Warning:

Readers' discretion advised

Henry and Matthew push open the door to Meredith's chambers. They take steady breaths while Elizabeth and Edmund remain at the doorframe. My group only enters the room by wafting through the wretched walls.

Perks of being somewhat a ghost.

Meredith stops circling her bed and looks at the crowd gathered all around.
"Forgotten manners, already? I am so very disappointed."
The left side of her lips curl into a grin as a ceramic finger flicks, closing the door with a loud thud.
Meredith turns to look at Matthew,
"Ah, Doctor Matthew Knightley, what a pleasant surprise!"

The brothers blink and snap their heads at the door, along with the rest of us. Muffled voices and unsuccessful endeavours to open the door resound throughout the chambers.

"You're the one forgetting manners." Henry grits his teeth and advances forward while Meredith holds up a hand, sending the brothers flying back to a glass enclapsed portrait. Their backs hit the glass, shattering it into a million pieces as they fall on the ruby- coloured carpet.

Henry grunts as he puts a shaky hand behind his head, a hand that doesn't shake of fear but of pain. He pulls his hand out only to see it tainted with his own blood.

The same happens with Matthew but his spilt blood is lesser than his brother's.

"Don't worry, your injuries are not fatal. You would have been dead by now if I wanted to..."
She sits in the centre of her four poster, her legs clapsed in front of each other as a fist supports her chin.

The door rattles again but Meredith only spares it a glance before saying,
"Poor Elizabeth, the woman thought I was as callow as to believe that she wouldn't tell you anything. Though, I did love her mental torture."
Her raven eyes glaze over to Matthew and she towards him, saying:
"Do you remember that mistress conversation with your father?"

Mistress?

I look around myself and the rest wear the same confused expression as me.

Matthew jolts towards Henry, who only holds up a hand.
"I know that was a lie."

Matthew sighs, but his hand strays away from the few glass crystals pierced into him, falling down.

"How do you--"

A shimmering figure of dust and smoke comes out of Meredith's hands. Though, there's a silver streak in the raven.

Matthew's eyes widen, lips parting.
"You, that was you all along."

"I still find it amusing that I understood your father's character better in a few months than you did in twenty five years," she laughs.
"Your father was the kind to do and say anything to make ends meet, like mine."
She gives a chilled smile, one that creeps up your bones at the mere thought.

Henry and Matthew quiver but stand up, each holding the back of their head but let go of their crimson hands after a few trembles.

"Meredith, whatever that was betwixt us, was only between us. You can do anything you want with me, but why my family! My parents and sister were innocent. They didn't deserve that."
Henry takes subtle breaths but Matthew continues to stare at him and Meredith, joining the dots together to form the correct constellation.

Not a constellation, a graveyard of stars.

Meredith looks solemnly at the man she loves, no, obsesses over and tilts her head to the side. Her voice comes out as a whisper:
"At least, you said my name like you used to."

Henry's eyebrow twitches as he slowly says,
"I spoke it now because I have no respect left. There is nothing informal in saying your forename."

Henry yelps in pain after saying that, making Matthew hurry to his side. Henry holds on to his brother's arm and steadies himself.

"I miss the intimate time we spent together, Henry..."
Meredith folds her arms across her chest as a nostaligia splatters on her soft features before vanishing completely.

What? Henry and her?

"Don't touch me again."

Shaking my head, I look over at my friends and brothers and their own faces are telling tales of confusion.

Matthew looks at Henry who swiftly shakes his head. He says,
"Meredith..."

Meredith presses her chin to her neckline and puts a hand on her hip,
"You act as though you don't even remember."
She rubs her nose bridge wearily and says:
"However, revenge is ever so lustrous. Not only did you leave but you also rejected me."

Henry's face twists into a horrible snare as he points out an oscillating arm,
"I rejected because I couldn't care for you in the same manner I could for Evanna!"

Meredith holds her chin and rubs it with hands playing at the base,
"So, it is Evanna... I must say, Henry, you're quite the good actor. I never would have guessed unless I had not read your journal."
A shrilly guffaw echoes as the colour drains from both the brothers' faces as they look at each other and Henry realises his mistake.

