SOLOMON

CHAPTER 18

AYLA

I didn't have to wear thick bandages anymore. I could just wear regular ones. It has been two weeks since the incident. My wounds were healing well, according to the doctor and Mia. I was allowed to walk around, as long as I had enough energy-filled food to keep functioning properly throughout the day. 

It was the early morning. Before the sun would even rise, I would wake up and couldn't go back to sleep. My nightmares were still regular, but I have learned to live with them. I am quick to adapt since that's what I had to do for years. 

I got up from my bed and grabbed a small cotton blanket that I drape over my shoulders. I tye my hair into a quick messy bun and walked out of my room. I quietly opened Milo's door and saw he was still fast asleep. I shut the door and made sure to check on him later on. 

I made my way downstairs and made a cup of steaming hot coffee. I put on my shoes and went outside. I always loved dawn. Everything, even the forest was still asleep. There is a sense of something mystical hanging in the air that somehow freshens me. I walked around the pack area and observed everything. Everything was so familiar to me. It's strange seeing everything exactly as they were before I left. It's like I never left. In a way it was comforting, it made feel like the horrific things I went through never happened.

As I was wandering around, I somehow ended up at my old house. I haven't been here at all. I haven't even thought about it. And yet, as I behold it now...my heart ached more. The last time I was here I was a teenager, an eighteen-year-old. 

I stepped up into the porch. My heart rate increased. I looked around the entrance. So many memories are held here. Both good and bad. I remember climbing up these steps when Soul would drop me off everyday after school. I shake my head and took a deep breath. 

I placed my hand on the door and pushed it open. it was unlocked. The door creaked open. I stepped inside and my breath hitched. I felt my heart stop. Everything was the exact same. Nothing has been touched. I felt myself shake. It looked the exact same as the day I left it. I walked through in the place and saw that even the mess that was still there. I looked at the unfolded sheets in the basket near the tv. I remember dad telling me to fold those before I left, but I never did. 

I went to the kitchen. The kitchen was different. It was completely cleaned out. I walked through to the stairs and slowly went up. I touched the rails and remember the day Solomon and I got in trouble because we sled down these rails and broke them. My dad made Solomon fix them.  smiled at the memory.

I reached the top and saw the door to my bedroom slightly agape. I pushed through and saw my old bedroom. Nothing had changed at all. My bed was still unmade. My clothes were a mess on the floor. This was really weird. It was literally like I never left. It was like nothing happened at all and I was still that teenager. 

I looked at the crack in the window and smiled. Solomon tried t sneak through the window, but he accidentally kicked it, giving it a good crack. I looked at my desk and see my old computer. I tilted my head and wondered if it still worked. 

I sat down and pressed the on button. And to my surprise, the screen lit up. I felt the air release from my lungs as I saw the background of my computer. It was Solomon and me. We were at our favorite diner. We were both sipping milkshakes while I was holding out my locket from my neck. It was his present to me. I was trying to not smile too much in the photo while sipping the straw, but I couldn't help it. I had a giant smile. And Solomon, he was sipping his straw with a genuine smile too. I remember when this was taken, it was our one-year anniversary. 

Ever since I woke up in the hospital. I felt like I've changed. I felt like the shield I had, the wall was crumbling. But it wasn't the wall to keep people out, it was a wall to keep me in. The one to protect myself from all of the things I was feeling. If I didn't feel, I could survive. That was my way of thinking. But ever since I woke up, it was gone. And I think it was because my survival mode has finally been switched...and I'm feeling again. So when I see this photo, I can't help but feel a wave of longing and sadness. I pressed on the photo album and more images popped up. There was one of us before we dated. We were just friends. I was sitting on the giant rock at the lake. Solomon was next to me and it was sunset. I was doing a silly face and Solomon was in the background laughing. Another photo popped up, I was sitting under a tree reading while holding my locket. Solomon took this. The next one made me laugh, I was looking up from the book scowling at Solomon for taking the picture.