"If you're supposed to meet today then you are supposed to send at least one message in the morning of today" Isabell woke up in the same way as she wanted to sleep; overthinking
"But she would think I'm eager or something or maybe something that is not okay and-" she sat up on the bed and picked the phone up from the side table "Just one message— maybe two if it took her long to reply"
Isabell
:
W
e will be meeting at nine in the morning
Is
it enough? Is it okay? It's okay. Does it look okay? Is it over? What is it? Is it normal? Of course. Of course?
She didn't know the answers and if she would not stop her obsession with overthinking she would never know any of them
Isabell stepped on the floor, the tiles felt cold to her warm feet. She walked on the cold tiles, took a total of ten rounds of her roo
m
What should I wear
?
She asked herself and it never took her hours to select a dress because she was never excited about the meeting
"We can do this" She made a fist with her hand, nodded to herself a couple of times in the mirror, and finally she was out for the cafe
"One hour and ten minutes, one hour and ten minutes and five seconds, one hour and ten minutes and ten seconds" No matter how many times she counted the numbers on the clock, it didn't move faster than them. Isabell was sitting at the table waiting for Arine who hadn't replied to the message nor had she appeared at the cafe
Maybe she is busy today. Maybe she has other things to do or maybe she thinks this isn't important or maybe she doesn't remember coming. Maybe she hasn't read my message yet or maybe she is suspicio
us
. Maybe she thinks I'm weird or maybe she doesn't want to see
me
or maybe
-
"Your order is ready" the guy on the counter interrupted her thinking. Isabell nodded her head in reply even though he wasn't looking in her direction now
She got up from the chair and took steps toward the counter
"Thank you," she said to the boy.
"Enjoy your order,
Ma'a
m
"
he replied with an unnecessarily broad smile which Isabell seemed to ignore and she just shook her head in reply
Taking the tray from his hand Isabell turned toward her table
What the fu—
Isabell had never in her entire life, realized how red the color of Cranberry juice was until she spilled it all over her shirt as a man slammed into her. The juice stained her entire shirt bright red
"I'm sorry," Isabell said,
It's not my fault, it's not my fault. It's not my fault. Don't apologize. It's not your fault
She was stunned when her thoughts were heard
"I'm sorry I-" The man stopped speaking and so did Isabell, her mind, her thoughts, her breaths, her beats, everything halted when she lifted her head
Sebastian
"I'm sorry I wasn't looking straight,
Student,
" he said Isabell's hands trembled, she couldn't speak maybe she didn't need to speak anything because she knew Sebastian would understand her unspoken words
But she couldn't stay quiet in the moment, she parted her vibration lips
"It- it's okay," she said and her legs moved, taking her away from Sebastian making the distance vast and vast, he stood there never moving ahead or back
Isabell put the tray on the table, tiny droplets of tears appeared in her eyes
Her mind spoke again.
Your life is a mess.
You a
re a mess right now!
S
he realized the stains on her gray shirt. She tried to cover them with her hands but there wasn't much amount of stains her tiny hands could cover
I
s this what you call Karma? Is this how he felt? Is this how you made him feel?
I
s
it possible? Is it possible to kill someone using only one word? Is it possible to yank your soul out by saying a single word? Is it possible to wipe memories of months with a single word? I hate it, I hate it, I hate you, Isabell.
Isabell dropped her head down and hugged her hands around her chest as she ran to the door. Sebastian never looked at her. She tried to hide her tears but they were already flowing down her face, she squeezed her eyes hard.
It's okay it's okay it's okay it's okay. You are okay you're okay you are okay
she consoled herself with every step she took out and she was already feet away from the cafe
"Ma'am" a voice called from behind, "Ma'am" it called again and Isabell stopped, she turned around finding the guy from the counter of the cafe standing behind her
He took some quick steps towards her "Here" The boy passed a long black coat to her "Yeah?" She asked, confused,
"I think you need this," he said pointing at the stain on her shirt. The boy beamed, and the smile shifted his round glasses up "Oh" her brain proceeded "Oh, okay" Her hands moved forward and they took the coat from him, still somehow puzzled
"Thank you,"
"You're Welcome" the boy replied still smiling broadly
"Liam, would you prepare my order!" Someone called from the cafe "Coming, coming" the boy replied and then looked at Isabell again
"Take care of yourself
, Ma'
am," he said blinking his eyes, Isabell nodded and he ran back to the cafe
Isabell held the dark coat in her hand and stared at it, black buttons, black collar, every line, and every thread appeared to be covered by a shadow
She knew who it belonged to, she knew why was she holding it and why was she holding on to it so tight
Isabell wrapped herself in Sebastian's coat, it was oversized, touching down her knee and making her fingers disappear. She held the ending of sleeves by the tips of her fingers
The coat covered the stain but her hand never dropped but grabbed tightly around her over the coat. Her eyes never stopped shedding tears and her vision got blurred,
She hugged his coat tightl
y
Let's g
o
After standing outside for minutes, she said to hersel
f
Let's go, Isabel
l
