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“No. Lia, I can’t go back.”
“What do you mean?” my mum says with obvious caution.
“Albert, he-” her voice falters and she leans back into Mum again, a hurricane pouring out from inside her.
“Alright, let’s find some place we can sit outside then, shall we?” Mum grabs her hand and takes her to a courtyard around the side of the building I’ve never seen before. There are hedges surrounding the courtyard, making it impossible for people to see inside without walking through the entrance. When I step inside, I realise how small it is, but that somehow adds to the quaint beauty of it. There is a large tree in the centre, with flowers blooming all around it and a small tree swing. There’s a light grey bench on one side of the courtyard, where Mum leads Annabelle.
“Now, tell me what happened.”
She takes a deep breath, trying to compose herself, and begins. “It’s Albert. We got into a fight.”
“Okay.”
“But it wasn’t just our usual ones. It was worse. A lot worse.” She takes another deep breath. “He was in the lab, doing some more research on the Ring. I was going to surprise him with lunch. I was just trying to do something nice.” At the last sentence, her voice cracks which sets her off into another uncontrollable wave of tears.
“What happened next?” my mum asks, her words barely above a whisper, as if hoping not to break her. Although I don’t see how she could be any more destroyed than what Annabelle seems to be right now.
“I was going to surprise him. But then I saw him, and he was…he looked… His face-”
“What was wrong with his face?”
“He was going crazy,” Annabelle cries, her eyes glazing over. “It was like the destruction of the war all over again. He was turning over tables, ripping out his hair, tearing apart the papers. It was like watching an animal devour their prey. And when I finally got his attention, his eyes…they were so distant, so corrupt, so evil. I’ll never forget that look in his eyes. It was like staring in the eyes of death himself. But only it was worse, because I could tell by the gleam in them that he was thinking of a thousand other things that he could do that would lead to a fate worse than death.”
Mum sat, seemingly at a loss for words. “Albert wouldn’t, would he?” She thinks for a moment then turns back to Annabelle, “I need you to remember if you can, this is very important. Was Albert wearing the-?”
“Yes,” she interrupts before Mum even had the chance to finish her sentence. “I saw the ring on his finger.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, I ran up to him and I took the ring away from him and hid it in my pocket before he had the chance to use it. He then turned back to normal, but there was something about his eyes that I don’t think will ever go away. I thought he might thank me for stopping him before he would do something that could hurt me, or the baby, or destroy all our work, but instead he just got mad at me.
He claimed that he was conducting tests, and everything was working well until I took the ring away. I told him that I didn’t agree with what he was doing and that surely there was a better way to test things, ways that didn’t involve putting us in danger.
And then he said that if I didn’t like his methods of testing, then I clearly wasn’t cut out to be here. And just like that, he told me to leave. No goodbye, no ‘I love you’, no nothing. Just ‘get your stuff and go.’ It was like I was suddenly some piece of dirt at the bottom of his shoe.
I argued with him, telling him that he can’t just break apart our family. That this was my life. This was OUR life. But he didn’t show any emotion. There was nothing. Everything was just gone. All these years building a life together, for him to wish it away with five stupid words.”
By now, the tears are streaming freely down her face. I look over at Annabelle, the real Annabelle, and see she is crying too. I have the sudden urge to give her a hug or find some way to comfort her, but I don’t know how to. Before I have the chance to ask if she’s alright, she catches me looking, clears her throat and composes herself.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean it, Anna. He was just saying that in a moment of anger. You know how he gets when he’s working. Let me talk to him and I’m sure we can work something out.”
“NO! Even if I wanted to go back, I know that he wouldn’t take me back. But there is no way I am ever going to be in the same room with him again. I am not letting any harm come to him, or this baby. MY baby.”
“What are you going to do then? You know there’s nothing for you out there. Your friends, your family, YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS HERE! And you’re just going to throw that away? What about all the work we’ve done! Everything we’ve accomplished! We need you. I NEED YOU! You’re my best friend, you can’t-”
“STOP IT, LIA!” Annabelle screams, throwing up her hands drastically, “I get that, okay? But don’t you dare turn this on me and act like it’s my fault. You didn’t see the look in his eyes.” Mum stays silent for a moment, as if in contemplation.
“Can’t you just stay somewhere near here, just so I can see you. So, I can help you when you have the baby? You’re going to need support.” Mum suggests after a long time.
“There’s a place I know where I can find it.”
“Where?”
“Black Opps.” She says and my mum gasps.
“But I didn’t think they-”
“Pat’s been busy. While Albert’s been running the CSO, his mum had work of her own to do. I’ll go there and help improve testing and ways to administer the Mark more efficiently, as well as keep an eye on Albert from a distance.”
