Heart of Glass

Chapter 26

It took Ariel three days to push everyone away.

Emily sat with her for those three days, grieving in her own way. She followed Ariel like a shadow, eating when she ate, going to sleep when she did, and even stepping outside when she did. Every day she would try to talk to Ariel, mentioning Autumn and things they should do for her memorial which Samson was organizing. Ariel chose to remain silent, working on mentally closing herself off from the world.

Autumn's parents had taken Autumn back to Sweden. Ariel hadn't asked how or what shape her body had been in. If her legs had turned to leaves she didn't need someone to tell her what had happened to the rest of her.

It was on the third day, as Emily was talking about picking some flowers to make a small wreath, that Ariel finally spoke.

"I'm not going to the memorial," she said coldly.

"What?" Emily looked up from her notes. "Why?"

"I'm just not going, so go and talk about that crap somewhere else. I'm tired of listening to your voice."

The last thing Ariel heard before the bedroom door shut was a small sob.

Every day the Doc came by in the morning, and tried to talk with her. Every time she would ask for another cup of the numbing tea and then refuse to say anything else. Twice he had mentioned her heart, wanting to discuss the latest damage but she shut him out each time. It wasn't the pain that bothered her anymore. It was the wrongness of it. The sensation of it being in two places at once, combined with the jagged stabbing she felt when either piece was being touched – she didn't want to experience any of it. She just wanted to keep it locked in that box and never look at it again.

It was for the best, she kept telling herself. Keeping her heart open to everyone was just going to cause more damage in the future. The tea was helping to inhibit the pain she currently felt. Drinking the tea left her feeling disjointed, like she had been wrapped in a blanket. The world was dulled and put her mind in a soft haze, but she preferred it.

Lucas was the only other person who continually tried to get through to her. He saw what she was doing, and chose to ignore it. Every day he would sit in her room for an hour or two, never trying to talk. They would sit in silence as his mood grew darker until eventually he gave up and left, slamming the door.

It was on the sixth day, the day of Autumn's memorial that his patience finally snapped.

"Come on," he said standing in her doorway. "We're waiting for you."

"I'm not going," she kept her gaze on the book she was reading, refusing to meet his heated gaze.

"Yes, you are," he growled.

"I told Emily I wasn't and I told Doc I wasn't," breathing deeply, she delivered the fatal blow she'd been saving. "Maybe you need to shave the hair out of those big ass dog ears of yours. Obviously you didn't inherit the canine hearing genetics."

The growl was the only thing that alerted her to movement before the book was wrenched from her hands. Keeping her head down, she heard it smash into the wall by Emily's bed.

"Are you really going to keep playing it this way?" He snarled. "You're being a coward!"

Don't react. "I'm not doing anything," she spoke to her knees. "I was reading before you threw my book away."

"You need to say goodbye, Ariel." She could hear the control in his voice and bit the inside of her cheek. He just refused to give up.

"I have said goodbye." Getting up, she brushed past him and picked up her book where it had fallen. "I don't need to stand with a bunch of strangers and say it again."