Deadly Ends (Book #4)

Chapter Fifty- One

As the meeting came to an end, I did not hesitate in excusing myself to my room.

With this plan now in motion, we were openly walking towards our potential deaths and the reality of that was hard to process.

Because of that, I just wanted to be alone for a bit, to allow myself to accept all of this.

Acting as leader for such an event does not guarantee that you are accepting of the fate you are now leaving yourself to and I needed to get over that as quickly as possible.

"C-Cordelia, may I speak to you?" Florence asked, stopping me at the staircase.

I looked to her, seeing the panic in her eyes and nodded, knowing that speaking to me like this would not be an easy task for her.

I followed behind her, as we entered the library, closing the doors behind myself to allow privacy for whatever topic she needed to discuss.

"I am terrified of facing Samuel" she said, breaking the silence.

Unlike Florence, I had accepted what he had become early on. She was just now seeing him for what he was and the person she really wanted to speak to about all of this was the monster himself.

As I sat down, thinking of what to say to put her at ease, I realized that I should not sugarcoat this, because she needed true guidance.

"I understand, Florence" I spoke, looking up at her "I may have accepted that he is no longer with us, but every time I see him, a small part of me keeps hoping that he will realize what he is doing and just come to his senses"

I looked back down.

"Although, there is nothing easy about what we are attempting to do, but it is either this or let them all kill us one by one"

Florence shakily sat down next to me "I am mostly scared, because when he was at the manor, he told me to join him and I actually almost considered it" she looked down, ashamed "I just wanted to be with my brother again"

She did not need words to comfort her and I realized that, just by how scattered she seemed sitting down.

I reached over, hugging her tightly, feeling her stiffen.

It was as though her lack of affection lately was so deep that it startled her to receive it from someone else.

"If you were to go off with Samuel, you realize that you would have to feed off of Samuel, resulting in his death" I explained, hoping she was no longer considering this idea.

Even speaking about was brave of her, because if she told this to someone else, they would potentially view her as a threat to our survival.

She pulled away from me "But you were not killed"

"The only reason I am still alive is because I am worth more to them alive than dead. If I were just any other vampire, they would have let Samuel drain me dry"

"I just want everything to return to what it once was, so desperately" she spoke, letting out a cry "Cordelia, I do not know a life without my brother!"

I took her hand, squeezing it "I wish I could do something to fix this for you, but all I can say is if he needs to die, I pray that you are not the one that has to deliver his death to him"

She shook her head, showing how impossible it would be to do something like that "I could never kill him, not even if I wanted to"

"May I suggest you allow Heath back into your life, even if it is slowly, because you need him, just as he needs you" I said, hoping she would at least have Heath in the end of this "I had trouble letting Louis near me, let alone touching me; I do know that in the face of tragedy, there is no easy way to heal"

"I would not even know how to approach him at this point" she said, defeated.

Florence always appeared so strong and it was at this point that I realized that she got all of her strength from her Samuel. She had relied on him for so much and had believed that he would always be next to her, so without him, she was absolutely lost.

"Perhaps you could at least let him know that it is alright to come near you, because in light of these events, you will need him now more than ever"

"It is hard enough talking to you, but I have no one else to express these fears to" she said, no longer hiding her emotions as tears slipped down her face.

I reached over, hugging her once more "You can be furious at me and blame me for everything that has happened, but I am always here if you need someone to speak to"

It was my turn to be startled as Florence returned the hug, clinging to me as she continued crying.

One day she will be strong again and if she needs to be weak now, then that is fine. There is no shame in being weak when healing, because accepting help and allowing yourself to open up again is the hardest part.

Even if it is the first real step.