"Isn't the fire beautiful?" Said the young boy sitting beside her, grabbing the girl's attention who was just staring at the night sky. "You like everything that is bright, I didn't even wonder why you like staring at the fire," The girl responded and let out a sigh. "Well, bright things are somehow attractive and beautiful for me," The boy responded and he suddenly stood up, startling the girl beside her. The young girl looked at him, her lips pursed into a thin line.
"Where are you going? Do you want to go back inside? Do you want to use the restroom? Well, it's getting cold, anyways," The young girl said and she stood up from her seat. She swept off the dirt that clung to her clothes with the use of her back hand and she smoothened out the wrinkles of her clothes. She lifted her gaze and she looked at the boy who was just standing, staring at the fire, a few steps away from him. "What are you standing there for? Let's go back inside," The young girl said, trying to grab the boy's attention but she got no response from him. She let out a groan and was about to open her mouth to speak when she heard him spoke, interrupting what she was about to say.
"The fire is calling out for me."
Was what the boy said and the young girl looked at him with confusion in her eyes. The boy tilted and turned her head back slightly, looking at the girl at the corner of his eyes. His lips were pursed into a thin line and his eyes looked blank. "What are you saying? Are you having your hallucinations again?" The girl said and was about to approach the boy. "Don't. Don't come near me. The fire, it's calling out for me," He said and started to walk towards the fire.
She found herself standing still. Watching a young boy walk away from her, heading towards somewhere. There was this feeling in her chest, it was like her heart was being clenched tightly. She can't breathe as she watched the boy walk away. She wanted to call out to him, she wanted to shout his name. She wanted for him to stop. Stop. Please, stop. She can't move as if she was paralyzed in her position. She wanted to shout yet it feels like something is strangling her throat. She can't breathe.
She blinked and her scenery changed.
She looked around and she saw two blinding lights and heard an ear-deafening honk before she could move, she was already flying in the air while she coughed blood and there was this indescribable pain in her abdomen as she felt her bones crash after she hit the metal pole behind her which slightly curved due to the strong impact her body did. Painful, it was very painful. Despite the pain that she felt, she was feeling sleepy. Her eyelids became heavy and she was slowly starting to lose her breathe. She can't hear anything, it was silent. Her eyes slowly closed as her breathing becomes slow and darkness conquered her entire vision.
Blue eyes opened.
Alexandra jolted her eyes open as she immediately sat up. She was out of breathe, her eyes were wide open, and she was sweating. It was hard for her to breathe. Her heart was beating loudly and fast, it feels like it could jump out of her rib cage. She cursed multiple times inside her head. Crap, what the hell was that? She thought to herself. Although she can't fully remember what her dream was, she could still remember what she felt. It was so vivid, so true, it doesn't feel like a dream, she thought to herself and coughed multiple times. Her chest feels tight making it harder for her to breathe more.
"Water… I need water…" She mumbled to herself and coughed multiple times again. It was still dark which means it was still night time or dawn. As she was coughing, she heard a voice coming from her side, "Here, have some water," Was what the voice said and she saw a hand holding a glass of water, handing it to her. Without thinking, she accepted it and muttered 'Thank you'. Thankfully, there's someone here who gave me water or else I would have to get out of my bed and go outside my room. There's no water inside my room except for the one in the bathroom, of course but she is not that crazy to drink some in the sink. That would be disgusting.
Wait. Why would someone hand me a glass of water when I am completely alone inside my room? I never let Carlos go inside my room without my permission, she thought to herself and her eyes widened. She suddenly spat out the water she was drinking as she realized that, she coughed again multiple times. She slowly turned her head to the side where the hand and the voice came from, slightly afraid on what she was about to see.
She saw a person. A person. His hair was black and his eyes were red, he was staring at her with an annoyed expression on his face. "Don't just spit out the water that I gave you! There is no poison in it!" He said in an annoyed tone of voice, an irk mark appearing on his forehead. "What in the world—Harrison?!" Alexandra exclaimed, wiping her mouth with the use of the long sleeve of her (night) dress. Yes, it was Harrison. The one who gave her the glass of water. "Yes, yes, it's me. What happened? What did you dream about earlier? It seems like you were having a nightmare earlier as I suddenly woke up with an aching pain in my chest and with my head aching," Harrison said. Because of the mark, he was able to tell what Alexandra was currently feeling especially when she is in pain or distress even when they aren't together or far away from each other.
