CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 63

Tears welled in Zeenare’s eyes, blurring his vision as he stared at her battered body.

Fearing his touch would cause her more pain, his fingers hovered around her broken body.

"Look at me, Zee." Her voice cracked weakly. "Look at me. Let me see you one last time before I go." Tears streamed down the sides of her eyes as she managed the words.

"I’m sorry," he whispered, his throat tight. "I’m sorry." He whispered again, hot tears streaming down his face as his body trembled.

"No... it was never your fault. I-I-I-"her voice weaker than it was before as fresh blood gushed from her mouth, followed by a cough.

No. It’s my fault. It will always be my fault. I caused this... these continuous pains. This suffering. Zeenare thought, looking down at her, the corner of his eyes wrinkled.

"I’m sorry, Daisy."

Zeenare mumbled pressing her cold, torn body against his, the forest before them carrying his tears and groans.

With his fingers intertwined in her blood-stained hair, and his lips on her forehead, he said, "I am so sorry." His voice broke into a throat-painful growl against her finally pale, limp body.

No, no. It can’t always be like this. Why, why, why do they have to go through this? Why does he have to suffer like this? Rhea thought, her consciousness gradually drifting into darkness. Then everything went dark for Rhea as the girl took her last breath.

Swallowed by the nothingness, Rhea’s muffled tears were the only sound echoing in the dark space.

Then suddenly, a mischievous voice whispered from the dark. "Don’t you think it’s your fault?"

It chuckled a little, then continued. "Don’t you think you caused it?"

"Who is there?" Rhea questioned, trying to see in the darkness. And the darkness stared right back at her.

"You should know you caused him these pains." It whispered softly, its voice fanning her ears.

Rhea turned swiftly toward the direction it came from, her arms flailing through the space. "Who are you?"

"If not for you, he would be with his Mate, Sirelings, and people now," it echoed at her other ear. "You destroyed him."

"I didn’t! I would never!" Rhea stated, a tiny kernel of guilt building within her.

"Though you knew full well that your union with him is forbidden, you still selfishly clung to him, like a leech." The voice snarled with disgust. It then added, "You whispered sweet nonsense in his ears. You promised him love that you never had."

"But those aren’t me," Rhea crouched down, clamping her ears. "Those are not me." She continued whispering it like an affirmation.

"Pathetic." It spat, "What an excuse. Is this what you tell yourself to sleep well at night? " It ripped into a loud laugh. "If it isn’t you, why do you keep having these memories? Their memories. Why do you still stick to him life after life, over and over and over again?"

"Because of the curse," Rhea answered, as if trying to justify herself. "Because they love each other." Rhea replied, her voice dripping with uncertainty.

"They? Who is ’they’? Shouldn’t you be saying ’you’?" It giggled, then let out a long sigh that was filled with mockery. "With everything he has gone through for you, you still don’t see yourself with him."

"No. I do. I want him. I want him to see me," Rhea replied, staring into space. Then she added, "I love him." Her voice was soft, her gaze in a daze.

"You think you love him? And you’re not doing it out of pity?"

"No, it has to be love."

"Hahaha. It has to be?" It laughed again, "You are not even sure. What a waste."

"It is love." She corrected firmly.

"Love? Then why don’t you watch this."

Rhea flinched as the sudden chill that crawl down her spine as she felt a hand curled on her shoulder only to be distracted by a blinding lightbefore she could react.

"Why are you doing that?" Rhea saw another version of herself questioning Zeenare with hate in her voice, her eyes filled with daggers.

"Why? Huh!" she asked again.

"They are all innocent people. It’s not their fault I turned out to be their daughter." Her voice broke even as she shouted at him, her fist clenched, tears in her eyes.

"You can’t keep wiping out a whole colony out of existence." She muttered her brow furrowed slowly shaking her head in disapproval, "You can’t keep killing my families." Her body shook as tiny sensations of rage coursed through her.

