Fractured Reflections
Lilieth
I step away from her as her words sink in.
Scar?
"Lilieth, please calm down," Deo pleads. "Just sit for a while. You're not well yet."
I need to find a mirror. That's the thought that occurs to me. I start clawing at the bandage and when Deo lunges at me, I sidestep her and race out of the room.
"Lilieth!" she calls.
I keep going down the corridor, looking around blindly for something though, momentarily, I don't know what it is. Then, I find it.
A bathroom door.
I practically throw myself at it, turning the brass door knob before storming inside the small space. I catch sight of the mirror and approach it quickly, fear of what I'll find staring back at me driving me forward.
I haven't succeeded in tearing the bandage off completely, so I peel it down, revealing my face.
A gasp escapes me.
A thin, reddish, jagged scar slices across my cheek, the edges of it only slightly raised. Tentatively, I run my finger along the tender flesh, its texture strange beneath my touch though I don't feel any pain.
Not physical pain, anyway.
Deo shows up behind me, panting. Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and the pity I see shining in her gaze makes my own eyes water.
"Lilieth," she softly begins. "I'm so sorry."
I'm torn between not reacting at all and ripping my hair from my scalp in wretchedness. I find myself staring at the scar again, hoping that it'll look between with each look, but it isn't doesn't.
It's there. A fresh reminder of what that bastard did to me.
Of what I represent in this place.
I should've left a long time ago.
This thought makes my eyes water uncontrollably and consequently, tears spill down my cheeks. Deo wraps her arms around me while resting her chin on my shoulder. I see unshed tears swimming in her eyes though they never fall.
What am I going to do? The thought echoes in my mind but no answer jumps at me.
"What happened?" I finally ask, wanting to get the facts straight because I don't remember much of what occurred that night.
Deo shakes her head. "It was awful. After that coward hit you, he just stood there laughing as you lost consciousness. I tried to fight him but there were three of them and he was too strong. Then, Timmon showed. He's the one who fought Wenton. It was fucking awesome."
"Timmon?" I ask, trying hard to put a face to the name.
"Alpha Cadeon's youngest brother. You know, the one who's in Noctem Lunae, too?"
I'm stunned to hear this. "He fought Wenton?"
"He beat him to a pulp. Wenton ran off with his cowardly friends, claiming he'd be back and that Timmon would pay the price for fighting him and choosing an Omega over him, but he hasn't been back since."
"Like at all?"
She nods. "I went to his father. I told him he raised a bitch and that he should be ashamed of what he's done. The academy's administration knows what happened but so far, nothing has been announced. I don't know, I'm not hopeful."
"Maybe he got expelled?"
"That wouldn't be enough!" she snaps. "He deserves to be punished for what he's done. Death!"
My eyes once more find the scar. I turn my head left and right, examining it. I can't understand for the life of me why it didn't heal completely. Usually, I heal without leaving many scars.
And when there are scars, like the ones on my knees from scraping them countless times before, they're faint. Barely there.
"His punch broke your cheekbone," Deo explains. I meet her gaze once more, horrified by her confession. "The bone was jutting out. Oh, goddess. It was so horrible. I never saw anything so...I wanted to kill him." She starts to cry, covering her face with both hands. "I still do. It's so unfair, Lilieth. If he gets away with it, I won't care. I'll stab him. He's not going to live after this. The healer said that due to the bone sawing the skin from the inside out, it would leave a scar. Some proteins involved or...I don't know. I can't remember. But she mentioned you were lucky that your cheek didn't cave in. You could've lost your eye, too, if the fracture reached your eye socket. It was like half an inch away."
Her lengthy explanation sickens me but simultaneously grants me something to hold onto. Something positive.
I touch my cheek again, feeling the plumpness. "So, it could've been worse?"
Deo nods. "Yeah."
Behind us, there's a knock on the door, and a redheaded woman I've never seen before peers at us both, her gaze sympathetic. "Are you both alright?"
"Yes, Healer Hanna," Deo replies. "She just wanted to...you know..."
Healer Hanna nods and ventures further into the cramped space of the bathroom. "I'm sorry if the appearance of the scar shocked you. I did the best I could with the stitching to ensure that it wouldn't look too...gnarly."
I nod, thanking her softly, and she joins my side, putting an arm around me. "Why don't we head back to the infirmary? I have some things to explain to you. Maybe they'll give you hope."
All three of us head back and I perch on the edge of the bed, my eyes on her. She grabs a notepad and writes a few things down. "So, for starters, I want you to know the healing process isn't complete. Most of the redness will fade and the inflammation will go down, too. There'll still be a scar, but it'll be lighter than what you're looking at now."
This gives me a small sense of relief. But I wish I didn't have a scar at all. I wish that coward never attacked me. I wish so many things—that I never came here. That I purposely failed that test.
Now, I'll bear the mark of his touch for the rest of my life. Every time I look in the mirror, I'll see Wenton Wylde's face.
To him, I'm just another Omega he can mess with. He might not even remember my face five years from now.
To me, he'll always be the man who marred my face.
That's the part that hurts the most.
"I'll give you a salve you could apply mornings and evenings. It'll help with any irritation you might feel. Otherwise, if you wish to return to your room, you're free to do so."
"Yes, I'd rather go."
I have a lot of thinking to do. I don't know what I'll do yet and that scares me—I've never been this undecided in all my life. Healer Hanna assures us she'll be here if we need anything, and Deo and I get going.
"Some good news, right?"
I nod, smiling a little.
We're still in the dormitory building, which is across from the administrative one. Together, we walk down the long flight of stairs, stopping only when we reach the bottom.
As soon as we step out, Timmon—the Alpha's brother—nearly crashes into us. His eyes are wide as he looks back and forth between Deo and me, and then his expression shifts when it settles on my scar.
Deo cuts in. "If you're going to be an asshole about the staring, just go back home."
"No, no, I'm sorry," he apologizes, averting his gaze. "I'm just...how are you feeling?"
"Spectacular," I retort.
"Don't ask stupid questions, Timmon!"
"I don't mean to," he insists, fumbling for the right thing to say, and that's the precise moment when I feel bad for him.
None of this is his fault. He's only trying to help. He fought Wenton off. I suspect he's the one who carried me to the infirmary. I remember flashes of that.
"It's fine," I interject. "I'm sorry. I'm just having a really and day."
Slowly, he nods, eyes trained on my face. A few awkward moments pass, then Deo waves him off and claims we have to get going. He asks, "Can I come along?"
"Sure," I say before Deo can turn his offer down. "I don't mind."
We start toward the courtyard, my eyes on the ground below, and Deo sucks in a breath before her arm reaches out and she grabs me by the wrist.
I halt, looking up.
Alpha Cadeon is standing a few feet away.
His expression is a copy of the one his brother wore a few moments ago.