Under the Stars

The necklace clung between my fingers as I stared at the tiny pendant of a star.

I sob.

A realization hit me and I felt like a thousand splinters pierce through my heart and my insides writhing as though I swallowed live snakes.

"You fool," I cried. "You got yourself hurt because of me. God, why did you have to be Ivander all the time?"

Someone got hurt because of me, again.

Someone that I love got hurt because of me, again.

These words were like an unending chain that tightly coils around my throat until it reaches my head. As those words kept repeating in my head, the vivid image of the people that I love haunts me. All of which sneering down at me as though it was my fault.

It was my fault.

With my heart shattering, I kiss him on the forehead and whispered, "I love you. But I need to go."

I was 13 years old when it all started; when I became this empty bottle floating in the vast ocean of despair. Until today, I still swam with the waves of my past although as I stared at him, it began to drown me unto this dark void the ocean embodies.

That is why I need to leave. I have to. To save them from further pain and to save my drowning self.

I place the necklace between his cold fingers and left.

.

Imogen's past converges with her present when she rushes back to Castanea upon learning that Ivander has woken up from his comatose.

Her return resurfaces that past she flees from, unraveling conspiracies along the way, and chasing her back to her dark corner.

Will she be able to go beyond her past as she figures out 'the accident' or will it fades her into oblivion as she gazes at the stars?

Will he be able to stay for her as she pushes him away or will he give up in trying to bring Imogen back?