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Fingernails scratched on stone.
“Oh, by the heavens,” a voice cursed.
Lying on his own deathbed was Tybalt Capulet, a man who hoped that in death his secret would be buried with him, but alas, he was alive. Barely.
He wished he were singing with the angels instead of his entire body sinking him closer to hell. His joints locked together like his heart. Grunting in pain, Tyablt turned his scarred head to the stonebed beside him, where a startled cousin met his gaze. Her wedding gown was barely covered in soot as she stared in horror at her “dead” cousin rising from the grave.
“It’s true,” she cried, “My family truly has risen from the dead to kill me for my sins!”
Tyablt’s eyes turned into slits, “Don’t be a dunce. I’m alive, and if I truly craved to kill you, I would’ve done it long ago.”
Juliet’s eyes glowed with delight, “Tybalt! You’re alive, but I thought you were stabbed, but it doesn’t matter now, you’re alive now!”
She jumped off the stone before sprinting to his deathbed, throwing her peachy arms around his neck. Juliet’s tears ran down his neck, the beads sliding down his pale skin like a riverbed.
Flinching from the sudden contact, Tyablt froze in his tracks, the next insult dying in his throat. Suddenly, he felt like confessing everything to her, pouring his sins off his tongue: the balcony, the markets, the plan from Friar Lawrence, everything. Swallowing his lies, Tybalt hesitantly wrapped his arms around her too, his confession slitting down his throat like sandpaper.
The young man cleared his throat, an awkward signal to his cousin to stop her affections. Luckily for the young fellow, Juliet caught the signal. She slowly pulled back from her cousin’s embrace, the happiness in her eyes replaced by subtle hurt.
Juliet wiped a tear, “I–I apologize, Tybalt. I know you haven’t always been the most… affectionate person I’ve ever known, but I’m just so happy you didn’t die.”
“Yes… You and me too.”
Suddenly, a dim light from the outside world shone into the dark tomb, the damp stones bleeding out the sunlight from outside. Scarred hands pushed the boulder from the entrance open, their hands desperately raking any rocks that stood in their way.
Tybalt held onto his heart, gripping the gown tightly.
Oh, heaven, please don’t, his head cried, Don’t let me die without seeing him again!
Just like heaven had listened to his prayers, a pair of dark blue eyes met Tybalt’s; it was Romeo Montague, his mortal “enemy.”
Juliet broke Tybalt’s trance, “My husband, oh, my husband! Romeo, you’ve come to rescue me! My fair Romeo, thank you, thank–”
Happy tears once again ran down her rosy cheeks, her smile bigger than the richest duchess in the world. Her life was full of light again; her husband, her Romeo, swooped past all the dangers down the road to rescue her.
Now they could get married and run away together, far away from Verona.
Juliet sprang her arms wide open for Romeo, her life, her king, her husband. Romeo’s eyes shone brighter than the moon as he ran down the tombs, running into Juliet’s arms, his life, his queen, his wife.
At least, that’s what Juliet thought.
She felt the wind pass her, the feet thumping beyond her, and the tears landed on her cheeks. Juliet felt her heart sink to her stomach, and her hands shook in confusion, her mind playing tricks on her. Whipping her head, Juliet witnessed her greatest fear: Romeo falling in love with another woman.
Or, another man.
Romeo cherished Tybalt with the care of a mother hen, his hands wrapped around his lover. The sudden act of intimacy between the two made her head spin.
Romeo cried, “Tybalt, you’re alive! You’re safe, the plan worked! We must hurry; we can’t stay here long.”
Tybalt’s skin protested as he raised his numb hand, squeezing Romeo’s shoulder. His vision blurred with tears of happiness and sorrow. Happiness for Romeo, the love of his life rescuing him after Tybalt faked his own death, but sorrow, for the lies to be exposed to his cousin.
Juliet stared at them, “I–I don’t understand…”
“Juliet, we need to tell you something,” Tybalt began, “I didn’t survive my stab wounds; I’ve never been stabbed.”
The Montague swallowed, “He faked it, we both did. We did it so we could be together…”
“B–but my balcony! You told me you loved me! You swore to the moon!”
Never swear to the moon, Tybalt thought. It could change courses, like a heart.
But Romeo swore his love to the sun when he was with Tybalt; his heart would remain with Tybalt, as the sun always stays its course.
“I’m sorry, Juliet. I truly am, but I do love you… as a sister I’ve never had,” Romeo apologized.
Tybalt turned his face to Romeo’s chest; it stung too deeply to watch his cousin’s face crumble. It felt worse than a sword plunged through his heart, bleeding onto the rocks, and begging heaven to take you so the pain would end. Maybe in a different life, he was stabbed, but perhaps that’s what he deserved after lying to his own blood
Tybalt felt Romeo’s strong arms lift him off the stone bed, cuffing him and carrying him on his chest.
Tybalt faces away from Juliet, “My cousin, I’m truly sorry. Believe me, we both are. But, with one last favor I’d like to ask.”
The tear-stained girl raised her head, “What…?”
“We will embark to escape Verona,” Romeo explained, “Far, far away so our families will never find us.”
“Please,” Tybalt implored, “Don’t tell anyone about our love.”
A star-struck Juliet sat there on her stone, trying to process all the information about her husband’s true intentions. He loved a Capulet, but not her. Instead, he loved Tybalt, her foul-mouthed, rash, menacing, and remorseless cousin. Well, if Tybalt truly had a hollow heart, then Romeo would be running off with Juliet.
Before she could get a word out, muffled footsteps rang out through the tomb, vibrations stomping near the entrance. Romeo let out a gasp before turning on his heel.
“We need to get out now,” he insisted, “We can make it if we make it now!”
Without sparing another glance at the girl he had lied to, Romeo tightened his grasp on his true love, retreating out of the tomb. Tybalt felt the ground rumble as Montague ran out of the tomb.
He took a final glance at the life he was leaving behind, his cousin, Juliet. Her expression was uncertain as the two men left her final resting place, their shadows leaving the darkness of the tomb.
Juliet sat blank-faced inside the tomb, listening to the silence.
What could she do?