The Aura is With Us

Chapter 40: A Brother's Apology

The night air felt clammy, or maybe that was just his nerves.

Riley could barely process the world surrounding him. The recent events still holding strong. The mark on his sister's face. Mom's fury. It was so cold; Riley had never seen anything like it before. His mother had been stern before, a bit of a perfectionist yes, but never had Riley thought would she lash out at Mandy. How long had this been going on? Riley felt sick at the thought. He had no idea this was happening.

Guilt hung heavy from his neck at that realization. Did it start when dad died? Had his sister been forced to a life of abuse while grieving the death of her family? How could he have never known?! He should've been there! Make sure nothing like this could've started much less get to this point. He had made a vow to himself to keep Mandy safe when his sister was born...some brother he was. His only sister had been burning alive and never noticed.

He swallowed bile and choaked back a sob. He couldn't dwell in his own guilt right now. Mandy needed him more right now. Riley needed to make sure she hadn't actually run away. He'd never forgive himself if he let her go. The young user had been distant for far too long, and Mandy had paid far too much for his absence.

The wind picked up as Riley searched the large space of his familial property. He tried the places Mandy used to love, but after finding the tree house that was left to rot over the years, he switched gears. The realty of his situation glaring back at him as he scanned the place, he once called home and found little familiarity. The gardens were empty, except for the wilting roses. The eevee field fast asleep in the moonlight muffled by sudden cloud cover. He only made headway in his search, when he reached the sound side of the property. There he picked up on this sense of overwhelming grief.

The emotion wasn't his own, and for once he understood why. Dress shoes pressed against damp grass, as Riley ran towards the source of the sorrow. Dread dragged his heart to his feet, once he recognized just where he was running too. The family grave yard.

It was one of the older parts of the property. While the manor and grounds had been redone several times throughout the generations of his family, the grave yard had remained untouched. Other than new additions of course.

He opened the metallic gate to burial grounds, it's lock long broken, and stepped onto the cracked title pathway. Rows and rows of stone pillars and metal plates stretched out before him. No flowers or gifts rested on any of them. The names they bore completely unfamiliar to Riley despite being family. A heavy feeling of dread and grief was draped over the land. Mother used to make this place feel like an honor to be buried in, a place of rest for the brightest of minds. Yet, now the young user wasn't so sure. Was being laid to rest and forgotten really a fate to be striving for?

The sound of muffled sobs danced to his ear and Riley took off towards it. In the back corner of the yard, underneath the shadows of an old willow tree, his sister kneeled. Her form was hunched over, as if begging a god for forgiveness, her shoulders shuttering with her staggering tears. Riley reached a hand out forwards her only to stumble, once his eyes caught view of what stood in front of Mandy.

The black marble slab was clearly newer than the others in the yard. It was well kept, cleaned, with burnt candles and flowers of various stagings of withering surrounding it. Someone cared for this one. Riley knew who it was for, he didn't need to read the name etched in copper colored metal.

He bit his tongue, the iron flavor that flooded his mouth was grounding, and made his approach. Umbreon was perched on Mandy's right side, rubbing her cheek against her trainer's shoulder in a show of support. The dark type made no move to stop him, as he kneeled on his sister's left. And...