Page 40 of One Last Touch

It was my final day at Alswell manor, so I decided to go for a walk. I’d made my decision last night, with Sage’s words running through my mind on a loop. The fresh air, crisp and sharp, helped me to clear my head. Jared needed to be stopped and the souls he was holding hostage, freed. But first, I needed to try and speak to my mum, just one more time, so I made my way to the cemetery.

The grass was crunchy under my feet, coated in a generous layer of frost and I shook my boots out as I stepped onto the stone road. It was empty, quiet, it would have been unnerving if not for the cloudless sky and the ghost that sat on the floor outside of the Alswell mausoleum.

“Natalia?” Edward called, squinting against the sunlight and then smiling when he saw it was me. “Oh, you’re back.”

“Yes. I hope that's okay.”

“Why?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Because I don’t want to intrude.”

He laughed and the cadence of it felt familiar. “No, I meant why are you back?”

“I wanted to try and talk to her again.” I shrugged. “It’s probably stupid. But I just feel like she’s avoiding me on purpose, I haven’t seen her since the night she came to me.”

“Your mother…” He sighed. “She finds it harder than the rest of us to stay focused, to keep her memories all in order. Sometimes it’s like that when you’re new. She wanders aimlessly, just remembering. It’s been a few days now.”

“You haven’t seen her either?”

He smiled slightly. “I’ll see her when she’s ready.” He watched the way my shoulders slumped as the energy I’d clung to so tightly washed out of me. “I see.”

“Do you?” I smiled and it felt as tired as I did. I was happy to fight for my loved ones, for myself, but when the days turned to weeks, it was hard not to feel exhausted.

“Sage wants you to leave, I presume.”

I nodded and Edward hummed noncommittally.

“Doesn't everyone?”

“I’m not sure that it matters,” he looked up at me and I was struck again by the similarities between us. “Do you want to leave?”

I fiddled with the button on my coat but looked up when his stare felt like it grew heavier on my face with every second that passed. “You know, for the first time I’m grateful I didn’t have a father growing up.” He looked startled so I finished quickly with a slight smile, “With a stare as good as that I would have got up to far less mischief.”

He laughed with me for a second before pulling himself to his feet. “Oh, I don’t know, your mother’s looks of disapproval could rival my own. One time, I suggested to her that we should get a puppy and the look on her face nearly withered me where I stood as she said—”

“Whatever for.” I laughed and he nodded enthusiastically. “I asked her the same thing once. I was ten and lonely.”

The smile on his face filled my chest with a gentle warmth and I found myself wishing once more that things didn’t have to be this way.

“You wanted to say goodbye.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s no need.” Edward strolled forward and took my hand in his. His grey eyes were the opposite of Jared’s, I realised, because not once did they ever seem cold. “She’s with you always.”

I chuckled ruefully as I nodded, wondering if he’d been there when she’d told me the same thing.

“I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

I wasn’t as certain as he was, but I waved goodbye nonetheless as he walked away into the woods. It had been so different from our last meeting that it was nearly strange. The last time I’d come to this cemetery, I’d left feeling unhinged and unmoored. Today, it only affirmed that I was doing the right thing.

I sat at her grave for a little while longer, talking into thin air as the sun began to slink behind the trees and I decided I’d tested Sage’s patience enough. Ever since Jared had appeared during the daylight that one time, Sage had been worried he would do it again. I didn’t think he had the juice to do that twice, and he definitely hadn’t been by to power up since.

The sounds of the forest at night had become as familiar to me as breathing. The low call of hunting birds and the occasional rustle of leaves and bushes as foxes ran next to the trail, it was like food for the soul and sometimes I’d felt like mine was dying. Lost wandering the corridors of Alswell in search of answers, in need of hope, and now it was in danger again—but this time for love, for family.

Footsteps thudded behind me and the forest fell silent, as if it knew there was a predator amongst the leaves. I bit my lip, hesitating as I slowed my pace and then spun around, breathing out a short huff of air when I found Edward lurking in the trees.

“Back again already?”

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