Masquerade

Chapter 5- (Picture of Alexander)

“Persephone?” I heard the only voice that I trusted, and one of the few that actually knew my name. Alexander. I was safe.

“Hi” I managed to whisper weakly. I heard him laugh, but it was without humor.

I felt his hand on my forehead, stroking my hair away from my face. His fingers were cold against my flaming skin. He leaned over and I opened my eyes to peer into his brown ones. He pressed his lips lightly to mine and pulled back quickly, afraid that he would hurt me. I breathed out a contented sigh and turned my lips slightly up.

He didn’t smile at me, still looking worried. I raised my hand up to my head and was surprised when I touched bandages. I looked back at Alexander but his face hadn’t changed. My fingers roamed around to the back of my head, and I couldn’t stop a cry of pain escaping my mouth. Alexander’s face morphed into fury and his eyes darkened to black.

“Whoever did this to you…” he trailed off, looking away. “What happened to you, Persephone? I haven’t seen you for days, and I was walking down the street late last night when I see you collapsed on the ground in a puddle of blood!” He broke off as he relived the memory and cleared his throat before continuing. “You’re lucky that I found you before anyone else did! You can’t just go running off like that without telling me! This is what happens.”

Anger started to burn through the pain. “Alexander, you don’t own me. I can do whatever I want,” I said, trying to sound confident. I’m not sure I succeeded because he just laughed at me.

“Men own women, Persephone, in case you’ve forgotten,” he said smugly. God. I hated when he was like this.

“I live by myself, supporting myself. I don’t need you, and I can walk away from you whenever I want. We aren’t married, in case you’ve forgotten,” I said through my teeth.

Hurt flashed through his eyes for a second, but I felt no regret. He brought it on himself.

The hurt hardened to fury. “I’m still a man, and you’re still a woman. If you leave, when you come back people will believe my story and not yours.”

“Come back? If I left, why would I come back? I think you might have a little bit of an inflated ego, Alexander. And I suggest that you back off before what we are talking about becomes reality,” I said, shaking my head at his stupidity.

Something dangerous came into his eyes. “Maybe you would be senseless enough to stay away, but if you go, I will bring you back. Whether you like it or not.”

“And what, Alexander? You think you could force me? You forget that I am in a position to defend myself. And even if you do succeed, you think that I am going to remain with you as your docile wife? You don’t know me if you don’t realize that I would rather die than be somewhere against my will. If you force me into anything, I will never stop fighting you.”

He started to say something, but I didn’t want to hear it.

“Just leave, Alexander. Before you ruin things further.”

He didn’t move and I closed my eyes and shut him out. I lay there for a long time, waiting for him to leave. He never did. I knew that he cared about me, and didn’t want to leave me alone while I was like this. He was a good man, even if he was infuriating and thoughtless sometimes. Eventually I drifted away, hearing his steady breathing next to me.

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I ran through the woods, breathing in the scent of the tree’s and grass. Sunlight filtered in through the trees, creating kaleidoscopic patterns on the ground. A breeze rippled through the forest, caressing my cheeks and blowing my hair around my shoulders. I ran alongside a glistening blue river. It laughed as it flew by me. I stopped and leaned over, looking at my rippled reflection. My hair shone and my skin glowed with life. My mask was the same but my clothes were different. I wore a loose blue dress that fell low on my shoulders. I had a leather corset over it that was laced up tightly, but not so tight that I had difficulty breathing. My hair was undone, cascading over my shoulders and down my back. I laughed at how strange and different I looked. I looked away from the river when I heard a voice drifting through the trees.