THE GOLDEN AGE, sejanus plinth

008. living nightmare

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CHAPTER EIGHT
LIVING NIGHTMARE
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AURORA HADN'T SLEPT a minute the previous night. After she had gotten home, she had found herself in her family's drawing room, in a group hug, not knowing where her tears had ended and her family's had begun.

Auntie Pandora had wailed so loudly that the Snows across the Corso had probably heard it too, but nobody would blame her for that. She had lost her daughter, her own flesh. Uncle Theus had tried to console his wife, but the sobs that had escaped him had made it all worse.

Aurora had fled to her bathroom, she had needed to shower, get rid of even the tiniest remains of Arachne's blood. She had also cut her braids off. The endings had been stained with her cousin's blood and she had needed a change.

She hadn't managed to stay in her room, so she had tried to fall asleep in Arachne's bed, thinking about old times when the two had kept each other awake by telling funny stories, annoying Arachne's parents in the process.

She had laid on the bed and had stared at the wall, suddenly feeling seven again and having lost her mother a day before. But there was no Arachne now that waited for her to come back from her grief again.

And there never will be. Just like the childhood innocence.

Achilles had made his way over in the middle of the night, not really surprised to see his cousin in his sister's room.

A lot of tears had flown after that and Aurora had kept whispering I couldn't save her.

As much as they had been annoyed with the younger girl lately, they had loved her as much too. And the regret that came with having been angry at her before her last moments would never vanish.

As dawn crept in, Aurora's favorite time of day, she avoided looking at the television and on every other screen. The last thing she needed now was seeing the replay of yesterday's events.

She heard herself scream again and was running towards Arachne in her mind. The drive over to the Academy was awfully quiet. How she missed her cousin's obnoxious voice and her constant muttering.

Why were it always the things that annoyed you most that you missed so deeply after a person was gone?

She walked past everyone, ignoring their wishes of condolence, she didn't mean to be rude, but she just wanted to lay in her bed, not walking through these halls.

As she found Coryo, she fell into his arms, exhausted, but glad that he was there. Like he had been there during her parents' funerals. Like she had been there for him during his bad times.

He didn't say anything, he stroked her back, and shushed everyone that tried to speak to her.

The assembly was a living nightmare. Everyone was staring at her, searching for reactions to whatever their professor was saying. Only good words were spoken about Arachne, no bad word about the dead.

The funeral was to be held the following day, a Saturday.

She found herself in Counselor Lunt's office, not voluntarily, to be added. Because the classes would continue after lunch, the counselor had let her bring in for a quick conversation.

"This must be hard for you, Aurora," she told her.

Oh no, everything's fine, it's not like I saw my cousin getting her throat slit open and then tried to stop the bleeding. She bit her tongue so hard that she could taste the blood.