Strings of Jade

My whole face was hot, and my heart was thumping away loudly somewhere in my throat and my gaze was unflinching. The spell was over and the mist in Ichora's eyes settled to reveal consciousness. She gazed at me for a moment, and she was dawned with realization. Speechless, she stood up and stuttered, 'J.. Jasper, I'm sorry.' 

I could have said a lot more then, but my mind was fixed on the sharp stinging pain in my back. Why? Why now? A lump forms in my throat, 'I am too. Sorry to trouble you.' I mumble. 

I get up, bind the hanging bandages from my wounds and make for the door. 'Wait!' she says, screaming for the first time, almost desperate. I stop for a moment. No. This isn't right, I can't stop. I start walking again. My lips sting with every passing moment. She's like my sister. STOP LYING. Would you do that. To your sister? It is then that I ask the words 'What have I done' to myself.

What has been done by me will turn my life upside down. What has been done by me will haunt my every living moment. What I have done is unforgettable, regrettable and sinful. And I want to do it again. 

Shudders run down my spine. My feet guide me through the maze of the House, to stop in front of a chamber. The High Priest's Chamber. Tall and overflowing with serenity, surely not a shadow of what a terrible person resides inside. Because nobody can know. Why am I here? It's like the sharp pain in my back is building up to my head, leading me to places which I fear the most.

I turn around to go back, maybe to Ichora, so I can apologize for apologizing. My heart skips a beat. A girl, about my age, or younger, stands. She's beautiful, painfully so. Her thin stature is carried confidently by her unwavering aura. Her olive eyes stared into me and her face was like the dew drops on a cold winter morning.

I stare at her and close my eyes. I open them again, and she still there, smiling this time. I walk as if nothing has happened, back to Ichora's, maybe. She stands in front of me. 'Where are you going? She speaks so softly that it startles me that I can hear her. My mouth is clenched shut. She places her hands on my chest, and the pain rises up my back again. 'Go. He is waiting' she says as she softly pushes me back.

My head spins and I knock on the door. It opens. This is the first time I am here. The High Priest's Chamber. What am I doing? I look back to the girl, scared. She snaps, 'Don't look at me; look at him' 

The Priest is at the door, as if he was waiting.

'You have seen, haven't you?' My blood freezes. 'No' I don't even know what he's talking about. He snatches my hair hard 'Show me too, won't you?' he hisses. I scream. It hurts. Hurts too much. My wounds. My back. My hair. My lips. My soul. Everything. Tears spill uncontrollably 'It hurts' I murmur over and over.

'Make it stop' I say. Almost begging the person I hate the most.