Midnight Shades

Chapter 66

This is what freedom looks like.

Me and Esme start helping, too. Aiding the injured and cleaning the places, until we all finish and go to bury those who didn't make it; both allies and enemies. As me, Donella and some middle-aged man bury the last body, I see from afar Harry and Sir Aiden carrying the body of our chieftain.

Esme is placing a flower over every body we buried, but when she glances up at Harry and Sir Aiden, who are walking towards Esme's house, me and Sir Boyd rush to her side, watching as she stops putting flowers.

Fuck, I feel so guilty for not remembering.

"Is that..." She chokes as she gets up, stumbling but I catch her. "Is that dad?"

"Baby..." Sir Boyd speaks gently, holding her shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

"What? No, you... you promised he'll be fine. Boyd, he can't be dead, you promised me he'll be fine," Her voice gets louder with every word she speaks, laced with anger, pain and heartbreak. "You don't understand, I need him to be alive."

As my eyes get watery, I step to hold her, but Sir Boyd shakes his head at me, mouthing, "She needs to let it out and see him." As Esme cries in his neck.

Swallowing, I step aside and watch as he helps her to her house, rubbing her back and soothing her.

"Tallulah!" I'm snapped out of my thoughts when I hear Fredrick, one of Zayn's friends, calling. I look over at him and he points down, to Conall's body on the ground.

Composing myself, I clear my throat and say, "You do whatever you want, I'm not the one who'll bury him."

With that being said, I head off again to my house, wanting to take a shower from the all of the sweat and the dirt covering my skin. When I get inside, I'm engulfed with the silence and the loneliness, and believe me, there's no feeling worse than this.

I stand under the head shower, my body still stinging and hurting a bit from the bruises and all, but it's relaxing nonetheless. I wash and scrub my body before I head out, wrapping the towel around my body and heading out. I jump in surprise and let out a yelp when I see my father sitting on my bed.

"I didn't know you were here," I let out a breathy laugh. "You scared me."

He gives me a tight smile. "I apologise, darling."

I grip the towel tighter around my body and sit down next to him. Silence settles down between us for a few minutes, but he fortunately breaks it.

He holds my hand in his. "I'm so proud of you." 

I smile and squeeze his hand, saying, "I didn't do anything."

"You stood by what you believe in," He says. "You went against us all, because you believed in something else."

"I got help, I wasn't alone." I can't take the full credit, really, if I was alone in this, I wouldn't have made it out alive. Everyone had a role, everyone helped, we wouldn't have done it without one another.

"Aye, but you started it," He smiles lovingly as he looks at me. "You made us realise what being free really felt like."

Instead of replying, since I don't really know what to say, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tightly to me. He wraps his arms around my torso, too, and for the first time in the past hours, I feel relieved, content and safe.

"So, what are you planning to do?" Father asks as soon as we pull away.

I sigh. "I honestly don't know, but I want to move out of here, father. This will still be my home, but I want to get my own place in the city, experience this side of life."