hearts

chapter 37 | Cas

"So what now?"

She reached into her back pocket to pull out her map and opened it. I leaned over slightly to look at it and before I could figure out where we were I felt the car shake. My eyes immediately flew back in front of us to see that we side of the car narrowly missed a bunch of trees "For fucks sake Cas watch the road".

"It's not like there's much of this car left" I grumbled under my breath. "Where are we?" I asked as I realized I was just driving blindly with no idea of where we were going.

"Wayyyy of course that's for sure" She mumbled as she stared at the map from different angles "But no worries!" My eyebrow raised at her now enthusiastic voice.

Nothing good ever comes from an excited Hibi.

"We're actually sorta on a short cut I guess" Her unsure voice also planted doubt in my head.

"Sorta?"

She nodded "Well yeah I guess, with the way we're going we're headed towards Weeping Willows" She scrunched up her nose "Which I was actually trying to avoid" I don't think I was meant to hear the last part but that didn't stop me from reacting.

"Avoid it, avoid it why?!" She sighed.

"It kinda like a trippy forest I guess?" It sounded more like a question than an explanation "I don't really know I've only heard about it" She shrugged.

"And what have you heard?"

"All the information I know, I got from Rico-

"Well you can't trust that can you? Who knows how short people see the world" I snorted.

She shot a glare at me and coughed "As I was saying" She cleared her throat "All I know I got from Rico and he seemed pretty terrified of it" My ears perked up and I glanced at her from the corner of my eye to read her expression.

"What did he say?"

"That it was a trippy forest" She repeated "He used it to travel from Diamonds to here and he was messed up for months afterwards" She explained, "Most people choose the much safer root but the forest is the shortest way as it goes directly from Spades into Diamonds and vice versa".

My eyebrows pinched together "What's so scary about a bunch of trees?" I joked, but my laughter died in my throat at the solemn look on her face.

"It hard to explained," She said with visible frustration on her face "Apparently it's like a two truths and a lie kinda thing?"

"What like the game?"

"Yeah I think so" She ran a hand through her head and began to tie her hair up, "He said the forest will whisper memories into your head"

"Witchcraft?"

"Kinda I guess" She sighed "Apparently it will force you to see three things" She brought out her fingers "One, the most painful memory from the past you hold and two things that will happen in your future".

This is being done by a bunch of leaves?

"For one, recalling a painful memory is sure to throw you off your balance mentally of course" She described "But then for your future its like a guessing game thing because you'll see two things and one will come true and the other will be a lie" I took a deep breath. "And it's not like it'll be light things, whatever you see is guaranteed to fuck you up, no matter what".

"That can't be that bad can it?" I asked quietly.

She looked down "I guess it won't be for you, but some of us don't exactly have a squeaky clean sunshine and rainbows past Cas".

She stared into her lap for a few seconds before seemingly snapping out of a trance "But you might be right huh?" She now sounded a lot more optimistic "This is our shortest route and we'll be fine as long as we just take it head-on" Her encouraging words made me nod my head even though I didn't know what I was getting into.

"And besides, how bad can the future be?"

I switched off the ignition but left the keys in as they would serve no further purpose to us. "Remind me why we can't just drive through the magic forest" Hibi shot a glare at me as she slid out of her seat.

My arm reached out to grab hers to help her get out of the car even though she probably didn't need it. That didn't mean she didn't take my hand though, she happily grabbed it to step down from the large car.

"It's gonna be traumatic Cas, the last thing I need to worry about is whether or not you're in the correct mental state to drive" She scoffed "Especially since you can't even drive sober"

"Hey!-" Before I could voice out my displeasure at the insult I noticed something weird in her step "Are you limping?" She snorted.

"Well it's not like I just got an arrow through my back and then electrocuted through said wound, I'm sorry for not being runway ready" She rolled her eyes as she continued to walk forward, hunched over a bit as she winced in pain with every step.

"You know we could set up camp in the car and wait for you to heal-

"And risk someone else tracking us down? No" She stated calmly "I'll be fine and we have to move now. The last thing I want is being trapped in there by midnight".

I looked around to see just miles of forest. Nothing seemed out of the forest or 'trippy' like she called it "Are you sure we're in the right place?" She nodded as she began to touch some trees and examine them closely.

"Yup! Look you can even see the marking in the bark"

I walked up to the tree she was standing by and looking closely at the bark. Sure enough, there were intricate designs marked into the tree. "It's a language" Hibi murmured as she stroked the designs.

"Really?" I was surprised. From what I heard, spades wasn't known to have a language of origin.

"It seems to be written in spades" My eyes widened "I've seen the text in some old books back in Adaoras castle but I never bothered learning them as it was never important to, the language is outdated and really old".

"What do you think it means?" I found myself asking in curiosity. Hibi chuckled.

"Probably a riddle or a text that won't make sense and make your head hurt" I chuckled with her as she was probably right.

Nothing good ever came from writing on a tree in a different language.

