The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Aiko had imagined love as a brilliant gem that was held in a glass box, illuminated by thousands upon thousands of lights. Though, after Reed's harsh rejection, she learned that love is like a rose. Two people grab onto the thorny stem of that rose. The sharp points protruding from the stem dig into the palms of their hands, drawing beads of blood. Still, despite this pain, those people remain with their hands firmly wrapped around the stem, too distracted by the prettiness of the red petals at the top of the flower. But, once those petals begin to wilt, they begin to take notice of the pain that has been stabbing at them for all that time. When that pain is no longer bearable, their hands fall to their sides with their palms stained red with their partner's and their own blood. Then, as if they hadn't learned their lesson from before, they grab onto another rose, hopeful that they won't get hurt this time around. While some are lucky enough to hold onto a rose that does not pain them, others aren't so fortunate. In this case, Aiko was one of the many unfortunate men and women that experienced the thorns of love. Even now, the thorns were digging into her, yet she couldn't let go of the rose, not even if the stem began to decay. She would continue holding onto it and she would make Reed do the same.

"I just want everything to go back to when Ember wasn't fucking things up!" Aiko seethed under her breath, frantically wiping the tears from her eyes.

She continued to mumble to herself until she reached the door of her dorm. Her mumbling quickly turned to shaky breathing. The door to her dorm was slightly ajar. But I always lock it before I leave. That one thought sent her into a nervous frenzy. She brought her left hand to her mouth, biting at one of her acrylic nails. As she forced herself to step foot into her dorm, all she wanted to do was just turn around and run. If only she was as brave as Ember, then maybe she would have been able to barge into her dorm, yelling at the top of her lungs. Instead, she was quietly inching through the entrance, not even bothering to shut her door. I'm strong, I'm brave, I'm everything and more than that damned brunette is! Her inner monologue was put to a screeching halt when her eyes settled on an unknown figure sitting on the edge of her bed. It was likely that this figure was a drunken student that accidentally stumbled into the wrong dorm. That was what she wished it was, but the familiar cloak hiding their body was a dead giveaway as to who it really was. Reynard. Aiko opened her mouth, fully prepared to let out the loudest scream she could muster.

"Do me a favor and shut your mouth," Reynard told her, his voice hollow and strained, almost as if it caused him a great deal of pain to speak.

Immediately, she swallowed down her scream. Her fear of what this beastly vampire might do to her if she didn't listen was far greater than her fear of what might happen if she didn't scream at the top of her lungs for help.

"Your futile attempt at making Reed attend prom with you was laughable," Reynard proceeded to ridicule her, not too pleased with the progress she made. "Normally, I wouldn't be so forgiving to such a failure as yourself, but I'm feeling generous. So, try again and succeed. If you disappoint me once more, it will be you who will be killed before him."

"I advise you to not ignore the information I gave you in that letter when you talk to him again. Though you may think you might still be able to sway his heart, another person has taken your place. I'm sure you already know who they are, correct?" He didn't allow her to answer, instead, he kept going, "Remember: fail once more and you're dead."

Aiko wasn't concerned about the fact that she would be killed if she failed again. What she was really concerned about was how Reynard knew she had already talked to Reed. She was almost entirely sure that the two of them were alone for the entire duration of their conversation. If there had been anyone else in their presence, Reed would have picked up on it too. There was no logical explanation for Reynard's knowledge of this. That is unless he had some sort of spy.