A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 36 - Althea ||

                          

"You knew about Niall?" I ask, glaring at her. Caius did tell me about her involvement in Niall's death. But he also told me that she didn't know what she was doing. I can't think of it to be true, now that I've learned Althea's story. "What else were you keeping from me all this time?"

Griffith shifts away from us slowly, feeling uncomfortable with the tension filled in the air around us.

Althea crosses her arms in front of her chest and looks downwards, hiding her guilt. "I knew, but I wasn't so sure about what I knew," she says quietly. "To be honest, when I saw you in your bed, I knew that you were Zayn Malik, the guy who lost his best friend, Niall. And I knew that Niall was the start of Caius' supposed end, and that he was killed eight years ago by none other than Caius disguised as Stanley Hooper. What I didn't know was that your death was attempted by Caius. I was more than sure that he was dead. I swear that I didn't know that he was out, alive and thriving. But yes, I knew about Niall being killed. I knew about him being an unnatural soul."

"So all this time when you kept asking me about Niall, you knew? You were just pretending to be oblivious about my life and about Niall's fate?"

"Pretense is a talent that I learned over the years," she replies, hurt by my tone. "All these years, I had to keep pretending. Or else he would've killed me. I was vulnerable. I didn't want you to know about my part in Niall's death. As it is, you were facing a lot of difficult situations and I didn't want to add to them."

"And did you know that Niall was out there? That Caius was keeping Niall's soul with him?" Because if she did, I would have a reason to not forgive her. All this time as a soul, I wanted to know about Niall's whereabouts. And if she had kept them from me, I don't know whether I could trust her again.

"No, I didn't. Really." I am relieved at her answer.

"And how were you involved in Niall's murder exactly?"

She looks at me straight in the eyes. "I have a feeling that you already know."

She's right. Caius did tell me. She was the one who suggested that Niall should be killed. He told me a lot of other things. But also, he told them in a way so that I would grow to hate Althea. I believe that she has more to say about what happened – what really happened. I can't see her as the bad guy. I just can't.

"He told me that you made him kill Niall," I say. My speech comes out to be more bitter than I wanted it to be. "It's not true, right?"

"Not all of it," she says. "He came to me one day, eight years ago. He said that he wanted something – information. I was more than sure that he had come to make sure that I hadn't told his 'secret' to anyone. Instead, I came to know that he wanted to know more about humans and their emotions. He knew about my knowledge of humanity, that's why he came for me. I was quite surprised actually. He hated humans. What would he possibly do with information about them? He asked me about humans' attraction and love for others. He wanted to know whether this affection is attached to every human. Long story short, he wanted to know whether killing of one human could lead to the death of others. I saw where this was going–he wanted to defy the Order, again.

"When I refused to help him out, he, well, almost beat me to death. Fun times." She huffs. "And I, tired of the pain, eventually told him that if he would kill a person who was loved by the masses, it would create worldwide depression." She stops speaking after she mumbles a quiet, "I'm sorry."

She disrupted the Order without knowing it, just like I gave up Niall. She was put in a trying situation by Caius, just like me. And to think that it could've been any five of us. It was just that Niall was chosen. And somebody else would've been forced to make the sacrifice. It's just that that the chances weren't in Niall's or my favour.