The White Rose

Chapter 10 - Bright eyes, black eyes and familiar eyes.

Before he died, he said "I'm sorry I took you."

"Me too,” I replied.

Then he was gone. His ashes were carried away by the wind and they drifted downstream, followed by a lone feather from my wing, which danced to music I couldn’t hear. It was a melancholy song that I could only feel. A rhythm that mirrored my breaking heart.

Christian had managed to destroy him without even touching him. To answer the question he’d asked in the park, yes. He was definitely dangerous.

Then, he collapsed. I prayed he would be himself when he woke up.

(Christian’s point of view)

I woke up to find myself lying on the wet grass. I had blacked out again. I heard voices, but I didn't sit up. I pretended I was still asleep.

Leila's voice was the one I heard first. “I can’t believe you just stood by and allowed Christian to kill him.”

“You can't judge me after what we just caught you doing. You were all over each other,” Ivy hissed.

Silence.

"How do you know he wasn't tricking you? He could have been deceiving all of us."

"He told me to get out of the way. He died so that I wouldn't get hurt and he said that he deserved to. Does that sound like a trickster to you?"

"No. Even so, what about Christian? That's why James is dead, because you betrayed him by kissing James and it unlocked the darkest part in his mind and suppressed all the good things."

A lump appeared in my throat. That's what had happened before I blacked out. I had caught her with a spider. My Leila. I should've known she'd break my heart. Why wouldn't she want somebody else?

And Ivy... She said I'd killed him. How would I have killed a spider? I thought for a moment and that's when I remembered the memory with Leila. That memory I was sure couldn't be real because I didn't recall being there. I had felt her powers being drained at my hands. But that couldn't have been me. What was I?

I stood up and turned to Ivy and Leila, who were stood side by side with the same expression on their faces. They were scared of me.

I took a few steps forward and they edged backwards. "Christian?" Leila said like she didn't know me.

"It's me Leila. What happened to me?"

They both glanced at each other before Ivy spoke. "We... We think that you have some kind of... alter ego. Another personality."

"What did I do?"

Leila spoke. "I don't think you're an angel without wings Christian. You're something new. Something neither of us understand. Something dangerous. You have the ability to strip angels of their powers somehow and we think you can split the atom with your mind. You nearly killed me a couple of days ago."

"Was it in a park?" I felt like I was choking on the growing lump in my throat.

"How did you know that? He said that you wouldn't remember anything."

"It's in pieces. I thought it was a dream. I didn't think I would..." I didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"You killed someone right in front of us. He turned to dust in under a minute Christian. I don't think that your other personality can tell the difference between an enemy and a friend, because he attacks your enemies, but he also kills people for fun.”

“Why did he kill James?” I didn’t know why I asked when I already knew the answer.

Leila didn’t say anything at first; she just closed her eyes and took a deep breath.