Chapter 1 Grieving

• ~Nikki~
• “Baby?” I’m startled at the sound of his voice. I look around the dark room, wondering how long I’ve been sitting here. I swear the sun was shining when I sat down, but now it’s pitch black. Sparks erupt on my shoulder, and I lean into the feeling.
• “How long have I been sitting here?” I feel his heat on the side of my body as he sits next to me on the couch. We are in the family room, which we don’t use very often, but it’s a quiet room and exactly what I needed.
• “It’s been a few hours, baby, but that doesn’t matter.”
• “Why doesn’t it matter?” Paul turns my body towards his. I adjust my eyes so I can see him in the dark. He has a look of pure sorrow on his face, and it compounds my pain. I don’t want him to feel bad because I feel bad.
• “Baby, you just lost a child, and I have no idea how that feels. I couldn’t imagine losing one of the boys.” Paul is rubbing my lower back, and it’s beyond soothing. It got Aluma to stop whimpering in my mind. She lost a pup just as much as I lost a child, and it’s hard to come to terms with. I realize that Adela was on a wayward path, but she was still my child that I gave birth to.
• The tears are falling down my face, and my chest is tight. I’ve been nothing but emotional since we got the news. There’s an emptiness in my heart, and I know there is nothing that will fill it. My baby is gone, and that can’t be undone. Paul’s warmth surrounds me, and I hear his heartbeat in my ear. My face is warm against his chest, and I don’t hold back. I let all my emotions free, and Paul is right there, holding my hand through it all.
• ~Stuart~
• I’ve been staying at the family home, and it’s been hard. It’s been a few weeks, and I haven’t been able to go into her room. My child is gone, and she isn’t coming back.
• I still can’t wrap my head around what happened. My daughter turned vampire and drained her twin sister. Those two were always close, never going too far from each other. They would always protect each other, and it was endearing. I loved watching them together as they were growing up.
• I’ve been trying to fill my days with my grandpup, and though I love him dearly, he doesn’t make up for the loss I feel down to my soul. My child is gone, and I can’t fix that. I wouldn’t know where to start if I could fix it.
• I keep replaying our last conversation in my mind, and I wish it had gone better. We argued, and both of us spoke harsh words. I wish I could have that time back because I would do it differently. I would grab her and hold her to me. I would make sure she knew how much I loved her, no matter how angry she was. She would still have walked away, but at least she would never be able to deny the love I had for her.
• I turn over in my bed and quickly find myself on my feet. My body is moving with almost no input from my mind, and I’m okay with that. I find myself outside of Adela’s door. I place my hand on the doorknob and notice it’s trembling severely. I take a few deep breaths and turn the knob. The door opens, and dust immediately fills my lungs. It’s been so long since anyone has been in here.
• I slowly step into her room; everything is exactly as she left it. There are pictures along her mirror, pictures of her and Aida….pictures of the three of us…. There are even pictures of both sets of twins together. I sit on her bed and take everything in. Her scent is very faint in the room, but it’s there. I try to breathe it in, but the dust accompanies it, and I can’t do anything other than cough and choke.
• I close my eyes as the tears flow down my face. I can’t believe my child is gone. I never thought I would outlive my children, yet here I am. I wish I could make things better, that I could bring Adela back and have my family get along. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in here.” My head snaps up and Nikki is standing in the doorway. She tentatively steps into the room and looks around.
• Nikki makes her way to the mirror, looking at all the posted pictures. Her hand grazes the faces, and a shudder escapes her. “How…..how ar-,” I clear my throat and shake my head. “Never mind, dumb question.” Nikki continues to look at the pictures, but I see her reflection. There are as many tears on her face as are on mine. We are both feeling the loss of our child, and it hurts. “I’m struggling, Nikki. It hurts so much.” Nikki turns to me and gives me a faint smile.
• “I’m feeling the pain as well. I never thought I’d live to see one of my children gone.” I hold my hand out, and Nikki slowly walks over to the bed. She takes my hand, and I gently pull her toward me. She sits on the bed beside me, and her head lands on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her, and we both let our emotions flow.
• ~Tia~
• I toss in the bed for the millionth time, unable to get comfortable. My mind has been flooded since Lynn and her group came back with the news of my sister. It’s one thing that Aida is now a vampire, but it’s another that she drained Adela. I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around that.
• As crazy as it seems, I’m a bit heartbroken over the loss of my sister. Now, before anyone goes off the deep end, she was my sister. We may not have been close, but she was my blood. We grew up together, and I’ve always hoped that we would come together and fix our relationship. A lot of people probably would say that I should be celebrating her death because of everything she’s done to me. Well, I disagree because I’m not that type of person. Call me what you will, but I will always be true to myself.
• “Love?” The warmth from his arm envelops me as it falls across my middle. Landon isn’t a heavy sleeper, so I feel bad that my tossing and turning are probably keeping him awake.
• “I’m sorry.”
• “What are you sorry for?” I sigh.
• “I’m sure I’m keeping you up with my tossing and turning. I’m sorry.” Landon’s lips land on the back of my head.
• “Look at me.” I turn my body from my right side to my left. I adjust my vision so I can see him clearly in the dark. Landon’s eyes are full of love and sorrow. “You don’t owe me an apology. You can keep me up anytime, you know that. Do you want to talk about it?” I sigh again and look at Landon’s chest. I want to keep the tears at bay if I can.
• “I know that Adela was horrible to me. She beat me up, and she tried so hard to make me disappear. We never had a close relationship, but…..but she’s gone, and it hurts.” I bury my face in Landon’s chest, knowing that the tears were close to falling. Landon rubs my back, and I try to brace myself for the scalding that is sure to follow.
• “I get it, Love.” I move back and look into Landon’s face. There’s nothing but sincerity in his eyes. “As horrible as she was, she was your flesh and blood sister. You are too kind-hearted to be happy about her demise. I love that about you, but it almost makes me worry about you. I hate for people to take advantage.” I bury my head back into Landon’s chest and let the tears flow. There’s movement on the bed that shakes me.
• “What is it?! What’s wrong?!” I feel more hands on me, and I can’t help but smile through my tears. “Is everything okay? The pain through the bond is intense.” I reach behind me, and Lincoln puts his hand in mine. He lays his head on my back, and that’s how we fall asleep.