Awoken

Everly:CH10: Near-Death Part 1

Knock, knock . . . Knock.

"Evie?" Polly calls from behind the closed door.

Writing my novel can wait until later. I place the pencil down on the stack of papers sitting on the desk before standing to my feet. It feels like it's been weeks since we last saw each other, but it's only been a couple of days.

"Come in," I call.

Something is wrong. Instead of a smile, Polly greets me with a slight grimace, her usual bright and clashing colours are absent replaced with a dark grey cloak that covers her from shoulder to floor. Instead of flashy hair clips, her blonde locks are tied back in a high pony, her usually warm brown eyes look dark and stormy.

"We need to talk," Polly says closing the door behind her.

Those words never lead to anything good. What did I do wrong?

"Okay," I hesitate.

"There's no easy way to say this, I'm leaving Hopetoun Everly. I'm already packed. I'm making a holiday out of it, booked a ticket on the scenic boat cruise."

My ears are blocked, they must be because there's no way Polly would do something like this, just up and leave so abruptly, especially when I'm basically a prisoner at Eden Meadows.

"You mean leaving for just a few weeks right? That will be good for you, and I'll be in control by the time you get back."

Polly shakes her head, "I'm serious Eve, if I don't move on, I'll get dragged down alongside you. This is my chance."

Ouch. Harsh.

"Why are you talking like this? What happened? Something happened, are you in trouble?"

My brain can't make any sense of this.

"Nothing happened, and you're the trouble, Everly. You're not strong enough to beat this. You're not getting out of here. This is the straw that is finally going to break the camel's back. You were the perfect amount of broken, easily manageable and controlled. Besides if you make it through this, you'll be one of them traveling constantly, forgetting about me."

No. This isn't Polly. Sure she has foot in mouth disease, says the first thing that comes to mind which is sometimes taken offensively, but Polly is never cruel. Polly's just scared, she doesn't mean what she's saying.

"Stop talking like that, this isn't you Polly, and you're wrong, we'll make it work."

"But it is and I meant every word."

That's it, having ripped out my heart Polly opens the door and leaves, slamming it shut. Stunned all I can do is stare at the spot where Polly had been standing.

Wait . . . The door handle jingles.

Disappointment crushes the hope when Kahli enters the room, not that I dislike her, I just thought maybe Polly was just pulling some cruel twisted prank on me.

"I'm not really hungry," I say assuming Kahli is here to take me for breakfast. Eating is the last thing I feel like doing right now. I'm dreading the training session.

"Follow me, Everly," Kahli instructs but it's not safe for me to leave this room. Not right now.

"I need a minute, I don't want to lose control."

My brain needs a minute to process what just happened. I'm still expecting Polly to return, back to her normal self, apologising for the bad joke. Part of me is convinced that's all it is. The other part, however, is mourning the loss. We've been best friends for over ten years.