Arine never came to the cafe and she decided to go home
The afternoon covered her home but Arine never replied
Evening rose in every corner but Arine didn't attend her calls
"Shit!" Isabell screamed one time per hour
The night and even the next morning never brought a message from Arine to Isabell. No matter how many times she refreshed her inbox, nothing new appeared
She dropped on her bed, covered herself in a blanket, her eyes on the ceiling and for the third time in the day she started to count the boxes
. O
n
e hundred and one… one hundred and two… one hundred and three… one-
her phone vibrated from a call, and Isabell jumped to grab it. Isabell stared at the phone, her expression depressed further
"It's not Arine," she said, gazing at the name and then placing the phone on her ear
"Hey, Ash" she greeted in a sad voice "Izzy, did you go to see Arine yesterday?" from the other end of the phone her voice matched Isabell's "Yes- yeah, I- we planned a meeting but- she- she never appeared" her voice intensified. Ashley paused, her voice wasn't screaming and not saying anything at all "Is everything okay, Ash?" Isabell asked "No, nothing is okay, Izzy" she sighed
"What happened?" anxiety covered her face, and her brain seemed to flash on the things Ashley hadn't said yet "I can't get in contact with Arine from yesterday. I don't know what happened, it never happened before. I'm worried about her" her body got unable to move
,
No
her brain said
no
no no no it's not what I'm thinking NO NO. It can't be, it can't be
"Izzy, I need to ask her friends, I'll hang up"
She is safe. She is safe. She is safe
. Isabell didn't reply to her and Ashley was already gone but her phone was still on her ear, she was still trying to fight her thoughts, and all of a sudden her ear was buzzed by a vibration from message
s
Please, please it needs to be you, Arine. Please please, it needs to be yo
u.
She moved the phone in front
Two messages from two different numbers appeared on her lock screen. She didn't recognize either of them
Unknown
: This is your final warning STOP :)
Unknown
: Throne Of Demon is not the end Something big is waiting for you Isabell
Her phone slipped from her hand. Eyes widened, hands shook, and breaths started to get complex. Her hands clenched at her mouth "No!" She yelled, her hands running through the hair a million times. Her entire body shivered from waves of fear, head moving left and right in disbelief "No!" She screamed silently
Her eyes darted into the room
"I-I need to go,"
She said
"I need to save her"
She barely managed to stand on her feet
"I have to go"
She stepped towards the table. Her steps were small again as if she never wanted to do what she was going to do. Isabell bent her legs and sat on the floor. Her mind was still frigid, saying nothing, not telling her what she was doing or what she should be doing
Isabell unlocked the last drawer with a key
She took a deep breath "I can do this" Isabell told herself. Her hands slowly moved towards it "I can do this" she repeated and moved her hands further
Isabell grabbed the gun
The moment she held the gun in her hand the doorbell rang, Isabell dropped the gun back, closed the drawer, locked it, and dropped back on the floor
The bell rang again "Coming" she heard her mother saying.
Isabell's heart reached her throat, beating fast as she heard the footsteps of her mother reaching her door now. She got on her feet in a blink and inhaled the air deeply to calm herself down
"You got a parcel," Lowren said opening the door, her breaths were all gone
"F-From whom?" She asked
"There isn't anything on it but your name," she said "Oh, oh" she pretended to smile "It must be- must be a friend of mine playing a prank" she laughed anxiously
"Are you sure?" Lowren asked "Of course" she cracked again "My birthday is coming so maybe it's a
pre-birthday-prank
or something" Lowren nodded this time "It could be" She handed the large parcel to Isabell, said nothing, and left her room
Isabell's trembling body took place on the bed. Her hands jostled as she untied the ribbon. She removed the ribbon and her hands finally opened the box
"Roses
"
roses and a lot of roses
. The entire box was filled with roses. She was afraid and she was confused.
Isabell picked one rose out, it appeared normal to her, she dropped it onto the bed, took another out, dropped it, one more and she repeated again and again
Ninety-six rose
s
She counted them all. Her eyes widen again gazing at something still left in the box
"A letter,"
she said, her breaths clipped
Isabell took the letter, fear shot at her from every direction. She opened the letter and read the starting words
'Hey, Isabell
'
she breathed in nervousness, in anxiousness, relief, happiness, and a mixture of every feeling she ever felt
She knew who sent them to her


Isabell's body couldn't support the weight of her broken heart and it collapsed from the bed down to the floor.
"I am sorry but I love you so much"
She said, closed her eyes, they were drenched in tears
"
Ninety-six
" she
said
in distress "Ninety-six, three months since we met each other, three months and five days since I met him"
She couldn't bear the pain anymore, her hand clenched over her chest, Isabell broke down in tears
This choice was made on her own and no matter how much it hurt, she will soon have to gather herself and finish everything she has started. Choosing his safety over her love, Isabell will have to prove her choice right.
For a long instant, Isabell stayed lying on her floor not caring about anything but some memories that filled her life with joy but now all of them were gone and Isabell would have to gather everything and
END THIS.