Shadow of a Grave ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter four ✧ the little bird

Heaven Sent by Movements 

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"All the stray animals and beasts that come through this home get bathed first, don't take it so personally." That was how Poppy had explained it to Sebastian, yet he still took it as an insult. At least Ominis had been more forthcoming about it and told him that he smelt like vomit. As insulted as he felt, after bathing with hot water and eating a real meal he did begin to feel less sick.

There had been a lot to discuss with the couple and night crawled across the sky in the blind of an eye. It had been almost a full day since Amelia's death and he wasn't sure what to do with himself. 

Everyone was asleep already. The little girl Bella had shared the room with her friend Bash. The two children were so small that they shared a bed easily. It took a few hours of pacing and checking on her for Sebastian to finally feel safe again. The only person that was haunting them that night was him, and that he could accept. 

When he laid down on the couple's couch that night he felt a little better. Although his body still felt cold and exhausted. It was Amelia's soul adjusting in his body that made him feel so cold, that he was almost sure of it. Although he didn't know what to think about it all or how long it would last.

He thought about Amelia when he had fallen asleep.

Every night he prepared for what nightmare would come in the dark. But much like the dream of their trip to the lighthouse, that night was sweet to Sebastian Sallow.

-✧-

There was a large bed with blankets all skewed in a tangled mess. Fresh snow pressed against the window as the afternoon light shined through like melted gold against the hardwood floors. It seemed like a peaceful day. Quiet and still as if time was moving slower to savor the moment.

Amelia Blackwood had been curled up into a small ball as she pressed herself all the way against the edge of the massive bed, just in an effort to look into the bassinet placed next to it. She looked as beautiful as she always did in his dream, just as he would always remember her. Her hair had been a messy braid that was almost completely undone and her brow still dampened with sweat. Her body barely moved as if she was completely exhausted, but she had been too focused to rest. Rather than sleep, Amelia's lips whispered to herself as she counted each freckle on the baby's face.

It was the day she had become a mother. The most important day that Sebastian had missed in the five years that he was gone.

It had been his Bella in the bassinet beside her. Only hours old and the little babe had tufts of black hair covering her soft head and light freckles kissing her cheeks. Her mother counted over everything, her little freckles, every finger and toe, even her lashes.

Sebastian, even in the dream, had wanted to reach out to them. The desire to hold both of them was overwhelming. Yet he wasn't allowed to exist in this dream this time he had only been a ghost that couldn't exist in the room. That had been new for his dreams. Normally his subconscious taunted him with his regrets at night, showing him memories of his regrets and letting him feel as if he had the power to change things. For once he was a passenger in an unfamiliar place. His mind filled in blanks of memories that he hadn't lived. 

"Perfect," Amelia cooed softly to her daughter.

Sebastian thought she would have been happier to see her child for the first time. Clearly, she had loved the little girl to fight her exhaustion just to stare at her. Instead, she looked sad as she lay motionless in that bed.