Under The Sea

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The plan. The plan. He wanted to draw him in, to set him up. He wanted me to be the bait.

They all stared at me from their seats at the table, Aran, Jacin, Thea, Amber, Matthew, Cameron. My back was rigid and I was trying so damn hard to keep my hands from shaking and the fear from leaking through my stagnant expression.

If I agreed, I'd be volunteering myself to be caught by the Devil, again. Would it be selfish of me to say no? Maybe the plan wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Can you just repeat what the plan is again?" I asked sheepishly, listlessly.

Aran nodded with a smile peppering across his dreamy features.

"So, we know that Mason has taking a liking towards you, which means he will most likely show up if you need him. I'm assuming that he's watching over you and will hear you if you call. All you have to do is draw him from his hiding spot, we won't let him get to close, you'll be safe. I promise." His eyes were sincere and I knew he would never let anything happen to me, but his words. They were like jagged knives brushing up against my ears, sharp like the first sunlight that hits your eyes in the morning, cold like a bottle of water perspiring in the fridge. Fridge? Yeah that was the word.

I nodded and did not anticipate the smiles that came after. Amber called me brave, Matthew eyed me and nodded roughly, Thea set a smile that did not reach her eyes on her face, Jacin gave a lazy smile while squeezing my arm for support. Aran and Cameron both looked extremely proud. It was all to overwhelming. The smiles and easy banter that commenced, the oblivious look in everyone's eye.

Clearing my throat, I stood up abruptly nearly knocking the chair over. "I, um, I'll be back." I rushed from the room straight to the guest room that I had first slept in on my first day. I didn't want to go back upstairs, fearful that Mason might be waiting again. Of course, the odds of him waiting up for me again were slim, but it was extremely difficult to fight the fear of what if?

If someone were to walk into the room they'd see a tired, sulking girl with hunched shoulders and an unhealthy mien floating about her. They'd notice that her body was nearly just skin and bones with sharp angles and deflated curves.

It felt as if everything right was wrong. My world was once filled with every color of the rainbow and I used to complain. I used to complain about how unfair it was that I had to become Queen when I didn't want the title. Sometimes my life wasn't really a life, it was just me wandering through a labyrinth of doubt.

To say I would give anything to go back to that life would be an understatement. The only person holding me back from truly wanting my past life again was Aran.

Speaking of the handsome fellow. The door gave a small creak and a blonde head popped in. My fear backed down just at the sight of him. I peered up at him through my tangled brown hair without a word, without a trace of emotion. He took a seat beside me on the bed and the silence continued. Slowly, he moved his hand to hold mine. The touch was so simple, so light, but it sparked the most humane feeling within me. Just knowing he meant well, knowing he cared, was enough to draw tears from my eyes.

"You alright?" He whispered.

"I'm fine."

"I know you're not, Forest." I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a sideways glance just as he did the same to me.

"I'm fine."

He scoffed. "You're not. And I can see it, maybe everyone else can't but I can Forest. You can't hide your emotions, you can't keep them inside. I wanted you to say no to that plan so badly, but I let you choose. I don't want you near him anymore than you want to be near him."