Ill Appearances

Chapter 19: Mara

I paced back and forth in front of the barren cot. I felt sick to my stomach, and it was taking every ounce of my willpower not to vomit all over the floor. Aside from terrible nausea, I was also feeling a deep sense of anger. Why was I even there? Things would've been so much easier if I hadn't gone and made myself known. And Aaron...what was he doing at that moment? Was he waiting for me? How could everything have gone so wrong? The feeling of rage bubbled in me, and I threw the cot onto its side.

"This scene looks all too familiar," a voice sneered from behind me.

I whirled around. "Jackie," I snarled.

She grinned. "My timing is always so convenient, right?"

My rage had yet to be ceased, and Jackie's words only made it worse. "You shouldn't be here."

She chuckled. "When have you ever known me to follow the rules?" She took a step closer. "We've got so much in common, Mariella. We used to be such good friends too. Don't you ever wonder what went wrong?"

I shut my eyes tightly, clenching my fists at my sides. "Leave me alone," I barely mumbled. "As I said: you shouldn't be here."

Her grin widened. "This is exactly the reaction I anticipated. You're so predictable. I can't believe you had everyone fooled."

I swallowed hard. "Fooled? With what?"

"You never changed," she replied, taking a step closer to me. "You're still the same as you were two years ago. A savage, ruthless, emotionless monster. Above all of that, you're a coward. You left your company in the hands of a child. What leader abandons her people?"

I shut my eyes again, pressing my hands to my head. "Shut up," I growled. "Just please...shut up..." My anger was growing by the second. It was like a volcano on the verge of eruption. I felt her step right in front of me.

"Why won't you let it overtake you?" she asked. "It's all you need to set yourself free, Mariella."

"That's not my name," I managed to choke out. I was slowly starting to curl into a ball.

She leaned in closer to me. "What do you mean?" Suddenly, she was laughing. "Have you really forgotten? You're one of us. This is your home."

By then, tears were streaming down my face. In a mixture of fear and anger, I threw my arm out, blasting Jackie back with a jet of water. "I told you to leave me alone!" It felt like I was ten years old again. All of the suffering I had endured flooded through me. My emotions had run loose, causing my power to do the same. I was scared out of my wits, only able to cower in a corner.

Jackie stood shakily. "This is a good thing, so keep going."

"Why won't you just go?" I sobbed. "I don't want this...Just please leave..." Sudden pain in my neck made my ears begin to ring. The pain was even worse than before. It spread through my body in waves.

Jackie jumped back again. "Y-you..."

I looked up at her through half-lidded eyes. "Run," I breathed.

She didn't waste time fleeing the scene.

I groaned as the pain increased. I wrapped myself in the blanket that had fallen off of the cot. I was sweating, but my entire body was shaking with shivers.

"Mara," Meilana's quiet voice whispered.

I turned to look behind me, but no one was there. Having thought I imagined it, I buried my head back into my knees.

"Mara," she repeated. "Open your eyes."

"But it hurts," I mumbled, stifling another groan. "When will it stop?"