The Dome

This is our untold story

chapter twenty

Lana quickly wiped her tears away, lying on the bed in a fetal position. She hugged her knees close to her chest drowning in her never-ending sorrows. For the first time, she felt weak. She felt fragile. The thought of being away from her family destroyed her mind. As if it was some messed up hurricane of pain and grief. The hot steamy tears fell from her face onto the soft fabric of the bed. She covered her mouth and cried to herself. While crying she slowly fell asleep in the same position. Different emotions and dreams travelled her mind.

The front door slowly opened as Lucien slipped through inside the house. He carefully tiptoed up the stairs towards the bedroom when he noticed Lana fast asleep. He moved closer to her getting a good view of her face. Her cheeks were wet from tears and her eyes were puffy. He let out a soft sigh before walking out of the room again. That girl was half-demon half-angel. One part of her always tried to be harsh and solid, while the other part of her was breaking apart. She was slowly losing herself underneath all that confidence. And the worst part was that no one understood her. No one besides Lucien. He too felt the same pain. He too was losing it.

Lucien steadily walked towards the small kitchen in the corner grabbing a glass and a bottle of wine. Sometimes alcohol and music were his only source of freedom. He attentively poured the scarlet red wine in the glass taking a little sip from the top. This freedom was the only thing keeping him in check. It was his only sense of remedy. He elegantly held the glass of wine as he walked upstairs towards the room with the huge grand piano. He softly placed the glass of wine on top of the piano, sitting down on the piano stool. He then took a deep breath in placing his hands on the black and white keys.

Suddenly his hands danced elegantly across the keys turning bad memories into beautiful music. The minor chords perfectly described his mind, whilst the major chords described his emotions. His fingers moved with grace, not playing but caressing the piano. The beautiful melody was perfectly compatible with the sound of rain. Pressing the pedal down with his feet, he allowed the notes to echo in the atmosphere as he lost himself in the music.

Music was one of the only things that calmed him down. It was the only thing that gave him hope in this dark world. The only thing that kept him going. Even though the piano keys were black and white, they sounded like a million colours in his mind.

To him, the piano was similar to life. The white keys resembled happiness whilst the black ones represented sadness. But it also reminded him that even the black keys create music.

As he played the piano, Lana slowly woke up to the beautiful melody. She rubbed her puffy eyes sitting on the bed. Normally, if someone woke her up she would be angry but this, this was the best way someone could have ever woken her up. The music danced through her mind allowing her to calm down. She carefully stood up trying not to lose her balance. Then she walked towards the room where the piano was. She leaned against the wooden door frame listening to the beautiful music.

Lana watched Lucien's hands swiftly move across the keys as he expresses his emotions through the music. His eyes were shut tight as he focused on the music and the music alone. Somewhere through her fragile mind, Lana recognised the music. She remembered that every day she would play this song on the piano from memory when she was inside the dome. But at this moment, Lucien looked so peaceful. Suddenly, he wasn't the man Lana hated, but the man who had suffered the same amount of pain as her. She carefully looked at him enjoying the music.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered, acknowledging her presence. Lana stood there in shock for a few seconds before tiptoeing across the room towards him. She slowly sat down beside him on the stool trying not to distract him. He finally opens his eyes looking at Lana's. She looked at him with a puddle of tears in her eyes.

"I recognise that song," Lana whispers back as he continues to play, "I used to play it all the time when I felt like I was stuck in the deep darkness of my own mind," she added before looking away. Lucien remained silent processing every single word that came out of her mouth. No matter how long it took them to admit it, they knew how similar they were. They knew how similar their minds were to each other. And they knew that they both needed the same kind of a remedy to calm down. They needed each other even if they never admitted it.

"You know, when I left today I thought I was never going to see you again," he said as the tears fell from Lana's eyes. He carefully grabbed her chin making her face him. But Lana couldn't hold it in any longer so instead, she just broke down crying in his arms. She fell into his arms letting out every pain and sorrow within her. And he just held onto her tightly keeping her safe. Weeks before, he had the strongest desire to kill her, but now he just wanted to keep her safe. It was then when he realised his mother was right.
   
    "One day, you will find someone who will melt your ice-cold heart with their warm hands. I promise you" his mother had said before dying.

Because as silly as it seems, Lucien cared for her. Something or someone had started to melt his heart and he hated that feeling. He hated that he felt vulnerable. He hated the fact that he would do anything to keep her safe. It scared him. Those feelings scared the shit out of him. He was known to be ruthless and cold, but for the first time, he felt the same feelings he had felt when he was nothing but a naive little boy. Her light and her beauty reminded him of how he used to be. But he didn't want to destroy her illuminating light too. He didn't want to take that away from her, but instead, he just played with her hair hugging her tight as she cried in his arms burying her face into his shoulders.

"I need you to understand something. I need you to understand that you are a strong woman, and the strongest I have ever seen," Lucien says, fixing his posture, "and even though we are nothing alike and we hate each other, I want you to know that you are a strong and beautiful woman that will bring demons to their knees. Always remember that." he says before taking a deep breath in. She silently nods admiring his soft words. This was the first time he had opened up to her and that scared Lana. It scared her that he would somehow find a way to her stone-cold heart. But that forever remained their untold story.