Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Besides you, I’ve only really tried hard to get one of the others out,” Areli said, rubbing the scars on his forehead. “Her name was Lain,” he said. “Her real name, that is. Alice told her that her name was “Kallie,” but she had grown lazy with confidence in her memory erasing abilities. She has two ways of taking memories. She either covers them with a veil--or wipes them--or she strips them completely, the latter much more painful.”
“That’s a pretty name....” Sharon said, a feeble smile on her lips.
Areli made a face, and laughed, his eyes wrinkling up at their corners.
“What?” Sharon raised her voice. “Aer!” she exclaimed, not realizing she had given him a nickname until it was too late.
Areli’s laugh cut off as he threw her a blank stare. “What? Aer?”
“’S-‘s-‘s just a nickname!” Sharon slurred.
“’S fine,” Areli smiled, flicking her forehead, making her squeak. “We’re getting off topic, now look, Jakko started the killings. If he hadn’t gotten involved, those girls wouldn’t have died.”
“What do you mean?” Sharon asked. “Would getting involved keep them alive longer?”
“Well every person has a dark side, whether they want to admit it or not,” Areli said, his brow furrowing, the scars on his forehead stretching out gruesomely. “Hell, I’ll admit I’m not the best person,” he said. “I tried to strangle you, I don’t know what came over me.... I didn’t want you to suffer, but....”
“But what?” Sharon asked, rubbing her forehead, a scowl on her face.
“I really did try to kill you,” Areli said, holding up a careful hand, tenderly touching the sides of her neck, where yellow-blue bruises were forming, and coming from his hands. “I didn’t want Jakko to be the one to do it again,” he said. “I didn’t want Alice to do it either.”
“Why? Why would you want to kill me Areli?” Sharon asked, grabbing his hand in hers and holding it to her cheek.
“I didn’t want to, I don’t, but you don’t know what Alice would do if she got her hands on you. Whatever you think she might do, it’s a hundred times worse than that, you can’t even fathom what she’ll do,” he said, closing his eyes, unable to look at her face, one he would recognize anywhere, even though he had known her only for a while, though it seemed he had known her all his life.
“So... you’re saying you’re trying to kill me because you don’t want anyone else to?” Sharon asked.
“Exactly,” Areli nodded, surprised she seemed to understand, but then realizing how bad he must have just sounded.
“If you didn’t want him to kill me, then why dump me on him and run off?” she asked.
“Because I knew he wouldn’t kill you then. He couldn’t, and I don’t think he can for a while,” Areli said.
“Now that’s just messed up,” she frowned, freeing his hand and turning her face away, only making the forming bruises more visible to Areli when he opened his eyes to steal a glance at her face, only worsening his guilt.
YOU ARE READING
Falling Up
Mystery / Thriller*sequel to Ashes* Sharon has remembered her name, but is still no closer than she was to finding out what happened to her friends, Joshua and Markl, who think they finally have a lead on what Alice wanted them to get for her... but Alice has other t...
