Seraphina's Awakening

Chapter Seventeen: Gabe-teraction

Running through the old familiar streets of her small town, she seems to have more energy than usual. She finds herself pushing to limits she couldn't have even dreamed about before. Closing her eyes, she lets her feet guide and propel her forward. She loves this feeling of the outdoors. The smell and ambiance of nature makes her feel so free. Feeling the wind in her hair, the beating of her heart matching her footsteps, she thinks about how she's never felt so... alive.

Whatever Nate had done, it does make her feel... good. The thought of Nate makes her stop in her tracks. She remembers the hurt in his eyes last night; she can almost still feel the knife in her chest from her dream.

She had caused that look. Perhaps, she over reacted. She processes this and takes a seat on the stone wall alongside the entrance to the town's cemetery. Didn't he save her life? She has to be at least mildly grateful for that, doesn't she? Staring out over the tombstones of various people that at one time walked this Earth. The gray stones stand out prominently against the frost on the grass below them. It's eerily silent, and she can feel the cold slowly start to creep into her, realizing her feet are taking her through the cemetery.

She's not sure if it's the weather or where she is, but the cold seems to seep into her bones. Mindlessly, she continues to walk for a few more minutes until she stops. Before her looms her grandfather's grave. The large marble stone foundation with the large angel standing above it reads, 'CROSS.' The angel is looking down at her, wings drooping at its sides with a serene face that almost looks like pity. The angel's hands clasp in front, poised to hold something. Looking down at the Earth that holds the remains of her grandfather, a thought crosses her mind—it could have been her in here.

It finally dawns on her as the memory of the large pool of blood she left on the street springs to her mind. In that moment of clarity, she concludes she owes Nate an apology. Moreover, she has more questions about what she is and what exactly she can do now. Nate is the only one who can answer these questions. She kneels in front of her grandfather's stone and whispers a silent prayer for strength and guidance before taking a deep breath and climbing to her feet again. She'll text Nate as soon as she returns home.

*

Sera is at her desk when Amanda pops her head in to check on her. The concern shows all over her face. Suddenly, it dawns on her. The last time she saw her best friend she had freaked out at the mall. Amanda slips around the cubicle wall, propping herself onto Sera's desk, a position she has taken a million times before. Only somehow, this time is different. She is different.

"What's up hot stuff?" It's Amanda that breaks the tension first.
"Nothing, just trying to get these claims out." Sera returns to her computer screen. Great. Denial. It's been working for her so far.

"How are things with the sexy blue-eyed stranger?" In typical Amanda fashion, she pries further.

"Good, that reminds me, I have to text him." Sera leans over, digging through the drawers of her desk.

"Well, I just want you to know things with me and the orthopedist didn't work out." She informs. Sera hides a roll of her eyes at the dramatics, but she had already expected this.

"Why, what happened?" she asks only to appease her.

"Turns out he's engaged! Can you believe that? He was totally flirting with me and the next day everyone is congratulating him on his engagement."

"That pig," she exclaims pulling her phone out of the pockets of her purse.

Amanda is still venting on about the sexy doctor that broke her heart, but Sera's mind is a little distracted by a new text she has waiting for her.