Beautiful Cries

Chapter Nineteen: The Crossroads

"Alena!" A deep voice shouted frantically, shaking her body profusely as whoever it was tried to rouse her. "Alena, wake up! We need to go now!"

The faint shaking reached her shoulders, causing a low groan to fall from her throat as her head began to ache. She wished that the bothersome voice would leave her alone.

"Alena!"

"Leave me be." she grumbled, swatting away at whoever was trying to wake her up. "If I knew any better, Klari, I'd swear you were--"

But as the words spilled seamlessly out of her mouth, something stopped her, and all of a sudden all her memories came rushing back in on her.

Passing out when searching for Damari, making breakfast and doing chores with her family, going to the shore with Klari...

Klari.

Alena's eyes flew open as she sat up in a hurry, grabbing for whatever was in her reach as she screamed. "Damari! Help me!"

"Alena! Alena, shh! It's all right, I'm here." The man said as Alena held on tightly to his wrist.

Slowing down her breathing, she stared at him briefly, taking in his tussled form.

His blonde curls were in a tangle while his widened eyes depicted just how anxious he was to get moving.

Staring at him longer than was necessary, it finally clicked that he was there, that he was with her, and that he was okay.

A wordless cry parted her lips and she fell into his arms, holding him close as she shook with agony, all her memories attacking her at once.

His shoulders were stiff at first, not moving as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, but gradually she felt his muscles loosen and his arms relax as they came around her waist to hold her close.

"Alena," he crooned, his hand rubbing her back gently as he whispered in her ear, "what's wrong?"

But Alena couldn't reply, instead she buried her face in his neck, inhaling the scent that she knew to be his.

She could feel his breathing and as she calmed her own, she could hear the beating of his heart pounding steadily against his chest as she listened to it intently.

He shifted her in his arms and moved a strand of her hair from her face, staring deeply into her eyes with worry. "Alena, tell me what's wrong, please. You're never like this."

Inhaling softly through her nose, Alena felt like her chest collapsed in on itself at his words, not being able to breath properly as a pitiful sob escaped her.

"I..I remember, Damari." she heaved quietly, shaking even more as pressure built up behind her eyes. "I remember them all."

He pulled away from her and held her at arms length. "You remember who?"

Her lip trembled as she gave him a watery smile. "I had a sister. I had a family," She shrugged her shoulders pathetically, giving a small laugh, "and they loved me."

Damari went silent, only staring at her before pulling her into his arms once again as her mewlings turned into cries, echoing around the pair as she struggled to quiet herself.

The pressure continued to build inside her, not just behind her eyes, but in her heart as well, so many emotions crashing into each other all at once like the waves on the ocean shore.

Her mouth fell open as she tried to speak. "I let them down, Damari. I lost my sister, she was taken away and I couldn't protect her."

"Alena, it's okay, that was a long time ago."