5

We will all drown

A sudden sadness passed in his eyes. “I am relay sorry about what has happened.” He says and begins to walk away.

My eyes follow his retreating back with confusion and I move to run after him to ask what he meant by what he said when I hear my name from behind me.

“I need you here, now.” The beta seethe and I give the boy one long look before I walk towards the beta. As I walked though, I could not help but noticed the pitiful glances which were directed at me or as hands pointed at me.

“Beta Wayne, what is going on?” I ask when I am close enough to him. He sighs warily and two deep lines of worry appears between his eyes. That same look of pity flashes and I frown. I would have preferred him to be cold and distant as always.

He pulls me to one side and placed his two hands on my shoulders. Okay? This is odd.

“I want you to be strong and listen carefully to what I am about to say.” His gaze lowers and so does his voice. I observe him through lowered lashes and conclude that the look of nervousness and indecisiveness dies not fit the beta.

I sigh warily. “Just get on with it, Beta Wayne. I want to be out of this place as soon as possible.”

He nodded. “In that case my words would be absolutely useless. You need to see this.” He moves me back and then through the crowd and unto the shore. My heart skips a beat when I see it and that uneasiness which I had felt before in the car returns with full force and takes in my heart.

White cloths cover and is tucked underneath what assume to be bodies. The tides of the sea sweeps to the shore and grazed the feet of the wrapped people as though threatening to take them back to the sea. My head feels light but I know I have to show strength especially since my father and mother are away, the mantle of authority now rests on me.

With all the strength I can muster, I look up at the beta who seems to be studying my face. “What happened to them?” I ask.

“They were found very early this morning washed up on the rocks over there. It looks like they drowned after their ship sank, I – “

“Where are the remains of their ship?” I look around. “The sea must have washed up other things with them. Something we can recognize them by.”

“Crystal, they –”

“Have you brought anyone to identify the body to know if they are a member of this pack?” I ask, cutting him off.

He nods. “That is why you’re here, Crystal.”

I blink. “Me? I am here to identify them?”

Again, he nods. “That was what I tried to tell you. If you would just let me talk.” I tried to find the reproach and condescending tone in his voice but I found nothing. His eyes still have me that pitiful look and his mouth which usually sneered at me trembled slightly.

I glance around again and then to the two bodies covered by the white cloth. “Beta Wayne, what is going on?

One feeling I hate is the feeling of confusion and helplessness. Once it takes hold of me, I can barely think straight or hold down the fear which has made a home inside me and now it is all I feel. It overwhelms me and I begin to shiver.

“They were washed up this morning.” The beta is saying but his voice is far away and finally swallowed by the crashing waves of the ocean. I hear it inside me and feel it too, I am drowning and there is no one to save me. When I eventually struggle till I reach the surface to gasp for air, I hear the beta’s voice further away than it was.

“I think they ship must have had a leak and they did not notice…”

The waves swallow me again, burying me in its grasp and I struggle and gasp for air but only end up swallowing more water. My hands flail and my legs kick bad somehow, I find myself on the surface again.

The beta’s voice is barely there but the wind carries the whisper to my ears, like a song. “I am sorry…”

I am pulled into the ocean again and this time I know I cannot fight it. The tides are even more stronger than before. They push and push even when I have stopped my struggling. I close my eyes as the last of the waters batters my flash and with a force, I am plunged back into reality.

I did not even notice the tears in my eyes. The first thing I see is that I have walked till I am now squatting beside the and the cloth which have been covering them is on my hands.

Before I look at their faces, I already know what I am going to see. White, bloated faces of my parents. They look quite peaceful for people who have died by drowning and as if the storm in me has been released, I tilt my head to the sky and howl painfully.

My chest constricts and my lungs burn. Is this what my dream has always been about? Was this what my vision always tried to tell me? So, it was not me who died then but my parents? What sort of a cruel fate was this, what sort of life was I expected to live now without my parents?

I feel arms slide under my armpit trying to move me away from my parents but my wolf seem to have taken over. Eliza growls at them and the hands which had been holding me fall off. She stands guard over my parents’ body and growls at any one that comes close.