And just like that, we are at our last chapter.
This journey has been absolutely surreal.
☀ ☀ ☀
There is a restlessness in her bones as she waits.
A newly familiar ache in her limbs as she shifts in the uncomfortable chair.
The room is quiet, the only sounds coming from the clock on the wall and the scratching of a pen.
Enid stares out the window at the sprawling field outside.
An old oak tree stands proudly on the perimeter.
Branches stretched high toward the bright sky.
There is a hinting of leaves, a sign of the return of life.
She wonders if she is ready for this.
For the rest of her life.
"Dean Thomas will see you now." The secretary's voice startles her.
Standing slowly, she winces as her weight falls on her ankle.
It is the last of her physical injuries to remain.
She does her best not to limp as she pushes open the cracked door.
This office is one place she would have happily never returned to.
Dean Thomas is sat at his desk, a sugary smile stretched across his plump cheeks.
"Why, Miss McCarthy, what a pleasure!" His southern accent booms toward her.
The smile she gives him is small, fabricated.
Gesturing her toward the chairs in front of his desk, he begins a stream of pleasantries.
She knows just as well as he does how fake they are.
Settling in the seat before him, she becomes keenly aware of the empty space around her.
The last time she had been in this office, they had been with her.
Surrounding her on each side.
This time she is alone.
"How was your break?" It is a meaningless question, but she has to hold back something between a laugh and a scream as he asks it.
What if she told him the truth?
Started with running away, trying to change her identity.
Getting kidnapped, held hostage.
Assaulted.
How it ended with killing someone.
The familiar tug of guilt tightens in her ribs and she clears the thoughts away.
"Relatively uneventful." Enid lies through her teeth.
The dean launches into a masquerade of flattery on her performance at the Winter Gala.
"I'm here to unenroll." She finally cuts through as he starts a third round of compliments on her 'virtuosity'.
Dean Thomas freezes, his bushy eyebrows furrowing.
There is a long, tense pause as his beady eyes study her.
"Now, I don't think that's such a good idea. The Winter Gala was the most successful fundraising event we've had since I've been dean here and most of our highest donors specifically mentioned you as they pulled out their checkbooks." He says bluntly, all friendliness falling away.
He crosses his arms, his too-small suit jacket stretching dangerously at the seams.
Enid smiles tightly.
She had expected him to deny her, but it still made things more difficult.
"I'd still like to disenroll please. I have plans to return home to Wales." A sweet smile is plastered across her face.
Dean Thomas hums, stroking a finger along his mustache.
Spinning slightly in his leather chair, he tugs open a drawer and pulls out a file.
Her name is printed on the top and she swallows a bitter laugh.
God, she is so tired of files about her.
"Well, as much as I'd like to help you, I don't think I can. I do believe that when you accepted our offer for your scholarship and place in our music program, you agreed to stay for at least four years." He flips open the cover, gesturing to the papers inside.
Of course, she had expected this too.
She'd gone over every possible thing he could say to her.
"I no longer wish to attend this university, Dean Thomas." She brushes a wayward curl behind her ear.
The man across from her sighs, a forged look of pity on his face.
And suddenly, she is exhausted.
Unbelievably tired of men telling her what to do.
First, her father keeping her inside their estate her whole life.
Keeping her from the world beyond.
It had taken her a while to realize it, but she knows now how detrimental his sheltering was to her growth.
How unprepared she was for all of this due to it.
It was how all these men had shifted the course of her life.
The immortals.
The son of the man sitting across from her.
Almalfi.
Flynt.
And now the dean, again.
No more.
Determination straightens her spine, rolls back her shoulders.
"Classes start tomorrow, and we can't just-" She cuts off his drawling excuses.
Bending forward, she reaches into the bag she had brought with her.
His eyes drop to where the collar of her shirt gapes slightly.
A smirk curling along his lips.
Like father, like son.
Enid sits up quickly, a scowl on her face.
A folder of her own now in her hand.
"Have you read the campus newspaper that was released this morning?" She pulls the folded paper out.
Dean Thomas's head tilts in confusion.
"No, I haven't had the chance yet." There is a wariness in his voice.
Standing from her seat, she barely feels the pain in her ankle as a victorious smile sprouts on her face.
She sets the newspaper on the desk before him, right over the folder bearing her name.
In the center of the page is a photo of a group of boys, roguish grins on their faces.
By Any Means Necessary: Fraternity Forms Culture of Assault.
It is bold across the top of the page, dark ink cementing their heinous actions.
"The article was published anonymously, so there'll be some doubt as to its validity..." She muses, staring down at her words.
Dean Thomas is pale, his mouth gaping in disbelief.
She gives herself a moment to smile.
Pride swelling in her chest.
"If you make some statements about Patrick's innocence, you can probably mend his image. Paint his memory up with bright colors until all anyone can remember is a smart, charming boy." Her tone is light, gentle.
Enid reaches into her coat pocket, pulling out a flash drive.
She sets it down on top, right over Patrick Thomas II's face.
"However, if you do not withdraw me from this institution right this moment, I will go public with what is on that flash drive. It has video evidence of your son's involvement in the contest I detailed in the article. I will not stop until everyone in this country knows that your son nearly raped me." The words are as sharp as knives and she aims for his heart.
At the back of her mind, a memory of smoke and the harsh bark of a tree shivers.
She sets it aflame.
He inhales quickly, shock alight on his face as he stares at her.
As though actually seeing her for the first time.
Wordlessly, he spins to his computer.
For a while, there is only the sound of his fingers flying across the keyboard.
When he turns back to her, there is a grim look on his face.
Defeat.
Satisfaction is sweet on her tongue.
