✓ | Hushed Whispers ⋆ Will Herondale [2]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WISE

◤I cannot even begin to comprehend all the hardships life threw at you, but I do know that everyone is deserving of a sincere chance to love and be loved in return - truly and wholeheartedly. It might appear scary, that voice in our heart that whispers to us to choose someone else over everything, under any circumstances. But we won't really know if it's worth it, unless we try, right?◢

⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WISE

MARIE Wayland had tried being brave. She had tried so hard to stay lionhearted, because when she portrayed herself as such, others felt brave as well. Unfortunately, Marie's heart caved in. Feelings that she had struggled so desperately to bury and tuck underneath the nearest rug were resurfacing, her silent grieving turning to sad smiles and sunken cheeks.

Sorrow and pain had finally caught up with her, loss of Thomas and Agatha more evident than ever before. Watching Cyril and Bridget serve their dinner sent a pang of sadness to the girl's heart, like a sharp arrow piercing through her chest, tearing apart cells that formed her flesh.

Marie couldn't deny just how ghastly her heart ached, releasing specks of distress to roam unbounded and crawl beneath her own skin. Tiny, invisible particles of guilt began weaving themselves deep into the girl's conscious mind, leaving her to battle the overwhelming feelings alone. Away from the watchful gazes of her family.

It was their fault.

Agatha and Thomas were dead because they hadn't foreseen all the possibilities; they had come up with a plan that was full of wrong turns and careless actions. They hadn't come up with a plan that would result in everyone being alive and well.

And that guilt, raw and merciless, finally made an appearance. Transitioning from an unobtrusive shadow all the way to a loyal friend, it slowly nibbled at Marie's insides.

She couldn't blame Cyril and Bridget for doing their jobs, either. Running around the dining room as they served meals wasn't their fault. In fact, it was nobody's fault that they made Marie reminiscence upon every memory she shared with previous residents of the Institute.

Dead residents, she reminded herself.

Though the young Wayland girl struggled immensely with her own emotions, she couldn't even begin to comprehend how Sophie felt. The change in her behavior was clear as daylight to Marie.

The girl who usually sent Marie a shy smile as she served the meals, now helped in silence. She avoided eye contact with everyone, as if it had been the only activity she had ever been taught how to do.

It hurt Marie to see her friend in such a state. It wasn't her fault.

"Marie, dear," Henry's concerned voice reached the brunette's ears. "Are you feeling well? You haven't touched your food."

She glanced at the vegetables that rested on her plate, feeling the gazes of others linger on her. Henry, Will, Jem and Tessa were seated, all patiently scanning their friend. Jessamine - with another lousy excuse of having a headache - was missing. So was Charlotte. Although the woman's absence was understandable; she had gone to the Bone City to examine the Reparation archives herself.