"I really can't remember. But I knew I had a bad dream," She said and drank the remaining water after she spoke. She slowly started to calm down and was able to breathe normally unlike earlier where she was having trouble. Harrison hummed and leaned back on his seat while staring at her. Alexandra placed the glass on top of her bedside table, beside the pocket watch. Now that she have woken up from her dream, she doesn't feel sleepy anymore. Ugh, great, my blanket is wet, she thought to herself and furrowed her eyebrows before she leaned back on the headboard of her bed.
Memories from what happened hours ago before she went back to her palace flooded her mind. The library where she asked Christian that question which made him tell what he truly feels. She felt her chest tightened once again and she looked bothered.
She recalled what Christian said. "Even though I was the one who requested you to do all of this, I just can't help but find it unfair. Why do I don't have the same courage like you, whose freedom was limited and who was hated by us, even when I have plenty of chances yet I didn't do anything? In fact, we're almost the same except that almost everyone thought of you as a wish or bad luck when you were born even father hated you yet I just did nothing. I could have done it but I didn't have the courage or the will," It was still clear inside her mind, the hurt expression on his face and how he averted his gaze away from her. His clenched fists, his eyes filled with jealousy and pain.
"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" Harrison said seeing that Alexandra was just staring at somewhere as if she was thinking about something. Alexandra shook her head, "I am not sleepy anymore," Was what she answered and she let out a sigh. She turned her head and looked at him.
-- "I didn't hate you. I never did. Rather, when I heard about your existence, I felt pity for you. You were still a person, a human, yet everybody thought that you were bad luck or a curse just because you were born in a bloodline with boys only. So when I met you and you became close with father, at first, all I felt was a relief and hope to know that this dead-like palace would be alive and lively yet as time passed by and you became closer with father and everyone while I am just on the side, watching, I felt envy. I was jealous but that wasn't enough for me to make you hate you,"
"I want to ask you a question," Alexandra said in a low tone of voice, an expressionless look on her face. Her lips were pursed into a thin line and she was staring at him with those blank eyes. This expression and look of hers, this is quite new, Harrison thought to himself and couldn't help but get curious on what she was about to ask him. "What is it?"
Alexandra let out a sigh before she spoke, "If you learned that one of your siblings who you are really close with and you shared some of your secrets with was jealous of you, what are you going to do? What should you do and say especially if that sibling of yours was the one who said it, straight to your face and told you to forget about it afterwards? What are you supposed to do?" Alexandra asked him while staring at him.
-- "I wish I was you yet I know that wouldn't happen."
Harrison hummed before he responded, "You are being specific on that one. I guess, that brother of yours, what was his name again? The second youngest one? The one you are always with? Chris? Chrisis? Chrisismoto?"
"It's Christian. Where did you even got Chrisis and Chrisismoto?" Alexandra said and let out a sigh. Gosh, this guy. Why is he so bad at names? She thought to herself. "Well, whatever. Did Christian told you that he was jealous of you earlier while you were with him?" Harrison asked her. Alexandra nodded and said, "I asked him a question. I was really curios on what he was thinking since he was hard to read and understand. I don't even know what he truly feels. I ended up learning all of it earlier, what he truly feels towards me. He doesn't hate me which was a relief but he was envious of me, the situation was worse than I expected it to be," Was what Alexandra said. She looked bothered and confused, she was like a child lost in the market not knowing what to do.
"That is quite hard. I can't answer your question since I never had siblings that was envious of me to begin with. But, you learned about what his true feelings was, right?" Harrison said and Alexandra nodded, she kept his head down. "Then that's good. Anyways, I'm going to leave now. I still have classes to attend tomorrow," He said and stood up from his seat, he ruffled Alexandra's hair. Alexandra just let him be, her head was still lowered down and she was staring at the ground. She was thinking about something, probably.
Harrison let out a sigh and let his hand rest on top of Alexandra's hair for a few seconds as he spoke, "Well, I hope everything goes well for you. You can do it, I know that you can," He said and Alexandra hummed as a response. "I'll be taking my leave then," And with just a blink of an eye, he disappeared from her sight. He vanished into thin air and her surroundings became quiet as soon as he left. Alexandra let out a sigh.
Ah, that idiot didn't even answer my question, she thought to herself, annoyed that Harrison was able to escape her successfully.