"I wish you well in your future endeavors, Miss McCarthy. Pennington University is losing a fine musician." His voice is small, so soft she can barely hear it.
Bending, she sweeps her bag up and onto her shoulder.
She stops at the door, her hand on the doorknob.
Enid stairs at the dark wood, wonders how many girls have left with the same crawling sensation under their skin.
"Dean Thomas?" She says and he makes a noise of acknowledgement.
Turning her head imperceptibly, she meets his guarded gaze.
"Do better." And with that, she swings the door open.
The pain in her ankle unnoticeable as she breezes out of the building.
Cool January air dances along her skin.
The campus is relatively empty, most students taking advantage of their last day of freedom by being elsewhere.
Gliding along the familiar path, she stares up at the Psychology building.
The formidable building that she had stood nervously before on her first day of classes.
It was where the final seconds of her life before them had trickled by.
She wonders if that will be how she will forever view her life.
The time before them.
And after.
As soon as she had entered that lecture hall, her entire world had changed.
One look into ocean eyes and she was lost.
She was found.
The sound of footsteps come from behind her, but she cannot peal her eyes from the intricate architecture.
"This was where it all started." She says as they stop behind her.
Wind rushes around them, her curls floating up and across her face.
Enid spins around to face them.
The immortals.
Her heart presses against her ribs.
Begging, demanding to be released.
To go to them.
"How did it go?" Dante asks softly, a yearning in his emerald gaze.
Her eyes trace the stubble on his jaw, the dark skin beneath his eyes.
The absence of his usual smirk.
"I am no longer a student at Pennington University." She says and the words seem to hang in the space between them.
Alexander shifts, running a hand through his messy curls.
A sickly pallor to his golden skin.
There is a resigned curve to his shoulders.
A tremble in his musical hands.
"Angel-" He stops, pressing a fist to his mouth.
Turning for a moment to gather himself.
Theodore steps forward, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
His suit is slightly wrinkled, a stark contrast to his usually immaculate façade.
Dark eyes study her from behind the panes of his glasses.
The sea in them is stormy, the waves crashing violently.
He is drowning.
"If you want to go, if you want to leave... we will honor your wish." His voice is empty, like he has hidden himself behind a wall.
She knows that it is the truth.
It is similar what they said to her when she woke in the hospital two weeks and a half ago.
When she had flinched as Alexander had reached for her hand.
They had apologized.
Over and over.
When she was discharged, she found Emilia waiting for her in the lobby.
Her friend had nearly broken her spine with a hug, apologies of her own falling from her lips.
Confusion had filled her already hazy mind as Theodore had handed Emilia a bag.
"You're staying with me! I'm finally going to get to live out my dreams of a never-ending slumber party." Emilia had grinned.
Enid stares at them now just as she had then.
Her mind so full of questions she can feel them pressing against her skull.
She hadn't asked them as she had left with Emilia.
Glancing back to find them watching her walk away.
The pain in their eyes so vivid that she had stumbled.
Shadows of the men who had given her the world.
It was the last time she had seen them until now.
Theodore pats Alexander's shoulder again, his lips pressed into a thin line.
He takes her silence as an answer and gives a short, forced nod.
If she didn't know him so well, she would have missed the unshed tears that glimmer in his eyes.
She can barely meet Dante's gaze as he steps forward.
He looks at her as though he is watching her die.
And then his chin is dropping, hands coming up to cover his face.
It tightens the vice around her heart.
She looks at them.
Really looks at them.
The men she loved.
The men she loves.
It is in this moment that she holds the rest of her life in her hands.
Two paths stretching infinitely before her.
One without them and one with.
Eternity.
Something had irrevocably shifted inside her.
No longer is she afraid.
She thinks of a field.
Of a deer and a wolf.
"And if I don't want that?" They are the most important, impossible words she has ever said.
The world stops around them.
There is no wind, no breath.
No time, no space, no universe.
Only them.
Alexander's head snaps toward her, eyes blown wide.
She has left them speechless; their sculpted faces works of art as they snap between emotions.
Awe. Incredulity. Doubt. Adoration. Hope.
So much hope.
They come alive before her, breathing air back into their lungs.
Light filtering back into their eyes.
Theodore steps closer, his hand brushing under her chin.
She looks up at him, melting under his gaze.
He is staring at her like she is the most incredible thing he has ever seen.
Like she is the answer to every question he has ever asked.
"Are you sure? Because if you choose to stay with us now, we won't ever be able to let you go." His voice is low, thick with emotion.
She has never been surer of anything.
There is no life without them.
No version of her world where she could continue without them by her side.
They are hers.
And she is theirs.
Forever.
His thumb sweeps across her cheek and she realizes that she is crying.
The hollow feeling in her chest beginning to dissipate.
"I'm sure. But I don't want to go back to the estate." She responds honestly.
Dante reaches her side in a few short steps, tugging on one of her short curls.
The smell of books, cologne, and home washing over her.
"Of course. Where do you want to go, little bird?" He asks, his accent lilts as tears of his own begin to fall.
There is a smile on his face, the widest she has ever seen.
His fingers run down the stretch of her arm, lacing his fingers through hers.
Enid glances to the other side, finding Alexander standing a few feet away.
Looking like he is afraid that if he takes a step forward, she'll change her mind.
That he'll wake up and it'll all have been a dream.
She feels a soft smile bloom on her face.
Her arm raises toward him, her fingers seeking his.
"Anywhere." She breathes as he reaches her side.
His fingers interwoven with her own.
"Everywhere."
She is whole.
☀ ☀ ☀
Cried from the first word to the last.
I cannot fathom how we've already made it here.
I'll see you soon for the epilogue.
Comments fill my heart with joy.
All my love, Sappho ☀