Elijah and Christopher had been on the road for a good few hours or even more, it was mid afternoon and the clouds cradled the sun, turning the sky darker than it should really be.
They passed the sign that welcomed them to the state of Georgia and then they passed a few more, welcome to ... or you are now leaving ...
Until they reached the sleepy town that used to be a home to Willow and her Aunt and Uncle. They drove on a hillside road, onlooking some forestry, and to the side, was also forest. The town was basically in the middle of woodland.
All of a sudden, Christopher turned the wheel, causing the car to pull up at the inner side of the road, just before a tree with many bunches of flowers attached to it.
"Give me a minute, please" Christopher undid his seatbelt, hopping out of the car without an explanation. Elijah watched him as he slowly approached what seemed to be like a memorial, Christopher knelt down on one knee. Elijah didn't want to eavesdrop, but being blessed with sensitive hearing and cursed with an undying curiosity, he couldn't quite help it.
Christopher slowly ran his finger along a random red petal of a flower leaning against the tree. He looked up and saw the three photos stapled onto the bark.
"I'm sorry it's been so long" he spoke up, looking in the frozen eyes of the photographs "I've been really really busy"
Christopher swallowed down the lump in his threat "I just quickly wanted to apologise, for dragging you both into something far bigger than you, far bigger than any of us. But, you did a great job raising Wills, sh-she's a good kid"
Elijah witnessed the emotional speech and found it almost impossible to just sit back in the passenger seat and watch him pour his heart out to a few pieces of paper stuck to a tree. He pulled the door handle and pushed the door open, stepping out into the cool Georgian air.
He walked up behind Christopher as he was still speaking, looking up at the two older people on the photos and then examining the more familiar one. It was Willow, in a pink cardigan, smiling wider than what he had ever seen. Elijah thought this must have been taken way before any of this had started to happen.
"You have to understand that I had to make out she had died along with her family" Christopher's gaze kept forward as he talked to Elijah "to keep her name clear and to stop anyone from getting into danger by looking for her"
Elijah rested his hand on Christopher's shoulder "it was the right thing to do" Elijah didn't know these people, the two that really did die, but it was all so sad, how many notes they had, how many teddy bears sat by the tree and how many flowers they had.
Elijah lifted a sheet of paper flittering under the power of the wind, pulling it from its position and opening it up to read it.
Willow, my mom just told me what happened to you, and I feel physically sick. You were my best friend, we grew up together, I still can't come to terms that you're now gone. Remember that time I stayed around yours and we wrecked the kitchen trying to make brownies and your aunt wasn't very happy, well I wished we got more moments like that, I think we laughed all night.
Everything seems so grey now without you. Love you Wills, rest in peace
-Cara
Elijah filled in the blanks, it must have been there since the start of the memorial, as the paper had been wrinkled, it had been wet and dried, it had been through the mill. But what survived most was the vibrant and colourful photos of Willow and who Elijah would believe to be Cara. And she seemed like a normal teenager, her smile was the same as that on the other photo. Willow had a really happy life.
"You did the right thing" Elijah told him "they seemed good people"
"They were" Christopher stood up "they were the only ones I trusted with Willow as a baby, they were clued in on the supernatural, they helped Me, they were human so Willow would have a semi-normal upbringing. This town, it was normal for her and her friends were normal" he listed "I should have increased the security, I should have known"
"I'm sure they both knew the risks when they took her in, they knew what it could end like" he re-assures his friend "I can guarantee they had the greatest years of their life with her"
Christopher smiled sadly, he sighed as he took one final look up at the memorial. His hand touched the tree. "I bet they did"
Waiting Game - Parson James