Embracing The Shadows (Shadow Series #5)

08 - Tiger

Isaac hummed as he stepped up behind me in the kitchen and pressed a quick, sneaky kiss to my temple, something he did every morning, despite my constant reminder that we weren't dating. He never cared and it never stopped him. "Morning," He mumbled in a sleepy voice.

The corners of my lips weakly lifted before they dropped back down in the frown I had been sporting ever since I woke up. My hands sluggishly worked together to pop the plastic, white lid on top of the paper, to-go cup nearly filled to the brim with sugar, coffee, and cream. From the corner of my eye, Isaac paused in the kitchen when I didn't respond back to him, or made a comment about how he shouldn't kiss me if we weren't dating. He looked over his shoulders, eyes drifted over my body, like he was checking to see if something physically was wrong.

"Clara?" Isaac took a step toward me.

I ignored him.

He walked closer to me. His blue eyes searched for mine until he realized I was purposely staring at the cup in my hands. "Clara?" Isaac tried again in a softer voice. The distance between us closed and his hands encircled around the coffee in my hands to set it down on the counter, and spun me around. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

I hesitated before I uttered the words, lowly, "I had a dream about Allison."

Without saying another word, Isaac embraced me in his arms, holding me close to his chest, head rested on the top of my head. We stood by the kitchen counter in Dad's old apartment he lived in before he went off with the Calaveras. He left the apartment in his name while every month would pull money out of his bank account for rent.

"I dreamt about her all night long." I mumbled into his blue, cotton shirt. "And--" My voice grew thick with tears. "And my Mom. Back when neither of us knew about the supernatural and we had this perfect life. Allison and I never fought, unless it was over borrowing each other's clothes, and Mom and Dad were happy. No one hated me, and no one was d-dead."

The overwhelming emotions from my dreams returned. I sobbed into Isaac's chest with my fingers securely latched onto his sides, pressed deeply into his skin over his shirt. Dreams of my sister were not uncommon since she died. Usually, the dreams were from after we moved to Beacon Hills, when I found out about the supernatural and did everything I could to protect her. This dream was before all of that.

"I-I miss them..." I cried, sadly. "How can I be a Protector if I couldn't even protect my own sister?" I sniffled and pulled away from Isaac, carefully wiping underneath my eyes to avoid messing up my makeup. "Um...Let me recheck my makeup and then we can go. Stiles said to meet them at the Sheriff's station."

Isaac's hands slid down to my waist, refusing to fully let me go. "Clara, we don't have to--"

"No, I told him we'd be there, and Lydia wants me to help her and Kira teach Malia how to drive, so I can't stay here all day crying." I started to walk out of the kitchen, torn about wanting to mope all day. I gave him a fake, happy face before I stepped into Allison's old room.

I quickly refixed my makeup before I stared back at myself in the mirror. There were faint hints of dark bags under my eyes that I hid with a small bit of concealer. My eyes were red from crying so hard. I pressed my lips together, not pleased with my reflection. I took a deep breath before I fully focused on making myself look better.

The dark bags under my eyes were the first to disappear. The redness in my eyes were next with making my dark hair look healthier. Within a couple of seconds, I physically appeared to look much better than I did a few minutes ago. An idea suddenly occurred to me and a hint of a smile resurfaced on my face.

After a few more minutes in the bathroom, I headed back toward the kitchen with a few clothes I snatched from Isaac's room without him noticing. "Hey, Isaac?" I called out from the hallway, stopping by a wall to remain hidden for a bit longer. "You know, I was thinking about something. Since we're not dating, I thought I'd give you one opportunity for now. You have one minute to kiss me right now, if you want."