Chapter 25 to ???

{dropnote:"Chapter 25 - Hello My Old Friend"}
I watch the woman leave. She looked so familiar, but I can’t remember where from.

Suddenly, pain was searing through my head. I clutched my head and soon the headache left, but when it left me, the world didn’t seem like the world anymore.

I feel so dizzy…

Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I just need to go back to the castle and rest up for tomorrow. Isn’t Pariz coming home tomorrow?

“Hey guys? I’m gonna head home now.” I say as I turn over to Vanessa and Daphne, only to see them shoo me off while they continue on giggling about the woman that was just in the room.

“What did she say her name was?” Vannessa asked Daphne, clearly interested in the drama going on in our dull friend’s life.

“I think she said her name was Myste- or… Oh! Now I remember! Her name was Hysteria.” Crack. “Kind of weird, but she is a witch.” Yet another.

There it was. There was no mistaking it. She is alive.

I reached out behind me while walking backward, eyes searching all over the room for any way that what she just said was a lie. Like she said, Hysteria is a very witchy name. There are probably plenty of Hysterias that are witches.

No.

That was her. I know it was.

My hand finally grasps the door and I turn around quickly and practically run out the door. I look at the ground as the world starts spinning, seeing watery boot-prints on the floor leading down the stairs.

I start running down the hallway the opposite direction of the only escape from the floor. The world starts blurring. Through my tears or from my head spinning, I can’t tell, but the floor starts closing in. I take one last gasp of air as I drop to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

???~

Falling. Failing. Flailing around, my body goes. Plop.

Darkness surrounds me in the water. I can’t go down though. My body never goes under the current for me to take off in the ways that keep me calm at times like this. Instead, I’m surrounded by nothing. Nothing. No One. No One at all.

My breathing quickens as I start drifting towards the shore. I end up having to crawl myself away from the ocean as it tries to keep me there forever.

I look around the beach and see that is all that is there. I turn back around to where I got out from and see a figure reflected in the surface, but it is not mine. I stumble back before regaining my composure and peering back at the water, seeing Hysteria looking back at me. She is not alone though. Daphne is next to her. They’re kissing again.

Pain sears through my heart as I start crying.

As I wept, all I saw was a bunch of blurry images going through my mind. The betrayal. Except that isn’t what it was, was it? My mind only lets me see her face. Her face as she dreams. Her face as she screams. Her face as she cries. Her face when I left.

Then there was more.

It is her face still, but different. Older.

Her face when it is covered, but still smiling. Her face when she is in love. Her face with Daphne.

I start crying even harder now. My tears leaking off my face like a leaky faucet. They swam themselves towards the sea, as I couldn’t bear to look back at everything there.

Why? Why must closure continue to betray me? No matter what path I took, I feel as though this would have always been how it would end up. Alone.

Suddenly the darkness starts to lighten up.

There were cracks of light in the sky, illuminating a brighter day. On the other side, I could hear voices saying something. Calling out for someone. I wonder what they are saying.

“Wake up! Come on Sofia! Don’t do this now!”

“WAKE UP!”