Margo's POV

I suppressed the regrets of my heart while the wind plagued the Mountain Ash trees. The forest smuggled me in a den of leaves as I rustled next to a white-tailed deer with dark Bambi eyes and a red fox devouring the remains of a dead bird. I grab a hand full of ruby red cherries that I scavenged from a low hanging vine closest to Goulding Manor. I slowly maneuver closer to the animals, not noticing when I step on a fallen branch, and the deer turns to me, bucking it's hind legs in midair as it gallops off through the twists and turns of the woodlands. I observe the fox as he glances in my direction, analyzing the food in the palm of my hand as he considers devouring the red cherries with precision.

The forest screeches to life under the spangled sky as I throw the berries amongst blades of grass, watching as one by one the fox sniffs the strange fruit. He bites down on one cherry as he gorges on the rest, aloof to my presence while I watch him with curiosity. Foxes are generally shy and reserved animals that avoid human contact. When I was in Vermont, I had this gray fox with a beautiful speckled coat, painted in brushstrokes of grey and black with fragments of apricot in his fur. I miss how Charles would cuddle next to me, his usual way of hunting for his mate and his kits, Tessa and William.

I conjure up a grassland of scattered trees, bathing in a waterfall of my serenity as the little fox exhales a dry heave from the pit of his stomach. The atmosphere animated with the aroma of dewdrops, dripping from fiery leaves and clinging to the grass as the fox collapses on his hind legs. I rush to his side as he convulses, and I succumb to the taunting laughs of the forest. I try to imagine a scenario where I can help him as my hands hover over his body while his movements become quiet, and his pain restless. Tears fall from my eyes uncontrollably as I whisper vain apologies while a hand clutches my shoulder in silence.

"Frank, the little fox died," I say, not even glancing over my shoulder as I cry relentlessly. "I was only trying to feed him like the fox I had back home, and then I poisoned him. How could I be so stupid? First, I don't remember my mom dying, then Juliet haunts me in my dreams, and now Asher's back in the picture. I-I just want the world to stop spinning."

"He's a scavenger," I hear Asher mutter, "he was bound to die sometime. Besides, what did you think, he was just going to eat the berries then prance back into the forest living out his old days in peace. That's not how the world works, Tinkerbell, in fact, grey foxes only live six to ten years in the wilderness."

"I just keep thinking everyone's going to outlive me until I watch them die. I watched my mom take her last breath and not even five minutes later, I forget she even died. I keep crawling out of bed because she would want me to learn to live again, even if she couldn't hug me with her arms of steel. She wouldn't want me to expect a bad thunderstorm without a rainbow afterwards."

"You know I never saw you before," Asher sighs. "It's like you get some kind of kick out of hiding from everyone. First, you're descended from power, and now you watched your mother die. Now Juliet's dead, and you still can't stop thinking about your own pretentious lies. You know in all those tales I never heard you once have remorse for leaving Juliet behind. Why did you even choose me at all? Why did I deserve to live when she only sank to the bottom? She loved you, and you still left her to die."

Asher's words torment me as I blink away the tears threatening to overflow in my eyes. I can't answer him when the ocean only seeps in my dreams while Juliet's muffled screams camouflage in my mind. How can I differentiate between the girl, brimming with jealousy and the darkness, stirring inside my core? Then suddenly, Juliet's vanished without a single trace, and the heights of her comeliness are placed at my feet. Maybe the price of a forbidden infatuation is the loss of clarity like blindness falling upon a young man with an indifferent heart.

The clouds circle the forest, hovering above our quarrel. I turn to face the bile slithering in Asher's chest as it rises and falls with slow breaths. I wither in his captive gaze as he takes a step forward. Suddenly, he's in front of me with agitated eyes questioning if I loved Juliet enough to mourn her.

The truth is I can't hold on to my mother's grace and the allure of Juliet without it killing me. If I let go of the woman that raised me, then who will I become when it's time for the reaper to collect my memories. Then there's Juliet, and there's not a single thought where I choose her, yet I can't deny the ocean barreling before me as I swim past her.

"I don't know what you want me to say," I laugh while bitterness consumes me, "I remember having this bond that was deeper than anyone could comprehend as I dived in the ocean, holding my breath for miles. Then I finally saw her cultivating in a lost wave as my heart shuddered, and I dived deeper into the sea. I swam as bubbles erupted through my nostril as I exhaled through my nose."

"Then why did you decide to save me in the first place?" Asher questions, holding my face in his hands as I drag him from the depths of the ocean.

I can't explain the insomnia rushing through my veins or the butterflies swimming in my abdomen. The only thing making sense are my thoughts as they simmer into the truth, threatening to dislodge from my esophagus. Before I realize it, I brush my hand against Asher's while he shifts out of my grasp. I watch as he folds his arms, and that warm, fuzzy feeling in my gut decimates into melancholy. The weight of Asher's anger resonates in my heart as it synchronizes to the quick, shallow beat of his, and suddenly, I just can't lie to him anymore.

"Asher, I could never let you die," I whisper, sinking in his gaze. "I've always loved the gleam in your eyes whenever you smiled, or the scowl on your lips whenever you despised someone, even me. I remembered your raised eyebrow that could decipher a fleeting glance even in the midst of chaos. You were always the boy I noticed more than anyone else. If I let you die, then what's the point of remembering anything if I can't be with someone I love."

"Then you should've saved, Juliet. She always loved you even after everything you...we did." Asher whispers, placing his cell phone in the palm of my hand as he turns to leave.

