━━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓!
❪ this comfortable love ❫
⋆ 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 the body that laid on the ground, all of their hope and Darling were gone. She was the glue of the guests, making everyone feel okay and happy, and now their chances of surviving are over. Jamie lay next to Darling's body, afraid to move away; despite the blood starting to stain Jamie's shirt, no one was willing to pull him apart from her. No one wanted to let Darling's body disappear, just as Claira or Rosalie once did.
"How the hell voted Darling in?" Jamie said, his voice shaking as he looked at everyone. He pushed himself off the ground, legs shaking from the constant fear of the unfolding event. Their faces didn't give away anything, and Jamie couldn't figure out who voted her in.
"Jamie━"
"No, Eleanor. I need to know..." Jamie stopped Eleanor as he placed his hand before him, looking away from the guests and avoiding eye contact. Eleanor sighed as Jamie limped away from the group. She tried to say something, but her throat choked.
Jamie's leg was aching from the challenge, seeing as he had twisted his ankle in the challenge, trying to make it up the stairs. As he took a seat on the stairs, he remembered the look on Darling's face and the sad smile before she took the great fall. Jamie kept replaying that moment in his head; it reminded him of a song that he loved, and he would replay it until it became an earworm that fed on his brain. Since Jamie set foot in this estate, he had no more happy moments.
"Jamie. You must understand that she fought the best fight. She did it for you; she wanted you to keep going," Ivan said as he took a couple of steps towards Jamie, but still standing away from Jamie, not to overwhelm him. Jamie sighed, not knowing what to do. He didn't know whether to be vital for the group, to pull his emotional weight so that he wouldn't slow down the group from their escape chances. He didn't want to bring them down.
"Ivan, I lost her. I lost her, and I don't know what to do," Jamie said as he started to sob again, placing his face in his hands. Ivan walked a couple more paces, sat beside him, and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. Jamie's sobs quietened as Ivan ran his fingers through his hair to calm him down.
"This was her own choice; her choice was to save you."
"I didn't want that to be her choice," Jamie spoke, which only made Ivan shush Jamie, hugging him closer, and he started to rock him back and forth, and the cries were hushed to silence. Ivan hid Jamie's eyes from the strangers who dragged Darling's body away, their black cloaks shielding their identity from the guests. Yet, they did not attempt to figure out who they were, seeing as they were all too tired to configure a plan to discover something they didn't want in the first place.
"I miss her already."
"I know, Jamie... Me too."
"Man, I hate this place so fucking much," Samuel said as he parted from the group to keep his composure, his chest heaving heavily. William looked at him with sorrow and excused him from the group to speak with him, to see what was the matter. As he walked towards him, William couldn't help the overwhelming beating of his heart in his ears.
"Samu? Are you okay?" William asked, putting his shaky hands in his pockets ━ remembering the impact of his shoulder injury that was starting to affect his hands. Samuel turned around, wiping his eyes quickly as he sighed, trying to get rid of the nerves.
"I'm fine━"
"No, you're not. I can tell, Samu. We've been friends long; I can tell when you aren't okay. It's the Sparrow's intuition. Trust me, Samuel, I know," William said, his blue eyes scanning his face; it was different. His forehead would crease in stress, his brown eyes were beautiful yet full of worries, and his face was grey and tear━stained from all the crying and witnessing death over time.
"I want to leave... I want..." Samuel said before he stopped as he couldn't take it. William noticed his emotions slowly burning out, his shoulders letting go of the tension as he pulled him into a hug. Samuel started to cry on his shoulder, not wanting to leave the warm embrace.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay."
"It is. I'm with you now; you always make things okay," Samuel muttered, which only William heard, and he could feel the soft blush on his sharp cheekbones. He tried to keep his composure, but the smirk gave away his position as his mind started to race, realising what Samuel had said.
"Well, uh━ um..." William said as he stuttered, not knowing what to say or to find the right words. He didn't want to hurt his feelings if he said the wrong words, but he didn't want to be embarrassed. Words were stupid, and he didn't know how to put them together in a poetic way to justify his feelings for his best friend.
"It's okay, Will. I know. Claira told me," Samuel said with a coy smile as he buried his face into the crook of William's neck. William didn't know how to react, but then he smiled again, seeing that this place did somewhat allow this comfortable love to grow, and he hugged Samuel tighter, not wanting to let go of him.
"Whatever Claira told you, I hope it was good things," William whispered, and Samuel responded with a muffled giggle due to his face buried in the crook of William's neck. William smiled, placing his hand on the back of Samuel's head.
