Eclipse Child |✔|

|35|

The problem with wanting,

is that it makes us weak.

***

It's another day of driving before we reach our destination.

Pulling up to the neat compact cottage, a sense of familiarity washes over me.

I've only been here once.

Only once to know that I never wanted to come back.

Orion is on edge, his posture reverting to how he was at the beginning of our trip. The unease of what laid before us set him to sit still, eyes darting as he tired and failed to relax.

We sit in silence as the engine of the truck is cut off.

"You said he is Jay's brother?"

I nod, my worry growing at the fact that Orion has chosen to voluntarily voice out a question.

"I think...I think this will help you understand a lot about..."

I can't get out the last word. About what?

Me?

My family?

Why they treated me in the way that they did?

The grip upon the steering wheel that I hold tightens as I struggle to find what it is I want to say. Instead, Orion does not wait for me. He opens his door, getting out and looking ahead at the cabin before him.

We walk slowly up to it. It's no surprise that we are here. It's not meant to be an ambush, but the person who resides in this secluded place lived here also for a reason. Because he wanted to be away from the world. You had to enter his space if you wanted to speak.

The door opens to show Uncle Lewis.

Despite the added weight of years, his looks have not changed much since I last saw him.

Like Grandjay, he also had dark hair- the only difference was, Uncle Lewis wore his long and tangled in a twisted knot behind his head. His eyes were a different color also. Lighter- less dark in a way that they could be mistaken as brown almost.

And like last time, he still wore that haunted expression. That expression in his eyes that made Vincent whisper to mom, as we drove away, that he didn't want to go back.

Being twelve years old at the time, I didn't want to agree with Vincent aloud. But in my mind, I did.

I did.

And I still do.

"Soraya...a surprise."

His gaze shifts to Orion. Uncle Lewis' eyes are sharp. Despite the cloud of white that seems to leak through them within the years, I still become uneasy as he silently takes him in.

Orion's own appearance isn't on Uncle Lewis, but me.

I can read what he is saying well.

He can smell Uncle Lewis. I know what has him acting this way. I know why Orion is taking a small step back, away from the burning sensation that is filling my own nose.

Uncle Lewis smells like Leo.

Or, to be more accurate.... Leo smells like Uncle Lewis. Because I hope and pray to the moon goddess that Leo never reaches a point in his life when his scent of sorrow becomes so overwhelming, his pack is forced to push him out.

"Hello Uncle Lewis. I was close by and wanted to introduce my mate to you."

Orion nods his head to Uncle Lewis in a distracted sort of way.