The Violet Witch - The School for Good and Evil

22) I need you

Evelynn trembled uncontrollably as the prince held her, dipping her head as he slowly turned her to face the mirror again.

Tedros freed one of his hands from her's, lifting her chin gently to look into the glass.

She stared at his arms holding her, at his eyes watching her every move: her twitching fingers and swaying head.

There was no anger or hate in those sapphire eyes, Tedros only looked at her like he wanted to help her, he looked at her with care.

She didn't understand. She couldn't understand.

She could still feel the witch bubbling beneath her skin, but it was as if Tedros's touch drained all of her evil energy, leaving her an empty shell of a girl.

"Don't look at me." Tedros whispered, dropping his chin to her shoulder, "Look at you."

Evelynn's reluctant gaze finally fell to her reflection once more. And as she stared, a powerful numbness washed over her, her final traces of power seeming to trickle down her body and sink into the floor, along with all the physical energy she had left.

Her eyes dulled to their true, silver colour, her body fell limp, and salty tears started to trickle down her face.

Evelynn's dramatic blood loss was finally starting to hit her, and so was the pain. She could hardly feel anything else, it was as if her ribs were screaming at her, the wound throbbing and stinging like no pain she had experienced before.

But the distraction from the pain couldn't disguise her memories that were still so fresh and raw in her mind, the witch was returning to her rightful place, but what she had done couldn't be banished with her.

No, that was horrifyingly real.

"What have I done?" Evelynn whimpered, moments from the past few hours flashed before her eyes: horrendous, visceral memories that shook her very core and made her head spin. "What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?!" The question tumbled from her mouth over and over again, she kept asking, hoping she would never get an answer.

She just wanted to wake up and see everything over. She wanted to wake up and breathe a sigh of relief at the realisation that it was all a nightmare, so she could go about her day and forget it completely.

Tedros wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her from collapsing to the floor and holding her tighter. "It's okay."

"NO!" She cried, hiding her face in her hands as the tears began to stream. She had never felt such self-loathing, such dread, such pain. She'd told Chaddick she would kill him, she'd attacked her friends, she nearly killed Agatha, and Aric.

What was even worse was that, she wanted to kill them.

The hatred she'd so recently expelled was now imploding, it was destroying her as it ripped through her heart in the most brutally violent way.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE!?"

She untangled herself from Tedros's arms and dropped to her knees, staring at her face in the mirror. Then, Evelynn raised a fist and slammed it against the glass, watching it shatter around her in a shower of tiny fragments.

Tedros grabbed her and pulled her back, staring at the fresh blood in the skin of her hand.

The sobs that escaped her could've broken anyone's heart.

"Stop!" Tedros knelt down in front of her, holding her face in his hands. His eyes were wide and panicked, he was scared. "Stop hurting yourself, please!"