Chapter Thirty Two
Ashley: Isabell even though I am angry with you
Ashley: Even though you haven't told me anything
Ashley: and even though you never said sorry
Ashley: but are you okay
Ashley: like bub, you skipped classes today
Ashley: Izzy
Ashley: Izzy Izzy Izzy Izzy
Ashley: You are freaking me out
Ashley: Where are you
Ashley: Two days!!!
Ashley: you skipped classes for two days
Ashley: Isabell
Ashley: are you dead?
Ashley: I thought you would tell me in advance
Ashley: Is he
Ashley: Is he bugging you
Ashley: Izzy
Ashley: Two days and two evening
Ashley: Isabell
Ashley: you sure you're living?
Isabell was rolled in her blanket. She wasn't really opening her eyes but lifting a few eyelashes to read Ashley's message. Her room was messy, messier than it had ever gotten in its lifetime. The condition of her room announced that she hadn't moved for an inch in days. Papers were spread all across the floor, and her table had about a million unnecessary things that she never used to stay on for more than a minute.
She looked pale, her hair untidy, eyes swollen, barely moving her hand to hold the cell phone. She never replied to any of the messages instead she stared at them, waiting for them to appear again, and not reply to them again
And then a message appeared forcing Isabell to shut her eyes but before she could do it she read it already from the screen
Sebastian♡: Are you seriously ignoring me, Isabell?
And it was the twenty-ninth unread message from Sebastian accompanied by a dozen missed calls
Sebastian♡: It's enough!
Sebastian♡: If I don't receive a reply in the next ten minutes. I'll meet you at your doorstep.
Her eyes opened wider than they had opened in the entire two days. Her body moved and raised her, she stared at the door and then at the floor and ceiling but no matter where she glanced she was unable to produce a sophisticated message that would calm Sebastian down because she knew he wouldn't be joking and he'd appear at her house any minute.
Even though she told him about the cramps she was having, her behavior was suspicious enough to make Sebastian suspect
Isabell: I'm fine now…
Isabell: I'll meet you at the university tomorrow…
And that was sufficient for Sebastian not to come near her house. Isabell didn't care how much her phone vibrated, two messages were enough numbers of replies for today and for the entire days
Her gaze set on the Godwin-Austen. She tried to convince herself many times but the answer to every question indicated that
He is The Knight
She was alone at home with Knight. But this Knight has never hurt her in her entire life and she told her and told her again and again
Knight not being in the Cursed Abyss and me locking Zavy in his room the same day isn't a coincidence
she said that there is a huge possibility of this being a coincidence because she never knows if The Knight came to Cursed Abyss when they left
The Knight came to the house using a key and he never went to any other room, not a single thing was displaced which means he knew exactly where my room was. But still, maybe there was something in his defense too maybe he had some sort of master key or he was super cautious not to touch any otherthing, but The note matched Zavy's handwriting and him saying those words to me again and again wasn't a coincidence
'You should stop, Isabell' Zavy was never talking about the present, not about how I was irritating him in all those moments but about me involving myself with Throne Of Demon.
Isabell has been talking to herself about this for more than two days but all she was doing was to ask questions she already knows the answer to.
The star on the necklace has now left scars on her tips, she was pinching it hard and then she heard the footsteps of the defendant she was fighting a case for in her mind, reaching her door.
Isabell dropped back on the mattress, her eyes shut, she covered her face with the blanket, the door made a sound and it opened.
Pretend to sleep, pretend to sleep
she yelled to herself squeezing her eyes into each other "I made you some soup, Izzy and I have done all the housework. Please don't do anything and just rest" She clenched the sheet of her bed with one hand and the star from the other, trying not to move and not to even breathe.
"Izzy, I got you some chocolates too. I'm gonna put it on your table, eat them when you feel like it and you'll feel better" She kept her eyes and lips closed. "Mom will be arriving tomorrow, hang in there till then, she must love to see her favorite child alive" Xavier laughed, Isabell's tears rolled from the corners of her eyes
"Get well soon, IzyWizy"
After receiving no reply from her, Xavier left her room shutting the door
She could see now, she could breathe now, her fist slowly left the sheet and it were red.
