"You're my whole soul, my whole body, you are every breath I breathe, every thought I produce, every ache I feel and I will love you in this lifetime and every lifetime that comes after, I will always love you, even if we are nothing but bone and as...
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There is nothing quite like loneliness. The empty hollow ache that claws away at your chest. A withering canyon, eroding you away with each and every passing moment. Every second you spend inside your head it's eating away at your soul. It makes you question if you're even real at all. In this vast whole universe of living creatures that somehow all serve a purpose, and yet, there you are, weathering away inside like a forgotten penny, cast into a wishing well. A footprint in the snow, never seen long and forever forgotten. Your place in this world is so easily filled with the next passing moment.
Bashing against the hollowness of your chest and all you want to do is just be with someone. Have someone acknowledge that you are, in fact, alive. It was a fate far worse than death; it wasn't a quick blow to the head; it was a slow and agonising torture that Aurora begged to end. She never quite did it, though. Aurora never lifted the knife to end her sorrow; instead, she never stopped herself when she found herself in tow with death. Instead, she'd close her eyes, and for a split moment, she'd feel at peace. Death had many friends; They were all too acquainted, Death and Aurora. Death never quite grasped Aurora's hand hard enough to pull her to her peace. Instead, like a toxic lover, Death'd be there in comfort, yet never enough to save her. Or at least that's how she thought of it. She believed he just wanted to see how long she'd suffer. How long until she couldn't take it anymore?
She had become so wrapped up in her own bottled-up trauma that sometimes she forgot that she even existed at all. She forgot the things that made her, her. She used to be driven by a desire for justice and a yearning for belonging. Isolation destroyed that source of power in Aurora. You couldn't really say that Aurora wasn't like most girls because she was. Behind all the pain, suffering, and loneliness, she wanted to be just like any other girl. Normal.
Or at least the most normal that she could be, all things considered.
There was nothing more in the entire universe that Aurora wanted more than to have a home. Oh God, how she wanted just to have a home. In the beginning, the places Aurora called home were the bathrooms in parks that thankfully employed lazy security who couldn't be bothered to lock up for the night. It's a blessing in disguise, really. There are not many places a fourteen-year-old on the run with no money and a nasty relationship with the moon once a month can go. Aurora had incredible physical strength and resilience, which she honed through many years of surviving alone. Her instincts were sharp, and her ability to tap into her primal nature gave her a powerful edge in a world of men who only saw helpless little girls. It wasn't always like this, though; she once had a home, a pack. But any memory that Aurora hadn't suppressed from that time in her life was all a blur. It was a time that Aurora tried to forget, but it found her in the end. No matter the bus stop, train ride, or town she was in, those things from her past always ended up finding her. Whether it was physical reminders of those horrid things or the way she felt it in her chest, that determination to protect those who have nothing, who have no voice, the little and broken. The retribution she seeks for them only drags her deeper into her never-ending cycle.
Aurora let out a small prayer, not that she was religious by any means, that it would be different this time. She begged that this time, this town would be different, that for once in her life, she could stay in one place. In another life, maybe, things would be different.
Aurora sucked in a harsh breath as she passed the big wooden sign, Now Entering Beacon Hills. Sighing, she looked around at the houses she drove past, watching families and children playing in their front yards. Enjoying each other's company was a painful reminder of the loneliness that burdened her life. Being alone was the only thing that Aurora knew how to do right. She only knew how to look after herself and had learnt her lesson in bringing people into her messy life.
'You have now arrived at your destination.'
Aurora pulled into the driveway of her new temporary home. It was a small townhouse, perfect for her short stay. Stepping out of the car, she grabbed one of the boxes from her back seat and began stumbling up to the front door. She noticed a note taped to the front of it.
Aurora,
Keys under the mat. Try not to trash this one.
Remember what I do for you in return for your word.
Regards, J.
Aurora rolled her eyes before tearing the paper from the door and crumpling it. Ghosts from the past will always haunt her, ghosts that hid behind every corner she turned. Waiting for her. The past will always be Aurora's curse. No matter where she ran, how she looked or what she did, somehow, the past always found her. It pinned her to the ground and sucked every last breath of hope she had left. Any hope of a new life, of a free life. A life without pain and misery. The Past and Death were pretty much the presidents of the Aurora fan club. When things got hard, they always greeted her with a cup of coffee that numbed her soul and handed her a suitcase for the road. She never stayed anywhere too long; she never got the chance. She never stayed anywhere long enough to plant roots and never had enough time to make friends, and the one time she did stop long enough to make friends is now one of the reasons she runs. So now Aurora jumps from town to town, filling herself with people who make her feel something for an hour or two before she's off on the road again. However, there was one curse that Aurora had some control over in her life. She no longer feared the long nights under the full moon. She was no longer ruled by the beast inside her, instead she embraced it. The longer she denied that she was the monster, the worse it got.
Sighing, Aurora looked over at the mountains of boxes that swallowed the space in her living room. Sometimes, she even wondered if there was a point in unboxing her things. But she did it anyway, secretly it brought her comfort. A kind of false hope that things would be okay this time. That she could stay and have a normal life for once. Aurora grabbed hold of the last remaining item in the box; she grasped the photo frame in her hands. A wave of sadness flooded her body as she looked at the only picture she owned of her brother. It was barely even a full picture of him. The picture's edges were burned, but you could still see the beautiful smile that Aurora missed so much. She hugged the picture close to her chest as she stared out her bedroom window. The sky had an array of water colours as the sun begun to set, it truly belonged in a painting.
Ding
Aurora's stomach growled as she rushed to the door. She whipped the door open as a whiff of pizza hit her nose, "Thank you so much", Aurora grabbed the pizza from the boy's hands before yelling out to him that she would put the pizza on the counter and grab him a tip.
"Yeah, all good" The teen responded, he waited a moment for Aurora to come back before he spoke, "Are you new to town?" Aurora sent the kid a small smile.
"Yep, just got in today" The delivery boy nodded,
"Yeah, I was going to say, I'd definitely remember you", He sent her a flirty smile as Aurora handed him a tip, "Do you plan on going to Beacon Hills High?" Aurora nodded as she took in what he looked like. He really was not her type, his face was plain, and there was almost nothing memorable about him, "So, like- you should totally come to this party tonight; we could, like, go together- or something."
Aurora scrunched up her face as he poorly tried to hit on her. She let out a small laugh before contemplating it. Aurora wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get drunk, and going to a party would help her feel somewhat normal. "You know what—uh, sorry, what's your name?"
The boy stood straight, thinking he was about to score a date, "Oh, uh- people call me Greenberg."
"Right, Greenberg. How about I give you an extra twenty-dollar tip, and you tell me where this party is tonight, and I'll give you another twenty dollars to stay away from me while I'm there?" Greenberg looked taken back for a moment before he decided to cut his losses. He told Aurora the address of the party and collected his extra forty bucks.