I'm lost as Asher vanishes in the thicket of evergreen trees clouded by a splatter of golden leaves while my heart crashes inside my chest. I try to conjure his smile as I pluck leaves from a low hanging branch, letting Asher wander in my mind with disdain and a merciless glare. I try to bring his chiseled face to a bright beam as I close my eyelids and contort his frown into a smile. I wanted to tell him all the secrets I hid in the stars whenever I cried under the moonlight, yet he doesn't care for treasured memories I unearthed in Rosewood Academy.

I wander over to the grey fox with an armful of leaves, twigs and collected sweet alyssum's, repeating a few more trips as I place petals over his closed eyelids. The more I roam through the woodlands, I discover a cluster of flowers as I encircle the fox with dozens of marigolds and alyssums. My mom used to tell me that marigolds bloom when someone has lost the one they love due to the cruelty of a hardened heart and the chasm of death. I never use to comprehend her love for metaphors until I first met Juliet, and Asher then fell in love with the latter. Even now, symbolism creeps through my mind as Asher spins me into a forgotten time in mere seconds.

He hates me but he's the reason
I choose to remember.

Fragments of Asher appear as I immerse in the remnant about the time our universes first intertwined. The night was young when I broke out of Staten Island hospital, holding the strap of my book bag over my shoulder. I noticed the sidewalks were more inhabited as people wandered the streets of Staten Island, unfazed by the absence of the day and the fall of night. A tear unraveled when I pondered the terror of tomorrow as I took another step and crashed into a solid chest, hitting the pavement while Asher caught me in his arms.

"Are you okay?" his said, his voice laced with concern. "I'm sorry I should've been paying attention, but I was busy talking to my girlfriend."

"Sorry about his carelessness," Juliet said, playfully rolling her eyes at him. "By the way this is Asher, and I'm Juliet. What's your name? We could always use more girl names to consider for our future daughter, couldn't we Ashe?"

"I don't mind unisex names for our son," Asher emphasized as Juliet rolled her eyes even harder.

"My name is Margo," I whisper to the unknown, listening to someone on the phone respond as I press the phone against my ear.

"You do know I was with your mother when she gave you that name." my dad says with a chuckle. "Hey Pumpkin. I'm still at the ranch going through a few boxes of junk. I was almost done until I unpacked a box of your mother's things, and stumbled across an old picture of the family. Then I realized everyone...was gone but enough of that...how's life in the city?"

"It's everything I dreamed of," I say, stopping to cover my mouth as I cry softly. "But dad I-I have to ask you a question about my. . . amnesia."

"Gwendolyn, told you, huh? I guess I expected to have this conversation someday," My dad sighs, "you were walking on the side of the highway when I found you, and it was like you were lost in yourself. I couldn't recognize the look in your eyes, and then you started repeating something strange."

The woodlands howl to life as plush branches conceal my body in a cluster of trees while footsteps rustle behind me. I peak through green leaves reconstructed into hues of ginger as the vacancy of the forest provokes my mind. The owl barks in the distorted bliss of the Upper East Side as the shadows of the estate arouse under the moonlight. Asher left a few minutes ago, yet the country still alludes to the presence of another. I'm not alone in the dead of the night as chills slither up my spine and lodge in my throat.

"What did I say?" I mutter, glancing at the woods.

"Her pills were lavender, and his eyes were an abyss. The red in her lips was crimson, almost like a kiss." My dad says, clearing his throat as I rest against a tree trunk and listen to footsteps scatter around me. "Oh, I almost forgot, can you thank the Goulding's for everything they've done. There was no way I could've done any of this without their help, and that man's generosity is keeping this place alive."

"Who are you talking about? Gwendolyn never told me she paid for the upkeep of the farm." I ask, whispering into the phone.

"What's that fellow's name?" My dad questions to himself. "That's right, David Goulding paid our property taxes. Apparently, he's Gwendolyn's husband I never met. When I asked him why he would waste his money on a man he doesn't know, he asked was I familiar with Latin. When I politely told him hell no, he went on to say his wife always took a fascination for the language. After we were done talking, he said he was going away on a business trip, and to ask his wife what the phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum means to her. The man is definitely eccentric."

I don't know how the phrase unravels in my brain as I whisper its meaning to my father. "Si vis pacem, para bellum means if you want peace, then prepare for war." I say, muttering goodbye to my father.

I erase my fathers call log, letting our conversation erase from my brain and allowing Juliet to appear out of darkness. "Remember nothing." She whispers, deconstructing from her beautiful appearance until she's clothed in my skin, and wearing my face.

Second pass as the wind whistles and I blink back into consciousness. I look up at the sky in confusion and back down at Asher's phone wondering why he would just give me his phone out of nowhere.

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How did you like the chapter?

Tell me what you think about the opening paragraph? Why did Margo came to the forest? What did you think about the red fox? Do you think Margo meant to kill him? Would you guys like to read a chapter set with Margo in Vermont?

Do you think Asher could've been more sympathetic? What do you think Asher meant when he told Margo he never saw her before? Why would Margo willingly hide herself from Asher? Do you think Asher was different when he was with Juliet in the flashback? What did you think about the ending? Do you think war is actually coming?

Please remember to social distance guys and stay safe! I just got my new laptop today and as I said on my message board I'll be uploading three new chapters since I've been out these past three weeks. I'll post brief author's notes at the end for the next two chapters including the summary of each chapter. Make sure to comment below if you enjoyed chapter 13. P.S Don't forget the trailer to #ACK is in the section titled, Amidst Crimson Kisses. P.P.S The picture shown in the media box is a picture of Margo Kennedy. P.P.P.S The next two chapters will definitely be written in Asher's POV.

Thank you so much for reading
GOD bless you all ❤️