Legends

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The apartment, Denver

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It had been five days since the Hunter siblings returned to Denver. Elena thought she would feel better when she was out of Saint Charles, but a dark mood stayed around her. She found it hard to be happy, or to at least smile. It was like she had left a part of her in Saint Charles with Asher.

He had been on her mind non-stop since she watched him grow smaller as the taxi drove away. She had hurt him. Again. She hadn't said goodbye to him. Again. And the hole inside of her had only grown bigger.

She had thought she would be able to forget all about it. That once the funeral was over and she was back in Denver, she would be able to put it all behind her like she had done before. But she had never really put it behind her. And it was only more difficult to do so now.

So she kept staring at the white canvas in front of her. She had cleaned up the balloons, said goodbye to the kittens and sent the model home. But she still didn't have a good photo.

"No, the kittens didn't do it," Emily said, suddenly standing behind Elena. "But it's very empty and silent without them."

"Do you think maybe I should try puppies?" Elena asked, looking up at her sister from her position on the floor.

"I think that will result in the same pictures as with the kittens. And before you ask, no, don't use babies."

Elena sighed and looked back at the empty canvas. "But then what do I do?"

"I don't know. I'm just as stuck as you are."

They fell in silence, Elena's mind spinning what to do. She didn't have inspiration, she didn't like the pictures she had so far, and she was just looking at a white screen.

"Hey, do you mind if I get us takeout?" Emily suddenly asked. "I don't feel like cooking and it's just the two of us anyway."

Elena nodded. Kay was with a client and would eat with Damon in the evening, like he had done every evening the past five days.

Emily took a jacket and her purse, then walked to the door. Right before locking herself out, she told Elena: "maybe you should stand in front of the camera."

Elena couldn't react because the door closed and she was engulfed in silence. She stared at the screen some more, before she found herself standing up and turning on the camera. She spun the small screen around and walked to the middle of the white space.

Though she saw it only small, the picture looked quite good. It was simple and innocent, not extravagant like everything she had tried before. She liked it.

But she didn't take the picture. She wasn't a model. She was a photographer. Even though she always saw Asher as a photographer, she couldn't see herself as a model anymore. Maybe if I was his model...

With a big sigh, she walked to the camera and turned it off. Then she made her way to the couch and pushed her wallet aside. She knew what was inside it. The very first photo Asher had taken of her, sitting on his pickup. That was the beauty she wanted for her pictures, but maybe she wasn't good enough for that.

Before she could bring herself even more down with thoughts like that, her phone rang. She found it hidden underneath a cushion, checked the screen and picked it up.

"Hey, Mom. I was just thinking of you." Not a complete lie, since she was vaguely thinking of Saint Charles when Asher was playing her mind.

"You shouldn't think of me, you should be with me," Mia complained with a very weak voice.

"Mom, I already told you I can't."

"I know, I know." She sighed, sounding sad and tired. "I just wish you were here right now. All three of you."

"Don't worry, Mom. We'll come and visit you soon." Elena wasn't sure of her own words, but she said them to please her mother.

"You don't have to try," came Mia's weak response. "You'll never make it in time."

Elena frowned. "In time for what?"

"Oh, Elena," she whispered. It almost sounded like a sigh. "Don't you feel it? This is my end. I'm telling you my goodbye."

Elena's heart started racing while panic gripped her. "Goodbye for what, Mom?"

"I'm leaving to be with your father. He needs me more than you three need me. And I just- I can't live without him."

"Mom, no!" Elena shouted while a tear rolled down her cheek. "You can't go!"

"I didn't want to worry you, but I knew after the accident that it wouldn't be long before you had to dig a grave for me. But I'll be happy. I'll see your father again."

"Mom, why didn't you say anything?" Elena asked, unable to keep the panic from her voice. She walked around the house, checking if she was really alone, because she couldn't do this. She needed Emily and Kay.

"I really hoped you would come back because you wanted to be here," Mia's quiet voice spoke. Then she whispered: "I wished I could die in the presence of my three children."

When even Mia's voice broke, Elena's tears fell out like a waterfall. "Mom, no! You can't die!" She sobbed, cursing herself for calling on her phone, because now she couldn't send anything to Emily or Kay. But she really needed her siblings now.

"Mom?!" Elena asked, panicking when her mother didn't respond.

"I'm still here," came the soft voice. "For now." There was another silence in which Elena tried not to sob too loudly. Eventually, Mia managed to force some more words out of her mouth.

"I love you, Elena. I love all three of you. I always have. And I never told you this, but I figured out what you have gone through. People spread rumors, and when I connected those to your behavior, I knew it was true." She sighed loudly and pained. "I'm so sorry for what he did to you, Elena. But don't blame Asher for that. Just like you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to him. Can you promise me that one last thing?"

With tears in her eyes, Elena barely comprehended what her mother said, yet she blurted: "I promise."

"Good." She took a deep breath. "Tell Emily and Kay I love them very, very much."

Elena shook her head, the tears flying around. "I won't, Mom. You have to tell them that."

"There's no time," Mia whispered.

"There is, Mom. There is! We'll be there. We'll come."

"No," Mia breathed so softly Elena wasn't sure she heard it correctly.

"We will come, Mom. We will!"

There was silence on the other side of the line."

"Mom? Mom?! Mom, no!"

With her face wet from tears, Elena fell on the ground, still hanging on to the phone, hanging on to the hope that it was all a joke. Her mother couldn't die! Mia was still alive! Elena can't lose both her parents in a matter of weeks!

There was noise on the other side of the line before Julie spoke the most devastating words.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. Your mother just passed."