Free See How She Awakens by Michelle Graves Page B

really been feeling.
    “I was angry and hurt. Guilt for being the one that lived, and pain for never being able to have the future I’d wanted with Kennan.” I paused on the steps leading into the house.
    “What do you feel now?” Aberto’s eyes met mine.
    “I feel loved. I was loved more than most people are ever loved in a lifetime. It still hurts, and I still want, more than anything, to have him back, but I know I can’t keep living, waiting for it to happen.”  I paused, waiting for my brain to process what Aberto had said.  “What happens when that love fades into the recesses of my mind, when the thoughts most prominent must be of the fight and defeating the darkness?”
    “I will remind you that you are loved,” Aberto replied simply. “Now, get some rest, tomorrow we will begin making you whole once more.”
    “Aberto,” I paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, before wrapping my arms around his waist.  I pulled myself closer to him so the bit of his soul within me hummed contentedly, once more united to form a whole. “Thank you for this.”
    Aberto seemed taken aback by the contact, but slowly, he wrapped his arms around me.  I was folded into him as his voice rumbled in his chest against my ear, “You will never have to be alone again. Never.”
    Slowly, I disentangled myself, stepping back to peer up into his face. The memory of the first time I saw him skirted through my mind. Not the memories I’d lost, but the night he tattooed a protection symbol on my back. His face, so inhumanly gorgeous, remained the same. Only somehow, now, it was different. His eyes shone down, silently assessing me.
    “You need rest.” His jaw clenched as he broke eye contact, breaking the spell that held me in place.
    “You’re right. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Anxiety tinged my voice, causing it to shake.
    “I will return.”  And like that, he was gone.
     

 
     
    Staring up into the sky once more, I was amazed at the brilliance of the stars shining above. I didn’t want to go inside the house to be alone, I wanted to remain under the gleaming night sky, but sleep beckoned me.
    Reluctantly, I made my way into the house and toward the bed.
    You forget him so easily. The way you looked upon Aberto says it all. You never truly loved Kennan.
    “That isn’t true.” Or was it? I’d just felt something spark between Aberto and I, and Kennan hadn’t even been gone a year. 
    You see, even you will not deny the truth. You never deserved his love, or his sacrifice.
    “STOP!” I shouted, pressure building within me. No. No, it wasn’t true, there had always been something between Aberto and I, even when Kennan was alive, and I’d chosen Kennan. I would always choose Kennan.
    Would you? If you could choose right now, who would you pick? The one that died knowing you would be alone, or the one that lies to you? Neither of them ever loved you. You are alone, Izzy.
    “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” The desperate cry ripped through the room as the pressure overtook me. Shattered glass rained down from the windows as the wave of my pain destroyed anything fragile in its path. It was too much. The darkness had left me only to return stronger than ever. It had found a new weakness to exploit, a chink in my armor.
    As the last of the glass settled on the floor of the house, blackness descended . 
    The inky fog beckoned me, pulling me further and further way from the world I knew. The void called to me, reminding me of the solace I ’ d found there. Or had I? Was I happy there?
    The fog twirled around my legs as the void pulsed in the distance. I could stay for a while, I wouldn ’ t be so alone. Kennan was there. No, he had to leave. Why had he left me?
    With every step I took, the void ’ s pull grew stronger. 
    Go into the void, the darkness growled. You were never strong enough to end this. Give up now. Find your Guardian. Reunite with him.
    “ Kennan is gone. ” The name spoken from my lips stirred my mind,