The soup on her side table wanted to make her puke even by its sight
One more day of Isabell lying on her bed passed. One more day of Isabell doing nothing but thinking and overthinking and again overthinking
Isabell left for university early in the morning and all she left for Xavier was a message saying
'I have an early class'
No advice on how to take care of every little thing at home, no instructions but just a five-word note to get away from him
Isabell's eyes were glued to the ground, hand clenched hard to strip off the backpack as she walked onto the university grounds. She took small steps but she knew no matter how little she made her steps, she was eventually going to be in the building and then the small steps took her in front of a building where her friends were standing, waiting for her
"Izzy Crazy Bella, have you finally gotten crazy?" Ashley yelled running towards her "Do you even have an idea about how worried I was" she cried, throwing her arms around Isabell
"I'm alive, Ash," she said while not sounding so lively "Izzy, are you feeling better now?" Steve stepped towards them
"I'm okay, guys" She pulled Ashley out of her body "You look so dead dead, Izzy. Are you sure, you are still alive coz I swear you look like a ghost right now" Ashley asked and answered
"You know how these damn periods are, it doesn't make you stay alive a lot" I have lost count of how many times I've lied in two days "Can Relate" Ashley hugged her once again "Can't relate" he tried to fit in the talk
"You are lucky" Isabell let him in
Each one of them was doing their best to ignore the person walking straight towards them, his presence felt like a dark cloud overshadowing their conversation
"Hello, my friends," Ethan was standing in front of them. His gaze darted over each of them, noticing their anxious and irritated expressions. "How have you all been?" No one responded to his words this time as well "It's been ages since I last saw you. One year? Two I guess" Ethan continued, his tone mockingly cheerful.
"Hey, won't anyone say a hello to me" he waved a hand at them
"How dare you show your freaking face here?" Ashley finally snapped, her voice was heavy from rage
"I missed you too, Ash" She shifted her furious gaze to another direction and shut her lips close
"Get out of here, Ethan" Steve said in a rigid tone, "Or what?" he ruffled his silver hair and strolled towards Steve
"Or you know what I can do!" he threatened "Oh come on, Steve. After all, we have been through, you gonna treat me like this?" Ethan chuckled, Steve's jaws clenched, fingers turned into a fist at his audacity "You don't get to play the victim here, You asshole" Steve said
"You think you are any better than me, Steve?"
"I sure as hell I wouldn't stoop to your level" Ethan laughed in shock
"Could he?" his voice was intended towards Isabell who was quite like her usual. The silence made her disappear in the crowd and she kept her voice inside "Is he any better than me, Isabell?" he asked again and she never uttered a word
"It's time for go to get the fuck out of here, Ethan" Steve said grinding his teeth
"Make me" he sneered "I'm not asking. I'm telling you to leave, now!"
"Relax man," he said to the burning-up Steve "I just need to talk to Isabell," Ethan tried to move closer to her but Steve grabbed him firmly by the collar. He pulled him back and then Steve leaned to his ear and whispered something, his tone appeared severe and commanding.
Ethan reverted a few steps and his expression suddenly switched from confident to cowardy
"Maybe we can find another time," he grinned, nervously
"Stay Away from her or–" he didn't let Steve complete his words
"See you soon" Ethan tried to stay confident but his eyes were already flickering around searching for escape. He took a step back, then another, and Ethan was already gone
"What did you say to him?" Ashley asked narrowing her eyes "Nothing" Steve snapped, his frustration was clear from his tone as he turned away and walked in the opposite direction
The girls looked at each other and neither of them said a thing but watched Steve striding with anger
"How have you been?" Isabell asked after a moment "Fine," she said not breaking the rules of ignoring and avoiding everything about Ethan
"You okay?" she asked and started to walk holding Isabell's hand
"Yep" and before Ashley could say anything else to get the answer she wanted, Isabell spoke again
"I want to ask you something, Ash," she said and Ashley nodded up and down "Can I… Can I get Arine's contact" Ashley left puzzled on the question
"Why do you need Arine's contact?"
