A Wolf's Tear

twenty-five: finality

Time was never fair to Katie. Though she was perfectly fine with suffering through it. She had forgotten how long has it been since she last saw Talon. After he left to attend Madeline's party, he never came back.

He had given her the option to leave and call Nathaniel though she could never bring herself to do so.

Right after he left, Katie's guilt was her growing companion. She wanted to go back in time and change the words that she uttered. Even if she did so, what was she going to say to him?

His eye haunted her. Its cold dark edge goading her say his name in her sleep. His lips, a constant feeling on her body. And his touch, a woeful ghost that she embraced in cold nights.

Days of contemplating resulted in nothing. The question was not whether if she needed to call Nathaniel, she needed to. To apologize, say the words she wanted to say to him, and ask him only one question.

But whenever she was close to picking up Talon's brick phone, she decided against it and waited for nothing.

Staying with Talon meant a lot of things.

She would find recluse and calmness, be enthralled by Talon's deceptively sweet words, and in the end, fall irrevocably in love for him. She wanted to grasp his hands, feel his calloused fingers dance on her skin while she looked at his kind smile.

Why wasn't it hard to imagine a life with him? Even thinking of him hurt.

While leaving to go away to escape was a thought that crippled her chest. She saw his pain as he looked at her stubbornness to leave and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him any further.

Both choices were very selfish and unfair for Talon.

"Fuck." She whispered.

She was exasperated, torn between the choice of empty freedom and be chained down by her selfish desires to take Talon for herself.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Katie?" She asked herself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

She had become unhinged, clamoring to rest to one assured answer. When Talon deserved the world, he looked at her only. She wondered what it was that he saw in her and why would he choose her.

All that she wanted was to do better.

But to do that, she needed to have one more conversation with Talon when he returns. If he returns.

As she remained in her thoughts, the door to her side open. For a moment, she was excited. Finally, he was here. Maybe this was now the time to clear the smog encapsulating her heart. But as the familiar wolf entered, her hopes were shattered as Madeline entered.

The woman's melancholic mask hit Katie. She looked like she had been crying for a long time.

"Kayla." Madeline approached her and sat on the bed, meekly meeting Katie's surprised expression.

The room had become cold. The dark clouds that accompanied Madeline shrouded the whole ceiling, dimming the warmth from the rays of sunlight passing through the glass window. It caused goosebumps to appear on her skin.

"Madeline," Katie answered, her heart pounding nervously. "If you're looking for Talon I'm afraid he isn't home."

Madeline's eyes darkened. The very sight made her jolt.

"I know," she answered. "Kayla, I'm not here for Talon nor am I here to fight. I just want to speak to you."

"Me?" Katie gulped.

She pressed her lips together, unsure of what she was going to do. All that she could think of is Talon. She didn't know what to do with a wolf like Madeline. She had never been thrust upon a situation like this before and she shuddered that Madeline might want more than just 'talk'.