Trapped - Can I Escape The Cliché?

Giving up

At this point, I was just frustrated at my knowledge of things around here. What else were the things I didn't know? It wasn't something I cared for, I was curious. Yet her nonchalant attitude was putting me off.

"Not that I am interested in you but I have questions you must answer. I— whose body I am in? How many things are you hiding from me?"

"It would be better if you didn't know? Don't you feel hurt by what happened to you?" Keeping the cup at the table she looked at me with blank eyes.

I clenched my fists, angered at her poker face. Everything about me was just a chaos, a storm, a puzzle with incomplete pieces.

"First, I am not repeating all that drama of convincing you to tell me. Second, I will decide what I will regret. If you don't tell me everything as it is, I might as well share some of our secrets with Arthur."
My fury fired up my words and yet she stood unaffected. It felt like she was a tiger while I was just a growling cat.

"Arthur will not believe you," she said as she slowly poured more tea," but I guess I would be better to reduce the burden of my heart. Tell, what you want to know?"

"Whose body is this and how did she die?" My eyebrows furrowed and my heart palpitating, I was scared of being the reason of someone's death.

"You already know, she's the beta's daughter, May." She looked up trying to read my expression, my palms were sweating but I stared defiantly. "She was attacked by a rogue, but it was me who gave her the silver poison."

My eyes widened I was unable to think and the only words I could utter were, "What—"

"You look terrified," she said leaning towards me, her hand was about to touch me when I shoved it off.

My hands were cold, trembling. "You, you killed her?"

"No, I didn't. Even if I didn't poison her, she would have died. I foresaw her death."

"You could have saved her!" I said loudly, losing my control.

"Then you wouldn't have been able to be here," she said kneeling down and holding my trembling hand.

"I don't care. I can't stay here, it's suffocating, I want run away from you and your games," I said getting up. "Look at your face, do you even feel guilty? Everyone here is a murderer, you kill others for your own benefit. I don't when I will end up dead. Why didn't you just go back to Arthur and tell everything? I am pretty sure if you could plan all this, then you could have done this too." Tears welled up in my eyes, I moved towards the door. I just couldn't stay with her in the same room.

"Stop," she said her hand pushing back the door as I had opened it. She closed it shut but I just couldn't turn back. I knew she was behind me, I could feel her breath, see her hand enclosing me between her and the door.

"Let me go," I said, my voice hoarse due to my sore throat.

"Aren't you too quick to judge me?"

"It doesn't matter," I barely whispered. She was acting strange unlike her usual self, her voice felt heavy different from the neutral tone she always talked in.

"Why am I supposed to bear everything? You think I don't feel guilty?"

I turned around and met her eyes, for the first time she had an actual expression on her face. Lips parted in distress, uneven breath.

"We have been taught to control our behaviour since childhood. Don't show weakness, smile no matter how much you fear. Look in the eyes of your enemy."

"I—"

"I had no choice, more people would have died if I didn't do this. I had to save them, protect them," she said her hands grabbing my shoulders.

"What was the future that you saw?" I asked cupping her cheeks, trying to console her.

"I saw my death," she whispered. A tear rolled down her eyes. "I saw war. I saw people dying." She collapsed down on the floor and I caught her in my arms. "I saw death."

"It's okay, you have fixed everything. I am sorry," I said holding her. I was confused but I didn't know what to say or how to treat her. It was like we switched sides, we both had traumas which haunted us. I wiped her cheek and hugged her. "Everything is better now," I whispered in her ear.

She was motionless, she didn't even cry anymore but just stayed in my embrace, taking time to control herself. After a while she pulled and stood up, her poker face was back but she said nothing. I followed her as she went towards the table and sat back at the chair. This explained their strange behaviour, both Arthur and her hardly showed emotions except when they were at extremes. Arthur smiled disdainfully, hiding his expression while Estelle remained like a doll.

The silence was overbearing and the room felt chilly. She didn't say anything but just sat there like a dummy.

"I think I should leave," I said getting up from my chair beside her. "We can talk later."

"Stop," she said holding my hand.

"What?" I asked turning back.

"Thanks," she said slowly.

"No need, it was my fault," I said drawing my hand back.

"I am fine, we can talk now," she said grasping my hand again.

I sat back, regretting my previous words. I was prejudiced, thinking I was the only one who had suffered, pitying myself.
"I am sorry," I said again.

"It's okay, I never told you anything. I shouldn't expect you to understand when I have you know nothing," she said with a light smile.

"What was the future you saw?"

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Sorry for leaving you at a cliffhanger. It's getting kinda hard to write all that past theories and secrets I had thought for the plot.

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