115 | SUNSET
Paris throws a last-day party that lasts the rest of the day. Though it seems like a send-off party for the allies, I know it has to be more like a celebration. One Paris is completely absent from. Though it’s nearly impossible for an Alpha to randomly disappear, when I ask my other cousins about her whereabouts, Ry and Craven share a knowing smirk and shrug. I relax after that, knowing they are aware of where Paris is, but want to give her some privacy - or at least let her stay away from the nagging Wolven allies.
There’s enough laughing and dancing, music and food to last a lifetime, the merriment of the party bleeding into even Mom’s weary body. Her aura is just a little stronger as we join in the festivities and chat with our extended family. Sometime after lunch, Blue checks in with me mentally. We converse for a bit, but he ends up having to end the conversation to focus on the work he’s been doing for his own Pack. Some sort of new construction for the growing population of the Azures and meetings with some of the landowners in the surrounding area. I let him go to focus on the meetings and get back to the party.
Mom and I dance a few times, at a much slower pace than the rowdy crowd of Reiniers and allies. Eventually, the sun starts to dip in the sky, and I lead Mom away from the masses of Wolven and towards the bluff. This is the second part of the checking-off-stuff-on-the-wish-list part of the day. Mom’s absolutely glowing as we settle onto the flat boulders, only just making it as the light in the sky shifts.
A reverse of the sunrise we saw this morning is playing out on the opposite side of the sky. Now we’re facing the woods, the elevated bluff only just offering a wide view of the tree tops and horizon. The whole word’s chirping slowly starts to fall silent, fading as the rosy colors bloom across the sky. The sounds of crashing waves are murmuring in the background, adding to the soothing ambiance as the gorgeous red and oranges start to darken.
The sun’s dipping down in the farthest part of the horizon, bathing the tops of the trees in the same golden light the ocean had been this morning. Again, the beauty of the sight makes my breath catch in my lungs. Everything starts to feel calm, the coolness of the breeze intensifies, but the gust is dying down, as if soothed by the setting light of the sun. Indigo hues press in high above us, stretching in a dance towards the rosy hues high above. The sun sinks lower and lower into the horizon.
Finally, the fading light goes out with a flare of color. Warm shades of brilliance that follow the dying inferno that is the sun. Mom sighs happily, leaning into my shoulder and resting her head against me. I wrap an arm around her, lightly rubbing her opposite shoulder in silent agreement at the wondrous sight of the setting sun over the horizon. The buff may have been a long climb, but it was a trip that has proven to be well-worth the effort.
Mom and I take in the remain colors that go from the warmer palate to the cooler portion. Neither of us speaks, just watches as the shades of deep indigo blanket the world, tucking in the wildlife and letting others know it’s time to rise. Somewhere in the distance, an owl calls softly, and the ever-present crash of waves goes from bold to lulling. Eventually, I know we need to get back to the cabin. It’s our last night here after all, and we’ll both need extra rest to make the trip back to Kiwina.
Mom and I leave the bluff, carefully navigating the path down the hill to the cabin. Mom makes us both some herbal tea before we go to bed and I dream of the sunset in all its vibrance.
Morning comes with the onset of something hazy in the back of my mind. A part of a dream humming at the edges of my memory, something warm and pleasant enough to make me smile as I stretch. I’m ready to duck back under the covers as I take an experimental breath, expecting to smell the foulness that’s Mom’s tea, but the air is clean. Fresh with just a little salt. The faint scent of Magic is almost completely gone, and for a moment, I feel guilty - assuming Mom’s taken her tea outside to let me sleep more pleasantly.
But something pulls at me. Just like that lingering warmth from my dream, a niggling feeling that no…that’s not it. I shake off the weirdness and get out of bed, pulling the sheets from the bed and putting them in the laundry basket in the corner of the room. I change into the final outfit provided by the Pack and shuffle out of my room to the kitchen to start brewing some coffee. When I get to the kitchen, everything is exactly how we left it last night.
By now, Mom would have returned or be sitting out on the porch, the door to the cabin open so only the screen door would block the way in and out. But no, the door’s still shut, and everything is still. It’s an odd feeling, to have everything so quiet, like the whole universe is holding its breath. Again, that feeling of something being off stirs in my head, and I follow it, going to knock on Mom’s door.
*Did she sleep in?* It’s possible, I know, since I know we both had a late night and were exhausted. I call out to her softly before opening the door to her room. There’s no reply, and when I poke my head in, I see her on her bed, eyes closed and face relaxed in that way it does when she sleeps. I call out to her again, my voice just a little louder. We really should be getting ready to head back. Still, Mom doesn’t move.
I open the door fully and walk in, wincing as my foot makes one of the floor boards creak. Still…Mom doesn’t twitch awake…she doesn’t even breathe, I realize. She’s just completely and utterly still. I freeze mid-step, a foot from the bed when it hits me: I can’t feel her aura. I can’t hear her heartbeat. I can’t sense the blood flowing through her body.
“M-Mom?” I choke out, my voice strangled by the growing lump in my throat and painful tightening of my chest. When she doesn’t move, I run to her, collapsing by the side of her bed as my fingers touch the chilled skin of her cheek.
Her face has no trace of warmth, only a mask of peace. It’s the greyish-pale shade of her skin that has my eyes clouding with tears. My heart shatters into a million pieces, and somewhere something let out a terrible scream.
