𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

3- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

TWO YEARS AGO:

Wind whistled behind Elias as a chill ran down his spine, swallowing a lump in his throat. This place always managed to turn his heart cold, freezing any happiness he may have held.

It was his own fault, he just couldn't forget, he didn't want to forget- because that meant forgetting the love of his life.

Five years later and he was still hung up on her, even though she was never coming back. He still hadn't moved on, but he didn't want to either- he said he would always love Natalia, and keeping her in his heart was the only way he knew how to honour that vow.

He leant down, placing a hand on the gravestone. It had become worn over the years, along with all of the other gravestones beside hers.

He couldn't help but blame himself, it may only be a bit of dirt- but it felt like he was ruining her memory, tainting it.

Because he did forget for a moment, just a moment- and that ended up in many painful years, not just for him.

He tried to forget, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. He let his own grief get in the way of honouring Natalia, and that killed him.

To know that he let her go when he vowed never to had haunted him, and he knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

But, he stood up, choosing to remember the good times, rather than to dwell on past regrets.

All of their dances, laughs, fights- whether they were armed with knives and guns or simply with a sack of flour.

And as he remembered, he heard something. Amongst the dull atmosphere surrounding him, there was something full of sunshine.

He felt something touch his leg, more or less scratching it. He turned around, a bitter look on his face before his eyes landed upon the perpetrator.

A small Golden Retriever.

Even with the death stare Elias had initially sent its way, she seemed to have somewhat of a smile on her face, enjoying using Elias' leg as a scratching post. It didn't hurt him, so Elias just watched the smile on its face broaden as she continued to play with his leg.

Elias bent down, stroking the dog as her tail wagged and she ran around in a circle. Suddenly, the dog jumped up at him, licking at his face as Elias just laughed- for once, he laughed.

As the dog backed away, wagging its tail and running around in yet another circle, he noticed that she didn't have a collar. For a moment, Elias was worried about the thought of catching some kind of virus or disease from the dog, but then he just stopped caring and remembered where he was.

It seemed like a sign from the heavens, a ray of sunshine in his life to cast out all darkness that threaten to invade it. To invade him.

But he realised it wasn't a sign from the heavens- but rather Natalia Maldonado.

He looked up at the sky, smiling to himself before the dog jumped up at him again. And he laughed again, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

"Do you have a name?" Elias asked, but was only met by the dog panting as he realised dogs can't actually answer questions.

"What about...Daisy?" Elias asked and the dog just let out a low bark, almost pleading him not to call her that.

"Chloe?" Elias asked and the dog let out a growl this time in process- translated to a 'definitely not'.