Out of the Darkness
Two
Aemilia
Tears stream down my face as Dad's empty casket is lowered into the ground. It kills me inside that there's nothing in it, but I know Dad wouldn't have wanted us to put anything in it. He wouldn't have wanted us to part with anything that reminded us of him.
Guilt consumes me as dirt is shoveled over the mahogany wood. I know The Warlock had his futures blocked, but Dad's weren't. I should have seen what was happening. I should have been able to prevent this. The fact that I found the destruction in the cabin makes all of this even worse. The image of Dad's blood covering every inch of the walls and furniture is something that will be forever engraved in my mind.
Valerio said he wanted to see the cabin after the funeral, so I'm grateful that Uncle Septimus, Eric and Miles already cleaned it up. The fact that the three of them too saw what became of Dad makes even larger tears fall down my cheeks. The four of them had been so close.
When the last of the dirt is replaced, Valerio lifts himself and Lexie into the air. A sea of sniffles from the wolves that surround us can be heard; as well as people clearing their throats.
"Four days ago," he begins, "all of us lost someone whose words and actions will always have a place in our hearts. Lexie and I don't want you to think that we have lost someone of more importance, as the majority of us were lead by such a great man for so many prosperous years. I want everyone to grieve our shared loss in their own way. If that means you wish to return home, then please do and only return when you're ready." He takes a deep breath, makes a disgusted face, and finishes, "The Warlock is in his own personal prison world, but Spencer is still out there somewhere. I don't want to lose anymore lives, and I actually encourage most of you to go home so we're not clustered together. As of right now, we are all safer divided."
"What about Dr. McCoy?" Someone shouts from the crowd on the opposite side of Keegan and I.
Valerio looks in their direction, and replies, "My hope is that since The Warlock is out of the picture, and Spencer by himself can't cause any real destruction on his own, that the humans will stop looking into it."
Mummers can be heard all around the gathering, and even though I know Valerio knows that's not how it's going to happen, he is being honest. It's what he "hopes" happens. Since he's only seeing one future, his vision with him and the President is something that's going to happen. There are several of my own vision that show that meeting not happening, but most of the ones I have seen prove that it will.
I don't have it in my heart today to tell him.
But just because that future will happen, there's no reason the wolves can't go home. I know Valerio wants everyone one out of here to protect them, and Spencer is powerful enough to make another, smaller, bomb to hurt more wolves.
"It is possible," I force the words out of my mouth, causing some of the wolves to begin agreeing with each other to go home.
Valerio looks at me and nods his head once. I give him a tight smile and nod back to him. Both of us know we just lied to all the packs. It's for their safety though. My family can't afford to bury another wolf; we've buried so many over the last few days that we need a break from it. Valerio, nor Dad, have ever made the wolves leave. Not even when they had been here for months in previous gatherings growing up, but they can't stay anymore. I agree with Valerio on this; to save their own life, they need to go.
"Take as much time as you need," Valerio says, causing the packs to grow quiet again. "Lexie and I will stay in contact with Regional Alphas, and have a safe journey home."
I chew on my bottom lip as I ask Valerio through the pack link, "I know this is what you want, but are you sure you want every pack member to leave?"
He looks over at me, and answers, "Do you see a future where they all stay and are safe?"
I swallow as futures start playing in my head. Chaos, blood and piles of body spring to the forefront of my mind. In only a handful of visions do I see the wolves are actually safe here. I force myself to stop looking at the futures, and then I shake my head in response.
"Send them all home," I submit.
I want nothing more than to be in bed, crying my heart out, but someone has to help Keegan organize arrangements home for everyone. From the vision I saw earlier, if the packs are here for even a week, Spencer will attack again. We have to get everyone out of here quickly, and my mate can only do so much by himself.
Luckily Uncle Septimus has offered to help in the chaos as well, and things are moving rather smoothly. Now, after the three of us being on the phone all afternoon with airlines, only the South African and Australian packs flights home need to still be arranged. Keegan has came a long way in only a month, and I know that is hugely in part because of Uncle Septimus. Since he was Dad's Second, for the majority of the time at least, and Dad groomed Valerio to be Guild Leader, Uncle Septimus feels it's his responsibility to make sure Keegan knows what he's doing as Second.
