Chapter Catorce
The air around Arlette was heavy and uncomfortable, like there was tension, but there really wasn’t. And it suddenly smelled of roses and smooth grass, one of the many things that she missed from nature. Arlette was questioning her senses and feels—they were all over the place, like she couldn’t control them, and she really couldn’t... or was it just a side effect to how she was feeling? Or was it both? She didn’t know. And as Arlette opened her mouth to say something anything—anything to question what Aaron was really seeing, the sound drained at the slamming of a door behind her and poisoning darkness rapidly lurking in. It slapped Arlette, making shivers bitterly swim over her spine. The nice smell quickly faded away.
Oh no.
Everything just happened so fast.
Arlette wished she could just disappear.
“I told you not to go near her,” He was so angry, the flaming, vicious rage pouring off of him was sickening. The familiarity of his great darkness poured all over her, like pounding, hard rain. But then it felt like it was stroking her skin and senses and mind. It was overwhelming and feverish.
Arlette felt a rush of wind beside her, heard a deep groan coming from Aaron, then a hard slamming against one of the walls. He cried out in pure, blunt pain. The sound penetrated through the whole room, shaking the strong walls.
Arlette fell to her knees at the sudden pain shooting deep inside her back. She screamed at the top of her lungs. And as she quickly felt, and heard, the bones cracking painfully, she let out another agonizing scream, feeling her back shattering into pieces. The excruciating, ruthless pain she felt spreaded through her whole body, making her shudder and tremble. Her nostrils filled with the pure stench of death as if there was a rotting body right under her nose.
As she struggled, Arlette only knew one thing at the moment.
She had let out the same savage scream that Aaron had, probably worse, which could only mean one thing.
And it would not end well.
Everything then went frighteningly silent.
Arlette could feel her back bones achingly sticking out—never out of the skin though. Not being able to move a single muscle, she could feel them as if they were thick thorns coming from out of her own body, like she just suddenly grew them, but they hurt. The pain was blunt and gore. She felt like she could just die at any moment. As she breathed, they painfully bothered her insides and her chest, making her breathing shallow and ragged, forced also. Arlette hunched her back, trying to ease the pain, but ended up screaming horribly at her own move.
Arlette only knew one certain, very clear thing.
Her back was shattered. Badly.
“Oh Lord...look at her back.” Aaron said quietly, completely astonished. It was like he, or they, were afraid to go near her, for the Prince did not do nor said anything either. It was like everything and everyone were frozen in spot. Arlette didn't sense a muscle move, even in her battered state.
But instantly, Arlette knew that Aaron was not saying that because of the disturbing, nauseating view of her back, but the fact that it was miraculously healing.
➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳
Aaron’s P.O.V.
Aaron didn't mind the twisting, corrupted pain in his whole back, or at least he tried to push it away, or the fact that his brother was holding him up against a wall about to strangle him and rip his throat apart, who was also glancing back at her, but he could only stare in utter wonder and awe as Arlette's back healed with atrocity.
Arlette was on her knees, gasping rather loudly as the bones cracked slowly back into place, the skin beneath the dress moved abnormally, the bones sticking loudly to one another. The sound was morbid, yet stunning. Arlette let out a ear splitting scream, arching her back—the sound sorrowful, miserable. The view itself was wickedly amusing to watch. He had never seen anything like this before.
The Beast suddenly let go of Aaron, letting him fall with a hard thud on the floor. Aaron groaned, but quickly looked up at his brother, waiting for him to finish what he had started. But instead, the Prince turned around toward Arlette, who was trembling in fear, perhaps at what she had just witnessed.
Aaron looked at her back.
It was like new.
Glancing at his brother, Aaron saw as the Prince, as always highly and neatly dressed, showing great royalty and power, stared at her from the far distance where they were. The Prince knew he couldn't go near her if he didn't want to hurt her. His rage was a reckless and highly dangerous thing right now. It had always been. But right at this moment, it wasn't exactly as pretty. And even though Aaron didn't know much about his brother, despite the years growing together, he did know this.
And though he looked more calm now, Aaron noticed that he wasn't risking it.
He cares for her.
That only, somehow, triggered a wild emotion deep inside Aaron.
“Why is her hair—”
“Glowing? Like it's about to burst in a million flames?” Aaron inquired from behind, though looking at Arlette as well. He thought perhaps he was the only one seeing what he was seeing, but his brother just proved him wrong. He didn’t know why he thought his eyes were deceiving him, but he had never seen such thing.
Aaron was waiting for his brother to also talk about her eyes, but she was looking down, trembling uncontrollably. And not until now, he couldn't understand why he had the old pain of his back, the one where he was healing slowly, the one in which Arlette had tried, and succeeded, to numb, and not the one he felt he had received from his brother, which Arlette felt as well.
Only one thing didn't happen.
His back didn't completely crack like Arlette's. Or at least that is what he felt.
“My mother...” Arlette whispered, disturbing Aaron's thoughts. “Take me to my mother.”
As soon as those words escaped her lips, the Beast didn't hesitate. He picked her up from the floor effortlessly, and took her out of the room at the blink of an eye.
➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳
Arlette’s P.O.V.
Arlette gasped at the Prince’s sudden action. They were moving very fast. It felt as if the Prince was running, but he wasn’t. Just before she could say anything, he promised, “I won’t hurt you.”
It sounded convincing, sincere, and as much as she tried not to believe him, Arlette deep down knew that he was telling the truth.
She stayed quiet—they both did.
The Prince was warm and strong. Arlette felt a sense of safety despite the voices in her head screeching and thrashing. Pretty soon, she felt how the voices of the past were pulling her back into the memory that Aaron had disturbed. It was scary, but then again, why back down now when you were too deep in it?
