the second floor that made me scream from my core, or even the pistol in his hand. It was the thought of Asher's blood gushing out of his body as he laid on the floor motionless. I couldn't bare to witness the light fading out of his irises without ever feeling his lips against mine.

How can I tango with misery when my heart's hidden in the breadth of the ocean next to Juliet? I guess my memory loss is fitting to the whims of irony as Juliet once again taunts me from the raging sea. It's amusing because I once adored her like the simplicity in the sky when the fog combs over the horizon, but I remember not fitting in her posse. Juliet only associated with the likes of degenerate ballerinas and the descendants of superficial millionaires who sought after her only for her status. Then came the disloyalty with a fine line of betrayal drawn in the extravagant chambers of Rosewood Academy, and it remained until her demise.

I sail through an expanse of water, underneath pillars surrounded by a bouquet of azaleas. The water soothes my body as my mind withers under Asher's concerned visage. I suspend in the pool, listening to my distorted screams echo through the halls. I don't know what to do except the natural instinct everyone was born to do, and that's keeping breathing, but above the water lies my humanity. He could've died today, and I don't even know how to tell him, I care whether he lives or dies.

I've always cared about him.

"Sometimes, you have this dark side fashioned in your electric blue irises, and when it flashes, that's when you terrify me the most," I admitted as Asher glared from the rooftop of Rosewood.

I watched in awe as Asher smiled at the moonlight. "If I scare you, then why are you alone with me when you could be inside with the minds of tomorrow? It's not like an opportunity will present itself on the rooftop of a burning building."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at him with confusion. "Rosewood Academy isn't on fire."

"When you look at it from this angle, you realize just how wrong you are, and how everyone inside resembles a soul burning alive in a deteriorating building. Except for Juliet, she isn't on fire. She's the only light that radiates in the darkened halls."

Asher lowers as I plunge through the surface, greeted by Charlie's curious gaze, and Andre's endearing countenance. It was five minutes ago, and I remember it well as water seized my body while Asher only raised his eyebrow in indifference. We were arguing because I finally had enough of Goulding Manor. It's something about the extravagance of this place that changes people because when Asher stood over Elijah, I could barely recognize him. He practically begged Frank to pull the trigger and blow Elijah's brains out.