The love she never knew

Fire and Ice

"Actually Ms.Venable, I was hoping to talk to you. If that is okay." Mallory spoke. What on earth could she want. You and Wilhemina looked at each other during a moment of hesitation. "Okay, you go talk with her, I'll wait on our bed." you told Ms.Venable as she walked closer to Mallory. "Fine, make it quick Mallory. Some of us have had a long day." Mina's cold expressions were returning. Mallory looked at the ground, probably regretting what she was about to say. Wilhemina walked out of the room and the door closed behind her, leaving you to just sit there, woundering what could have possibly gone wrong.

Mallory's POV

Everyone was waiting at the dinner table for Ms.Venable and Ember. They were never late. Coco wasn't there either but no one had heard from or seen her since she was taken to the dungeon. That's when we heard it. That's when we heard Coco's screams. It sounded like they were beating her. Then it stopped. Complete silence fell over the outpost. No one was speaking. I guess they were too afraid. I'm not sure which one they feared more, Ms.Venable or the woman who calls herself The Mistress. That was Ember, but it wasn't. The Ember I knew was kind and caring. She had even managed to start turning the leader of the outpost soft. Whoever had taken over wasn't her.
Then we heard the sound of the cane echoing through the halls, announcing their arrival. No one dared to look at them. We were all afraid that what happened to Coco would happen to us. They came and took their normal seats, Ember, no The Mistress, sat down next to me while Ms.Venable sat on her other side. Mr.Gallant asked about Coco, he was scared to death. I slightly looked up as the food was being served and saw it. I saw the blood on her dress. It wasn't just any blood, this was Coco's blood. "Mistress, you have blood on you." I spoke, teriffied about what she would do to me. For a moment we made eye contact, just a brief moment. But in that moment I thought I saw a glimmer, a fragment of the Ember I knew. The Ember who cared about her books, who cared about others. For a moment I thought I saw the Ember I fell for. I know she is with the person she loves, and I am happy for her, but I still have feelings for her. She will never know, no one will ever know. This is a sercret I will take with me to the grave.
After dinner everyone went back to the common area while The Mistress and Ms.Venable went back to their room. I decided to wait until knocking on the door. I'm doing this because I care about her. When they opened the door they were clearly less than pleased to see me. Ms.Venable was about to go so I could talk with The Mistress but that is not who I came to talk to. I came to their room so I could talk to Ms.Venable.
"What do you want Mallory?" Ms.Venable asked coldly. I know she doesn't want to talk to me. "Ms.Venable, please hear me out. Remember when Emb- I mean The Mistress first came to the outpost? She was so innocent and loving. All she wanted to do was get lost in her own little world. That's why she fixed up the librar-" I was cut off by Ms.Venable. "What is your point Mallory. I don't have all day to wait for you to get to the point." I took a breath. "This isn't her. This isn't the Ember I became friends with and it certainly isn't the Ember you fell in love with. There is only a shell of the girl that remains now, and your baby.". I looked at Ms.Venable to see if she was processing what I was saying. "I think you are out of line Mallory." I had to interrupt her. "Ms.Venable please listen to what I'm saying. What was the first feeling you got when you held hands with her for the first time?" such an unimportant question Ms.Venable must have thought. "Ice. When we first held hands in the library, it felt like ice was being shot through my veins. Before I felt like I was on fire, a fire that even ice water couldn't tame. Being with her was the first time the fires started tame." I could see a smile forming on her face. "Ember was the exact opposite. She felt like she was made of ice, she would take hot showers with boiling water. Nothing seemed to warm her. When she held hands with you, fire shot through her veins and she felt warm for the first time. Now what do you feel when you touch her? You only feel fire don't you?" I asked her. I was scared to death confronting her about this but I was scared. "How did you know that?" She was surprised, but intrigued. "Because she has changed Ms.Venable. She has become more like you and less like the girl we all know. I'm not saying it is bad that she is standing up for herself but torturing Coco? That just isn't like her. The cool ice that filled her has turned to rage and fires, that's why all you feel now is heat.". I told her. I wasn't able to read the expression that painted her face. If I had to guess I would say that my words finally got to her. "You're right Mallory. The girl in there isn't the one I fell for." A tear fell onto Ms.Venables cheek. "Ms.Venable don't cry. There is nothing to cry about." I tried to comfort her. "You don't understand Mallory. I did this to her. I made her the way she is now. Dark, and cold with raging fires inside. This is all my fault." It wasn't hard to tell that the leader of the outpost was in pain. "You know what Ms.Venable, it is a good thing you rubbed of on her, she has also rubbed of on you. Before if I would have come to talk to you, I may very well have been beheaded. But know you are willing to listen. You really care about her. I just think there needs to be balance." I tried to explain to her. "Balance, yes that makes sense. I will go talk to her." Ms.Venable turned as if she was going to go back into her room. "No, don't confront her, maybe just persuade her not to be so harsh. When she gets in the mood to inflict pain, steer her in a different direction. If you go after her right now, she might feel like you are attacking her." I don't know much about love but I do know that theirs will survive this. They are both strong, but they are stronger together. "Thank you Mallory, I will see you tomorrow for breakfast." Ms.Venable said before returning to her room. Hopefully, for all of our sakes, we get the old Ember back.

Ms.Venable's POV
I go back into our room and find Ember on our bed reading a book. Knowing her it was probably something Shakespeare, maybe Hamlet or Macbeth. "What are you reading my love?" I walked closer to the bed to sit next to her. "Hamlet, it was the only thing in the room but I'm not complaining." She sets the book down and sits up using her arms for support. "What did Mallory want?" I went closer to her trying to think of an excuse. "Oh, nothing big, Gallant was just throwing a huge temper tantrum like a child. I swear he is just a grown child." I roll my eyes in annoyance and she grabs my hand. Only fire shoots through me. I miss the ice. "Why was he throwing a fit?" she kept prying, most people woudn't do that, but then again she wasn't like most people. "He finally ran out of hair gel and I told him we couldn't get anymore." Ember looked at me and started laughing. "What, what is so funny?" She stopped for a moment. "Gallant ran out of hair gel and is throwing a fit. We are in the middle of the nuclear winter and have barely enough food to survive and he is worried about some damn hair gel? Gods these people are so stupid. You would think they would be grateful that they were picked to survive but no they aren't. Nothing is ever good enough." She ranted. Although she had a valid point, that was way to close to something I would say about the purples. "Ember, dear, please remember that you were once unhappy to have been selected. You started as a purple, one who didn't like it here. Maybe they are complaining about the trivial things in order to have life seem as normal. They are doing their best not to lose their minds." She looked at me in disbeleif. "Maybe your right. I'm getting tired and I just want to get some rest."

Ember's/your POV

I knew she was lying to me as soon as she said that Gallant ran out of hair gel but I wasn't going to continue to pry. If it was something important she would have told me. For now I needed sleep. I figure I will ask her tomorrow. There is never any harm in asking.