wild ↣ p. lahote

xxiv. there is a light that never goes out

"YOU SURE YOU'LL be alright?" Parker asked, concern tinging her voice. She grabbed her purse and frowned at Aurora, who sat perched at the kitchen island.

"Yeah, sure! You go have fun," Aurora reassured her aunt, a warm smile on her face.

Parker's lips grew into a tight line as she looked worriedly at Aurora. "Why can't you hang out with Ethan and Liam again?"

"They went to the others' college. Pack meeting or whatever," Aurora replied as she toyed with the banana peel that she had just polished off.

"Then why don't you go to the Rez? You haven't seen Sam and them for weeks," Parker pointed out.

Aurora smiled wryly. She hadn't told her aunt about what had happened with Paul— she hadn't told anyone, as a matter of fact. It would just complicate things. If her aunt knew, she'd probably not let her spend time with the Quileutes anymore. And if Kaleb caught wind of it, it would cause a whole bunch of drama that Aurora did not want to be in the middle of.

So she'd kept quiet. She hadn't been back to the Rez since the incident and she hadn't spoken to anyone except Sam— and even then, the last time they'd spoken was over two weeks ago. Aurora was just too scared to go back. And beneath that fear was worry of how her friendships would be. Would she still be treated the same? Or would everyone be on eggshells? How would she react when she saw Paul again? Hell, how would Paul react when he saw her again?

It was all just too much to think of. So Aurora had simply stayed away. She had kept her turmoil to herself. And she didn't want to have to think about any of it anymore. She just wished that the whole thing hadn't happened.

"Rory?" Parker asked.

Aurora jumped and looked up at her aunt. She'd completely forgot she was there. "Yeah, sorry. Uhh.. no, I think I'll just stay home tonight. I'll be fine!"

"Who spends Halloween alone?" Parker asked, but she was distracted by the headlights pulling into their driveway. "Oh! That's David! How do I look?"

Aurora smiled as she looked her aunt over. "Beautiful. Have fun tonight! No need to rush home," she said, winking.

Parker rolled her eyes and thwapped Aurora with her purse. "Shut up!"

Aurora laughed as her aunt smoothed down her hair. A loud knock on the door made Parker jump and grin. She hurried over to the front door and opened it, revealing David holding a bouquet of orange and purple flowers. Very Halloween-y.

"Hi!" Parker exclaimed, taking the flowers graciously. David waved with a friendly smile at Aurora before the two were off, shutting the door behind them.

Aurora's smile faded as she watched David's car pull out of the driveway. The house had fallen silent, and once again Aurora was stuck alone with nothing but her thoughts. She sighed as she picked up her banana peel and carried it over to the compost bin. She dropped it in, turned, and headed into the living room. Just as her bottom hit the couch, a loud knock resounded on the front door.

Aurora jumped. Who the hell was there? She checked the clock hanging on the wall. It was 6:00– way too late for any missionaries or whoever to come knocking. And she hadn't ordered any food— not that food could even be delivered all the way out here.

So who the hell was it?

Aurora reached for her phone and quickly pulled up 911. She didn't dial— but her finger hovered over the green call button as she waited.

The person knocked again, and Aurora held her breath. She was not opening that door.

A long few seconds passed before the person knocked a third time. That's it, Aurora thought to herself. She pressed the dial button and held her phone up to her ear as it started calling the cops.