Elizabeth Peterson:
The rays slid through the cracks and entered quietly while the sound of morning knocked without a single invitation but everyone knew they were coming - a guest uninvited but still welcomed by others except for Willy as he stirred to avoid the soft light. His twin breathing softly beside me with her hands still wrapped around my waist. Thinking about what's going to happen today could be a reason for a sleepless night but my body and mind were all well-rested.
I carefully pried Sophia's embraced off and went to freshen up. Up and ready to hear their verdict on the monster and his family. I asked Ted whether he was coming last night which he replied with a short yes before sending news that his family was coming as well. I've wanted to ask the reason but stopped myself when I remembered his mother and sister were also a victim in this situation.
Breakfast went fast and we were still seated in the important guest's room but Jack and Maya joined us which made the unpleasant feeling disappeared. Everyone chatted away and Kayla kept her mouth zipped shut from spoiling anything. She has been the busiest among us with the meetings, interrogating witnesses and investigating deeper into the matter. She also had to make sure everything runs smoothly within the pack with Jack being the current leader. She proposed the empty Alpha position to be filled by Hunter but he declined to wait for the case to solve first as he was also involved and used his powers to trick everyone.
While we wait for the door to the hearing to open, I excused myself to a walk to which my father cared to join and we strolled further away without letting out a squeak except for the friction of our soles to the pebbles beneath us. "Are you okay, Elly?" My dad straight-forwardly asked after he had a fair share of silence. My feet stopped and he turn towards me, facing me, "I'm fine and I'm relieved to know that everything is going to end soon."
"Why do I feel there's a but somewhere?"
"It's just that, I have this mix feeling inside me and my mind won't leave it be," I played with my fingers as if to distract myself. "and what are they?" He held onto my busy fingers and I could feel the roughness of his worn-out skin. It was reminding me that he was getting older and so was I but I'm still his baby girl in his eyes and he would still come running to me even if I was crying alone.
"Relief and confuse. I'm glad everything is over and I don't have to be here anymore and that they're going to get what they deserve but at the same time, I'm confused. I've been waiting to meet my mate ever since I could remember and I always wanted to have a happy life with him just like you guys. And I've met him, I fell for him and I sacrificed myself for him. The feelings were there, real and alive. But after I woke up from that coma, those feelings are gone. Love and hope replaced by anger and thirst for revenge just like that as if someone switch off a switch and changed the lightbulb of emotions before switching it on again," I stared into his eyes that have seen the world more than me, hoping he would give me answers or even a short sentence to tell me it's okay.
"It scares me to know how feelings can change so fast. What if, from now, my feelings could divert from something warm to cold without warning even if they didn't do anything wrong. I don't want to tell my friends or anyone that I don't want to see them just because of this problem - I don't want to tell them, it's not them but me that's the problem. I have been hurt and my hopes have been destroyed and I know the feeling so well that I could never imaging doing it to someone else," my eyes moist and my voice slightly crack.
"Come here." He pulled me into his arm which made it hard to stop sniffling. I closed my eyes and embraced this moment that made me feel safe and warm. "Let me tell you something, my sweet baby girl. Falling in love with a stranger snd falling out of love are separated by a thin line. It is still a process from one feeling to another and both of them can be scary. Someone might be as frightened as you when they start to noticed they like someone. Feelings are irrational, they cannot be weighed or measured because it's a abstract thing as well as a gift. And like a gift, we might end up liking it or disliking it but we still accept it. And they can be worn-out as long as time keeps running. So, it's normal to feel one thing and then the next especially when you have gone through to a lot. It doesn't define you as someone who is inconsistent, it makes us humans with feelings," He stroke my back as those words poured out, washing me from my worries and making my shoulder lighter.
"We are a glass, ready to be filled. Today, we might want to drink iced chocolate but tomorrow we could be gulping down a simple plain drinking water. What I'm trying to say is, like how you used to loved him and then feel nothing, you could also like someone and that feeling could grow into something bigger."
I was reluctant to leave his arms but it was time, my hand was in his as we walked back and I felt nostalgic - memories of his hand clasped with mine ran through my mind like a picture coming to live. We met them in front of the door, mom came towards me and gave me a tight hug before both my hands were occupied by my parents' love.
