It was a full moon; a misty night. The air was cold, and the silence lingered into the dark skies. In the midst of it all, Sandy sat in the fields; the part of the forest sparsely occupied by any trees. She was listening to the sound of the silence, the sound that comforted her, all through the months she’d been in mourning.
Suddenly, she heard the voice; that voice she thought she’d never hear again. The whisper of her late lover, Conor.
“Sandy!”
She hurriedly jolted from the ground, and the voice sent waves of fear into her heart, fear mixed with desperation.
“Is that… who I think it is?” She tried asking her wolf, but her animal counterpart didn’t respond to her at that moment.
Normally, she wouldn’t be out here so late, she wouldn’t be in this place for any reason, so how did she end up here? And that voice… it came again…
“Sandy…!”
She turned towards its direction, but then she didn’t see anything… or anyone. It seemed as if she was the only one standing there, listening to the voices in her head.
“Who is there?”
“Sandy!”
She yelled this time, “show your face!!!”
A wave of breeze suddenly swept in her direction, sending more chills down her spine. She could feel another presence then, and she turned to see him standing beside her. Her beloved Conor. So, he hadn’t died after all.
“Where have you been?” She cried, wanting to reach out to him, to touch him, but the fear of evident reality made her remain still where she was.
“I’ve always been with you Sandy. I never left…”
“Yes, you did! You left me without any explanation! You left me with nothing but my pillow to cry into for months. Why did you have to do this to me, Conor? Why did you have to leave me with so much pain?”
He saw the sadness in her eyes, “I never wanted it like that, Sandy… I wanted to fight for our love, but I failed you… she wouldn’t let me…”
Sandy rose her brow… “She??? So, there was someone else behind all that had happened… someone threatened you! I knew it! Who is this she? Tell me who it was that caused your death….”
“When the right time comes, my love, you will know… and I only ask you one request when it comes…”
“What is it, my love? Tell me what I have to do to lay your soul to rest?”
“Avenge me, Sandy.”
**********
Sandy jolted up from her bed that morning, still feeling chills in her spine. It took a moment for her to recall all that she’d just seen in the great beyond… she wasn’t aware of how she went there and was able to come right back home, but one thing was evident; Conor needed something from her. One last thing was left, to avenge him.
But where does she start from? She has no idea of who this “she” might have been, nor her motive in seeing to it that Conor got executed.
Where exactly did Conor go wrong? What could he have done to be put in such a difficult position that made him fear to speak the truth? A position that made him prefer to die instead?
Sandy was bent on finding out… but she needed clues. She needed a starting point…
She heard an advice from her wolf then.
“How about his grave?”
“There you are,” her wolf who didn’t seem to come along with her to the dream world was wide awake now.
Conor’s grave. She’s never gone there before. The thought of it is too painful that Sandy prefers to remain locked up in her room forever if she has to. But she has to take this bold step, she has to go there to look out for clues. She doesn’t want to, but now, she has no choice.
**********
After breakfast, Sandy took permission from her brother, as she didn’t want him to worry or start looking for her, not like he usually cared.
“Good morning, brother.”
“Good morning, Sandra.” He was surprised to see her all dressed like she was going out. He didn’t get to see a lot of that, at least not since he executed her traitor boyfriend. Sandy had always preferred to remain indoors.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just going out to take a walk.”
He rose his brow. “A walk? What’s so special about today?”
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“You rarely go out for walks, even when I literally begged you to come out with me sometimes. What made today different?”
He was trying to establish conversation with her, she didn’t know what for, but she clearly wasn’t in the mood.
“I just felt like stepping out for once. Is it a bad thing?”
“Of course, no. It’s not, just that I didn’t expect it from you… not today at least.”
“Whatever. Can I go now?”
“Yes… sure you can, but please… take some guards with you. I don’t want all those lowly omegas putting their eyes on you again.”
“I am not going out to see a man, brother. I just need to go out to clear my head, alone. Can’t you trust me?”
It’s been months since Conor’s execution… almost a year in fact, and yes… Walden had not yet seen his sister with any wolf possibly wanting to take advantage of her. She probably must have learnt her lesson. Could he trust her like she asked?
She disturbed his thoughts, “I’m waiting for your response, Walden. I just need to go out to have some alone time. I promise not to go far.”
He nodded his head, “ok, you can go alone, but I’m only allowing you because I see that you are moving on from the past while also learning from your mistakes. I’m happy about that.”
“Thank you, Walden. I’ll be leaving now.”
She then left the packhouse, headed to the night shadow cemetery not too far, as Conor’s grave was in the section where those who’d died from capital punishment where laid.