Page 51 of Black Castle

This is probably his body’s reaction to the crowd. Maybe he’s having another panic attack.

“It’s not the crowd,” he says, dragging in a sharp breath through his nose. “It’s my meds. I forgot to carry them. Now my nerves are all over the place.” He glances down at her, a warm look in his eyes. “But I’ll be fine. It happens all the time. I’ll be back home in a few hours.”

“Oh,” she breathes, her eyes falling back on his hand. Their trembling has lessened drastically indeed, leaving only slight, easily missed twitches.

But she’s still not quite convinced that he’s okay.

He did tell her sometime ago that unlike Griscelli syndrome type 1 and 2, type 3 typically isn’t deadly. However, he is amongst the rare exceptions—one in a million—occasionally experiencing mild sensory issues. But according to his doctor, it isn’t yet a cause for concern. The doctor prescribed medication, and he must also have biennial medical check-ups to monitor for any possible development of an undiscovered recessive genetic neurological disorder.

But sometimes doctors make mistakes, right? What if the doctor isn’t looking harder to see if something is really wrong? She doesn’t want it to become alarming. She doesn’t want him to become weak and lose agility someday.

Sickness scares her. Because sickness sometimes takes people away, and it hurts more if it’s a loved one. If her mother never fell sick, she wouldn’t have died. And she knows that unlike Isadora, who hated her after her dad’s conviction, her mother would never have. She would have loved her still.

She doesn’t want him to become really sick because of some doctor’s negligence.

“Are you sure waiting it out is okay?” she asks, finally tearing her gaze from his hands. “The meds. Is it something we can maybe grab at a pharmacy?”

His lips twitch, an attempt to chuckle at her possibly ridiculous suggestion. “It’s not painkillers, Vivienne. So no, we can’t just walk into a pharmacy for a pack.”

“Whatever,” she murmurs, rolling her eyes. Dismissive reactions to serious concerns are irritating. She hates that he’s doing exactly that.

A beat of silence passes between them for a while. She can’t help it as her eyes occasionally drop to his hand. She doesn’t know why he’s so nonchalant about it. This is not a mere headache or stomach upset.

“I’m fine, Vivienne.” It’s only when she looks up that she realizes he has been staring at her too. “I promise.”

“Oh, okay,” she whispers, a soft smile deftly tucked between the curve of her lips. There is just something about him calling her by her name that does things to her.

She takes in a deep breath, exhaling, her eyes drifting across the park and falling on the ice cream truck she has been ignoring since.

“Should we go and grab ice cream?” she asks.

“I’d rather not,” he declines almost immediately.

“Why?”

“It’s a street food,” he deadpans, his brows furrowed in disbelief, as if his point is more than enough reason.

“So?”

“What if he didn’t wash his hands?”

“You are literally gonna stand there and watch him scoop it from the machine.” She can’t believe her ears.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“You gotta be kidding me right now—”

“Mommy, look! Daddy is a big bad wolf!”

A nearby shriek makes her sharply turn.

There’s a family a little further to the right. Vivienne had actually spotted them long before, but never really paid attention. Looking at them now, as the mother, a stunning woman with chestnut hair, sits on the picnic mat, the camera of her phone follows the husband as he runs after the daughter, pretending to be a monster. A nasty biting feeling, a lot like jealousy, burns in her chest.

She tries to look away, but for some reason, she can’t.

Their eyes crinkle with delight—the little family—their laughter weaving through the evening air like droplets of stars gathering in a mirthful embrace.

Nostalgia grips her, freezing both body and mind, as the weight of their union drags her back—fourteen years ago, when she was just a girl who still dared to dream. Back then, the monster hid in the dark, afraid of her light. Now they have grown so bold they walk around freely, some daring to live inside her head

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