"Bethany, I can’t let those people hurt you again. Not-not like—"

"Listen, I get it," she cut him off. "I know you’re tired and frustrated. But me too. I’m really tired, too."

"Bethany I would do my best to break this curse from us. I don’t like the idea of you suffering like this. I don’t want to see you in continuous pain. Zeenare uttered, moving towards her, his voice strained, his curved in C-line.

Every single year, every single day and every single time, I would try my best. So we don’t have to be suffering like this. So there can be an end to this. So this pitiful fate we share can be broken once and for all." Bethany countered.

"No, don’t say that. Please." Rhea pleaded, moving toward Bethany.

"Pitiful fate?" Zeenare asked, moving closer to her.

"Please, I would like my solitude. If you don’t mind getting out."

Zeenare knitted his brow, staring at her in shock, as she moved away from him as if he were a plague.

His jaw muscles flexed as he bit down hard on his teeth, then walked out the door.

"No. Wait, wait!" Rhea shouted, running toward the light swallowed by darkness again.

"You see, you shouldn’t be with him. You are just a selfish little brat who felt loved for the first time in her life and latched onto it."

"So why don’t you just die." It suggested.

"Die? Why should I? I didn’t do anything wrong." Rhea shot back.

"What made you think you did nothing wrong?" It persisted. "Your very existence is wrong. You are weak, you don’t know your purpose and you also don’t know why you are in his life."

"So I’d give you an option. Why don’t you let me in? I’d make everything easy for you. The both of us." It whispered sweetly, a soft gust of wind coiling around Rhea like a serpent.

"I see what you are doing, but I’m not going to cower to your tricks. You know why?" Rhea bellowed a confident smile on her lips.

"You think I’m playing tricks with you? But what makes you think you’d win if I’m playing tricks with you?" It questioned.

"Because for starters," Rhea began, "You are not real. Isn’t that why you have no body but only a voice? Since you are only in my head." Rhea scoffed at it, brushing her fingers through her hair.

"Now get out of my head." She commanded.

The voice broke into a wild laugh.

"Oh Rhea, your denial won’t save you." Its voice painfully ripped through Rhea’s skull.

Then everything went still. And a white gentle light enveloped her.

Rhea body jolted as her eyes snapped open, her body trembling from the ordeal she had just gone through. Though her vision was blurred, she scanned her surroundings and saw she was still in the hallway, her fist still on the doorknob. Her face damp with tears.

Rhea breathed a sigh of relief as she twisted the doorknob and slowly stepped inside, heading straight to her room. She dropped onto her bed without even changing her clothes.

Totally numb to what had happened between her and Zack.

The following morning, Rhea winced, massaging the numb ache at the back of her neck and limbs as she forced herself out of bed.

The lingering physical pain was a cruel reminder that her vision was all real. "My body still hurts from that... vision of yesterday. I’m so tired I don’t feel like going to school," she said, groaning.

With her foggy head, she lazily drifted into the bathroom, stood directly staring at her reflection in the mirror. Though the person staring back was still her, her eyes held a hollow, haunted look. Waking up this morning, the events of the vision felt less like a memory and more like a permanent stain on her soul.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she reached for her toothbrush.

"Hey babe. You good?" Tia asked, pressing herself against the bathroom door. "I said I should come check on you, since we’re running late for class. And that’s unlike you."

"Oh, yeah... I’m fine. I just slept late last night," Rhea replied with a casual tone in her voice.

"You sure?" Tia pressed further, her ear against the door.

"Yeah, I’ll be out soon, give me a minute," she said, turning on the faucet.

"...Okayyy." Tia retreated from the room.

Rhea swept her fingers through her face, pressing her eyes together as she let out a long sigh.

I seriously hope my day goes well today. Because today, I’m going to find that bitch who tried to seduce my man. And I’m ready to smack the shit off their faces. She thought, standing under the shower.