The Last Time (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 3

By the time we stepped into the house, it was late and the expectation was for everyone to be in bed. We were very wrong about that. As soon as we stepped into the house, Granny rushed both Puck and I into the kitchen.

With our hands still full, we were told to sit at the kitchen table with the rest of the family.

"I have called a family meeting to discuss the improvement that Sabrina is showing," Granny stated. Uncle Jake and Daphne burst into applause while I stared blankly at my grandmother.

They just didn't get it. Mental illness doesn't just disappear. Years of depression don't just go away because Puck convinced me to wear a color other than black. It was horrible that they didn't get that by now. One day wasn't going to change everything.

" I have come to the conclusion that Sabrina will be allowed more freedom," Granny said with a smile as she turned to me, "You will be checking in with me whenever you're not home, and Puck will be keeping an eye on you ... from a distance of course."

Puck and I both opened our mouths to speak at the same time, but Granny held up her hand in protest.

"No need to thank me, Lieblings. I took what Puck said into consideration, and Sabrina's effort to get better confirms my decision. Family meeting adjourned."

I let out a huff of annoyance and trudged upstairs to my room, flopping onto my bed.

Puck walked into the room calmly and sat down next to me. As I buried my face into the comforter, Puck rubbed my back.

I lay there thinking about how oblivious everyone was. All I wanted to do is scream in their faces, "I'm still the same person I was two days ago. Putting on a blue shirt on and letting my hair down doesn't make my feelings change."

I groaned in frustration.

Puck lay down next to me and continued to rub my back. After a while, my eyes started to feel heavier and suddenly everything was dark

"Don't do that!"

In a instant realization, I recognized the panicked voice as my own. I was staring at Mirror, who was holding a knife over Daphne's head. I gazed at the fresh blood on the knife. My gaze then looked at Puck; who was unconscious a few feet away. His arm had been sliced open and blood was gushing out at an extremely fast pace.

Mirror lowered the knife so that it was leveled with Daphne's neck.

"Please..." I begged.

As the knife slid across her neck I screamed.

I jerked up from the bed into Puck's arms. Tears were rushing from my eyes. Puck's hair was messy and his eyes were darker than usual, indicating that he had just woken up. The faerie pulled me into his arms, shushing me as I cried into his shoulder. 

A long time had passed and my sobs were slowing to a small hiccup. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The tears continued to fall as I replayed the whole scene over for him. When I had finished, he embraced me again.

"We aren't  going anywhere," he whispered against my ear.

I nodded and pressed my lips against his. All of a sudden, the door burst open and Granny, Uncle Jake, and Daphne poured in. I looked at the hair pin in Granny's hand and suddenly remembered that Puck had locked the door when he came in after me.

"Sabrina, we told you about locking the door, "Granny said.

Puck turned to her, "That was my fault."