"I- I am having some- problems in research like I- I need some questions related to biology" she played "I thought you already had a friend from biology for this mysterious case study of yours" Unexpectedly she didn't get convinced on the first attempt but taunted. Isabell's brain glitched, it ceased to function a plan against her but then Ashley laughed at her startled face "I'm just kidding. I'll share her contact with you" She nodded in reply, nervously
"She isn't doing so well you know," Ashley said
"Who?"
"Arine, Her brother has been missing for the last week—"
"MAX IS MISSING?" she yelled the words in shock "Yes" Ashley's voice was unusually calm "How?"
"I don't know, she said he came to university that day but never went back home" A wave of shiver passed through her body and suddenly she was saying nothing but starting at the ground
"She has filed a report but I don't know what will happen" she sighed and Isabell stayed mute
"Nothing is going much okay you know," Ashley said, Isabell kept her eyes down
"You won't even believe what Sebastian did in the last two days" Her feet stopped, face moved to her
"What?" Isabell asked
"He was irate, he was furious, like fierce as in Chimera; a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology" Ashley was back to her normal self
"Why? What happened?" Isabell obviously and exactly knew the answer to her first word "I don't know like obviously no one knows. Yesterday a classmate was late for one minute like a single minute and Sebastian burst at him in front of the entire class, he threw him outside with a hundred-page assignment" Isabell licked her dry lips, the pangs in her stomach were back as she swallowed the air "Every day he would come to class with flame in his eyes and literally shout the words from his lecture. Like he always has been like this but then he was getting better and now, It's the worst, Izzy. It's the coldest I've ever seen someone in my entire life. I swear that he is a monster" There was no fear from Sebastian on Isabell's face but concern
He is not okay, he is not fine. I made him go crazy. Sebastian isn't okay, Isabell. You are responsible for it
"Our fellows have started to skip his classes because they are so afraid of him. They think he might punch someone just for speaking during his lecture. I don't know what happened to him. I swear I want to know, We all started to get along well but he is back to his icy and colder-than-ever self" Isabell nodded not to Ashley but to herself because she just told her
You will have to face Sebastian and you don't have excuses, even if you made one you can never lie in front of burning Sebastian.
"Oh no!" Ashley yelled looking at her phone screen "It's the time to play with fire" she announced the time of Sebastian's class
"Don't overreact" Isabell laughed nervously
"I swear based on how he is, I'm under-reacting, Izzy," Ashley said "Let's go" Isabell nodded but never moved her feet "Let's go" Ashley moved them by grabbing her hand
Ashley never lied, this is a loop of fire.
Everyone smashed their lips, breaths stopped at the throat, eyes finding some space to fix as Sebastian entered the room. His eyes ran through the entire class and for the first time in three days, they didn't return empty to him. They met Isabell in the center front and Sebastian's relieved breath echoed in his hush room
"Good Morning," he said. The greeting was supposed to be a sign of a good mood but every student in the room was left stunned as if he had thrown a rock at them. Not a single lip moved in reply.
He started his lecture. Sebastian's eyes stayed attached to Isabell the entire lecture. He even gave a half smile to her but everyone knew it must be a frustrated smirk at someone he noticed talking in the class. His voice was low, smoothly conveying the lecture standing at a podium in front of the students but the class never breathed, uncertain whether to feel happy about this again normal Sebastian, or be terrified of his shifting personalities
Sebastian's emotional balance seemed to be disturbed and to Isabell, he didn't match the description of Ashley. He was relaxed and felt calm to her. Despite being filled with guilt she kept looking at him
The minute his lecture ended everyone started to leave. Sebastian stayed, he moved towards Isabell who had just gotten up from her seat after throwing everything in her backpack "I'll be leaving first, Ash, Steve" She slung the bag over her shoulder and held the remaining books in her hand "We got lectures today" Ashley said, her expressions were unusual "Yeah, yeah, I know of course I know. I got some work to do and I'll be back" she replied already moving when Ashley replied
"Well, Okay"
Her feet just supported Isabell till the door and then a voice came to them and they stopped moving
"Isabell"
Sebastian called, shifting the attention of every present student toward them. She didn't turn towards him
Isabell never heard her phone ring or even vibrate but she knew someone had been calling her so she shifted the phone to her ear
"Hey, Mom!" she made sure to scream the Hey so that her voice could reach Sebastian "Yeah, I'm fine. How are you? How is the tour going? Are you having fun?" She had a lot of questions that her mind just recommended so Isabell ran out of the room.
