A special message

Mama and I hold one another as we sit in the tent in my room. I can't stop sobbing, hiccuping for breath.

"I killed him mama," I cry, "He trusted me!"

Mama is crying as she rocks me back and forth, clutching me to her chest, "Shhhh, it's going to be ok sweet girl. You did nothing wrong."

I wish her words were true. But the constant explosions tell me otherwise.

I pass out from utter emotional exhaustion, clinging to my mama in the security of the tent I played in with Luca not long ago. My dreams are tormented with images of Luca dying before he made it back home. The look of pain and betrayal on his face as he looked at me for the last time sealed in my memories, joining the nightmares I have of Tommy's last breath.

-----

That's the cycle I get accustomed to....

Nightmares of the last time I saw Luca.

Nightmares of my big brother bleeding out

Mama cuddling me through the night.

Our relationship with Daddy is never the same.

I can barely look at him. I am filled with such rage and sorrow when he's near me.

Mama simply exists.

She is Melancholy and dutiful but she avoids Daddy.

All the times we'd wait anxiously for him for dinner are gone. In fact, mama has us eat earlier just to avoid him.

I don't know this as a fact but a theory I have.

Everything goes on business as usual for the pack.... well mostly. There are those who glance toward where the coven once thrived with guilt in their eyes. How can you feel victorious over killing women and children?

I walk with Scarlett and Josie home from school everyday now. I don't go near the creek.

I can't.

Today the wind has a chill in it. The warmth of the summer long gone as fall is nearing its end. I have tuned out Scarlett's blabbering. I can't take my eyes off the trees that lead to what was once my sanctuary. They are skeletons of their formal selves, seeming to reflect the sorrow in my heart. I stop in my tracks, transfixed.

Josie and Scarlett stop when they realize I've fallen behind them, "Dani? You coming?" Josie asks curiously.

Her words don't even register. It's as if I can hear Luca saying my name as I stare at the woods.

"Dani?" Scarlett yells impatiently. "Come on!"

"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later," I say absently as I make the decision to go to the creek.

I ignore them as they gape at me. The leaves crunch and twigs snap under foot as my heart pounds in my chest. My breath is hard to catch by the time the Willow tree comes into view. Tears blur my vision as I let them fall. I cry hard, letting myself feel all the bottled up emotions. These last few months have been so hard without Tommy, without Luca. Everything is different! I want it to go back to the way it was! I hate it here! I hate my new normal!

I let out a frustrated scream, letting my voice echo in this once special place.

I'm wiping my eyes when something white catches my eye. It is in the trunk of the Willow.

Our special hiding place.

Luca.

I trip over myself running to the tree. My hand is shaking as I pull the folded piece of paper out of it's careful spot.

Dani,

Daddy says it's not safe here. We can't go home.

I wish I could tell you goodbye. I miss you. I swear I will make it back to you some day. Please watch over Mama's garden. Her and Layton deserve beautiful flowers.

Your best friend,

Luca

I read the note over and over again in disbelief! I confirm to myself that it is his handwriting. He's ok! He made it!

I'm reading it again for the upteenth time when I realize what he said.... Her and Layton deserve beautiful flowers....

My head snaps up to his side of the creek. Dread fills my stomach. I sprint across the creek, not caring that my socks are getting soaked by the water as I run. When I reach the boundary to the coven I stop in my tracks.

I never got to see Night Fang in its glory but its utter destruction leaves me breathless. It is absolutely decimated.

I spot the garden. The one that Luca proudly showed me from the top of our tree. The beautiful flowers are all dying. I sink to my knees when I see there are 2 headstones now.

Beside the one marked as Layton, sits a new one marked .....

Selene

Luca's sweet, beautiful, gentle mama is gone.

And they had to leave her and Layton behind. All because of my daddy's pursuit of twisted vengeance. While I am relieved that Luca is alright, I'm burdened with my best friend's grief. I hold his note close to my chest, treasuring it.

Luca is alive.

He doesn't hate me.

He says he will come back to me.

And with all my heart, I believe him.