Awaken (22 page)

             
“I didn’t want to upset you before your journey-“

             
“Don’t.” I put up a hand as my feet walked onto the elevator.  He followed and reached for my arm, but I twisted away and stared at him with disbelief.

             
“How could you do this?” My anger turned into devastation in a split second as I watched the tears roll down his cheeks.  I looked away.

             
“Please don’t be mad at me,” he pleaded. “I’m going to find a way around it!  You have to believe me!”

             
“I don’t have to do anything, Finn.  You lied to me.”

             
“I’m so sorry, Pasha.  Please-“

             
“After everything, Finn!  After everything we’ve been through.  How could you do this to us?” The elevator doors opened and I stomped out of Rostrum with him on my heels.  I stopped and turned, searching his eyes for some kind of answer.  I only found love.  I pushed his chest in anger as I felt my sanity unraveling. 

             
“Don’t you know how much I love you?  Don’t you know I would have spent the rest of my life with you?  You ruined it.  You ruined everything!” I began to sob and pushed him again.  He tried to touch my arm, but I backed away out of his reach.  Neither of us saw the black limo pull up.  Neither of us saw the door open or the two men dressed in all black who stepped out. They grabbed Finn’s arms firmly and wrestled him into the car.  I watched on in a haze of numbness; detached and fragmented.

             
“Stasia!” His stricken dark blue eyes disappeared behind the tinted windows.  He hadn’t even had time to get his backpack.  I told myself I didn’t care.

Friday, October 31st

             
Halloween.  The day the world celebrated all things dark, macabre, and all around ghoulish.  It was one of my favorite holidays.  Costumes, haunted houses and candy?  What’s not to like?  Even behind the corporate agendas and cheesy commercials, Halloween still represented and revered a world darker than our own.  A world I had glimpsed several times in the last several months.  Little did the human population know that the existence of evil was certain. The existence of monsters and ghosts was very certain.  And there were plenty of things that went bump in the night. 

             
  Miraculously, I made it through my classes the next day without one anguish-filled tear.  I had a feeling it was because they had all been cried out.  After returning to Maren last night, heartbroken and devastated, I laid in bed for hours drowning in my own pain.  I was only left with a dull ache, hidden behind walls of reinforced concrete.  In a daze, I travelled from class to class; my roommates assuming I was simply upset at Finn’s departure.  Verbalizing it would make it more real, and I wasn’t quite ready to do that.  So it festered inside of me all day; draining my world of color and happiness.  I was actually glad for tonight’s distractions.  Unfortunately my roommates were beginning to get to know me a little too well. 

             
“I know something happened, and we’ll beat it out of you eventually so you might as well make it easy on yourself and spill it!”  Carmen raised an eyebrow at me.  A stool was set up in the middle of the living room with Willow poised atop.  Carmen was prepping her hair for the extensions that would complete her Rapunzel costume.  Phoebe was relaxing on the couch, munching on a bag of candy corn.

             
“She’s right,” Willow eyed me sympathetically. “We can tell you’ve been crying…a lot.”

             
I wasn’t surprised that they could tell I’d been crying.  My eyes started to swell if I even considered crying.  I was lucky if I could still see after five hours of sobbing.  I plopped down beside Phoebe and grabbed some candy corn; tossing it into my mouth.

             
“If I tell you, will you promise not to bring it up any more tonight?” I asked them reluctantly.

             
“Cross my heart and hope to die!” Phoebe giggled beside me.  Sugar was the last thing that girl needed.  I ran my hands through my hair and leaned forward; suddenly fidgety.

             
“I had a reverie last night.” I peeked up at Phoebe, who had stopped chewing mid-bite. “Besides being absolutely terrifying, Nadia was there.”

             
“Nadia?  Why would you see Nadia in a reverie?” Phoebe asked; perplexed.

             
“Didn’t she go back to California?” Willow questioned. I sighed, forgetting that I hadn’t told them who Nadia really was.

