Agonizing Secrets, Wounds Unhealed (Part 2)

I followed Evin through the quiet corridors of the institute, beautifully lit up by moonlight that shone through the narrow glass windows on the ceiling. He told me that we had to be completely silent so that we didn't attract unwanted attention especially since it was midnight. This was basically not the best of ideas to calm the mind, but I was really curious about this place after what Evin kept saying. Despite being the one who told me to stay silent he kept whispering random details of the place we were going to visit to me every now and then.

He sounded very excited when he talked about that place, which he referred to as 'Our Forbidden Garden'. Apparently we had made that our secret escape hideout when we were younger and we went there whenever we had to escape tiring situations which he said mostly included avoiding troublesome people like Ms.Aslome and her minions. I couldn't help but laugh at his terrible sense of humor.

"Hey Mez, will you lower it! those dumb minions of our psychotic headmistress are gonna catch us!"

"Evin, I think I can stop laughing if you don't say anything, good gods this was your idea in the first place you brainless fool!"

"But you said yes, so it's your fault too, don't blame me! Oh crap! someone's coming our way, shush!!"  

He grabbed my hand and took me up what seemed like an endless spiral of stairs all the way to the terrace while telling me to stop laughing. My stomach hurt in all the ways possible due to running at top speed up a flight of a few hundred stairs and because of desperately trying to control my laughter. And here I thought I could take a calm stroll and get a good night's sleep, instead, I'm running around the institute at top speed at 2 am. So much for sleep, I felt more energetic than ever for the first time since I had come here, being with Evin was like going on a roller coaster of emotions and a never-ending sense of curiosity and adventure. 

The feeling of emptiness I had since I came here was suddenly gone.

We reached the top and Evin covered my eyes, as this place had surreal energy to it that messed with the body's natural sense of balance. Just as I was wondering how he wasn't affected by it, he said that he had done this many times and that I probably don't remember how to deal with the energy, as if reading my mind. He pushed open the rusty door in front of me revealing the most entrancing sight I'd ever laid my eyes upon. 

I assumed it was once a greenhouse that stood on this terrace, but the glass had been shattered from the far left corner of the ceiling. It was covered in moss that appeared to shimmer because of the dew that had settled on it, beautiful vines covered the entire place. To top it all up, the moonlight lit up everything in a surreal manner. This whole institute was otherworldly alright. Each corner held new surprises. I then noticed on the far right corner there were two apple trees, in between them, there bloomed a single rose, deep blue in color, I thought I had imagined it at first.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Our Forbidden Garden."

"Yeah, it sure is, I don't have any words to explain the beauty of this place."

"You see those two apple trees there? we planted those when we were younger."

"What? really? they're beautiful alright....hey what's that rose though?"

"Wait! You can see it?"

"Huh? what do you mean?"

"It's nothing, follow me, I'll show it to you up close."

Evin's face suddenly became rather pale, he looked slightly distressed, hmm...wasn't I supposed to see the flower? I then noticed that as Evin walked across the room, the nature in the room began to light up. Suddenly the vines and bushes seemed to look more alive, maybe I was just imagining it, but it looked like everything lit up on his presence. His aura suddenly became grim, compared to his usual energetic goofiness. He then knelt down and closed his eyes touching the rose slightly, which illuminated the whole room in a deep shade of blue, I noticed that the plants that seemed slightly drained regained their former splendor.

It seemed like time had suddenly stopped at that moment, the room rained blue light, everything began to slow down, Evin rose like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and walked towards me. My legs froze, it felt like I was in a dream and I couldn't walk, the sheer unrealism of that moment shocked me at levels I couldn't comprehend. As Evin stood in front of me, his eyes were filled with what seemed like pain, anguish, and despair so deep, one would crumble. He gently cupped my face, and whispered, "I'm sorry." 

I was so filled with confusion, but the ethereal strangeness of that moment calmed my tormented mind and soul. I didn't know what he apologized for, but I felt extremely relieved of the pain and anguish that filled my being as a result of my torn up memories. I didn't realize that I had begun crying, his eyes mirrored the same. As we stood under the blue rain, surrounded by tears of strange relief and unhealed wounds, the deep comfort of simply being in each other's company eased everything. 

But my body gave up to the surreal energy of the place, and soon everything began to blur out and I was slowly being blanketed by the darkness of sleep. The strong sense of relief I felt had put my brain's constant alert state to rest, the past few days of utter confusion and despair in recovering my memories had taken an unpredictable toll on my body. My mind had been searching for the relief it desperately wanted, and now that it had found it, it was at peace at last.

As the world dissipated into darkness, the last thing I saw was his shimmering blue eyes.