My brows shot up. I froze, processing her words. 

Suddenly, the warmth in my chest became overbearing, spreading towards my face, flushing my cheeks. I clenched my fists, my gaze sharpening.

Right. I'd forgotten. 

Harper was my enemy now.

"But now, that is no longer the most disappointing fact about you," She said, her gaze hollow. "Are you happy?"

Not my first time hearing these words. Yet, for whatever reason, they made my heart clench.

Noticing my unfazed expression, her own hollow front crumbled. Her eyes shook as she passed a hand through her hair. "Just... Ju-What the fuck were you thinking? Hm? Tell me, because I can't fucking wrap my head around it!" She gave an aggressive shrug.

She waited for an answer. I gave none, making her tap the top of her head in agitation.

"Why quiet now?" She questioned, flipping a palm at me, brown eyes bloodshot, hair wildly framing her face. "Of all nights, Penelope. Why tonight?" Her tone broke at the edge. My lips twitched.

"I don't have an answer," I said, solemn, turning away.

“Yes, you do!” She yelled, making me turn back to her. “You fucking do, you always do. Just tell me!" She demanded, slamming a hand against the door frame. Her words rang down the hall outside. “Did someone hold a gun to your head and force you to throw the party? Did you secretly hate your mother?”

Tears rushed to my eyes at her words. But I hadn’t flinched.

“You know, like you secretly hated me.” She said, clocking the hurt her words had caused.

I could still feel the rough, hardcover under my fingertips... I could use it to bash her head in, I guess. Maybe that would make me feel better. Maybe...

“Are you done?” I said, grabbing the door handle to help me better stand. Her gaze flickered to it, making her tighten a palm on the door, thinking I was going to close it. 

"I guess!?" She yelled, leaning in.

A beat of silence passed. Her heavy breaths filled the air. I passed a swift hand over my eyes, getting rid of the tears.

"Is this really who you're going to be from now on? Not just a traitor, but a disappointment?” She grunted, letting go of the door and standing straighter.

“I guess,” I mirrored with a smile that disappeared quickly as it appeared.

"Disappointment?" She frowned, her jaw clenching. "You're a fucking villain. There's no other way..."

Reeks of cigarettes. A purple bruise peeking out of the edge of her collar. And that marriage ring on her finger…

To call me a disappointment was rich, coming from her.

Harper shot me a tired glance, her mouth opening like she wanted to rip into me still, but was simply out of words.

"I think you’re done," I said, nodding curtly. “Goodnight.”

I grabbed the doorknob, pulling the door closed. However, before it could lock out her persistent glare, something interjected its closeness; her foot.

I sighed, meeting her gaze. Within them, I was surprised to find… subsiding anger.

She breathed through her nose, voice tight as she pushed the door open again. "You're lucky I came at all."

"What–"

Harper grabbed me by the wrist. “You won’t stay there alone. I’m taking you.” She stated, leading me outside.

I frowned. “Did you finally lose it?”

“No, I didn’t.” She said, sharply turning to me. “Unlike you, I’m a decent human being. I care about what Aunt Camilla would think. And for her sake…” She said, stabbing my chest with an index finger. “Otherwise, they couldn't pay me to look you in the eyes after everything that's happened. Got it?”

She yanked me into the corridor and clicked the door shut behind us.

“Let go,” I prompted, trying to pull away. “Harper, let go of my arm…”

Disregarding my order completely, she led me past the other apartment doors, towards the building’s exit.

I… should push her away.

I watched my own legs betray me, moving despite the instinct to resist. My pride… and… I could pull away, push her back. I could shake her hold off and storm back to the apartment.

And...

A thin layer of tears formed in my eyes, and my lips stiffened.

“… I don’t want to go back there.”

“… I know.”

The dirty, cold ground of the hallway under my bare feet… and even that wasn’t reason enough for me to look back, now that I was out. And the fact that it’s with her, then…

"... Where are we going?" I asked, sniffling.

She didn't respond.

We were out of the building. The smoke-filled air of the neighborhood seeped into my system, jerking my senses awake. We crossed the dim street and headed for Harper's poorly parked car.

"Get in the car," she ordered, swinging the back door open, a hand on her hip as she did. Despite the flickering light pole under which we stood, I could discern her 'I'm so done with you' look.

Her thin eyebrows brought together, her mouth unthinkingly pouting, her hair so disheveled it made her look comical. I sniffled again, the nostalgic feeling despicable and warm.

I lowered myself, sitting inside the car.

Seven months. Seven months of no-contact. The last time I saw her, we were at the police station, crying for different reasons, hurt beyond repair, her shithead boyfriend standing there silently, injured. That night, a 17-year-long friendship had been broken to pieces, trampled on in such a way that I thought it irreparable.

A poignant odor filled the car, making me scrunch my nose. Lemon flavor. Cheap and overly familiar. I regretted telling her to cover the cigarette smell using these things.

I guess she didn’t forget everything, at least…

"Put your seatbelt on," A hoarse voice spoke out, making my smile drop as chills ran down my spine.

Suddenly, the air in the car felt nonexistent.

My eyes shot up, registering that a third person was in the car with us. A man. He had short blonde hair, black framed thick glasses, and a slimy, disgusting little grin on his face as he turned to look at me.

"How—" The moment he opened his mouth, I shot up, bumping my head into the car's ceiling.

"Stop the car," I demanded, glaring at Harper through the rearview mirror.

With dark under-eye bags, puffy eyes, and an annoyed expression, Harper let out a sigh.