━━━━━━
⋆ "𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗬? 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚..." Sedona said as she sat down next to a cold and gloom━looking Abby, whose eyes were glassed over, staring into space. Sedona didn't know how she felt, but she remembered the moment when Abby broke down her walls, and she wanted to return the favour. She reached over to touch Abby's arm and stopped shivering, feeling contact with Sedona's warm hands. "Here, have my jacket to keep you warm," Sedona said as she removed her jacket, exposing her bare arms to the cold, and wrapped it around Abby's arms. Abby sighed and nodded as she took her coat, holding it close to her chest. She didn't want to let go of anyone else, even though that was the only way to survive the night.
"Are you okay?" Sedona questioned, her voice soft. At first, Abby was a bit taken aback by Sedona's sudden softness, but she liked that. She wanted the feeling of being protected, the sense of someone wrapping around her, protecting her from the evil forces in this estate. Abby looked over to Sedona, her lips tremoring before she bit to keep still.
"I'm trying to be brave, but I just can't. Everything is too hard, and I don't know how to control anything anymore," Abby whispered, her voice not strong enough to finish the sentence as she shivered again. Sedona could see the sudden changes in Abby, seeing how her eyes were tired━looking, and her cheeks were tear━stained. Sedona knew that Abby didn't deserve the pain she experienced, especially after witnessing the death of a friend and hearing the beasts tear her skin apart.
"Abby? Do you remember when you came along when I was sitting here?" Sedona questioned, hoping that Abby was strong enough to listen. Abby looked up, meeting her eyes before nodding slowly. Sedona smiled before fidgeting in her seat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest to match Abby. "You broke down my walls. You were the only one that knew how to do that. Neither William nor my brother knew how to do that, and yet, somehow, you could do that," Sedona said, slightly rambling, but she didn't care ━ Abby was still listening regardless.
"You said something that I never heard before. You said that you were proud of me and that I was sweet. No one has ever said that to me, and I wanted to thank you, but I never knew how. It's stupid, I know, but━" Sedona said, smiling a little before Abby grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"That's not stupid; you're not stupid, Sedona. Trust me, you know better than you do," Abby said as she sat up and hugged Sedona. Sedona wasn't the type to hug, but Abby gladly accepted it. It seemed their time in the estate was changing Sedona in the best way possible, even though it was doomed to be at the end of days.
"I'm glad you're here with me, even if it's a horrible place to be," Abby whispered as she giggled afterwards and leaned her head on Sedona's shoulder. Sedona raised her eyebrow secretly as she positioned herself to make Abby comfortable.
"Me too."
━━━━━━
⋆ 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗬𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟 something was wrong with Eleanor.
Every time she tried to talk to her, Vanya found herself just being occupied by small conversation, and that was it. Vanya worried for her because she used to be very friendly, always trying to entertain people to cheer them up. Yet, she lost the battle between her and Eleanor's friendship, and she was left to die on the battlefield full of swords in hearts and arms cold from their hold. Amidst it all, Eleanor was left to be a ghost in the distance, admiring the loss. Perhaps it was because she got closer to Ivan and away from Eleanor. She knew that Eleanor didn't deal well with loss, and this was possibly acting as a heartbreak for her.
"Ellie?" Vanya said, her voice being stupidly soft. She sighed, not liking this behaviour she was sowing because he revealed her raw emotions to someone she cared about. All she wanted to do was lock them up and throw away the key.
"Oh, hey."
"You doing okay?" Vanya questioned, and Eleanor was caught off guard; her eyes glassed over as well, but she had been focused on chewing her fingernails. Vanya wanted to sit, but she stood across from Eleanor instead.
"Oh... I'm doing fine, thanks for asking," Eleanor said before standing up from the steps and walking past Vanya. Vanya frowned before she turned around, her anger slowly bubbling up. She didn't understand why her best friend was ignoring her or barely paying any mind to her, and it was starting to make Vanya annoyed ━ knowing that they might not survive the end.
"What is it with you?" Vanya snapped, her voice full of quiet anger, and her eyes glared towards Eleanor. Vanya could feel the stares coming from the others at the back of her skull, but they looked away quickly to spare the awkwardness for them. Vanya didn't care, however.
"What the fuck do you mean?" Eleanor said as she snapped back, matching Vanya's tone of attitude. Vanya scoffed as she sighed in frustration before crossing her arms. Vanya expressed all of this physically, which only made Eleanor frown. Vanya waited for an answer, but Eleanor sighed instead, shaking her head as she walked past Vanya.
"You've been ignoring me, or in this case, just making small conversation and leaving! I want to spend time with you because I'm scared of us dying on bad terms ━ but I don't even know what's wrong with us!" Vanya said as she turned around, stopping Eleanor in her tracks. Her heart beat fast as Eleanor scowled and walked towards her a little.
