Death is bittersweet, isn't it? It can flip people's lives completely upside-down within seconds, causing them immense grief and terrible pain after it had claimed a loved one as his. Despite all that, some can't help the slight craving for death, the yearning for peace and happiness, and the promise of reuniting with those who had gone before them.
Laura Ives was never the most affectionate of mothers. Well, at least not with Cora. In the past she had constantly doted on Eleanor, showering her with anything she wanted. It was clear that her youngest daughter was her favorite. At times, the guilt would eat her up, but she always managed to justify her actions by telling herself that she cannot bond with Cora as long as their mother-daughter relationship was built on lies. Lies that Cora was oblivious to.
Maybe that was the reason why the so-called mother distanced herself from Cora completely after the deaths of Michael and Eleanor. For two years, the two hardly ever spoke to each other. For two years, Cora tried to get through to her mother again and again, but Laura failed to budge.
Cora despised the universe for taking away the two most important people in her life. If the fourteen year old could physically throw punches at it, she would do so with no hesitation. She hated it for what it had done to her family.
Two years had passed since she had to experience true grief for the first time, and she wished she could say that her scars healed as the months flew by. Whoever said that time heals all wounds is a liar. The pain remained as a constant reminder of the demons that haunted her mind.
The Ives' apartment was constantly blanketed in uncomfortable silence, so much so that Cora got a job at the local ice-cream shop just so she could escape it. The silence opened doors to unwanted thoughts, and played host to the monsters that plagued her mind.
Cora hesitated for a split second before entering the apartment, already dreading the night ahead.
"Mom, I'm home!" she called out, already knowing that her mom wasn't going to acknowledge her presence.
With a sigh, the brunette dropped her keys on the side table as soon as she closed the apartment door and made her way to her room. The canvases and books that were scattered across the place showered her with the comfort of their familiarity. They were her way to cope, her escape from reality. Whenever life decided to have a laugh at her she would either splatter her feelings onto canvases or indulge herself into her books.
Cora grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants and a black tank top from her closet and laid them out on her bed, then headed into the bathroom to shower. She took her sweet time under the warm water, allowing it to ease all her muscles. Once she was done, she wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel and made her way to her bedroom, where she got dressed.
As usual, it was too silent for her liking. She was too tired to deal with her own mind, she'd rather escape reality for a while instead. She missed the feeling of home, she missed it so much to the point where her heart began to physically ache. There was only one thing that could subdue that longing, and that was rereading the Harry Potter book series.
Michael Ives had been a fan of the books himself, so it was only natural that he introduced them to his daughters as well. Eleanor liked them, but Cora always had the most unexplainable of feelings towards them. It was beyond love, beyond mere comfort. They were her home. The characters she laughed with and mourned were her family. They saved her without knowing it, and she wished that she'd somehow find a way to thank them. But unfortunately she knew they weren't real. They were mere works of fiction, and she was nothing but a pathetic girl forever hung up on people who don't exist.
She knew all that and yet still went to them for comfort every single time. They were a drug, one she cannot stop using no matter how hard she tried. Her heart immediately filled with that beautiful warm and fuzzy feeling the moment she picked up her copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
A clap of thunder echoed through the windows, causing the ghost of a smile to appear on her lips. Oh how she missed the rain. It has been a while since she was last able to experience one of Mother Nature's temper tantrums. So with a light flutter in her chest, she made her way to the balcony and slid open the glass door.
The colorful lights of Times Square engulfed her view as she sat herself comfortably on one of the chairs, and stretched her legs out onto the table across from her, thankful that Mrs Garfield's balcony of the apartment above shielded her from the pouring rain.
Her fingers delicately flipped the book pages to where she last left off; chapter five, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. And just like that she was home once again.
Cora continued reading until her eyelids began to feel heavy, placing her bookmark on chapter eleven, Aboard the Hogwarts Express.
Her exhaustion after the long day had made her decide to spend the night on her balcony. She didn't bother changing her position as she placed her book on the table across from her, making sure that it was out of reach of the rain.
When Cora looked up at the sky she was surprised to see a single star still visible, despite the rain clouds that hung above the city. Stars always made her feel nostalgic, they hung in the skies, forever bright despite the constant darkness that surrounded them.
They were a reminder that even the stars need darkness to truly shine. They were a reminder that there was still a hopeful child within her. Maybe that was what caused her to do something that her younger self would be very proud of. Cora made a wish upon a star.
Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was simply the universe taking pity upon her, whatever it was Cora will always be grateful for it. For once, the universe was on her side, for when she awoke she wasn't in New York anymore.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✪Thanks for reading! Please vote, comment, and show this book some love! ✪
