Undying #Wattys2015

Chapter 20: Losing

On this adventure, we have lost. Lost our minds, our hearts, and our loved ones.

We hid from the pouring rain under a sunken roof of a nearby building. The tears of the sky crashed down and cleaned the earth. Dark and gloomy, the atmosphere took a hold of us. No bright eyes and cheerful smiles, just weary eyes and hopeless frowns. Claira was free from my arms. She was no longer crying, but I still wanted to make sure she was alright. Her eyes were darkening with despair; her eyebrows cross with hatred. I sensed her aura blackening with the darkness of the sky and the clouds. Sitting on slightly broken chairs with our wet clothes, we were silent. I gazed at her dripping face, observing how her short chocolate-colored hair clung to her chin and neck. Her dead dark blue eyes stared into oblivion, and I felt useless. Am I even helping?

But I did not ask. I did not open my mouth. I did not want to make it worse...

Then with her eyes away from me, staring outside where the rain fell, she spoke, "I'm going to kill her, Aiden. I'm going to be the one who rips out her heart."

Watching her carefully, I reached to touch her shoulder, but she pulled away from me. I asserted, "Claira, don't speak irrationally..."

She growled, "I'm not speaking irrationally! I'm going to kill her!"

"She's too powerful...You can't fight her!" I shouted. She turned her head away from me.

Whispering under her breath, she said, "She deserves to die..."

"Claira..." I extended my arm to touch her, but she hit my hand away.

"You don't understand!" she began, yelling with all her might, "I can't do this anymore!"

"Do what?" I questioned, "What don't I understand?"

"I can't keep losing everyone I care about!" she cried, wiping away her dry tears with the back of her sleeve, "I've lost my parents, I've lost Shiloh, I've lost Roeke... And I practically lost you! I'm cursed, don't you see? Why do you think everyone I care about dies or loses their mind?!" With that, she collapsed on the ground and laughed, "And it's about time I lost mine..."

"Claira!" I shouted and sat next to her, grabbing her shoulders. Shaking her lightly, I explained, "We all die. It's not your fault."

"You won't die Aiden. You won't ever die...You're a Wayward, remember?" she mumbled under her breath, with her eyes looking at the ground.

I pulled her close and held her tight. Surprised, her muscles tightened. But after, her arms loosened and wrapped around me. Holding each other in our arms, we stayed in the cold, on the chilling, wet ground.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry I don't remember."

She chuckled softly, "Sorry about my rant. I... I am a sad soul."

We hugged in silence, until a name echoed through my mind. Who was Shiloh? Afraid to ask, I paused and thought in silence. Time slowed around us, and the rain fell to the ground like molasses. In the distance, I saw a young man's ghost watching us carefully, standing under a beam of light that peered through the cloud cover. His eyes were light brown, and his hair was blond. He smiled softly, standing away from us. With a gentle wave, his ghostly hand shined bright. "Shiloh," I whispered, staring at his ghost, his shining soul.

With that, Claira lifted her head and turned to look into my eyes. She asked, "What?"

"Shiloh. I... I remember him," I explained. "I see his ghost."

Claira's blue eyes crystallized with tears, and her smile trembled with happiness. Laughing hopefully, she held onto me. I was coming back.