Rose's POV
I trudged through the mud and rocks, searching for Eleazar. Though I was in this place physically, my mind was like a race car speeding past all the things that had happened to me in the past. My parents' death, Cruz's diagnosis, Cruz's death, my attempted suicide, Kasper's death, and my pathetic attempts to live on after all this. The thing was, the race car didn't keep going after it passed all this. No, it went back around to my parents' death, and Cruz's diagnosis, and just continuing over and over as if it were all just one cruel circle. By this time, the diary had refreshed so much of my memory I was beginning to remember other things as well, such as Cruz's death.
A single fan whirred by the window in Cruz's room. There were but three people in the room, but I only had regard for one of them. That one lied on a bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling with an empty expression. There were a couple tears in his lovely brown eyes, but aside from the tears, his expression appeared as if he were about to charge into a deadly battle.
"Cru....." I tried to murmur to him, but my voice was lost in a fit of sobs. His mother, who sat across from me on the other side of the bed, silently cried as well. Cruz took my hand and squeezed it, a warm smile inching its way across his face. I shuddered still, but quit crying for his sake. I smiled back at him.
"I..." he croaked weakly, "I'll... I'll always be there Rose. Always."
I kissed his cheek gently, which widened his subtle smile. He turned to his mother and smirked reassuringly at her, which triggered her to brush her gentle hand against his face.
He turned his gaze back up to the ceiling after that silent goodbye. His tears were gone, and he now looked determined. I squeezed his hand gently.
"I'll see you when dawn comes," he murmured.
And with that, his eyes drooped, and his poor heart faltered. It was silent, not even the sound of our weeping disturbing that.
His final words, 'I'll see you when dawn comes,' echoed through my mind as his mother closed the curtain, inviting in the darkness.
Tears threatened in my eyes but I still trudged on with a steely expression.
"Eleazar!" I barked.
No reply.
"Eleazar!"
I finally came across him standing at the edge of the falls with a spear in one hand and the other hand stuffed in his pocket.
"Eleazar," I whispered gently now. He turned and smiled at me fondly.
"Hunting?" I asked meekly.
He sighed, looking off into the distance, "The bird are beginning to go south. Winter's coming soon, you know. They're all going and hiding away somewhere."
"What will you hunt in the meantime?"
He shrugged. "The wolves still dwell. Wolves, they always keep coming. In the cold, being hunted, they always keep coming."
"Why do you think they do?"
"Maybe they just have a good outlook. They know what's good for them."
He turned back to me. Despite the frost coating the grass, I wore only a short textile sundress Kasper had sewn months ago. I noticed I was shuddering in the cold.
"You shouldn't be out here," he said lovingly.
"Why not?" I asked.
He winked. "Wolves."
