—------------------------------
Join my PT for extra Chapters ~ p*tr-eon name is DUSK_IS_MEE
.Extra chapters available.
-Extra chapters also include audio-books.
—------------------------------
Chapter 7: Beauty and a Beast.
~~~ [START]
“Did you see when she did the string thing?” Honey swayed her arms back and forth beside Troy, who walked with both hands inserted in the pockets of his hoodie.
“Yeah, she was… something.”
It was 6 pm, so the roads were relatively empty, with the exception of pupils coming home from work, with exhaustion leaking from their expressions, and most of their eyes turned downward, somehow questioning the decisions their past selves were at fault.
Honey halted, and Troy stared back. “You were late, weren’t you?”
A nervous laugh escaped him, hand moving then rubbing the back of his head.
“How much did you see?” She asked again, feet stepping forward, head tilting to the side. “Were you even there for the final act—”
“Well,” Troy laughed nervously, “Wait!”
He grabbed her arm right before she could walk away.
“I saw enough.” He assured, pulling her closer. “I saw you when you nearly tripped, or… when you stepped on the other girl’s foot.”
“Okay, stop!” Honey laughed while nudging his hand off. “And I didn’t step on her; she tripped me. I’m innocent.”
He chuckled when she turned with a sigh beside him.
Troy picked up his pace, an effort to walk in sync.
“I saw when she nudged your shoulder,” he continued, “and when her friend stumbled backstage as though nothing happened.”
A red colour rose in Honey’s cheeks.
“She wasn’t her friend.”
Troy raised his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter.”
His head then turned to a pizza place on the far left.
“You hungry?”
She smiled after his question, so he led the way, and she followed.
—---
{Hours later}
In a half-empty pizza place, right on the far corner, sat two figures.
“So…” Honey grabbed a piece of pizza, taking a bite, “when are you coming to school with me?”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Troy bit his tongue at the question, coughing from swallowing too fast.
“School?” He asked, scratching his head. “Yeah, I—”
“You promised me.” Her eyes widened; the pizza in her hand bending from its cheese. “So, when are you coming?”
“Honey, I’m just… school isn’t my thing.”
“It isn’t anyone’s thing,” she shot back, head shaking but a smile slowly forming, “and you don’t have to worry about registration and stuff—”
“Honey—”
“—Because, you won’t believe this, but when I asked the principal, she said all you have to do is pass the admissions test.”
“I’m not going.”
Her smile disappeared in that instant, completely vanquished like water against flame. Then, she suddenly stood up in an effort to bolt for the exit.
That was until Troy grabbed her arm from his seat.
He raised a brow, “Why are you making this a big deal?”
“You work in a diner.” She hissed, eyes turned to him. “As a waiter, Troy… A waiter.”
She shrugged his hands off, eyes holding back their waters.
“Then do it for me.” She blinked too much, so a tear fell from her left eye. “Thats the least you can do… right.”
Troy’s jaw tightened at the words. And before she could give up, right in the second, she was about to continue her retreat. He grabbed her arm again.
“Okay.”
And she turned back, not smiling, just confused, as though his words were a tad too hasty.
“Okay, I’ll do it.” He said again. Head shaking as her expression turned.
He was foolish, even for his age. How could he have known that in the near future, that very haste decision would bring forth those he escaped.
He had no idea, and it was too late.
—---
{ELSEWHERE}{HOURS LATER}
“You can’t keep sleeping here,” Troy opened the door, then walked in with Honey following behind him, “Gina’s already making up some conspiracies.”
“Conspiracies?” Honey asked, giggling under her breath.
He shook his head, “Yeah, conspiracies.”
They climbed some stairs and entered his room.
“And technically, I helped you pick it out.” She dropped her body atop his bed, eyes watching as he entered the bathroom.
It took about 10 minutes before he came out, wearing a new set of clothing.
Her eyes turned around the room, watching the dozens of paintings that were hung endlessly on the walls, arranged in such an order that one wouldn’t be able to tell the colour of the walls.
Then honey’s eyes stumbled on a curtain painting, or to be more precise, two. Which both had a woman who was both visible and blurry. The first was a drawing of her with long hair, while on the other, it was short with spike-like thorns.
Honey stopped up and made her way to them, “Wow, who is she?”
“Huh?” Troy turned from the desk he was seated on, “Oh, it’s… I don’t know.”
Honey trailed her fingers on the painting; it was still wet.
Troy made his way to her, head tilted, while he also observed it.
“Beautiful—”
“It’s hideous.” He cut her words. And before she could reply, he turned his head upward, on a painting that was lifted closer to the roof.
And honey’s eyes widened at its sight.
In the painting, it was the same blurry woman who was being held up by a giant, inhuman creature. Holding both her arms tightly, with a chunk of her neck completely missing. This time, the woman was naked, and blood poured all from the wound, falling like rain and making its way elsewhere like an endless stream.
Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, it finally clicked. Her eyes turned to the other paintings, and much like that one, they were all associated with a river of blood, all moving like a stream.
Honey’s hand instinctively moved upward toward her chest, “Is this…?”
“Yep.” He answered.
And her eyes instantly turned to a painting she had seen three months ago, only now, she noticed that it was the only one that had a river that had met its end. A painting of a swamp of pigs, all drinking from a sea of blood, created by a stream moving from the page’s edge.
It was all connected. But unknowing to her, it was still not enough.
It never would be.
~~~ [END]
—------------------------------
Join my PT for extra Chapters ~ p*tr-eon name is DUSK_IS_MEE
.Extra chapters available.
-Extra chapters also include audio-books.
—------------------------------
