HARLOW

Three days ago, all of us talked over everything that happened. Early in the morning, I informed Everett of the information Pandora left behind. I also explained what happened involving Jamie and Destery. I then told him I was puzzled as to how Pandora knew absolutely everything that happened involving me, him, and Jamie considering that it literally just happened before she gave me the journal. Everett was quiet for a while before he eventually said something about how Pandora just "knows things" and I wasn't sure how to take that. After that, we met up with Oz and the others. They explained what happened involving Ryker, Pandora, and the garden, and I told them what happened to me and Everett. I promised them that I wasn't upset, which seemed to really relieve Oz and everyone else.

Caesar spent over six hours casting restoration spells on the garden in order to heal it to its former glory, which Azusa really appreciated. Then, the next day, Caesar, Everett, and I also investigated Pandora's old tower. We found a pile of ashes brushed aside and Caesar restored it with his magic. It ended up being a singular paper written by Pandora, one that might've been left behind on either accident or intent, I'm not sure, but I told them I would read it and inform them on what it said. Yesterday was fairly busy still, and I mailed my dad some more letters to let him know that I'm alright and everything's going well. He also mailed me and I made arrangements to visit him tomorrow with Everett, as a sort of meet my boyfriend meeting and a reunion, I suppose. I'm really glad I'll get to see him after all this time though.

As of now, I'm walking through the garden with Karmine and Everett while Oz and Azusa are out having lunch with Oz's parents, Alec is out doing his duties, and Caesar and Aithne are finally out on a date. Karmine styled a beautiful white and pale purple dress for me and he also made a lavender headband for me, both of which I greatly appreciated. Karmine himself is wearing a deep red and gold kimono while Everett is wearing a gold and black hoodie with black ripped jeans tucked into black combat boots.

"I'm so glad the garden is okay," Karmine smiles softly as he walks with his hands clasped in front of him, his tails swaying behind him happily.

"Yeah," Everett nods in agreement.

"Me too," I smile as I hold Pandora's letter in my hand, reading it as we walk and looking around at the garden from time to time, "it's quite beautiful here."

Karmine hums in appreciation as I continue to read to myself, walking between Karmine and Everett, with Karmine on my left and Everett on my right.

If you're reading this, it most likely means that Caesar finally perfected his restoration spells. He always did suck at those. Either way, perhaps I've chosen to leave this behind for you to read, or perhaps not. Either way, you're reading it now and it's already too late because my plan has succeeded, so here goes.

My plan for everyone to believe Ryker has been working with Jamie seems to be, well, working. Yes, Jamie did indeed work with Ryker in the past, but little did they know that Ryker ended up falling in love with Angela while he watched her hurt from the sidelines, unable to do anything about it besides being there for her. Over time, he grew to resent Jamie. I know, almost unbelievable that that bastard has a heart somewhere in there. I really do feel bad about getting Ozmyere mixed up in Ryker's twisted web, but then again, not really. I told him repeatedly to let me out, but he wouldn't do it, so he left me no choice. You see, Ryker would do anything for Angela, and since Angela's soul resides within me, he'll do anything for me. A bit wicked of me, I suppose, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm aware that all of this is hurting the people around me, but it's their own fault for not listening to me, for not opening their eyes to the truth.

So, thus continued on with my plan to get Ryker to find me and free me from this dreadful place. It really is beautiful, pinning all this extra blame on Jamie, but what's the harm with painting already red hands even more red? Everyone knows he deserves it and much more, anyway. The next stage of my plan is to escape by throwing Ryker under the bus and then causing a gigantic scene only to be taken to the infirmary so that I'm not back in that tower. From there, I can make my escape. All I need is the opportune moment. And believe me, it will come.

I blink a few times in realization, my hand slowly dropping down to my side as we walk.

"Harlow? Is everything alright?" Karmine asks with a frown while Everett glances over at me worriedly.

"I...yeah," I force a smile to assure them both, "everything's fine."

Perhaps I'll need to re-burn this letter...

***

The next day, I walk to the train station with Everett, having taken his bike to get there. By some luck, nobody managed to steal it while it was in the restaurant parking lot all that time. I don't know what Pandora's motives are or what she plans on doing, but I get the feeling that she doesn't intend to hurt anyone, that there's some reason for all of this. After all, she did say there were worse things out there. So, I'm going to take a leap of faith and just...trust her. It may sound crazy and it definitely goes against what I stand for, but I'm going to let it rest, at least, just for a little while. But if I hear of something happening, I plan to investigate. Besides, I've still got a lot to learn, and it never hurt anybody to take a breath and learn how to handle things before they, well, handled them. It would be wise to gather all of the information I can first, and that includes learning about myself.

"Are you ready?" Everett asks as he walks beside me, his fingers laced through mine while I carry a luggage bag in my free hand, his luggage being thrown over his shoulder.

"Yeah," I nod and smile as we walk up to the train, preparing to board.

I inhale the familiar scent of the train station and smile, thinking back to when I first arrived here. Suddenly, as we're about to board the train, a blonde woman with two french braids in buns on top of her head hurriedly walks onto the train, a black umbrella thrown over her shoulder and a dark brown suitcase in her left hand, and wearing a black, dark teal, and dark grey dress with tall black boots. I frown as I catch a glimpse of the side of her face when her blue eyes flicker over to me briefly and my eyes widen.

"Pandora?" I breathe out under my breath.

"What?" Everett frowns and glances at me, unsure of what I just said.

"Nothing," I shake my head before I smile at him, "let's go. I can't wait for you to meet my dad."

"Right..." he trails off, sounding unconvinced but squeezing my hand in reassurance before he smiles.

With that, we head onto the train and find our booth, placing our luggage down before taking our seats. A few minutes later, the train pulls out of the station and I smile as I rest my head against Everett's shoulder, closing my eyes.

I really don't know what the future may hold, but I know that Everett will be there for me, that everyone else will be there for me, and I'll be there for them every step of the way. And that's all I could ever ask for.