"I'm going to speak with the Regional Alpha of Australia," I inform the two as I hang up the phone after arranging their flights home.
"I'll take care of South Africa," Keegan replies as he leans across the table to give me a kiss.
I smile against his lips, and then take myself to the sea of tents. Growing up, when there was a gathering, various pack members would request time with someone in the family. Most of the time, whoever wanted us would have some kind of activity planned. The Regional Alpha of Australia, Noah, and his now widow Elena, would mostly want time with Mom or Aunt Nikiya. I know when Aunt Nikiya died Mom spent a lot of time with Elena, and I've seen her at the main house once since her mate and husband died in the bomb.
For now, Elena has taken her husband's position as Regional Alpha. Even though her son, Holden, is old enough to be Regional Alpha, he said he needs time to process his dad's death. Had Dad died before making Valerio Guild Leader, I'm sure Valerio would have chose the same path.
Holden will one day be Regional Alpha, but not for a few months.
"Elena," I greet her as I manifest outside her family's tent. I smile kindly at her, and then reach my hand out to her. "Here are your packs flight arrangements."
The brown hair, green eyed woman takes the papers out of my hand, and she returns my smile; although I know it's forced. "Thank you, Aemilia."
"Of course," I reply. "Luke will be taking you to the airport tomorrow morning."
"I will inform my packs, thank you."
I nod my head at her as I smile, and then take myself back to the main house. Keegan will give the South African packs their flight info and then, more than likely, come check on me, but for just a minute I want to be left alone. I know he's been extremely worried about me, but I just need some time to myself. Hopefully Keegan's younger brother Kalvin will distract him for a little while at least.
Manifesting back into the room Keegan and I share, I kick off my shoes, and then crawl underneath the blanket. I'm not usually someone who stays in bed all day, but the crushing weight of constant guilt is forcing me to. I should have been able to save Dad. I should have seen his future since The Warlock's wasn't blocked anymore.
While I was unconscious from bring Valerio out of the prison world, I saw exactly who The Warlock is. I saw so many different futures. Some where he killed Valerio before we could get to him; others where he escapes his prison world. I even saw The Warlock harnessing the powers from the diamond. I can see my younger brother's futures now, and I have been able to since I passed out, but none of my unconscious visions showed The Warlock killing Dad. When I watched the scene of him harnessing the powers of the diamond, Dad wasn't there at all.
Why the fuck didn't I see it coming?
"Aemilia," I hear Keegan's voice whispering beside me through the fog of a crying induced nap. I feel his hand gently shake my shoulder as he repeats my name.
I pull the blanket up over my head, mumbling, "Please just go away."
The pain from my innocence rejection radiates off Keegan through our link, making me feel even worse about myself. I never want to hurt Keegan, in any way. But the need to be alone overshadows everything. Do I want him around? Absolutely; but just hearing someone breathing next to me these days is enough to throw me over the edge.
My skin crawls and I feel like I'm on a constant verge of having a panic attack. Food doesn't have much of a taste anymore, and it seems sometimes that I'm forcing myself to eat. While Valerio was dead, Lexie had Keegan and I taking care of things with the packs so she could be next to Valerio. I understood it, but now that he's awake and able to run things again, I think it's only fair that I be allowed to stay in bed for at least a day.
"Is that what you really want?" Keegan asks as I feel his side of them bed dip.
I sigh, closing my eyes underneath the blanket. I do want to be left alone, but I can't stand the silence at the same time. I want to be distracted and not left to fend off my darker thoughts. Everything that's happened is my fault. Had I figured it out sooner, thousands of lives could've been saved.
Why can't anyone else see that?
Keegan
I didn't know Cauis; at least not like everyone else did. He wasn't some big bad hero to me. He didn't guide me through a major war. Nor did he help structure me during nearly two decades of peace. My heart isn't in shambles because he's suddenly gone, and I don't feel the crushing amount of grief that everyone else is feeling.
