Chapter 5 (Incomplete)

Cuz it's all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow, play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
Say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in

- Any Other World, Mika

“What were you doing back there? Huh, Cordelia?” Carwyn asks heatedly. I have never seen him so angry before.

“Nothing, Carwyn, okay?” I am close to tears, and I don’t want to deal with him at the moment, so I keep walking past him.

“Nothing, Cor? Really?” Carwyn catches up to me, yelling in my ear. “Because it really seems like something. He grabs my arm and whisks me around. “You’re crying!”

“Because you’re yelling at me.” I say weakly.

“I know you better than that, Cor.” Carwyn says, clutching my shoulder. “There’s something more! I know there is.” I shake my head. “I’m sick of this! I’m sick of secrets and lies! Just tell me, Cor! I’m your best friend. You can trust me.”

I feel myself getting weaker, hot steaming tears falling out of my eyes. I want to tell him so badly, to let him know everything that is burdening my heart. But I am so scared to tell him something that I have kept inside me since that first day I met him.

“Cor?” Carwyn asks, as I sink to the ground, crying. He sits next to me and lifts my chin, wiping my tears. “I’m sorry I yelled-”

“No, no. None of it is your fault.” I interrupt him. “I never told you anything, yet you’ve always been my friend all along. I never understood how anyone could be so kind. You have the biggest heart I’ve ever witnessed in a person.”

Carwyn smiles, grabbing my hands and holding them tightly in his.

“But if I tell you what I’ve been hiding from you so long, I don’t know how you will handle it.” I continue. “I am so afraid I will lose my best friend. Not only because of what say now, but…” I can barely speak as I choke on tears.

“But what, Cor? Tell me!” Carwyn stares into my eyes intensely.

“I don’t want to kill anyone, but I don’t want to die!” I sob.

“Kill?” Carwyn asks, completely astounded. “Who are you going to kill? Why would you die?”

“Because of the man you call king!” I shout. “He’s going to kill me on my eighteenth birthday, just like he killed my mother when I was a baby, just for keeping a magical creature in her house!”

Carwyn’s mouth is ajar. “You mean Donnell? I never-” he stutters.

“Yes, Donnell.” I say. “Haven’t you ever wondered where all the magical creatures are? He’s either banished them, or killed them. He’s left me with no mother and no father, and in two months, I’ll be dead.”

Carwyn sits there, his eyes on the ground, not speaking for the longest time, taking it all in. “Unless…” he says finally.

“Unless what?” I ask. “Unless I kill him first?”

“No.” Carwyn says, his eyes meeting mine. “Unless we kill him first.”

“What?” I look at Carwyn, the boy I have known practically my whole life, the boy who is guilty when he steps on a spider, the boy who disapproves of even the mentioning of the word ‘magic,’ and he is offering to help me murder someone.

“I will do whatever it takes to help you, Cor.” I can tell he is sincere in what he says. “I’m not letting my best friend die.”

I smile at him through my crying and wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank you.” I whisper gratefully.  I pull back and brush away my tears.

“So, now that you’re in on this whole thing there’s someone… no, actually something I’d like you to meet.”