Young Queen

TWENTY EIGHT

No longer was she seeing Leo in a suit sitting on the bed next to her. Instead, she was seeing him on the floor, a gun held up to his head by Dimitri. She looked down at herself, noticing she was in her angel costume, and her heartbeat even harder when she realized she was reliving the memory. This wasn't a nightmare; it was as if she was in that exact moment again.

She felt the coldness of her finger on the trigger, she smelt the blood on her clothes from Steven, she felt the fear and heartbreak as she watched Leo accept his death in front of her eyes. At the same moment she pulled the trigger, she was pulled back by a frantic Leo shouting her name.

She gasped realizing she was in the room and not at the scene of her birthday. She sat up in an instant, finding it hard to breathe. "Was I sleeping?" she asked him frantically. He shook his head.

"Your eyes were open, it was like you disconnected from this world," he spoke, worry laced in his face as he had never witnessed anything like that before.

At his statement she began to sob loudly, feeling so afraid of where her mind had brought her. If she wasn't sleeping when the memory appeared, that means it wasn't just a nightmare. It wasn't just something she would see when she closed her eyes - she would see them during the day as well.

He pulled her into his arms, trying so hard not to let his own tears fall at the fear she felt. Why did it have to be her that went through this? Why the girl he loves?

"Leo I saw it - I was at my birthday again. Why did it happen while I was awake? Why do I have to deal with this?" She cried out, clinging onto Leo in fear that her mind would bring her back to that moment again. With the nightmares, she knew what was real the moment she woke up and heard Leo's voice. However, with what happened just a few moments ago, she was terrified at how easily her mind slipped into a different reality.

Oh God, was she actually going insane? Was this the breaking point? She cried even harder at the thought.

"Everything will be okay, Aria," he soothed her, but even he wasn't sure things would be anymore. He was scared for her.

"Leo, why can't I just be normal?" she cried in his arms, feeling defeated at this moment. She was never going to get better, not at his point.

"Aria, I think - I think we have to get you professional help," he spoke calmly and honestly, but the moment she pulled away from him as if he burnt her, he wished he didn't say anything.

"You want to send me away!" she screamed, moving away from him on the bed. "You're just as bad as my parents!"

Hurt crossed his features, but he couldn't let her words get to him. He knew she was confused and scared. "Aria, that's not what I meant. I'm not sending you anywhere."

"You think I'm crazy, that's why you want me to get help!" she accused him again. How could Leo think these things about her?

"Aria I want you to get better. I don't want to see you so broken anymore," he begged her, but his words fell on deaf ears as her mind began to race.

"My mom told me I was broken and then she told me she wanted to send me away, is that your plan too?" She cried out, feeling herself not being able to catch her breath. Leo was supposed to be there for her; he was supposed to think she wasn't crazy. However, maybe he had a point. Maybe she was actually crazy.

He tried to move closer to her, but she kept moving away. "You're not crazy and I'm not sending you away Aria. Listen to me, please!"

He could see her body begin to hyperventilate, and he knew if she didn't calm down soon, she would probably end up passing out. In a split second, he jumped on her, trapping her body under his so she would have nowhere to go.