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Tears run down my cheeks as I notice how black my flesh has become.
“Wait for me.”
Even death won’t stop me from loving you.
23
LESSON FOUR OF N.M.U. — DEATH IS AT EVERY CORNER
~OPHELIA~
“You can’t be here, Ophelia.”
I look at my surroundings, taking in the four white walls that keep us boxed in.
Lowering my gaze to my copy, I can’t help but frown at her company.
“Odessa?”
Her anger confuses me.
“You can’t be here!” she repeats and marches my way until her hands are gripping my shoulders tightly while her glaring eyes are filling with tears. “You need to go. You have to survive. You can’t be here!”
“Where’s here?” I shake my head. “I don’t want to be here? I… was… in a trial… I think?” I struggle to figure out what went down. I just need a moment. “I had to face Azrael? No… Alaric. I was going to… die? Maybe. A tsunami. The others were behind the wall…”
“Who did you just say?”
“Alaric,” I repeat. “I will offer… the blood of the Viper…” I struggle to remember the rest.
“To obtain my seat in the society of royals,” Odessa finishes, leaving me frowning in confusion.
“How do you…”
“You’re going to find out,” she assures me as her anger deflates into sadness. “Dammit, Ophelia.” She pulls me into a hug, leaving me in bewilderment.
“Odessa. I don’t get what’s happening. Why do I feel like I’m not even scratching the surface of all of this? Isn’t this just a university that’s supposed to help us unravel our true strengths and weaknesses? To guide us on the path of learning what we’ll become once we graduate N.M.U.? Why is it not going that route? There were so many bodies. Dead students. Towers and towers, Odessa. It feels as if death is at every corner, and I don’t know my way out!”
I pull back out of her hug to stare into her eyes with pleading ones.
“Why aren’t you here? Why… why did you leave me to do this alone? I’m trying to show the world I’m strong. That I can survive it all, but Mom and Dad never trained us for this, Odessa! When we came to Nephilim and befriended the Notorious Worm child, no one explained their true purpose and why they’re used to prey on students for food. We escaped seas of molten that burned students to a crisp, then the tsunami…” I struggle to explain the intense fear I felt in that moment of despair. “It’s thanks to me that Alaric made it past the garden of roses, yet he was ready to pierce me with a spear! To betray me like he did his twin brother. Where’s the loyalty? Where’s the morals? Is this world of Vipers and Shadows only filled with despair?!”
I don’t realize I’m crying while my lips tremble uncontrollably.
“It’s okay, Ophelia. It’s… going to be okay.”
I want to believe her.
Whichever entity rules this Universe knows I want to accept that things will get better if I get the chance to return from this place, which feels like it’s between life and death.
But I can’t.
I can’t fathom returning unless I know what I’m up against.
“No, it won’t!” I shout back at her. “I’m dead, aren’t I? Is that why I’m here?!”
She struggles to come up with an excuse, and I’m left to finally realize something.
To realize the potential truth.