Isabell never breathed until she was on the ground. She supported herself on a tree inhaling heavily. The phone slipped right away because there was no one to talk to and no one to listen to.
It was difficult for her to take the oxygen in and it caused tears to gather in her eyes, one hand grabbing the tree and the other her heart
I'm sorry, Sebastian. I'm sorry, I swear my heart aches but I can't let myself see you. I can't see the disappointment in the eyes who always stare at me with love. I can't let you hate me too.
Isabell leaned on the tree, her mind blank, her heart hurting. She stayed hidden behind the tree for now but she knew she would have to go because there were two more lectures to attend
Is there any possibility we can bunk a couple of lectures today? she asked herself in a voice that made her feel pity for herself too,
We skipped two entire days of university she replied silently
But Sebastian,
Yeah I know but no, there is no chance we can
But Sebastian
But your freaking degree, but your studies, but all of the damn work you left on hang from days, but your assignments, but all of—
Isabell wasn't done listening to the explanation when a voice interrupted her
"Can you please listen to me for once, Arine" She saw Jade walking behind Arine, his face looked as if he was at the edge of crying while Arine looked opposite, furious "I told you I have nothing to talk to you about!" she yelled
"Arine, give me one minute, just one minute please" he requested
"What the hell do you want from me? Like exactly how many times do I have to humiliate you to stop with that crush, Jade" she yelled again "It's not about that damn thing" he explained but she never listened
"I don't care what it is about" Her feet moved faster
"They are dangerous," Jade said, she didn't respond "They are dangerous and they are going to harm you" Her steps slowed down
"What are you talking about?" she sounded nervous "You need to stop going there" She didn't reply and kept walking while Jade stayed in place
"Throne of Demon,"
Arine stopped, her widened eyes matched the size of Isabell's, hand clenched over her mouth Isabell stood in shock
"What?" Arine said, her breaths got slower "You have to stop going there" Arine's head slowly turned around, "Going where?" She asked silently
"They have your brother and they are going to kill you!" Jade yelled, one more wave shiver passed through Isabell
"What are you talking about?" She yelled back in disbelief "They have killed people before- and they can do it again- it's easy for them"
"What are you talking about?" Her face started to drain color
"The Fucking Throne of Demon," he said, Arine's legs stumble at his shout
"H… how do you know that?" she asked in a low voice "You need to stop going there" Despite her questions he kept on repeating the same thing "You need to shop, Arine. They will kill you. You need to stop—"
"How do you know?" her question stayed the same as well
"I just know it! I know you do drugs and—"
"Why do you think I would believe you? You are lying! You don't know anything. And even if I go there even if I do drugs, so what? Why do you care?"
"You know exactly why I care, Arine!" he screamed "Yes I do know. Of course, I know, Because of your freaking obsession with me. What do you know? Who the hell even are you to come to me and talk?"no no no no no, Jade. Don't do this. Don't be an idiot, Jade. Shut your mouth. Even though I hate you so much I don't want to get you killed, you can't reveal your identity—
"Spy," he said. Arine froze and so did Isabell, "You know Spy, don't you?" He asked and Arine was unable to speak, her mouth lost all words
"The same freaking Spy from the freaking Throne of Demon"
You are going to die, You freaking dumbass "What did you just say?" A shadow of nervousness coated her complexion.
"I am Spy!"
"I don't understand you. No, Jade, I don't believe you" She tried to laugh but her it failed to come out "Don't believe me if you want but I'm standing right in front of you disclosing my identity while knowing consequences, just to stop you, Arine. I failed to save her but I wouldn't let anything happen to you" Jade's breath started to tremble, his eyes staying on Arine's pale face
"I don't believe you" Tossing the words at his face Arine was gone.
Jade stayed for some moments, staring at the space for a long time and then he was gone too, drenched in worry and fear Isabell stayed there