Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 1-3

I pushed open the door to Victoria's room and rushed into it. Her absence was too present in this room. Her smell was still encrusted in the sheets, which hadn't been changed since she'd died. Nothing had been moved in this sanctuary, out of time with the rest of the world. Suddenly the sound of the door pulled me out of my deep melancholy.

"The paintings should be removed from the wall."

Lily looked relieved to find me here. Everyone was gone after dark and there were only three of us in the villa. The first time since the disappearance of her daughter.

"Why? Victoria loved them so much."

"Exactly... We will install them in a room where we can admire them like she did."

"Lily, I...I need to talk to you."

The tired features of her face tightened. I had to make sure I didn't add more pain to her heart.

"I think it would be better for you if I moved to the university campus. You must find some peace."

"No, Zoe, out of the question."

"But I can't!"

I collapsed in tears in front of this woman who had just lost the person who was most dear to her. I collapsed from weakness, from fatigue, in front of this mother who preferred to take me in her arms to console me and who seemed to forget that I was the one who had seen the last seconds of her daughter's life. I was the one who didn't save her, the one who stayed. I hated myself.

"You stay here," she whispered to me, continuing to hug me as tight as possible. "This is what Victoria would want. Stop blaming yourself. There is only one person to blame."

With an effort, I raised my head to look at her.

"You are so strong. How do you do it?"

"I'm just breathing enough so I don't fall to the ground, so I have to keep going until the day I can't. I will never laugh from joy again, I will never find a sunset beautiful again. You can't kill someone who is already dead."

I took a few steps back to go and sit on the edge of the bed. Lily kept standing.

"Why were Faïz, Ray, and William not present today?" I asked without hoping to have an answer.

Lily shook her head harshly, raising her arms, visibly annoyed by their behavior.

"I don't know. Whatever the reason, they have no excuses! I hope they're not doing anything that could endanger them."

At that moment, David's phrase came to mind. We had to meet to exchange information. The idea of taking out my phone, stored in my dresser for days, didn't delight me. It had been a week since I'd lived disconnected from the world, my friends, my family. I'd sent a long email to my father, explaining the tragedy that had occurred within the Mattew family. I had asked him not to contact me for a while, that I would get back to him on my own. I knew that as soon as I turned on this little device, so insignificant when it was turned off, the whole world would come to me to pull me up, to pull me to life, reminding me that I existed.