Hall of Shadows [The Celestial Chronicles #2]

Chapter Thirty-Five: Farewell ( Part II)

"Sleep after toil, part after stormy seas,

Ease after war, death afterlife does greatly please."

- Edmund Spencer, "The Faerie Queen."

*****

Song of the chapter: Sorry that I loved you by Anthony Neely ( PLAY IT PLAY IT!)

Media: more living dead! (lol)

*****

Chapter Thirty-Five: Farewell ( Part II)

"No, NO!" Tears of anger and loss ran down her cheeks as she continued shaking Eli. Her arms throbbed, as did her head. She pressed her forehead against Eli's cold temple. She breathed on his nose, somehow convinced that it would bring Eli back from the Underlands. His eyes, once lively and full of life were hollow and empty.

I thought you love me. If you love me, look at me, tell me you love me!

The harsh reality hit her. Eli would never look at her the way he used to, full of love and care. He was gone, leaving behind a cold shell which would never respond to her pleas.

"He's gone." Jasper's soft statement hung in the air, like thin threads being pulled in between them.

Cady laid Eli down on the floor, gently. Her hands brushed over his face, like she was caressing him, closing his eyes. He looked like he was sleeping, even with all the blood covering his clothes and face.

"Why," she whispered. "Why kill him?"

"He was in the way," Jasper replied. "I gave him a chance to move, he didn't take it."

"You killed him." She rose, turning her tear-stained face to Jasper. Cady looked at him, like really looked at him, taking in his lean frame in Walker armor, his hair disheveled and wild, just like his eyes. "He did nothing wrong."

Jasper took a step forward, the links in his armor clinking. "Cady, I know this is shocking, but we need to accept the fact that the Sanguinis is the family that destroyed our Hall, our families."

"You never told me you were a Walker," she choked. "All this time, I trusted you."

He tried to put a hand on Cady's shoulder, but she shrugged it off. A flicker of pain flitted over his expressions, but he hurriedly changed it back into his cold leer.

"You don't understand. I had to keep it a secret. I-"

"Did you ever love me, Jasper?" Cady directed the question at him, hoping that her words would slash through his consciousness. "Or did you pretend to love me, so you can find a way to enter the Hall of Spirits unsuspected?"

"Don't start assuming things, Cady." He exhaled. "Of course I love you."

"Then why attack the Hall? Why kill the Oracles? Why lie to me?" Cady was teetering precariously at the edge of insanity, reeling in her emotions as tight as possible. She would not break down, not before she got her answers.

"You're a Walker, just like me. You should know. They took away everything from us, don't you want revenge?"

"Are you even telling the truth, Jasper Silverbird?" Cady fisted tears out of her eyes. "I don't even know whether I should believe the words coming out of your mouth anymore."

Jasper's grip on the cabinet tightened, turning his knuckles a ghostly white. "Everything I told you, everything about my past, is true."

"I believed you to be an Oracle. Now you are a Walker."