Love illuminated like a star, making you a better, happier person.
Hatred was a swirling, maddening darkness, a never-endingstorm. They were opposites, yet they sat side by side, balanced on a thin line, ready to collide.
Hatred is as fragile as crackling fire or thin glass. It burned and built, capable of breaking you.
In the wrong hands, it spiraled out of control, igniting a need for revenge.
It was acceptable to hate those who tormented you, bullied you, and made your life miserable.
One thing I knew was that karma existed.
Someday, Caiden would reap what he had sown. He would feel the same pain and hurt I had endured. And when that day arrived, I would finally find peace, content in the knowledge that he hadn’t won. That he had felt the same anguish I carried.
My consuming hatred would never fade, even beyond death, for like love, hatred lasted an eternity.
I stood up, smoothed my dress, and drove back toward home, a shadowy silhouette against the brightness of the day.
THE PRESENT
AMELIA
I saw my dead sister today.
We were wandering through the suffocating thickness of the woodland, shadows creeping closer as dusk settled in. A shape flickered at the edge of my vision.
Lillian stood there, hauntingly familiar yet engulfed in an emptiness that sent chills down my spine. I waited for her to speak, but the only sound was the lamentable tone of silence, echoing in the stillness between us.
My insides swarmed, churning with a mix of longing and despair, while the outside of my body remained frozen in place. I couldn’t pry my eyes away from her face, so desperately familiar.
When I finally turned to Caiden, my voice trembled with fear. “Do you see her? Lillian? She’s right there.”
His expression shifted, confusion clouding his features. He looked at me as if I had slipped into madness.
Maybe I had.
That was hours ago, and her face still danced around in my mind, a haunting specter, killing me quietly.
I caught Caiden’s eyes darting around, and I wondered if he was hallucinating too.
We hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days. A human could only go for so long without food before the body began to shut down, and I felt myself teetering on that precipice.
The trees loomed like ominous shadows, their gnarled branches clawing at the sky. Every rustle sent waves of panic surging through me, as if danger lurked in every corner, waiting to pounce.
I felt the shadows of the past prowling around me, a blend of reality and fractured fragments of my mind, leaving me struggling to discern what was real.
Time stretched into an eternity as we wandered this wilderness. I could feel myself collapsing in on itself, deteriorating slowly. Agony filled my senses; I could hardly focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
Smack.
I found myself face down in the damp earth, my limbs were sprawled like a weary corpse. It felt as if someone had amputated my legs, and I momentarily wondered if I still possessed them.
Caiden must have realized I was no longer behind him, as two pairs of legs filled my blurred vision.
“What happened?” He knelt beside me, irritation flaring in his eyes as if my falling had inconvenienced him.
“I fell,” I managed to croak, a hint of defiance creeping into my voice.
He scoffed, his tone sharp. “I can see that. Did you trip over something? I don’t see anything.”
