What's Said in Silence

Vessel-XXXXXIX

(C.W)

She blinked up at me, that precious flame in her eyes that I adored so much. I tucked a strand of her soft hair behind her ear and the scent of coconut filled the space around us. So calm, so serene, perfection. 

"Stay with me, forever." I whispered. She smiled at me and my heart clenched at the sight. Something so beautiful should not exist, but it does and I'm the one that has been granted the opportunity to witness it. 

Vessel.

Shock-waves pulsed through me. There hadn't been any sound, but the way her mouth had formed the word was unmistakable. I locked in on her lips, waiting for them to make the movement again, if only to confirm that I'd seen it.

Vessel.

Again, no sound but I understood her perfectly. My Sera was communicating with me, calling my name. A smile took over my face as I cupped her cheek, willing her to say more. The flame in her eyes slowly dimmed and her smile faded into a petrified frown.

Vessel, save me.

An unseen force ripped her out of my grasp. I tried to run after her but my body refused to move. The bright surrounding turned pitch black and her coconut scent was replaced with that of mold. The warmth was replaced with a frigid cold. 

She's gone, Vessel.

I stared at the laptop screen, hitting refresh once more, willing that damned screen to give me one more ping. It was one of the few hopes I'd had left. I glanced up at the clock that hung just above the TV. 

Four days, nine hours, and twenty-one minutes.

That was how long it had been since she'd called me, since she'd been ripped away from me so fucking abruptly. My stomach turned as different scenarios played out in my head again, each one more twisted and graphic than the previous one. One fact remained clear: the longer it took to find her, the less likely she was to be alive. 

I had been filled with so much hope when the laptop had pinged several location points. We'd chased the trail all the way to the last ping, only to be caught on a road with nothing for several kilometers, no houses or stores, nothing but dry grass. We'd pulled over on the side of the road and waited, hoping against hope that she'd give us another. At least some sense of direction. 

When nothing came, my frenzied mind had demanded that Jessie continue driving down that same road. Eventually we did come across a small town, but it branched off in so many directions, there was no possible way to tell which direction she went. We didn't have a description of the vehicle so asking around was out of the question. 

Just before I went into hysterics, Jessie had suggested hiring a private forensics team to search for her. Getting the regular police involved would mean having to deal with the press. Quite frankly, they weren't as effective as an actual forensics team and we all knew it, at least in our town. Most cases like this went cold almost instantly. 

Four days, nine hours, and thirty-seven minutes.

A glint of sunlight bounced off the blade. The same kitchen knife that she had once used against me. I'd carried it everywhere with me for the last couple of days. Partly because it gave me hope that she had enough fight in her to get through this, but also because now I truly understood what she was up against and I wouldn't have blamed her for slicing right through me that night. 

My vision blurred and the screen came in and out of focus. Delirium from lack of sleep had begun to set in and my body wanted nothing more than to crash. The past couple of nights had been more hell than anything the supernatural could've done. The little sleep I did get had been plagued with nightmares of Sera being taken. 

One swift motion and the skin on my arm burned, dripping crimson on the floor. The answer was clear, no matter what I did, nothing would be nearly as painful as her absence. I thought back through all of our interactions, every time we touched, every breath she breathed, every variation of emotion behind her eyes. 

Two memories in particular stuck out: The night in the kitchen- I'd seen it in her eyes, though, at the time, I hadn't fully understood it. The fear that she had ran deeper than these scars ever could.- and the night in Scotland, where her trust for me fully formed. My eyes prickled as tears threatened to spill from them. I tilted my head back, looking up at the ceiling. 

"I want to help you, my love, but I don't know how." I called into the air. The dam broke and the tears slipped down my cheeks. Anguished cries escaped me in horrendous notes as the feeling of helplessness amplified. My chest constricted like my lungs were trapped in a vice, my breaths coming out labored. I sank my head into my hands.

"Please be okay." I whispered through sobs. "Come back to me."