"Then whose fault is it? Why am I here and they are not? I was the one Cyrus was after and not them. They are dead because they tried to fight my battles. I can fight myself. I can defend myself. They didn't have to do that for me!"
Bethany said, amidst tears. She couldn't understand anymore. She just wanted to go home
"Defend yourself? You were fighting with warriors here. As fast and as strong as you are, you are not ready for that battle my love. They would kill you before you have a chance to strike. They have experience and you don't. That was more than enough. Your family has a duty to protect you and they have done that till their death. You can't change that and even if you do get the opportunity to change things, they wouldn't let you. You are here for a different purpose. Don't let your grief affect that. Don't lose focus on what you're supposed to do and why you survived. You're better than this Beth. You're greater than this. You don't have to feel guilty"
Her aunt said, hoping those words would provide some sort of comfort for her. Bethany slammed herself into her Aunt. Her aunt sighed and hugged her. She was sure she needed it. She needed any kind of comfort she could get. She was just a child. Legally, she was an adult but Emily saw through all those legal bull shit and the hard girl front she was putting up. She needed hugs and kisses and everything else. She became calmer in the hour. Her aunt hugged her all through. She eventually fell asleep. She was sleeping a lot. Her aunt figured that it was probably because that was the only place she found some peace, sanity and comfort. She had barely eaten anything in days.
Two weeks after, she was still the same. She barely left her room. Barely? She hasn't left that room since she got there. It was a Saturday. Everybody except her was in the dining room for breakfast and they decided to talk about the teenager who had not had anything to eat in the last two weeks
"How is she not dead yet?" Carl asked
Carl was the first child of the family. He was the eldest and the only son of Emily
"She's a wolf and she's not the regular kind. It would take more than two weeks for her to die of hunger. She's stronger than that"
"Are you sure mom? I'm starting to get really worried" Brie added. "Most nights, she's always crying and when she's not, she's throwing things from one side of the room to the other"
"It is her way of venting" Dan, her dad said
"Maybe I should talk to her" Carl offered
"Yeah right. Like she would talk to you" Brie said
"I don't know but it's definitely worth a shot"
"I think he's right" Dan added. "It is not going to do any damage. He would either get a go ahead or get turned down but he has to try. Everybody has tried except him. So if he wants to give it a go, he can"
"Alright then. You can round up your breakfast and head to her place. She is going to fall sick if she goes on this way. I can't afford to lose her just yet. She is the one destined to kill Cyrus and if she dies of grief, that leaves Cyrus to do as he pleases. That is just not good for anybody. I just don't know what to say to her anymore. Nothing brings her comfort, nothing eases the pain. It's all just wasted efforts"
"Maybe you should stop talking and listen. Sometimes, most broken people just need a listening ear" Carl said
His mom thought about that. They finished up breakfast and he went up. He sighed and gently knocked on the door. He got no reply, not that he was even expecting one. He wasn't one to talk to girls. He didn't like girls in general but something told him that this one was different. He had never seen her or talked to her but he felt the need to. He knocked again and no reply came
"I hope you're not naked or something because I'm going to come in after the third knock"
There was still no reply. He counted ten seconds in his head then knocked again. He opened the door and he wasn't expecting what he saw. She was beautiful. Brown hair which now looked unhealthy. Her skin was pale but he figured it was because of what she has been going through. Her eyes were grey but now swollen. She was slender with perfect curves. He definitely wasn't expecting that. He wasn't expecting this. He could hear his own heart beat. She looked at him and maintained the eye contact. She didn't look away. That freaked him out to his core
"Hey, I'm Carl. Mom said you need company"
He said. She gave no reply. She looked at him and he walked up to her and sat on her bed. His eyes caught a picture frame on her side table, faced down. He picked it up and saw her and some people
"You did have a lovely family. I am really sorry that this had to happen to you but you're safe here. You are loved here. Everybody in this house cares about you. My mom, my Dad, Brie and myself. We all care about you and you're going to get sick if you keep doing this. I know you probably don't know me and you've never seen me before but I know all I need to know and it is so unfair that this crap had to happen to you but you have to pick yourself up and talk to somebody about it"
"I don't want to talk to anybody about anything. I just want to go back home and kill all of them before they can scream for help"
"And you will but you've barely eaten in the last two weeks. You barely even have enough strength to stand on your own. You think you can fight them all by yourself, be my guest but we both know you can't do that now"
She looked at him. She didn't understand why but she found comfort in his eyes, I'm his words
"I don't want to hear about how they were killed" He continued. "Just tell me all about them. It would make you feel better, I promise. You don't have to tell me everything about them. Just talk about it till you can't anymore. It is obvious you're the last born and the only girl and you've got elder brothers. That's a start. If you don't want to talk about them, it's okay but at least you can talk about you"
"There is nothing about me"
"There is everything about you"
He picked up the picture and shoved it in her face
"How did this pretty girl go from this to whatever this is?"
