Little Game

Chapter 53

A person could be compared to a candle. A single light could be related to hope which could flicker with a single gentle blow. A candle that stands strong for so long could melt. A candle could only survive for so long.

Isabella had hid her pain in a cloak of joy, wondering if it could cover every hole of woeful memory she had. Inside her was a child who longed for an answer that could never be given. A child who wondered for a long time.

She hid herself with a smile, hoping nobody could see the tears that fell whilst trying to maintain the smile that had become too forceful.

Isabella had accepted that the life for her was a life where people could come and go. Friends that disappears in the wind, families who just becomes memories.

She was fine.

Until she wasn't.

The moment Isabella heard they were coming, every control-every part of her that built up a wall that prevented her from any pain and suffering- crumbled down.

Angry?

Why?

Why should they be the one angry?

"What should we do, Bella?"

Isabella realized that Raphael was asking her. He was letting her decide on what to do. She realized that all of them were. Dmitri was looking at her expectantly. She knew he would accept whatever decision she'll make and would gladly help her in any way he can. Ezri, with his usual kind and gentle look on his face that would be there to support her every step of the way.

Ezri. For some reason, there was something about Ezri that Isabella just realized. She really had a long way to go about stuff like these but she realized that she shouldn't have trusted him as much as she did.

Ezri had been and still is kind and gentle. However, he was also brought up by her grandmother as a 'friend.' Who was Ezri before he was the Ezri she has now? What made him so worthy to be plucked somewhere by my grandmother and to be presented to me as a playmate?

Isabella doesn't know a lot about Ezri. She doesn't know his birthday, she doesn't know his origin, his favorite food, his favorite drink, his family history, his life before he met her.

Isabella swallowed heavily, trying to shove that constant train of thoughts away. She can't lose a friend. She just can't.

After losing Nicolai and her family, the feeling of abandonment just doesn't sit well with her. It feels like something is shattering her insides whenever she thinks of it. Loss is something she doesn't want and it's something she doesn't need right now.

Isabella tramples the feeling of panic welling up inside her. Panic is a monster that she doesn't need at the moment. She needs a calm mind like water that hasn't been bothered.

"Let them be." Isabella decided after she realized that she's been silent for too long. She tried to sound casual and aloof, tried to act like a person who doesn't care but her voice betrayed her.

Raphael nodded. "Okay..." He muttered in fear. "Look, Bella. I'm so sorry that this-"

"I don't need you to apologize." Isabella sighed loudly, sounding too tired and too fed up with everything. "It wasn't your fault. This situation isn't your fault."

Raphael nodded. "Okay..." He whispered, looking at her worriedly.

"How about the guests?" Dmitri butted in, looking at her. Isabella was jealous that he could sound so casual despite the crushing information that the rest of Isabella's family is coming.

She blew out a shuddering breath out. "Just..." I muttered, looking away from them. "Get them away from me. This party's over."

Too early to be over.