Haunting-Adeline

He doesn’t move, a stone pillar amongst the wreckage of his mind, just
like the ruins in Greece.
“Dying isn’t the worst thing that happened to her. It’s just the worst
thing that happened to you and her family,” I whisper. I feel the shi of his
head, his eyes peering over his shoulder at me. But I don’t meet his gaze.
“The life she would’ve had to live would’ve been far more painful than
where she is now.”
“You think it’s a good thing she died?” he asks, his tone fla ening.
“Of course not,” I placate, squeezing him ghter. “Being stolen from her
life. Her family and friends. And then being put into an incredibly
horrendous and fucked up situa on. It’s the worst thing that could’ve
happened to her.” My voice breaks on the last few words, and it takes a
minute to put myself back together.
“But dying? Dying is not, Zade. She was screaming because she was
figh ng against the life that she was being forced to endure the only way
she knew how. It wasn’t his right to end her life. But he did it anyways, and
I… I hope he suffers for it. But a er what they did to her, I know that she is
more at peace now than she would’ve been alive.”
He stays silent, and I’m not sure if I’ve made him feel worse or be er.
But I told him what I believe to be true. Some mes people just aren’t
meant to live through that trauma. A shell of who they could’ve been.
Broken and figh ng every day not to die.
I think if she had lived, she could’ve learned to be happy again. I think
everyone who suffers from internal demons can find that. We're all
capable. But some mes, unseen forces take it out of everyone’s hands, and
maybe that just means they were meant to find their happiness in the
a erlife instead.
I unwrap myself from Zade and move away. His head drops, and he looks
almost disappointed. He stands, and aims for the door, but he doesn’t
make it two steps before I’m snatching his hand and tugging him back.
He looks back at me, silent and confused.
“I s ll hate you,” I mumble, and the lie tastes chalky on my tongue. “But I
want you to lay down with me, Zade.”
I peel back the covers, indica ng for him to get in. It takes tremendous
effort to look away from him as he kicks off his boots and climbs in next to