Merely Bittersweet Innocence

-2-

d e u x

The art room was unlike any other in the academy.Unused.Abandoned.Mainly because of it's dusty,tall,curtained windows around the circular shaped room,and the absence of any source of life,except Cara,who entered her sanctuary making sure no one was following her.

Placing her book bag on the white cushioned seat stained with paint she raised the brush and slid the pallet into her fingers.

Grasping one last petal off a daisy she knelt back onto the grassy surface and tucked it into the boy's light brown roots.The boy looked into Cara's crystal blue eyes with his dark blue ones with amusment and admiration.

She picked her colours and smeared them onto her pallete.She would draw.Draw that house,that beautiful house,that made her wonder if it would still be on that little hill,in that large estate.

"Draw something cool"He took her hand and pulled her gently towards him.She touched the white canvas of the sketchbook."Draw the house,he loves the house."

He did love the house.

Cara saw red.She was shaking violently now.and right hands,she could feel her insides trembling,as she closed her eyes.Just let me,let me at least let brush touch canvas!

The brown haired boy smiled at her with his crooked teeth."Draw."He placed both her hands on the sketch book.He came beside her and fell into the field of flowers,laughing before he spoke again."It's his birthday tomorrow,Draw the house,he'll love it,and we'll be friends forever."

He always had loved that house.More than his birthday,almost.

She grinned a coy smile back at him and dipped her brush in purple paint.

But who was he?

Her mind shook,she saw red spots,red spots everywhere,pain worser than a migrane.She opened her eyes and rapidly pulled her hands away from the canvas and colours.

Her vision..no colours.She dropped her brush onto the easel.Red splattered onto her blank canvas.Tainted.Like blood on a white rose,like spilt wine on a white plate.

She stood up abruptly,the chair almost toppling behind from the force.She quickly turned around,her skirt whirling,her heart beating fast as she controlled her breath.

It's alright.Calm yourself.Don't make a scene.You'll try again and again.

Cara sat back down slowly.Her fingers itched to reach for the pallete again.But she couldn't.She hunched forward and put her elbows on the polished wood.All her paths of escape her blocked now.Except one.

Axel's offer.

She laughed,a laugh void of genuine happiness.Defeated,she whispered,

"I guess I don't have a choice,do I?"

It's home or hell.But when home turns to your hell,descisions get hard when your choices limited.Possibly worse than before.

She laid her head into her hands,and let reality seep in.She closed her eyes,knowing that no one would be here to find her.

######

Reece had just finished his last class for the day,Math.He headed down the almost empty hallway and his footsteps stopped as he slid a card through a slot beside an opaque wooded door.

The Adam's game room.The adams had all the power at their fingertips,a game room in an education facility would be the most normal thing they could have requested.Axel had connections,which means he had connections to the school,and the academy's new headmistress of three years next year,next month in January.