To say that I feel totally normal and fine would be an understatement. Cauis and I didn't talk much, and when we did I always felt like he was judging me. Being a new werewolf, and almost immediately becoming Second simply because of who my mate is, has warranted me quite a bit of hate from lower ranking pack members. Cauis didn't help them to see that, although I think I'm a good person, and with proper training, I could be just as good of a Second as Septimus was. Instead, anytime there had been a situation where I clearly didn't know what to do, Cauis would stand there with his arm across his chest glaring at me. He always spoke to me nicely, but his tone would be off. Like I hadn't earned his respect.
I only knew him for a month, and that month was the most chaotic, challenging, and horrific month of my life. To base his assessment of me during that time, I feel, is unfair. Barely two months ago I thought werewolves, vampires and witches were just folklore, or a really bad teen novel. The man everyone thought so highly of couldn't understand that in just a couple of months, my entire world changed. It takes time to adjust your way of thinking. And Aemilia, Valerio and Septimus are the only ones that seem to get that.
Cauis may have just been that way with me because a new werewolf is mates to his one and only daughter. Maybe his tough love towards me was all an act because of Aemilia.
I'll never know, and the memories I have of Cauis will always paint him as an aggressive asshole in my eyes. There's nothing I can do to change them, so comforting Aemilia or anyone else is impossible. I simply didn't know him they way everyone else did. Am I a bad person because I'm not grieving his loss? Is it wrong of me to feel slightly relieved that I never have to see the judgment in his eyes again? I didn't hate the man, but I didn't look to him in awe either.
I know Aemilia is constantly blaming herself, and her lack of foresight into his death. And what makes it even worse is I honestly don't know how to be there for her. Aemilia and I met barely over a month ago. That isn't a lot of time to truly get to know someone. I don't know what sets her off. I don't know what she likes and dislikes. The month we've had together, although I feel like we're both happy and content when we're alone together, has been filled with the chaos R.C. created.
Even though I'm in love with Aemilia, I still don't know her very well. Dalton, the worthless piece of shit who sired me, left me to navigate this world virtually by myself. When Valerio walked up to me in that club, everything changed. For the first time in my whole life, I felt like I belonged somewhere. Aemilia saved me from a life of solitude and darkness, and for that I will always be grateful towards her.
And to make her even more of an angel, she saved my little brother too. When Aemilia and I completed our mating, Kalvin was still stuck at home with our useless parents. They drank nonstop, and one, if not both of them, would eventually turn their drunken anger towards myself or Kalvin. The house was always filthy, regardless of if I or Kalvin cleaned it up.
My parents aren't poor, but they don't have money like the Heterias do either. They're those parents you see at the grocery store that has the bottom of their cart stocked with cases of beer while their kids asked for Sunny D and get yelled at for it. Their needs always came before mine or Kalvin's.
Kalvin, who is only six years old, knows a little about what's going on. I try to shield him as much as possible, but he's smart. A lot smarter than me. He asks questions about things I wish I didn't have to answer. But telling him the truth, making sure he's protected, is more important that leaving him in the dark.
Seeing as how Aemilia has kicked me out of our room so she can be alone, and Valerio is held up in his office with no need for me to be there, I go in search of my younger brother. When I find him in the TV room, I see that he's chosen to isolate himself as if he were still living with our parents.
"Hey," I greet him as I take the seat on the couch next to him. "How are you?"
He doesn't take his eyes off the movie that's playing as he shrugs his shoulders. "I'm okay," he replies.
I wait for him to say more, but I can tell he's really into the cartoons dancing and singing of the TV. I won't be able to have a conversation with him, so I tell him, "I'm going to find Septimus. If you need anything I'll be in the backyard."
"Uh-huh," he acknowledges.
Knowing I won't get more out of him, I leave the room. Although I have magic now, no one has taken the time to really teach it to me. I get it though. There's just been so much going on that no one has the energy to train me. I can control it, according to Aemilia and Hope, but I don't know how to do anything with it unless someone tells me what to say. I'm sure in a few days Aemilia or Brianna will help me out; I just need to be patient. Cauis' death hasn't affected me, but it has everyone else and I need to remember that.