             
“Nadia isn’t who you think she is.  I didn’t want to scare you guys so I haven’t said anything.  But you need to know.  Especially now.” Confusion washed over their faces as I continued. “Nadia graduated from Metis last year, but she’s not your normal descendent.”

             
“I knew something was weird about her,” Willow concluded.

             
“What is she?” Phoebe asked.

             
“Nadia is the princess…of the Underworld.” I waited for their reactions.  I didn’t have to wait long.  Carmen dropped the hair she was holding, Willow almost fell off the stool, and Phoebe choked on a candy corn.

             
“Shut. Up,” Phoebe gawked at me.

             
“The princess of the Underworld?  As in Persephone’s daughter?” Willow exclaimed in disbelief.

             
“As in Persephone’s daughter,” I confirmed.

             
“Wow. I didn’t know she had a daughter,” Carmen had now sat down on the loveseat, eyes so wide I could see white all the way around her dark irises.

             
“Apparently she was the product of an affair, so maybe that’s why?” I guessed. “Anyway, that’s not the bad part.”

             
“Having the princess of the Underworld amongst us isn’t the bad part?” Phoebe whimpered.

             
“She can control my reveries somehow, and she pulled me into one last night to tell me something.”  I paused, not wanting to say it.  Tears began to well up in my eyes again, and Phoebe scooted closer to me.  “Persephone has decreed that on Finn’s birthday he will be betrothed…to Nadia.” The last part of the sentence came out in a whisper as a sob rose in my throat.

             
“That bitch!” Carmen shot to her feet, anger flashing in her eyes.

             
“Wait-what does betrothed mean again?” Phoebe squeaked.

             
“Basically it means they’ll be engaged,” Willow turned thoughtful, “But, it’s more complicated than that.  Since they’ll both be immortal on his birthday, they’ll become bound.”

             
“Bound?  I’ve never heard of that.  Is it something only immortals have to do?” Phoebe asked and this immediately got my attention.  I just figured Nadia had meant ‘bound’ metaphorically.  I didn’t realize that they may actually be bound together. 

             
“Their souls are…merged.  I don’t know exactly what all that entails, but it’s irreversible.  At some point they would take part in the Myriad Ceremony.”  We stared at her blankly. “Get married.”

             
“That bitch!” Phoebe growled.

             
“And Finn never told you anything?” Carmen looked at me with amazement, her anger growing as she paced back and forth.

             
“No.” I squeezed my eyes shut and choked down another sob, “I think that’s what hurts the most.”

             
“But Finn can’t possibly want to be bound to Nadia!” Phoebe spit out her name.

             
“Nadia said her mother had ‘spoken’ and that no one could change it.”

             
“So Finn’s just going to go along with it?” Willow asked incredulously.  “He’s not going to fight it at all?”

             
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t think he has a choice.  He said he was trying to find a way around it, but he doesn’t appear to be trying too hard.  I mean his birthday is in two days!  Not to mention the fact that he’s in isolation.  What does he think he’s going to do?”

             
“I don’t get it.  Is it because she’s from the Underworld?” Phoebe slumped back onto the couch cushion with frustration.

             
“I believe so.  She said something about The Prime being required to be with someone who has a connection to the Underworld.”

             
“I think Nadia just likes ruining people’s lives,” Willow hissed.

             
“I think she’s just a spoiled brat who has to get mommy to do everything for her.  She knows she couldn’t get Finn otherwise,” Carmen put her hands on her hips.

             
“Well it doesn’t matter now.  It’s happening.  There’s nothing I can do about it,” I sighed and put my head in my hands. “He’s gone.  The limo pulled up when we were fighting outside and they just grabbed him and threw him in the backseat!  He didn’t even get his backpack with all the stuff he was taking.”

             
“His roommates will find a way to get it to him.  Or Natasha,” Willow attempted to soothe me.

             
“I just can’t believe Ian didn’t tell me,” Phoebe’s anger turned sullen; her eyes growing pained.

             
“Don’t blame Ian, Phoebs.  This isn’t his fault.”

