Swooped | ✓

Chapter 34: When Doves Cry

I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy!

And then, silence.

In my dreams, it was always quiet after Alex. I would just float, faces of people I knew but also didn't floating around me. I think I had slept with most of them, probably all of them. I think a few of them liked me, and I might have liked them, but I was sure they would all leave me in the end. Why would I let them get close enough to hurt me. So I screamed at them to leave me alone, and they did.

And then it was quiet all over again, because usually I would wake up.

Would I wake up this time?

A door appeared in front of me, made of dark brown wood with a glistening gold handle. I hadn't seen this door before, not like the other parts of the dream. Was this not a dream? I felt dazed, and I couldn't quite tell. I could hear a voice behind the door, deep and rich, warm with the hint of an accent. The voice made me smile, and I didn't hesitate to open the door.

Milo stood there, beautiful and perfect, and my heart thundered in my chest. This wasn't a dream, not as Milo stood there, smiling softly at me with his arm outstretched. 

"I won't leave you, C," Milo said, and I was too busy looking into his eyes to notice that his mouth didn't match his words.

So I stepped forwards and forwards, reaching out to take the hand of the boy that I loved more than any one. The boy who, for the first time, I believed would never leave me. Never, ever. Trust wasn't an easy thing to give, but he already held my heart in his hands, why not my trust too?

I pressed my hand into his, but gasped when it slipped through. My heart thumped faster, the colour draining from my face as Milo stepped forward, through me and taking my soul with him. I turned robotically, Milo walking past me, away from me, and to... Lark? Long strawberry blonde hair loose and in a pristine white sundress, looking like a painting. 

"No," I choked out, running forwards, but never getting closer. My feet pounded on the cloud-like ground, and I screamed and screamed as Milo took Lark's hand, pulling her close. 

"Please don't leave me!" I cried, tripping on nothing. Everything hurt, everything. My back, my hands, my face. I could feel my split lip bleeding and my heart dying as Milo didn't turn to me.

Helefthelefthelefthe-

I sat up abruptly with a choked inhale, pain erupting from everything. I was in my bedroom, and everything was dark apart from a slither of light coming from a gap in my curtains. My skin was slick with sweat, my hair damp and plastered across my pale forehead, and I was shaking. My head whirled around, and I couldn't help but sob when I realised I was alone in my room.

I sobbed pathetically, crying tears I couldn't afford while pulling my knees to my chest, my blanket bunching up around my legs. I curled up into myself, head buried in my hands, my wings wrapping themselves around me the best that they could in their injured state. 

"Milo..." I cried, breaths coming out in pained hiccups. "Milo... Milo... Milo..."

See? This is why he left. This is why everyone leaves. Because you're not alright, you're not okay, there's something wrong with you...

Something wrong.

"Oh my God, you're awake."

There was a clatter on the bedside table pressed against the bed, and the mattress suddenly dipped before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me. Hands pressed against my head, pulling my face into a sturdy chest that smelled like home; like a warm blanket, fingers running up and down your back, a forehead kiss.