"Drop it already," she said, making me flop back down. "At least for tonight, Penelope." She spun the wheel to take a left.

We're heading to his house.

They're still together.

She brought him along.

She brought him with her. To see me. On a day like this.

For a moment, my mind could not comprehend the cruelty of this situation, its painful irony.

I turned to Harper with a remaining sliver of hope. No way. She must have a reason. She must at least... feel something...

Staring into her eyes, I caught a sight that made me sick, almost teary. Through the mirror, I glimpsed a familiar gaze, a shade of brown carved into the back of my mind, a soul that once intertwined with my very own. It watched me with such disdain I could hardly breathe.

I broke away, lips pressed and fists shaky.

"Stop the car," I demanded, receiving no response. "Stop the fucking car!" I banged on the window, making the two jump. "HARPER!" I cried.

Fuck. Fuck. I keep fucking crying. I want out. I don't want to breathe the same air as these people. Please...

"Hey, calm down!" Benjamin, that devil incarnate, turned around and reached out.

Memories I thought I had forgotten arose.

Horrified, I swung the book I forgot I even held anymore at his face. He let out a pained scream and turned away to hold his head. I flung the door open, sharing one last look with Harper through the rearview mirror.

Silence. Again.

"PEN—" He couldn't complete his sentence before I landed on the concrete.

Thanking whatever force helped me stand on my feet again, a surging pain in both of my ankles, I took a sharp breath.

I walked away, ignoring the background noise. Grimacing, I wiped the tears on my cheeks. Shame and utter embarrassment crawled up my spine. I could not bear what had just happened. So I ran away. The loud calls for my name became one with the pangs of my feet against the concrete. I could see a highway with few cars in the distant night.

Clutching the book in my hand, I rushed towards it.

I'm going home.

I can't do this anymore. This life is so fucking... so...

I looked up at the few misty clouds floating in the dim sky, hiding the moon. I cried again, taking in sharp and rapid breaths.

Pain of tearing resonated within my chest, I couldn't... the pain was nearly blinding. The sudden realization. Where do I even go?

She's not home... why am I even... alive...

The sky's dim had disappeared. I took too long to notice it; The blinding light.

I swiftly looked down, eyes widening at the sight that greeted me.

Loud honking echoed through the night. Before I registered what the vehicle heading towards me was, I was already in the air...

I couldn't feel much as I limply landed on the ground. Cheek on concrete, I listened to the muffled screams around me and watched the blood from my head form a pond around me. The book was still here. Open on the ground, slowly soaking up my blood.

… I could die right now.

My surroundings faded into nothing.

And the thought of death did too.

I won't die. I never do.

<1 seconds before Death>

Harper had stopped the car in a frenzy. She had gotten out to check up on her friend after she screeched at her feral husband to stay in the car.

Harper's had a terrible feeling about it all. That was why she came to check up on Penelope in the first place.

She thought herself numb to the entire situation. She hoped she was. But she was crying as she looked around in a craze for Penelope.

She wasn't outside.

Penelope was running in the other direction in full force, barefoot in the dead of night, like the crazy woman that she was.

The night sky was sprinkled with glowing white, stretching into the distance. And there she was. A girl Harper thought she could never meet again, clothed in black and slowly merging with the night sky. For a split moment, that had been the painting.

Harper started running in hopes of catching up with Penelope. She yelled her name out, but she didn't hear.

Recognizing that one of the white dots in the distance was getting bigger by the second, Harper screamed louder. Still no reaction.

Eyes wide open at the white dot that had turned into a vehicle with a passed-out driver, she opened her mouth to bellow Penelope's name as loud as she could. But what came out was a scream at the sight of her best friend's body being flung in the air.

She didn't have the guts to go closer to it.

She stopped in her tracks and shakily took out her phone. Benjamin was running to the scene in terror.

Harper shakily held a phone to her ear, letting it ring, a second hand clasped on her belly.

Her eyes remained fixated on the bloody scene, never blinking, hollow and shaky.

"911... yes, there is something to... to report."

Penelope Horne Status: Dead

<Birth> Earth, October 1st, 1997.

<Death> Earth, September 12th, 2024.

The familiar scent of aged wood gently tickled my nose, prompting me to open my eyes. Silence enveloped the room as my gaze cautiously wandered.

For a moment, I was lost between consciousness and the lingering haze of... what?

The chamber boasted a lofty ceiling adorned with intricate hand-carved designs from marble and dark stone. Large windows lined the walls, wise yet small in length, and placed too high to allow any view of the land. Nothing but the sunlight and the clear blue of the sky outside could filter through.

My legs were swollen, bare, and sore, planted firmly on the chilled white marble floor. My hands pressed against a sturdy ebony desk-like stand before me. I tried to shift, only to feel the cold bite of iron around my wrists. Shackles. What the fuck.

I breathed in and out, attuned to the calm and rhythmic rise and fall of my chest as I did.

Okay. I think... I think I'm alive?

My pulse quickened. After everything—after that—I'm still here.

And I can't believe I feel so relieved.

"Lady Hiba, would you care to elucidate the nature of your association with Penelope of house Ashdown, past or present?" A voice broke me out of my stupor, making me jerk my head towards it.

Lady?

Surveying my surroundings, I realized I was in what seemed to be a traditional courtroom. And everyone was staring at me.

Penelope Ashdown Status: Dead__Alive.

<Birth> Acaruis's Realm, Julius 1st, 18997__Earth, October 1st, 1997.

<Death> To be decided.