Poisoned Crimson

Chapter 19. Memories to Drown for

Chapter 19

''Born of the night

and her heart, of darkness,

evil incarnate

to dance so reckless.''

When I woke up the room was bright. The sun was starting to go down, which meant I've slept for the entire afternoon. I released a long yawn, the evening sun making the room a bright orange. The clouds were gone, the thunderstorm had moved on to its next victim. I stared at the ticking clock.

7:30 p.m. I stared in disbelief at the clock. It was the longest I've slept in a couple of days, mainly because I was up at night and reading the diary during the day. It must've worn me out too much, but it was the only time I could read without anyone finding or interrupting me.

I stretched myself out, my back cracking a little.

I sat up when the door opened slowly, revealing Beth's head peeking inside. She smiled when she saw me clearly looking a lot healthier than last night.

''So, you're finally awake,'' she said laughing. ''You were still sleeping when I came home from work.''

''I haven't slept this good in a while,'' I admitted smiling, but that only made her frown in concern. She was a true friend, at least that much I knew.

''Uhm...'' Beth trailed off, observing me. ''I don't know how you feel about this, but we've got school...''

My smile dropped, my heart rate quickening. ''Oh,'' I managed to bring out, getting anxious about the thought of having to see Benjamin and Edward there. I still wasn't over my guilt of leaving them, and I couldn't possibly imagine how Benjamin would react.

''You don't have to go if you don't want to,'' Beth said quickly. ''I can call you in sick or something.''

I shook my head, not wanting her to go through all that trouble just because of my cowardice. ''No, that's fine. I'll go.''

She didn't look convinced. ''Are you sure?''

I nodded, standing up. ''I'm sure, let me just get ready.''

***

I should've just let her call me in sick.

Why did I ever decide to come? Did I have a death wish or something?

As Beth and I entered the building, I couldn't stop looking around me, my stomach churning with nerves. Students were passing us by, but none of them were the ones I was looking out for. I wasn't ready to face them, I realized.

For one, I couldn't handle the guilt of leaving them like that.

Also, I was just plain scared.

Did they know by now that I was gone? Surely they did.

What feared me more was: did they know where I was?

''Are you sure you're fine?'' Beth asked for the tenth time, and again I had to nod and force a somewhat reassuring smile on my face. My eyes flew around the hallway, my heart pounding so fast I was afraid it would explode.

At least Dominic wasn't here; he was the last person I wanted to confront. He was probably going to be the maddest at me for leaving.

I waited by Beth's locker as she took out her books and stuffed them into her satchel. Once she had closed her locker, she looked at me with concern. The bell rang, making the last lingering students head to class.