WIDBODE: LIFE THROUGH A VAMPIRE’S EYES


CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT:
A Star-eaten Blanket


He didn’t know why he had run after her, it was probably the last thing she wanted. But he had done it anyway and he found her sitting on the rocks by the lake, hugging herself miserably. His heart went out of her. She looked so small and fragile.

He sat down on a rock a couple of meters from her. She glanced at him, then looked at the black water of the lake in silence.

Sage picked up a pebble and turned it over in his hand. It was cool and smooth, the type of pebble his sister would have liked for her stone collection. He gulped down the aching lump that had formed in his throat.

“I can take care of myself, you know.” Teyla said unexpectedly. Her voice was steady but she couldn’t hide the tears sparkling in her eyes.

“I know.” Sage said and moved closer to her.

“I just… I wanted someone to love and who loved me back.”

She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I understand.”

“No you don’t!” she snapped. “How could you…?”

“My sister, the only person I ever really loved and trusted, died when I was sixteen because of me.” He had no idea why he was telling her this. He had never told anyone else before, let alone a vampire he barely knew. It just felt like they both needed it.

“We both hated our stepfather and after our mother died, we ran away from home. He hated me and he wanted to take the only thing I had left away from me - Ivy. I couldn’t protect her from him. She died because I was too obsessed with revenging my mother’s death to see what everything was doing to her. She told me to let it go and move on but I couldn’t, and then she died…”

They were quiet for a long time after that. Sage threw the pebble into the lake angrily. It landed with a soft plop, rippling the lake’s smooth surface.

“I… I’m so sorry, Sage.” Teyla said and touched his hand gently.

Me too, he wanted to say but remained silent, staring into the starry, dark blue sky. Teyla’s cold hand lay comfortingly on his own.

As crazy as it seemed, telling her this had made him feel a little better.




>> Next Chapter