Darkest Wolf

VIII

She told us to come back later that night, after the sun had gone down. We waited at a local park. Both of us were scared she would change her mind at any point and not believe that we were only trying to keep the prophecy from coming true.

The same way my mother had been trying to keep her prophecy from coming true.

When we made it to the house we were immediately let in and the door closed behind us. Lovelie took us to a room she referred to as her "herb room." It had high ceilings that reached so far down to us with arms of drying cilantro and sage and, as I learned when I reached to touch one of the dying leaves, wolfsbane.

The little boy was standing on a stool with one of the strands of herbs.

"Welcome," he muttered, not looking up from his dead plant.

I looked at Lovelie for consent to talk to him, not wanting to overstep boundaries. She simply stared and then looked down.

"Auntie wants you to sit down."

Great aunt, not grandmother. I was close.

I sat down on a stool next to the young boy. He was busy pulling leaves off the vine and put them away in a small velvet bag. I watched him do this, feeling the emptiness of the plant as they hit the table. Such a soft cry of defeat. Like poetry of the damned.

Lovelie talked with my cousin about the technicalities of the spell. She asked about what exactly it will do and what it will effect. Lovlie couldn't tell because she isn't a wolf. She says she wouldn't tell us anyway because she isn't sure we would go through with the spell.

"I will," I reassured her, still watching the child with his herbs," This isn't for me anyway. This is for my family."

"I'm sure your family will be very appreciative when they die because of your existence."

I looked down at my hands while she set a cup of brown goo in front of me. It made a sick sluck sound as it hit the sides of the cup.

This cup could change the destint of me and everyone I love.

I picked it up and gently brought it close to my face. It smelt like Aphrodite died but it promised so many great things that I just couldn't make a face of disgust before I took a sip. The taste was nonexistent but I couldn't think about it because my head started to scream.

I jumped away from the table, bumping into a table across from me. I felt Jade's arms wrap around me from behind, trying to calm me, but I was lashing out. I screeched and tore away from my cousin but she held on tightly, keeping me from harming the boy or Lovelie but I couldn't stop the noise.

Pounding in my head like a ceremonial drum setting the beat for a horrible sacrifice to appease the God's from my mythology books in high school. My hands clawed at my face, drawing bright red blood from my pale skin. My mind went to my mother's bloody eyes whenever she saw the future. 

Let it stop, I prayed.

Make it stop.

_

Broad skies flew high above me. Soaring sunsets of  reds and pinks and oranges painted the sky. My feet were bare on the soft, lush grass but my skirts billowed from under my warm wrap. It was a chilly night but it was worth it to see the waves crash against the rocks and feel the gentle spray on my toes. I looked around and found my blond hair blowing in front of my eyes while I tried to look at the stone house next to me. It was short and stocky but a part of me knew it was home. My lips tinged into a smile as I started to walk towards it but I heard a scream. 

Immediately, I was running towards another house nearby. A pretty girl with pretty eyes was cowering next to a wall with a small child in her arms while a wolf stood less than a foot away and snarled . The woman had a long scratch going across her face and was breathing deeply to keep herself alive because the wound in her stomach was starting to take effect and she was dying.

"Abel!"

The scream ripped out of my throat . I didn't recognize the man but my body did. The wolf turned to look at me and snarled, showing that he didn't like my interruption. 

"Abel, leave them alone! What are you doing?"

He started to come towards me and I backed up, not wanting to be attacked but not wanting him to hurt them more.

"Mairi, Addy, are you alright?"

"You need to leave," the woman coughed out. The child seemed to fall asleep in her arms but she wasn't, she was just afraid.

"No, I won't leave you. Abel, this is not you. You can't do this to them."

He barked and growled and snarled more. I kept backing away from him but he kept coming closer. He snapped at me and I jerked away.

A person screamed my name from far away. It wasn't Eve, though. It was a different name but it was mine.

I turned to look and saw a man running towards me. My heart reached out to him. I felt all the love I held for him and immediately knew that he was my mate but I couldn't just leave them like this.

When I turned back the woman was done breathing and the child was scared. The wolf was mad.

"Abel, please-"

But it was too late, he jumped towards me and I fell backwards. The cliff I had been watching only seconds ago was suddenly an endless pit that was taking my life. I reached for something, anything, but it was no use. The man- my mate- looked over the edge like he wanted to jump too. Tears were streaming down his face as he screamed the name again but so much louder this time.

"Sorcha!"

And I listened to it one more time before I whispered my last words.

"I love you."