He said, pointing at her face and she smiled. That was the first time in two weeks. He looked at her. She was pretty as fuck. He had to admit it
"So let's talk about you"
"Alright"
"What is your favorite movie?"
"I have none. My brothers made me watch a lot of them but I don't have a particular one"
He noticed she said the word 'brothers' without breaking down
"So no favorite movie then?"
"Not really"
"Favorite song?"
"I love a lot of songs. Had close to eight thousand on my phone before your mom got rid of it"
"You know she didn't do that to spite you"
"I do. It just doesn't make any sense to me"
"Why? Isn't that what your mom would have done?"
He blurted out and immediately regretted it. He saw the tears crawl into her eyes
"I am sorry, that was insensitive of me"
"I think I'm done talking. I want to be alone"
"I didn't mean to Beth, I swear"
"You know nothing about my mom. You know nothing about me or what I fell, neither do you know anything about what I am going through. You barely know my name. So don't act like you know me"
"You think? I know what you're going through. Brie wasn't my only sibling. There was someone after Brie. He's name was Carson. He was my brothers and he died last year. Guess what killed him. Some crazy dude on the street"
"But…"
"No, don't interfere. I know what you feel. He wasn't only my brother, he was my best friend. He was a part of me. I regret not being there for him that day and that is something I have to live with. Fine, I might still have a family and another sibling but it is always going to feel incomplete. There is always going to be this space in me, in everybody. It is hard for everybody to come here. This was his room. It is something we can relate to. I understand that it might be really lonely for you right now but Beth, you can't hold on to it forevermore. You would have to let it go someday so you can heal up. There is nothing else you can possibly do for them other than to avenge their deaths and after you do that, you would have to move on from it. It is only going to get better, I promise but now, you are going to hurt yourself if you go on this way. It's okay to scream and cry and act like the world is over for you"
"Isn't it?"
She asked
"Of course not"
"It is for me. You guys are not family. You can't understand what I feel. You still have Brie and Emily and your Dan. I have nobody. Just leave"
He sighed. He knew better than to push it. He sighed and stood up from her bed. He got to the door and stopped
"Hey, for what it's worth, you have me"
He said as he opened the door
"Wait!"
He stopped and turned. She got up from her bed and ran to him. She hugged him and broke down. She didn't know why but she did need a hug and she was going to get one from him. He hugged her back. Her waist was so small. He had one hand on her back and the other on her head. She cried till she couldn't anymore. She let him go
"I'm sorry. I ruined your shirt"
"It is just a shirt. It is fine. That should be the least of your concerns now. I would order pizza and maybe I can get to know you more"
"Alright"
He said as he closed the door and he picked up his phone as he dropped on her bed. He ordered a pepperoni pizza, acting on this instincts. He knew wolves and a large appetite and this one was starved so he ordered a family size. His plan was basically to keep him busy until she had no time to think of her family. For some weird reasons, he wanted to keep her happy. He knew she needed it. She didn't even have a proper birthday. The door bell rang and he went down to answer it. He grabbed the pizza, paid off and went into the kitchen. He met his parents and his sister there
"How is it going?" His mom asked
"Slower than I expected. At least I know she doesn't have a favorite movie and she loves to listen to music, had over 8K songs and I got her to eat pizza with me. That should count as progress" he replied her
"How the hell did you even get her to say anything to you? She barely looks at me when I talk to her" Brie said