             
“Why don’t we try to find out how it works, see if there’s a way we can reverse it?  Or maybe you can convince Persephone when you go to the Underworld!” Her face lit up with hope.
              I shook my head vehemently, “It was his decision not to tell me.  If he really wanted to be with me, he would have talked to me before now.  We could have figured it out together.” I rubbed my trace, “But he didn’t.  I’m not going to go chasing after somebody who wouldn’t do the same for me.”

             
“I’m sorry Stasia,” Phoebe embraced me in a hug.  I could feel the tears begin to burn in my eyes and the sobs collecting in my throat. 

             
“So now you guys know.” I picked up the hair Carmen had dropped and handed it back to her, “But the one thing that would make me feel better is to have the best Halloween ever with my best friends.”

             
“Hmm…first we’ll have to find you some best friends…” Carmen tapped her chin, and smirked at me. 

             
“All I know is that you’re going to look amazing as a decaying, rotten corpse bride,” Willow grinned.

             
“Especially after I get done smearing blood all over you…” Phoebe added wickedly. “Bwahahaha…”

             
“That’s the worst evil laugh I’ve ever heard,” Carmen put her hands on her hips and stared at Phoebe.

             
“I’d like to see you do better!” Phoebe threw back at her.  Willow and I grinned at each other as they took turns serenading us with evil laughter. I couldn’t help smiling.

             
“I don’t know what I’d do without you guys,” I told them adoringly.

             
“You’d probably be better off,” Phoebe shook her head and whispered loudly, “Carmen can drive a person crazy.”

             
“If anyone could pull the crazy out of somebody, it’s you, Phoebs,” Carmen quipped.

             
“I’m going to go crazy if you don’t hurry up and finish my Rapunzel hair,” Willow frowned at Carmen.  After Willow’s Rapunzel hair had been attached and Phoebe had tried to jump rope with it, she set to putting gold glitter all over her face.  It brought on a flashback of Nadia’s shimmery skin, so I excused myself so that I could put on my own costume.

             
My corpse bride costume was the only thing that brought something resembling a true grin to my face.  Something about its ripped fabric and morose style fit what I was feeling inside and soothed me.  The sheer lining of the dress felt wonderful against my skin, and wearing a dress made me feel elegant and regal, although I was supposed to be dead. I pulled my hair up into a loose bun and picked out some random pieces, giving it an I’m-getting-married look with a hint of just-got-murdered. I pulled on the lacy thigh highs, secured the veil, and snickered at my reflection in the mirror.  The dark circles under my eyes actually went a long way to making me look dead.  Who knew? 

             
I swept across the room to my dresser and secured my triskellion necklace around my neck and slid my aquamarine ring on my finger.  They didn’t go with my costume, but I felt naked and vulnerable without them.  My heart began to crack as my hand paused over the black onyx anklet Finn had given me.  I rubbed a finger over its smooth beads, and sighed as warmth crept up my arm.  I stood in front of my mirror and inspected my outfit.  I needed a little something more…  I grabbed some white ribbon and wrapped it around my wrist and hand; allowing it to hang halfhazardly as if I was once mummified and had broken from my binds.  Perfect.  

             
The irony of my costume did not fail to elude me, but I was going to do my best not to think about it.  Besides, I was an expert at compartmentalization.  I tucked Finn, my journey, and Nadia into their own chambers far back in the recesses of my mind.  I slammed the doors and locked them, tucking the keys away.  I knew I could only hide from my problems for a short time, but it was Halloween and I was determined to have a good time tonight.  Tomorrow I would open Pandora’s box and begin the task of sorting out the cluster that had become my life.  My heart clenched as I pictured Finn; isolated and alone.  No.  I was not going to think about him.  The only place that would get me was under my covers, crying my eyes out.  Although it sounded pretty tempting, I steeled myself and looked in the mirror. 

             
“Be strong. You can do this,” I told myself sternly.  Unfortunately the person looking back was on the brink of falling apart.  I took a deep breath. “Or at least pretend.”