Henry clenches his fists together but remorse is evident on his face,
"Not her."

"Oh, I won't hurt her but her unborn child... Shame that she actually wanted you to be the godfather."

Henry blinks slowly but Meredith continues looking smirking and says,
"It isn't that horrid. At least, by the end of all of this, you will be grateful that I gave you the most wondrous gift of all: immortality. You and I will live forever. I am doing this for you "

"How is that possible? Immortality is against God's law." Matthew blurts out, while Henry says at the same time, releasing a burdened gasp:
"What else do you know?"

"Beings like me know and please quieten down, Matthew Knightley. You already have three lives to care for." She looks away at Matthew's widened irises and averts her attention back to Henry,
"You should be careful to not leave... traces and fragments behind. They are very deathly."

The grandfather clock strikes ten times as Meredith whispers into the hollow chambers,
"Goodbye, Henry..."

The candles of the room blink viciously while the curtains erupt roars of whispered secrets. Everything becomes dark, like Meredith herself before the door bursts open and the two servants reappear.

Meredith is gone.

"Masters, you are injured!" Elizabeth and Edmund stutter towards the brothers; but Matthew stares at Henry, while he gawks at the spot where Meredith vanquished from. He holds up an arm to Elizabeth's offering hand but it quickly grasps the left side of his chest, taking in sharp breaths.

"Henry..."
Matthew ignores Edward's assistence and the butler himself looks with sallow eyes at the younger master.

"The journal... it's all about the journal... midnight..."
Henry removes his hand from his chest and starts invading his head at the temples.

Matthew and the two servants glance over at each other but Henry exclaims,
"I... I need to get to the journal!"

Henry rushes past his brother and servants and into the dim lit corridors. Everyone tumbles behind, Matthew at the front.

The rest of us stay still but Dylan urges us to follow by quickly gaining his senses.

We rush past the hallways, the adrenaline pulsing through our veins like ablaze gasoline.

I think I hear Allison and Ethan taking shortened breaths beside me, like myself. I can't see nor hear Dylan's expressions from behind him.

Dylan pauses near the Henry's room, his upper body falling forward due to the inertia along with the rest of us.

"Henry, what's wrong! You aren't well!" Matthew's voice booms through as lightning cackles.

"Masters, you both are wounded!" Elizabeth tries to intervene but the brothers pay no heed.

Henry fervently scrolls through the pages of his journal till he reaches the last quarters of blankness. He grunts loudly and louges furthur from the seat in which he is sitting, the same seat he threw the journal upon.

"Don't you understand, Matthew! Traces and fragments, midnight, the journal everything makes sense! I only have to write..."
Henry hand clutches his chest again as Matthew moves forward.

Henry turns his head at Matthew and a sudden glimmer of hope appears in his emerald eyes,
"You'll have to do something for me, please. It is my last wish..."

"Of course I will but don't say that! I can help..."

Henry holds out a hand to him but it falls back to his dark raven coat.
"You are a doctor yourself.
You and I both know that I am not going to survive this night."

Their heads turn to the sudden beat of lightning outside but Henry diverts himself,
"Write it down, write it all down. In my handwriting."

Matthew's eyebrows ricochet to his forehead.
"You know..."

Henry gulps, breathing shallower.
"I always did...
Please, weite everything from Isabelle's funeral to my death. Write everything before the clock strikes twelve times. Then hide this journal, somewhere anywhere, and remove all memories of our family from Edenfield. Let the world forget that there was ever a Henry and Isabelle Knightley "

The brothers stare at each other, wondering as to who will agree and who will not.

Finally, Matthew sighs and takes the journal from Henry's pen and shuffles  his pockets for a pen.

"Don't write here, please. I need to be alone."
He gestures to Elizabeth and Edmund as well. Elizabeth tries to interject but Edmund pulls her out of the room. I can almost hear her silent whimpers even though she is not in the parlour room anymore.

Matthew tries to stand but seems relectant in doing so. His eyes wander over to the fireplace as he says,
"Henry please."