"It's nothing," Eleanor said, emphasising the last word with bitterness.
"Then prove it━" Vanya said as she yelled, and Eleanor groaned in frustration as she jabbed her finger towards Eleanor's chest.
"It's nothing because it wouldn't fucking matter! You're in love with Ivan, while I'm in love with you!" Eleanor yelled, and the silence took over. Everyone glanced over to the two girls, who stared at each other. Vanya gasped and paused for a second, not knowing what had happened, and tried to look into Eleanor's eyes, but she avoided everything about Eleanor.
"What... What do you mean?" Vanya whispered to Eleanor, who finally glanced over to Vanya, a sad look in her eyes. She didn't know how to respond, so she stood awkwardly, trying to figure out words. Her heart kept beating fast whenever she met Eleanor's eyes, and she couldn't explain anything anymore. She couldn't even describe Eleanor's feelings anymore, just like hers.
"Look, I'm scared of dying; we all are. But I'm afraid of you leaving me for someone better. I don't know what to do, Vay, because you did this to me," Eleanor said as she pointed to Ivan, who glanced back at the two and continued to comfort Jamie on the steps.
"I━" Vanya started to speak, but Eleanor had already made her way towards the corner of the ballroom. She felt upset, yet simultaneously, she felt terrible, seeing as she was the main focus of the argument. She didn't want this to happen, and she suddenly felt herself missing the memories of the two. She wanted so badly to comfort her, but she knew she couldn't. Vanya sighed as she turned towards the paintings, trying to ignore that she may have just lost her best friend, her only friend. Her mind was uneasy, trying to calm down as her thoughts raced. She sighed, regretting everything and glanced at the ground, ignoring the looks she was receiving from the others.
"Vanya, are you okay?" Jamie spoke softly. Vanya looked up, her brown eyes meeting sad eyes. She sadly smiled as she patted the space next to her, and Jamie groaned as he sat down.
"How are you feeling?" Vanya asked, grabbing his hand. Jamie smiled, but his eyes said otherwise.
"I'm slowly recovering, but there's always that moment when I keep reliving her fall," Jamie spoke, his voice shuddering, but Vanya glanced over to make sure that he was breathing okay ━ not wanting the place to feed on his fear. Jamie sighed, and Vanya could sense the pain that hid beyond his skin.
"This place will wear you out, bit by bit. That pain will follow you forever until your mind goes blank in the darkness. That's when you'll realise that the pain was loneliness and it was simply keeping you company. It's a uh━ whole metaphor that I use to live by, and it goes to help you ease back the pain, I suppose," Vanya said as she looked over to Jamie and shrugged her shoulders as Jamie tilted his head towards her.
"You have a lot of pain? To know about this?" Jamie questioned, and Vanya didn't speak momentarily before nodding and looking away. Jamie sighed before grabbing her hand and pulling her into a hug. Vanya gave in and embraced the hug, wrapping her arms around the boy before him. Despite Jamie having it rougher, he was willing to ensure that someone else was better than him.
"Thanks, I needed that... But something tells me you needed it more than me," Vanya said after a few minutes of quiet, and the pair separated. Jamie nodded, his black curls bouncing off his forehead as he pulled Vanya up. Vanya softly smiled, admiring that Jamie was holding the group's happiness together ━ as someone had to take Darling's place. Happiness was just a boulder tumbling down the hill towards some unknowing teenagers, but one turns around and stops the boulder, risking their lives for others. It was a tough job and life, but it was a choice made.
"Jamie━," Vanya started to speak, but the lights above the pair began to flicker, and she gasped, trying to look around to see what had changed. Screaming began to erupt around the ballroom, and Vanya grabbed Jamie's arm, dragging him towards the group that gathered in the centre of the room.
"Where is this cold coming from?"
"Don't lose sight of each other!"
"Are there monsters nearby?"
"Why are the windows open!"
"Guys! Get close to each other!"
"Go! To the library! Don't look back!"
Vanya could hear running steps and didn't hesitate to look back. She grabbed Eleanor's hand, who was confused and started to run towards the open doors that led to the library. She could feel Eleanor's eyes on her, but she held her hand the whole way. She didn't care whether or not Eleanor was still angry; it was only a matter of time before both of them would lose each other, and Vanya was not ready for that to happen yet.
Then she could hear the screams.
𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
✶ this was a change of pace from the death , and i am happy that i was able to write a peace during the storm!! this was a bit of a change from the original chapter ━ especially with the chapter name and such, and i am really proud of this, even if it had the death of darling </3 this was indeed a hard death to write, because i liked her so much :( but i am proud of how the chapters are rolling out, we could be seeing the end of this book sooner than we think :)
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚!