โThey hurt me every fucking day.โ Alecto spat back. She didnโt need to tell Coraline what memories could do to a person. The woman was a walking example of how they could shatter someoneโs soul.ย โBut the difference between you and I? Iโll never get any other memories with them. Theyโre always going to be the people that broke me into a thousand pieces. Youโฆas crazy or far-fetched as it might be, still have a chance to make peace. Things could be different in the future. It wonโt be that way for Amycus and I.โ Fingers clasped around her glass as she shook her head. Redemption and forgiveness had been ripped a way from her before Alecto had known how precious they were.
Coraline was one of the worst alcoholics that Alecto had ever seen for someone their age. It wasnโt the sheer quantity that worried her, but the amount of time the woman spent under its influence. Was there anything left of the girl she was knew, or had the alcohol eroded all of the best parts of her away with its burn?ย โEverything?โ She inquired, uncertain that that was entirely true. Being angry at everyone and everything maybe, but you couldnโt hate everyone. It was nearly impossible, even the coldest hearts had weak spots.ย โYou know, Iโve heard rumors of people taking memories away with spells. I donโtโฆI donโt think that alternative is a good one. We remember because we havenโt worked through the pain. Even when we have, it serves as a reminder of where weโve come from. It wonโt ever go away.โ
โSo, you have to decide if this is how you want to spend the rest of your life. You want to be a shell that canโt tackle the day without being drunk? If you can live with that, go right ahead, but I knew you. Youโre better than this. One day, itโll hurt just a little less, and when that day comes, youโre gonna have to start fighting.โ Alecto muttered, feeling like she was digging into her heart for advice that would fall upon deaf ears. She downed her drink, sliding the empty glass across the table to be refilled yet again. Maybe more alcohol would help ease the guilt she was already trying to suppress with words.ย
coraline took in her words, even with how much bite there was behind. if alecto was saying this sort of advice, she knew to listen.ย โpeace.โ she says it, as if it is foreign to her. she had not felt that in a long time, her life full of chaos -- driven by her, mostly. she took to holding onto alectoโs words, even if she hadnโt changed her mind on the topic much. maybe, later down the line her ex-friendโs voice will pop in to remind her.ย
everything? -- not walden, not you, not really.ย she only gave a nod, hitting a nice buzz just as she ordered another drink. her eyes lit up at alectoโs admission, and she could have fallen out of her seat. too have her memories taken away? how free would she feel, how the ghosts would not haunt her anymore. yet, she recoiled a second later at the thought of forgetting her siblings -- at never remembering their faces. never getting back at the killer and getting revenge and justice once and for all.ย
she grit her teeth, closing her eyes as she tried to calm herself down from dwindling into obsessive thoughts about finding the killer.ย โi do not like to remember and yet i canโt forget.โ coraline turns her face towards alecto, resting her head in her hand. she was a little surprised with how much this conversation turned into one of her changing her ways. the alcohol was starting to get her, that anger beginning to start inside.
โhow nice of you to tell me this now, after years.โ she drawls out, venom behind it. โi walk life and feel as if i carry ghosts.โ coraline spits out.ย โi feel haunted by that, that -- that night.โ she rubs at her face, the memory becoming clear in her mind as she brings it up.ย โit breaks me every time.โ she mutters, just resting her head in both her hands now.ย
โwhatโs wrong with just getting through the fucking day?โ she questions, turning her eyes unto the other woman.ย โi wake up and it hurts every damn day, and has yet to subside. not as if anything good has ever happened in my life ever since.โ she hisses back, anger starting to overtake her now. it felt familiar, felt like safety unlike what all this was. โyou knew me? you knew me? knew me too much you had to leave me?!โ coraline didnโt mean to get so heated, and the thing just slipped from her mouth.ย