"So we're standing directly at the border of the forest" She took in a deep breath "Just remember, no matter what you see, no matter what you hear, no matter what you feel" Surprisingly I felt her hand slip into mine, she gave me a soft squeeze and shot me a comforting smile.

"Just keep moving"

And we both took a step in together.

I quickly realised my eyes were tightly closed in fear and I opened them to just see...more forest. Excitement filled me "Look! I told you Rico was a little li-

I glanced beside me to see that Hibi was gone. My hand was empty as was the space beside me, it was like she was never there. I took in a deep breath as panic set into the corners of my mind.

Just keep moving.

I let out a breath and looked forward before continuing to walk forward. It didn't take long for me to start to hear them, whispers entered my ears, it was an eerie but calm feeling. They all whispered in my mother tongue as they told stories of my past.

The voices grew louder as the memories they spoke of began to scream into my mind. I felt memories being shoved into my head as If I was watching my life in speed rewind. I saw Hibi, I saw my mother, I saw many other faces on my past but soon they all paused and merged into one.

"Caspian" A cruel smirk painted my mother's blood-red lips. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I looked down frantically to see I was in the clothes of a Hearts royal, only these were clothes from many years ago.

Fuck no.

"Mom" My mouth moved on its own accord, without the consent of my mind. "W-where did dad go?"

She tilted her head "Oh he's gone honey" I felt myself swallow.

I looked around as the forest melted into a room. A room I'd been in once and never again. My parent's room. "G-gone where?" Deja-vu hit me like a truck as I slowly recognized this memory.

My past, definitely my past.

Okay, one truth down.

"When men forget how to be men they must need reminding" She smiled at me "Just like when you forget how to behave I must remind you" I felt my younger self nodding in agreement to her manipulative words.

My mouth dried "So dad is being put away... so he can get punished" My mother's eyes lit up with psychotic excitement.

"Exactly honey, look at you, such a smart boy" She reached out to run her hand through my curls before twisting one specific one around her index finger "Would you like me to teach you how to be a man?".

I felt my inner subconscious collapse in horror as I felt my younger body fill with the urge to please my mother. "Don't I-I need to- She, in turn, hushed me with a finger and called for someone to come in.

I watched in confusion as a beautiful woman, way beyond my years, in clothes less than underwear walked into the room. "Look at her Caspian, isn't she beautiful" The woman looked me up and down lustfully, I remembered feeling uncomfortable and very confused.

"I-I guess?" My mother clapped her hands in triumph.

"Great!" She beckoned the woman over "Meridah here is going to give you your first lesson in being a man!" She looked at me, enthusiasm dancing in her red eyes. "Isn't that generous of her?" She asked, a threat looming with the question.

I cleared my throat. "Well, ye-

"Great then!" She clapped her hands and the woman came closer to me. "Caspian?" I looked at my mother nervously.

"Touch her chest" I looked at my mother in alarm. She made it seem like a request but I knew better than to assume she was requesting anything. My shaky, sweaty hand reluctantly came out to caress the women barely covered chest, making her let out an exaggerated moan. "Good boy"

The woman brought out a hand of her own and dragged it down my chest. My mother began to leave, seemingly not bothered by leaving me in the room with the woman. Meridah descended to her knees and began to play with the buckle of my pants, making me step back in shock, only to be stopped by the table behind me.

No! I yelled from the inner parts of my mind, watching this memory play out again.

This happened to me one time too much.

"And Caspian?" I saw my mother, halfway out the door. "I love you"

The door closed and my memory turned black. "I love you"

The words were said by a different person now. I turned around shakily to see the shimmering, happy eyes of Hibi. She was a beautiful red and gold dress, with a large bouquet of black roses in her arms. A crown was on her head and various jewels were plaited into her hair.

"I-"

I looked around as a picture began to be painted around me. We were in a large hall, being stared at by multiple guests. It took me less than a second to realize what was going on.

I was getting married.

"Cas?" My head snapped back to meet Hibi's concerned eyes. Looking into her eyes made warmth and love fill me that I'd never felt before. I'm getting married to Hibiscus.

"Yes, Hibi-

"Hibi No!" My vision turned to black once more and I felt like screaming 'take me back'. But I didn't have much time to figure out what was going on as this scene was already playing. "You wouldn't" I begged.

I looked in front of me to see Hibi again. But this time she did not look regal, she looked broken and terrified with her dishevelled hair and wild teary eyes. But my focus was more on the gun that was in her hands, pointed at her throat.

"Wouldn't I?" I began to panic as the situation set into my brain.

"Tana-

Whose Tana?

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't Caspian Heart" Her eyes shined with tears as her fingers rested scarily comfortably on the trigger.

"I love y-

"You don't know what love is" She spat maliciously. "I can't live like this, with your lies and your bullshit" She breathed heavily "I can't deal with it, not anymore" I ran forward but it was too late.

Hibi went slump as she fell to the tiled floor she was sitting on, a hole in her head and a splatter of blood on the wall behind her.