Under Her Mask

Chapter Nine

America POV

I jolted up from my bed, trying to catch my breath. I put my hand on my chest, feeling my racing heartbeat, clutching onto my sweater for dear life. I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I push the loose strands of my red hair out of my face and wipe the tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

You might be wondering, what the heck just happened. Since the day of my "funeral", I'd been having terrible night terrors for the past few months. I woke up every night for the first few nights just like this, but I would be sobbing uncontrollably in my sleep and screaming. After about three months or so, the night terrors had begun to subside and I could sleep more peacefully, only having night terrors every now and then. Finally, two months ago, it had stopped and I had come to the conclusion that I only had these terrors because of my 'previous life' as America. They were all different depending on what triggered my memory. But this one by far was the worst.
This is when I had "died" and it was my "funeral".

Everyone was crying and I watch them from behind. Feeling horrible for doing this I tried to walk up to them but my legs wouldn't budge. It was as if they were cemented to the abyss that was below me. They all turned their heads and looked at me

"Why did you do this? We trusted you. How could you?" Then my dad came up to me and caressed my cheek. I was frozen in place and couldn't move anything, not even blink. All of a sudden, his tears turned into blood and his eyes turned black I looked around and saw that everyone's eyes were black. I was freaking out and couldn't do anything.

Out of nowhere, a rebel and shot my family. Every. Single. One. I tried so hard to wake up but it wasn't working. Then all of a sudden, I was in the hallway I bumped into Maxon. He looked at me with a smile, so I thought that the terror was over. But then he frowned and his eyes turned all black and he was bleeding all over. Screaming

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME. YOU LIED TO ME. I HATE YOU. DIIIE!!!" And then there was a whip in his hand. Just as he was about to hit me I had woken up. And that leads us now to me trying to calm myself down.

I laid back down on my bed, unable to sleep. I tossed and turned all over. But still wasn't able to go back to sleep. There was no point in just doing this so after another good half hour I decided to finish some leftover paperwork.

I looked at my clock to check the time and it was 4:30 AM. I doubt anyone will be up right now because work officially begins at 6 AM. So I had about one and a half hour to just chill.

I went to my bathroom and did my basic routine. Once I was out I went to my closet and looked for something to wear. In the end, I chose to wear a light blue, shin length dress that was really simple with only a bit of design here and there. I brushed out my red hair and put it in a messy bun. I put on my wig, contacts and minimal makeup. Once I was done, I slipped on my flats and grabbed a thick shawl since its getting colder now.

Before going to my office I decided to take a little walk in the garden. The guards let me through and I thanked them. I pulled the shawl closer when the cool wind hit my face. I feeling was so plesent. It helped numb the pain in my chest. As I walked around the garden, I noticed someone sitting on the bench where Maxon and I first met. I knew that going there may give me another night terror but my curiosity got the best of me. Who, other than me, the guards, and some maids would be up at this time?

As I walked closer to the figure, I noticed that it was Maxon, but he didn't notice that I was coming his way. I tapped his shoulder and that seemed to break him out of his trance. He looked up, surprise lit up his eyes as he wasn't expecting to see me. He scrambled out of the bench and stood in front of me, tilting his head a bit down so he could see me. Curse him for being so tall.

"Amelia? What are you doing here?" He asked looking confused.

"I could ask you the same thing," I say giving an equally as confused face.

"Ok if I tell you will you tell me?" He asked. I replied with a simple ok.

We sat on the bench and waited for him to go first. He sighed and started to run a hand through his hair.

"Ok, um, I guess I was out here because this bench here is the one where I met America. I was having a hard time sleeping so I thought that I'd take a stroll through the garden. That's, what she always did when she needed to think." He smiled a tiny bit before frowning again.

"I miss her Amelia, I-I miss her so much. Every part of my head is full of her. I never should've let her go to the bathroom that day. She should have stayed with me the whole time. Then she would still be here. I know that I'm married to Kriss, but it just doesn't feel right. I-I want my America back." His voice cracked and I could see the tears falling from his eyes.

The guilt in me is eating me up inside. My poor Maxon is breaking down because he wants me back. And I'm sitting over here pretending like I'm a whole other person, not doing anything to help him.

I couldn't help it anymore. I stood up and crouched down in front of him and pulled him into a hug. I could feel him tense under my arms but after a moment he relaxed and brought his arms around my back, hugging me tightly as he cried. I felt him nuzzle his head into the crook of my neck and I felt my face heat up a little at how cute that was. NO now isn't the time for this.

I didn't say anything until his cries had turned into quiet sniffles. I gently ran my hand through his hair in an attempt to soothe him and I think it worked cause he looked at peace. We stayed like that for a bit, until he had finally calmed down. He pulled back from the hug but I held his shoulders, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Maxon, I understand how you feel. When I came here, I had left my family and one person I loved so much, we had lost all contact. Later I received a letter telling me that my father had died. I couldn't do anything about it and it hurt so much. But it's ok because I know that he is still cheering for me, wishing that I do my best and succeed in life. That's what America is doing for you. She wanted you to forget her so that you could succeed in life as well. She doesn't want you to hold back on anything because of her. She wants you to keep moving forward for her. What I'm trying to say is don't dwell on something that is in the past. Because it's only gonna push you away from success. Use her death as a motive to keep pushing forward." I said to him.

He stared at me for a moment before hugging me again.

"Thank you, Amelia, you really helped" he whispered. I smiled.

"No problem Maxon," I replied and released from the hug.

"Let's go inside, it's freezing out here!" I said shivering.

He chuckled at my sudden change in behaviour as we walked back inside. We walked in comfortable silence before Maxon spoke.

"You know Amelia, you still haven't told me why you were outside." He stated. I smiled at him before replying.

"Let's save that story for another time. How about you come over to my room after work is over and we can talk about that. Besides, I think we've let out enough emotions for today" I said. His smile widened at the thought, thinking I've accepted his offer of talking to each other more often.

"Glad-"

"MAXON!" We froze from a loud screeching sound came from the end of the hall. Guess who it was.

Kriss.

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A/N: heeey guys. Guess whos back??? THIS GURL XD. Yeah so I know I haven't updated in a while, blame high school. I know this was kinda boring but I didn't have time to make anything better so cut me some slack. If u guys enjoyed then plz vote and comment what u wanna read next.

luv ya guysss<3

{EDITED}
Byeeeeee

-H