“Arlette, never in your life do that again! That’s bad, bad, bad! Good girls don’t do that!” Yelled her mother furiously once they were inside.
Her mother had practically shoved her inside, sitting her roughly on a chair. Tears started running down Arlette’s little face as she tried to explain, “M-mommy, I-I-I was trying to h-help Ember, I didn’t know. I-I promise—”
“Quiet, Arlette,” hushed her mother exasperated with Arlette’s babbling, she wasn’t listening to any of it. Her mother started pacing back and forth whispering to herself —she didn’t know what to do.
“What’s all this?” Questioned her grandma in a sonorous voice.
All the commotion had awaken her.
“Mother, look at her,” inquired her mother miserably, defeatingly. “Can you explain why she did that now? In such a young age? Can you explain to me why she looks so different? In my knowledge, that wasn’t suppose to happen!”
Her mother was nearly losing it as her grandma stayed silent. As seconds ticked by, Arlette felt her grandma slowly approach her.
She crouched down Arlette’s level, grabbing her chin gently. “Oh dear...” whispered her grandma, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. Arlette could feel a vague fear and consternation blurrily coming from her grandmother.
“Lena, bring me the orchid wind.” Arlette’s grandma instructed to her mother. “It’ll fade away the silver of her eyes.”
Arlette quickly heard her mother rushing into one of the cottage’s rooms, her steps fading quickly.
“Grandma...what’s happening?” Ember asked, her voice flattering.
She was going to answer but a chirpy, loud voice interrupted her.
“Grandma! Look what I found!”
“Cade? Where have you been, child?” Asked grandma in confusion.
“I was playing with Nedi,” Cade said simply.
She sighed. But kept quiet.
Arlette was silent the whole time. She felt like she should talk, but what would she say? There was nothing to say.
“Is it this?” Asked Lena as Arlette felt her come near her grandma.
“Yes. Give it to me.”
Arlette heard something being softly popped open. The smell was a soft, feathery smell.
“Keep your head steady, Arlette, and your eyes open.”
Arlette was starting to get scared. “Grandma—”
“Do it, dear,” interrupted her grandma. “You’ll be okay.”
As Arlette nodded, she felt as her grandma blew the scented, strange wind-like substance against her eyes. She could feel as the warm wind wrapped around them making her feel odd. She blinked and it was gone.
“What about her hair?” Asked Lena, sounding exasperated.
“Only time will fix that.” Her grandma answered. “But Lena, we need to talk about this.”
“Arlette!”
It was her mother.
Arlette jumped, startled. She was still being carried.
In someone else’s arms though.
A guardian’s.
“What have you done, dear...” Arlette heard her mother say quietly as she heard footsteps come cautiously toward her.
Where was the Prince?
The guardian placed her on her feet gently, and she could feel him step back. Arlette turned around and bowed a thanks. She could soon feel the guardian bow too, stepping quietly out of the room.
Arlette’s mother was coming toward her, but Arlette stepped back stubbornly. Her mother stopped and sighed.
“Mom...” Arlette said slowly. “What is happening to me?”
But she ignored Arlette’s question. “You shouldn’t have done that. You don’t know what you’re provoking against all of us.”
Provoking, there’s that word again, Arlette thought. Her mother had always used that word when Arlette did something that angered her. In this instance, it was certain she wouldn't have miss it. Arlette threw her arms up in the air, not believing her mother. Why did she always got to talk in codes? “I don’t know what you’re talking about, mom!”
“You should never had done that, Arlette! Not ten years ago nor now! You should’ve listened to your grandma when she told you not to do that.” Her mother said angrily, breathing deeply.
“Maybe if you explained to me perhaps I would know what I’m getting myself into by the term you've always used—‘provoking’!”
“Oh Arlette! There are things that are meant to remain secrets, we can’t just spread them out like wildfire.”
“You don’t have to, you just had to warn me, not everybody else.” Arlette crossed her arms across her chest, anger blooming immensely from inside her.
“I did! We all did, Arlette. Eric, me, your grandma, even Ember and Cade, but you never listen! You just follow what your heart and mind tell you to do, but sometimes you have to be aware of the consequences. Your heart is not always your best companion, neither is your mind.”
And there was her mother again, talking her Fae talk.
Arlette opened her mouth to say something, but she heard a door open, accompanied by multiple voices.
Her head snapped toward them.
“Arlette?” her grandma asked, as if not believing her eyes. “Oh Lord...”
Arlette soon was crushed in a warm, bear hug from her grandmother. She relaxed and hugged her back, glad she was here.
“I told you I heard her,” said Ember satisfied. “Arlette is too loud when she’s angry.”
If the situation wasn't as tense Arlette would've probably laugh at her sister.
“Oh my...” mused Cade, probably because of Arlette’s noticeable alterations.
“She did it again, mother, she did it again,” said Arlette’s mother matter-of-factly.
“I can see that.” Her grandma said, pulling away. Grabbing Arlette chin, she asked, “On who?”
Arlette frowned.
“Aaron,” said Arlette carefully.
Ember and Cade gasped.
“She’s not even old enough, mother!” Burst her mother frustratingly.
“Quiet, Lena.” Hushed her grandma, sighing. “You haven’t seen your daughter for over a week and this is how you greet her?” She sighed again. “She didn’t do it fully. If she did, believe me, Lena, she wouldn’t be this...tamed.”
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a/n: UNEDITED. I'm so sorry for the delay guys, chapters are getting kind of difficult to write, to be honest. But things are getting serious, aren't they? o.o Comment your thoughts! I'd love to see what you get to think of this chapter...Vote also! I would love you 5ever <3
p.s Banner is coming soon. I was too eager to wait, lol.
- nessie xoxo