Heir of shadows

You're just a man...

             I stood on that street long enough to watch the storeowners flip their signs to "closed," the children leave the park with their families, the sun go down in ombres of pinks and purples, the street lamps flicker on, and the stars emerge from the darkness. I just stood and stared ahead, unmoving, I seemed frozen in place. I had tried to move my legs but they just hadn't wanted to budge, my hands remained in fists plastered closely to my hips. A single rose lingered behind, between the stones, all the others had fallen into a wilted heap at my feet. I directed my attention to that single rose and with the snap of my fingers, the jade stem snapped at the neck, it fell onto the wilted heap with a whoosh. Then, as though the rose's murder signified my lost love, I regained my ability to move my limbs once again. I let my feet carry me in whatever direction they wished, and after turning down winding roads I ended up right where it all started... the cemetery.

     I walked between the blossoming blooms of verdant flowers, all maintained perfectly. The bending beds to the graves that lay beyond. At the dead center lays the resting places of each member of the Castillo family, once together, forever together. Suddenly the emotions I had been keeping in for hours came rushing out in waves so strong they thrashed through my bones and broke my strength, I fell to my knees and gripped my head as the waves travelled North. I swung my arms back to grip the base of my head, pulling on the strands of hair, relieving some of the pain. My elbows rested on each temple. 

    "Please stop!" I screamed as I dug deeper into my scalp, A gentle palm settled on my shoulder blade, rubbing small circles, "Relax, child..." A serene voice rang from the skies, "It'll all work out in the end," she assured, her caress drifting away in the breeze. "I hope so," I whispered beneath the sniffles that accompanied the tears ever-flowing down my cheeks. I pressed a kiss to my palm and then pressed it flat onto the graves that bore the ashen bodies of my family. With a murmur of goodbye, I was off to the Salvatore boarding house. 

Along the way, my tears had dried up in streams of salt along my reddened cheeks and they were no longer visible. My magic had also healed the various indents lining my palms, it was as if the marks were never there, as if yesterday had never happened. Before I reached the door I pulled out my phone from my back pocket, I dialled his number, on the second ring he answered, "Hello love," I wanted to slap him as those words came out of his mouth, how could he put me through all of this just to pretend it had simply never happened? I took a deep breath in and regained my calm, remembering what I needed of him."Tomorrow. Noon. Let me see Quinn," I demanded, leaving little room for arguing and having little patience surrounding the subject anyway. "Sorry love you're going to have to clarify," I sighed exhaustedly, "Ni- Klaus..." I had almost called him that name, the name I used while we were together, one I would use no longer. "Who was It you were looking for? We have quite a selection of backstabbing witches around here," I can hear his sneer through the static, "Klaus! you know who I am talking about. I want to see Quinn Mayfield, remember him now? The one you threaten to kill because once upon a time I was with him." My voice raised the slightest bit after every sentence. He was intentionally getting on my nerves, he was trying to get under my skin- to unravel my defences. "Ah that one," he clicked his tongue as if a sudden realization had just stumbled across his mind. "Yes. Now is it a deal?"I question, he hums on the other end as he thinks it over, "Let me hear you say it one more time." 

"What?" I ask, and he responds quickly, "The terms of the agreement," I sigh, and my heart aches as I just think about the deal much less commit to it. "I agree to never see or speak to Quinn as long as he lives as long as you let me see him one last time," I say loud enough for my voice to sound sure, for my voice not to break. "Then we have a deal," He begins, "Meet me tomorrow at noon at the mansion, and you will see your witch one last time," I sigh, it feels as if a weight has been lifted off my chest which is insane since I have just agreed to never see the boy I grew up with, the one whom I share a daughter with, all because of a threat coming from a man I had also loved- and somehow may still love, even now- even as he holds another man's life in his hands. "I hope it's worth it, Elowyn," he speaks loudly before ending the call and leaving me in silence at the door of the Salvatore brothers, "I hope so too," I mumble before entering the boarding house.