He strays away from the fireplace as Henry's voice comes out like the soft notes of a piano piece,
"Death shall not be the end of us, brother.
Have faith that even though he has wronged, he has never done anything with ill will."

Henry's laconic plead somehow affects Matthew more than an ode of faith and belief, as he stands up and runs out of the room, glancing over his shoulder to give Henry one last smile before leaving.

Henry clenches and unclenches his fists. His head rotates all around, till his eyes settle on a book on the mantlepiece. He reaches up and whips it down.

Going to the very last page-- the blank one before the hardcover-- he tears it apart. He grunts, as his hands fumble into his pocket-- revealing a pen.

So, he made sure Matthew had a pen before sending him away...

He squibbles something quickly and sighs in relief at it finishing. Henry then throws the page and book onto the sofa. From the glimpse I caught, something like Will is. written on top.

Henry leans back, before picking up the daffodil lying astray on the floor. He caresses its petals with the gentle hands of a lover.

"I'm sorry, Evanna." His head lolls-- looking at the flames, with thunder pounding its wrath outside.

Matthew bolts into the room, exactly as the pendulumn sways twelve times. A thin column of sweat falls from his the side of his forehead but a wide smile plasters his face.

Did time skip again? I don't remember any clouds this time...

Dylan, Ethan and Allison also look surprised and slightly dazed at the sudden time skip but quickly settle their eyes to Matthew approaching his brother's slouched figure, Henry's right fist is curled on the chair arm.

"Henry, I did it. I wrote everything down and I've hidden the journal in the gambrel, under a loose floorboard."

Dylan clicks his head to me as both of remember how I first found that journal.

It's been there for that long?

"Henry?" Matthew shakes him by thd arm, the grip of his fist loosens and a stem and stranded petals of a daffodil fall out.

Matthew blinks slowly before a contradicting hand touches his brother again, this time his fingers pressing at the side of Henry's neck.

"Henry... lad, you can't..."
Matthew stands up and shakes Henry's shoulders, to no avail.

"Master, it is midnight..."
Edmund stops suddenly looking at the brothers, Matthew flailing and Henry not answering to his pleads.

Edmund walks toward Matthew and puts his hands on his shoulders but Matthew jerks him back.

"Sir, Master Henry will not answer..."

"He will! He always listened to me, Edmund... he always did..."

"Master, please..."
Edmund puts his hands under Matthew's arm pits and Matthew not expecting it, initially stands up but struggles to get out of the butler's grip.

"Master, your wounds are bleeding again!"

"Henry... HENRY!"
Matthew's piercing screech echoes throughout the house, his tall figure finally crumbling down to ashes.

Oh my Henry...

Writing that last part actually tore me apart too. My eyes were 'glistening with the ghosts of my past' with this chapter.

Not that I've had any irl experiences with a psychotic witch, mind.

The track above is 'Death Dance' by Adrian von Zeilger.

As you can see, the Henry from the first memory and till here is quite different. He's calm at the start but he slowly crumbles with each memory, especially after Isabelle's death. I wanted to show that similarity between Henry and Matthew. Like Henry, Matthew meets his saturation point after seeing his brother's lifeless body.

Whether you loved(okay hated) me while reading, why don't you let me know by dropping a comment or vote :)

Anyways now that you know who the song 'Always' is for, do you have any idea for whom the song 'Where Do We Go' by Lindsey Stirling ft. Carah Feye is for?

(Lindsey is the violinist and the girl on the picture while Carah sings the song)

My answer will be given when another 'gut-wrenching' event occurs. I'll just say that that event will feature one of your most favourite characters ;)

Also, I'm noticing that my writing is becoming more and more laconic(the chapter above is only 1.7k words, excluding this AN). Weird because I couldn't really imagine that a few months back.

OK, so now to this week's question:

Do you believe what Meredith said about Henry and her 'intimate' time?

P. S. The update day is now Thursday :)

Calm down, Lindsey!

*Lindsey shakes her head*

Avoid absolutely eye boggling typos.

I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Love,
MS Zame