Tug of Fate | When Stars Align Book one

Falling apart

Ananya

We fall inside the cave just as rocks and boulders come down to where Ali had just been standing a moment ago. The inside of the cave is dark and the earth continues to quake. I look around to find all of us there, except Julian. My heart constricts in pain.

"Where is Julian?" I look around frantically. Everyone jumps, looking around, fear in their eyes. Liam turns around to go to the mouth of the cave. He is about to step out when a huge ass tree falls blocking the entrance to the cave. James pulls him back just in time. My heart slams in my chest, I fear it is going to burst out any moment now.

"M-m-m-maybe J-J-Jules will get s-s-somewhere s-s-s-s-safe? He knows these l-l-lands...h-h-he s-s-said ssssoooo." Becca stutters slamming my heart even more.

I run forward to catch her in my arms. She had told me that it was a childhood habit. Whenever she is panicking or she feels the ground move beneath her feet, she starts stammering – hence the trembling and stuttering. I stroke her hair, as the first of tears fall from my eyes. James strokes her arms. I let her go to James' arms. Every face is drawn and upset. Every eye holds fear and unshed tears. But Ali's face is trembling with grief so pure and wild that it has me panicking.

She is hunched down next to the tree that had fallen at the entrance of the cave, and she is looking at spot where she was last looking at, before we stumbled into the cave. A fierce storm has started outside now, thunder rolling down. Visibility outside of here is zero. James had found a candle in his bag that he's he'd lit it to help fight off the darkness.

Ali's hands are in tight fists, she is sobbing so hard, that I am surprised we didn't hear it till now. As I approach her I see the tears have left track marks on her face.

"Ali, girl, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" my gaze lands on her left knee which is bleeding profusely. I hissed, scrambling for my backpack. Logan had managed to get it inside the cave before the entrance was blocked. I find gauze and antiseptic, and rush back to her side.

I start cleaning her wound, but with her tights in the way it is difficult. I have to cut the tights to clean the wound. So I take the scissors from the first aid kit we'd packed, and turn to her, "Hun, I am going to have to cut a patch in your tights. Okay? You have to stay still babe. Please..." I plead. It must be hurting her bad cause she's whimpering loudly.

"Julian...." she whimpers and sobs even more.

"Shh... You know Julian is strong and he knows these woods. He'll be fine. He must be in another cave, somewhere else. I am sure that he's safe. Don't worry girl. He's safe.." I tell her, wiping my tears, in a trembling voice. God, these words sound hollow even to my ears.

At this she sobs even harder. She is trembling so bad, that Logan steps forward and puts his arms around her. I put the scissors away after cutting her tights. Sobs wracked her body. Liam hands her a bottle of water, but she refuses.

Becca is still trembling in James' arms, and he looks at me, a helplessness showing in his eyes. Tears are threatening to incapacitate me as well, but I dare not fall apart. Not when Becca and Ali both need me.

I stroke Ali's hair and say, "hun, calm down. He's safe, baby-girl. Let me clean your knee, it's bleeding badly. We don't want you losing consciousness because of blood loss, do we?"

I don't think anything is registering to her ears. The men look around helplessly. If it wasn't for the fact that Julian wasn't here, it would be funny to see these men helpless at the sight of crying and trembling women.

Someone touches my shoulder, I turn to find Becca kneeling next to me. She's still trembling, but she reaches out and touches Ali's shoulder. Both of them gasp and look at each other.

Confusion is written on every face, when Becca shakes her head, and says, "what are you saying Ali? Why are you crying?" Her voice has lost the stuttering, even though it still wavers.

Ali's sobs seem to be choking her. We wait for what seems like ages, or maybe it was only a minute, before she speaks. So silently that I am not sure I heard it if it wasn't for Becca's gasp.

"Julian's gone. The Earth took him."

There is a flurry of activity around us as the men come closer, while Becs and I just stare at Ali.

"W-W-What d-d-d-d-o you m-m-m-ean... Ali?" Becca stutters again.

"The earth opened up, he said some things to me, and then he fell. Back, inside the ground. Inside the open ground. He is gone..."

As if this was what she's been holding on to, she breaks down and cries harder. Logan is trying to console her while tears run down his face too. James has taken Becca into his arms. My knees give way. But before I could fall, Liam catches me and crushes me to his chest.

No. No no no no no NOOOOOOO!

No. It's not possible.

"We wished for us to be together. Surely the Gods wouldn't do that, right? He wished for his family! His Gods wouldn't take him away before he had a chance to live his dream. Right?" I know I am blabbering and everyone seems to know this too. No, the Gods wouldn't do that. He believed in all those rituals we did. How can his Gods do this to HIM?!

I am so angry at his Gods that I am trembling with anger and helplessness.

"Maybe we should go and see if that ground is open and we can see if Julian is in there?" I ask again. Pleading. Begging. Grasping at straws. Liam nods against my head.

"We will do that love. As soon as this is over," he says.

Ali stiffens at this. We all look at her. She is still shaking, and sobbing, when Becca and I reach forward to her and catch her in a tight embrace.

I get such a strong sense of deja-vu then, the three of us holding and hugging each other, crying and laughing at the same time. As if we've been here before. You know how at times you think, this exact moment had happened before, and by the time you realize that you had thought of it, that moment passes? Exactly like that.

I feel warmth on my back, and a second later, the three men are embracing us as well, and we cry. Sobs wrack our bodies as our eyes burn with the freely running tears. We cry, together, holding on to each other.

We cry for the man we lost. The man who despite just one day of acquaintance, felt like a part of my soul. We cry in our helpless reality where we are stuck inside a cave and cannot do a thing until the weather outside subsides.

And in that moment, I knew, just knew, how truly and deeply alone Tarquin must have felt in those legends. I at least have these five people with me, but he was the last one standing. Ali is breaking down because she saw one of us fall to his literal death. Tarquin saw all those he cared for pass. Each and every one. His sister and his lover, who were his world. His brothers and friends, who were his life. Everyone wiped away.

And he was left alone, because of his gift. Was it really a gift if that is what cursed him to be left alone like this? To walk the universe, looking for the other parts of his soul, without any timeline, without any rest, just searching.... constantly searching. My heart is breaking at what he's gone through.

For the man who lost it all, in another world, in another galaxy. The man destined to be alone for as long as it took until he could find those pieces that filled the void in his soul.

It feels like we are bound right now, he and I, in our misery and helplessness.