The Starling Saviour

Chapter 52

'What did he do?' Merlyn looked pitifully at me, the Vertigo still acting upon my brain.

'He made me finally happy again,' I turned on Merlyn. 'Why would you want to stop my happiness?'

'I saved you,' Merlyn corrected me, annoyed at my ungratefulness.

'You just ruin my life, again and again and again,' I hissed, hitting out, my emotions turning awfully twisted. 'I finally felt free. But then you ruined it all!'

'Next time, I won't help you if you act like this!' Merlyn shouted, not realising that my brain was highly altered.

'I don't need your help anyway,' I shouted back as he disappeared into the night.

I had been so happy until Malcolm Merlyn had shown up, but now, I was a much more of a mess I had ever been. Meeting The Count had yet again brought up past mourning for Isaac, and now that I knew Martel was dead, Isaac's killer would never get what he deserved. And the fact that Merlyn was involved in my life yet again made me only frustrated.

Returning to Leyla's hideout, I found her liquor cabinet, pouring a drink of the strongest alcohol I could find. I drunk the contents of the glass while I thought back to my dark past and my tortuous present, just longing for all my pain and suffering to end, pouring more and more into several glasses until I blacked out.

Mission accomplished.

---

'Tommy.'

The next thing I remember doing was whispering through my phone speaker to a confused Tommy at five o'clock in the morning.

'Aria, what are you doing up this late?' He asked me with much concern tiredly. 'Well, up this early.'

'I wanted to-to talk to you about... Stuff,' I managed to babble. 'I've done a lot of bad, bad things in my life, and I wanted to make something... Right.'

'... Are you drunk?' Tommy realised soon enough. 'I'm on my way. You need help. Where are you?'

'I'll text you the address,' I croaked, holding my phone back limply as Tommy ended the call.

He arrived in a space of ten minutes, looking flustered as I slowly opened the door.

'It was hard to find this place, especially how to get i-'

I grabbed his face quickly, locking our lips together until he withdrew with surprise.

'Aria,' he gasped, looking at me pitifully. 'You're going to regret this.'

'I thought the feeling was mutual,' I spurted. 'But you don't love me, do you? You just said all that stuff at the hospital, at Christmas, so you could just get me off your back!'

'No, no, Aria, I-' he stopped himself from going any further. 'Just, listen to me, okay?'

But all I could do was cry as I convinced myself I had been played once again.

'You need water,' he decided, finding the kitchen and passing me a glass in no time.

'I need the truth, not water!' I reacted irrationally, dramatically turning away from Tommy.