If I knew how, I could manifest to Septimus, but that's something I don't know how to do. When I got Aemilia and I out of the sea of tents as the bomb was going off, I had only thought about getting my mate out of harms way. My new magic did the rest. I'm not sure if that's just how it works, or if there's something that needs to be done while practicing it, but I don't want to risk using it and doing something damaging.
Instead, having Septimus train me and my wolf is something I can control without question.
"Push harder!" Septimus' voice explodes in my head. "Don't slack!"
I growl as Septimus runs beside me. Out of everyone in the entire, confusing, family, Septimus is the most unique in my opinion. He was born a regular lycanthrope, and joined Esmerelda and Cauis in the reincarnation spell, giving him a small portion of Guild Leader powers. He died about six years after a prophecy was fulfilled, and was brought back to life a few month later, but his wolf stayed dead. Since that was right before the war with the vampires, Esmerelda casted a spell on him that makes him just as fast, and strong, as a vampire.
He's the only one of his kind.
And that's all before you add in there the part where a piece of his soul is missing. I've never seen him feed from Eric, where the portion of his soul remains, but for about twenty years Septimus has had to drink Eric's blood to survive. I'm sure they have some kind of system worked out where no one does see, but I can't even image how hard that must be.
The day after the bomb went off, Aemilia and I went to the cabin with Septimus. Aemilia explained to me how to recreate a final scene in a room, and told me to watch her dad die. She couldn't be in the room, but she also knew that something had happened that would help us figure how to move forward.
The blank look on R.C.'s face after Spencer helped harness the powers of the diamond is something I'll never be able to forget. He had no heart as he simply flicked his fingers towards Cauis. I may not have known the man well, and to be honest was more afraid of him than anything else, but he didn't deserve to die that way.
And Septimus didn't need to learn that his son was Second in command to The Warlock. Where Septimus thought he was only there to help me see everything, what we heard had just as much of an impact. Before Cauis was even emotionlessly obliterated, The Warlock confessed Septimus' son had assisted in the mass murdering.
"Focus!" Septimus shouts out loud.
As I nearly fall into the large ravine from my lack of awareness, I feel Septimus' hand on the back of my wolf's neck. He grabs me, and then tosses me backwards.
When I get my footing again, Septimus sighs. "Look, Keegan," he says as he brings his head up from looking at the ground, "I don't have the inner patience right now to train you."
I can't say I really blame him. "If you want to take a few days or whatever that's fine."
Septimus swallows as mixed emotions wash over his face. I can tell he's heartbroken, almost as much as Esmerelda, over Cauis. But there's something else there too. I can't quite figure it out, but it looks like some type of disgust.
"I'll ask Aquila to help you with your magic," he offers as he starts walking at a normal pace back towards the house.
When he gets to me, I turn around, staying in my wolf form, and we walk back to the house in awkward silence.
I come down the main stairs, having barely slept. Aemilia tosses and turns a lot now, and at least once a night she'll wakes up from a nightmare. I know it's going to take time for her to heal, and really I just wish I could be there for her, but for now I'll just do whatever she asks of me. If that means she wants me to find out why Luke is yelling for her, I will.
Since Nikiya died, Luke is either quiet and not saying a word, or yelling at someone. Their story of being the ones the prophecy foretold is quite amazing. A werewolf who was mated to be with a vampire would have been crazy to witness firsthand. And Nikiya herself was nice to me when I arrived. Her death does hurt.
"Aemilia doesn't want to talk to anyone so early," I tell him when I'm halfway down the stairs, seeing a woman standing next to him. I changed what Aemilia actually said, which was, "I'm not talking to anyone today. Tell all of them to fuck off."
"Well it's her I need to talk to," Luke says, lowering his voice but keeping the roughness.
I look at the woman next to him, and after a few seconds too long, I remember who she is. I look back to Luke, and repeat, "She doesn't want to talk to anyone so early. You're stuck with me, so why don't you just tell me what the problem is and why you're yelling?"
He breathes out of his nose sharply and looks to Australia's Regional Alpha. "Elena here is my new mate," and then he looks back to me, "and I really need to talk to Aemilia."
Thanks for reading!
~Stefanie