The Other Side of the Door

Chapter 16

Elliot's chest immediately started bleeding. He fell over, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

"No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening," I tried to stop the blood from pouring out by tearing part of my dress and pressing it onto his wound. It wasn't doing much, though. 

"Alayna, please. Just let me go," Elliot whispered, his eyes closed. He seemed so peaceful. 

Tears began falling from my eyes. I was watching the love of my life die in front of my eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it. 

Or was there?

"Elliot, I need you to stay awake for me. How exactly do I break the curse?" 

Elliot groaned. "Alayna, you can't. There's nothing you can do."

I started crying. I knew I had to fall in love with him, which I had. I just wasn't sure if saying "I love you" was going to do the trick. 

"Alayna, there's something I want you to know," Elliot struggled to say. It almost made me more sad that he could barely get the words out. It was impossible to make me more devastated, more sad than I was before, though. 

"What is it?" I held onto his hand as he took a deep breath. 

"I l-," he didn't finish. There was no breath, not sign of life left in him. 

"Elliot! No!" I screamed. 

This couldn't possibly have been the end. The petal was still dangling from the stem, so I wouldn't give up. 

I wanted to fight, somehow. I didn't know who or what I needed to fight, but I needed to fight. My Elliot and all of the servants were going to die, all because of one stupid mistake made a hundred years ago. 

I stood up and began pacing. How was this going to be fixed? Elliot had just died before my eyes, but there still had to be a way to save him, or at least save the servants. The least I could do was save the servants. 

I looked over at Elliot, tears soaking my cheeks. There had to be a river forming at my feet. I rushed over to him and just laid my head on his chest. my tears began to soak his clothes, but I didn't think he would mind. 

"Elliot, there was so much I needed to tell you. I disobeyed you, you see. I didn't follow your order to go home and stay home for a week. You see, I just wanted to see my father, so that I could tell him...," I let out a large sniff. It had begun to rain, adding to my tears. "How much I love you." 

If possible, the tears came out of my eyes harder than before. I was fully bawling. I thought it was the end, honestly. I had failed him, I had failed all of the servants, my friends. I had failed myself. 

Suddenly, he started vibrating. The next thing I knew, I was staring at him floating in the air. Last time I had checked, the deceased did not start floating post mortality. 

Sparks started flying out of his fingertips and feet, as if he was combusting. I wasn't sure if this was part of the curse, or maybe the curse was broken. I looked over and saw that the petal had fallen off the stem of the rose. Maybe this was how the curse ended? I backed away from Elliot, hoping this... thing... would end soon. I looked a little bit closer, which was hard because there were lights shining off his body everywhere. 

As I squinted to see what was happening, I noticed that his feet were significantly more human-like, and much less... beastly, for lack of a better term. The fur that was once covering his body was not there, instead replaced by skin. His face slowly began to morph. His fangs were becoming teeth, his jawline was shifting. The fur that was covering his face disappeared, and a human face replaced it. The only thing that really looked the same were his eyes. His eyes were exactly the same.