Amaranthine

20: Gravity

The woman laughed. "So he only needs your blood? Wow, how noble of you to sacrifice your blood to Dio so that he doesn't need to kill people anymore." She sneered. "Keep the monster alive if you want, but just know that there are people like me suffering because of him. In the meantime, I suppose I should listen to you and wait for Dio to come back and kill me so you don't get your hands dirty."

I frowned. "That's not―"

"You're not innocent just because you're human. The way you act, you fit in really well with the rest of these monsters. You're playing with my life just like that zombie." She nodded towards the zombie outside. "I'm not going to trust you just because you don't drink people's blood. I'll die if I stay here and I'll die if I leave. If those are my only options, I'd like to get back at Dio before I go. And the way to do that is through you, right?"

I wasn't getting through to her. My jaw clenched in frustration. I understood how stressful this situation was, but was it that hard to listen to me?

I tried to reason with the woman. "If you kill me, you're not going to live too long after you escape. If you escape," I said. "I mean, do you really trust that zombie outside to keep his word about letting you go? Especially when he's been having so much fun playing games?"

The zombie outside cleared his throat. "I have something to say." He seemed annoyed, somehow. "I'm a truthful person. I wouldn't lie about letting you leave. And as a token of my goodwill, I might even be able to tell you what happened to your sister. What was her name again?"

"Chelsea! Her name is Chelsea." The woman exclaimed hopefully. Why was so much more eager to answer a zombie that could easily kill her rather than me, an unarmed human? I felt a little annoyed.

"Hmm, I think I remember that name." The zombie peeled himself away from the hallway wall. "I'll be back in a bit, so please don't kill each other while I'm gone. I'd hate to miss all the fun." With that, he left the woman and I alone in the cell with no supervision. Zombies really underestimated humans, didn't they?

I turned back to the woman, feeling a little exasperated. The excitement had faded from her face already. "To be honest . . . I don't know if I want to find out what happened to Chelsea anymore," she admitted. "I just want to get out of here. I really shouldn't have come." The tremor in her voice made me feel sudden sympathy for the woman.

She'd wanted to find her sister, but she'd gotten much more than she'd bargained for. We were both stuck in this cell because of me, too. A twinge of guilt pricked at my heart at the thought. If I'd let the woman go, would it have been that bad after all? Dio's army could have handled whatever came after him. But then again, that meant that people would die trying to take Dio down. It's better this way . . . right?

"I have a question," the woman said suddenly. "Why do you want to stay with Dio?"

I frowned. "It's . . . complicated. You wouldn't understand."

"I'm sure," the woman snorted. "I could never understand your feelings for that monster. But I'd like to know what you could possibly see in that man. Just so I know if you're truly insane or not."

I laughed. "Why should I tell you? You'd only judge me without understanding. And you won't tell me anything about you, not even your name. So why should I tell you something this personal?"

The woman's brow drew into a frown. For a moment, she was silent. "Beatrice." She said. "That's my name."

Somehow I wasn't sure if I believed her or not. Either way, I sighed. "Fine, I guess I'll tell you. . . I was tired of being alone," I admitted. "I've gone a long time without feeling like there was someone I truly loved. Actually, it's been longer than I can remember. I'd gotten tired of mundane things and part of me didn't care anymore. But when I met Dio, it felt like life was interesting again. It was like someone else could share my loneliness and truly understand the things I felt. Although things are a little different now, I still think he's the only one who can stand beside me. When I'm with him, I believe that forever really can exist."